The Plumbline

Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God’s Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others. (Philippians 2:1)  Most of us love to receive notice for the hard work we are doing - even if it is not "out loud", we want someone to actually recognize our accomplishments. I enjoy seeing someone take the work I have done and put it into use in their own particular situation. It gives me pleasure to see the work utilized. In our Christian walk, we want to be recognized, have our work serve some purpose, and know what we have done really makes a difference. We don't "do good deeds" simply because we desire the accolades, but we are "serving God" in our deeds, knowing he will receive the ultimate praise in the end. In our daily walk, we receive some accolades from Jesus, and we give them right back. It is like he encourages us by giving us a high five or giving us a pat on the shoulder, as though we have done our job well. It may not be a ...

God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home. (Ephesians 2:20-22) Irrespective of how we got here. Some of us got here by searching for something of significance in our lives, while others got here at the end of a long rope, just about to hang themselves out to dry. Regardless of 'how' we come into the family of God, we are a family and a family needs a place to dwell. We dwell in the presence of God - each of us making up 'one stone' in this great building. I used to think I could stand alone, but one stone does not make a building! Built by God - not by human hands or schemes. This is important for u...

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. (I Peter 1:5-8) Don't lose a minute building - that is a pretty direct explanation about how we are to live our daily lives. We are to be engaged in this walk with Jesus - not just onlookers. We are to build and allow for there to be his building within. We are to allow one character trait he may focus on today become the launching point for where he may focus tomorrow. You may have heard it sa...

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...