The Plumbline

People will insult you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do that, know that great blessings belong to you. Be happy about it. Be very glad because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did these same bad things to the prophets who lived before you.   ( Matthew 5:11-12   ERV ) Recently I have viewed two movies that projected Christians in a very unbecoming manner. One showed the woman as a "Bible-thumping" prudish woman who alienated people with all her "holier-than-thou" talk. The other depicted the believer as someone always being the brunt of jokes, poked fun at for not wanting to do some of the things his buddies wanted to do which almost always bordered on the edge of breaking the law or actually going all the way to be law-breaking offenses. It wasn't that the young man didn't want to break the law, it was the way they depicted him - always giving some ...

This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love; that you will see the difference between what is important and what is not and choose what is important; that you will be pure and blameless for the coming of Christ... ( Philippians 1:9-10   ERV ) What is important and what is not - - - isn't this the question of the ages? The answer to that question can actually differ from person to person, based upon the situation, people involved, and even the phases of the moon! "Important" to my 9 year old grandson is much different than what is "important" to my 13 year old grandson. One may want to sequester himself away deep inside a book while the other wants to be making the stinkiest bait he can concoct in order to catch those elusive catfish in the pond! To me both of these are "important" for the tasks at hand are as unique as the children who are pursuing them. When God l...

Everyone who does evil hates the light. They will not come to the light, because the light will show all the bad things they have done. But anyone who follows the true way comes to the light. Then the light will show that whatever they have done was done through God. ( John 3:20-21   ERV ) I had almost missed the tiniest bit of truth in this passage this morning, but after reading it again, I caught it! What WE do isn't really us doing it when we are moving toward the light of God - it is him DOING within us whatever it is that is done in and through us. Little steps toward light are called obedience. All steps into the realm of obedience are making it possible for God to be working in and through us - it is us yielding to his love and trusting his direction, but it is him working in us through and through. There are times when we all can observe evil around us - maybe even a little bit of it dwells in each of us on occasion, if we were to be entirely honest here. Evil intent ...