The Plumbline

I once did a study on the "taming of the tongue" - a task which has proven to be quite the challenge in my own life.  Words just pop into my head, come quickly to my lips, and are spoken without much thought - sometimes with warning bells sounding loud and clean in my brain, but simply unheeded by my heart!  If you have ever found yourself in a similar situation, you probably know how difficult this "task" of taming the tongue can be!  Jesus told the religious leaders one day, " Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.”   (Matthew 12:37 MSG)  What he was really speaking about were the "careless" words we often speak - the words which come back to "haunt" us.  So, I had to ask what Jesus could have meant by "careless" words - were these just he words which were spoken in an unthinking or unconcerned manner?  It could be because they also include the words which have no v...

I wonder how many of us could agree with this equation: Trouble = Training Most of us equate "training" to the efforts we put forth to AVOID trouble - such as when we work out at the gym or take regular walks in order to keep our hearts healthy and avoid heart disease.  Very few of us will actually equate the present "trouble" we might be experiencing as a way of "training" either our minds, bodies, or spirits.   God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s  training , the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly  live ? While we were children, our parents did what  seemed  best to them. But God is doing what  is  best for us, training us to l...

We all have various people knock on our door, or ring the doorbell.  Sometimes it is a much awaited delivery of something we have ordered and anticipated with much excitement.  At others, it is simply a nuisance, such as when it is a salesperson trying to get you to sign up for a year's worth of car washes.  Maybe it is a friend, unexpectedly stopping by, hoping to catch up with you over a cup of coffee.  Some of these knocks get answered with more gusto than others, right?  Perhaps you have a little "peephole" in your door like I do.  When you glance through and see someone standing there with their list of magazines to subscribe to, you might be tempted to not even open the door, right?  Whoever invented the "peephole" had a brilliant idea!  Whoever invented the window alongside my front door - no so brilliant!  It is hard not to answer when someone can see me looking through the peephole!  I wonder just how many times we open our door...