The Plumbline

“If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.” (John 8:31-32) How many of us can really say we have excellent "stick-to-it" determination at the beginning of a project or task? Most of us, right? We don't usually start out with "I don't think this is worth finishing, but I'll start it". We usually will say something like, "This is a big task, it may take me more than one day to accomplish, but nothing ventured, nothing gained." Freedom is often the result of determination. If you have spoken with a former of prisoner of war, they will share the things they held onto in their minds, hearts, and spirits which helped them make it through till their release. You will hear of the tremendous determination and doggedness required to hold on when things really don't show any signs of changing. I think true freedom is based on h...

This is why the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does . God’s promise arrives as pure gift. That’s the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions  and  those who have never heard of them. For Abraham is father of us all. He is not our racial father—that’s reading the story backward. He is our  faith  father.  (Romans 4:16) If you are anything like me, there are going to be times when we feel like nothing good is coming out of our actions. WE try hard - but WE don't see much good fruit from all our trying. If you have not heard this before, grace is not based on what WE do, but on what GOD does in us. Try as we might - we cannot fix the problem of sin in our lives. Try as we might - we cannot "figure out" everything that goes wrong or doesn't measure up to our expectations. We need a power stronger than ours, a wisdom better than our own...