The Plumbline

So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty.   That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death.  T he law was without power because it was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do: He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that everyone else uses for sin . God sent him to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin.  H e did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4) God used a human life to destroy sin - but that human life was the Son of God, come to earth with the specific mission of taking our sins to the cross. Does it ever surprise you that God used 'human life' to destroy sin? Jesus experienced what we experience from day to day, growing hungry, weary, sweating from hard work....

With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21) Do you ask God for big things? Or do you play it safe and ask only for the things you are pretty confident he will provide? Don't be afraid to ask for the big things because we serve a BIG God who delights in revealing his love toward us. What we don't want to do is limit God in any way. We want to remain open to the 'power working in us' that will 'do much' if we allow him access, are obedient to what he asks, and trust him with our whole heart. In my youth I was a big dreamer. In fact, I was a bit of a daydreamer growing up. I'd drift off into thought about things way bigger than I could achieve right then, finding myself carried away in a world of imagined plans. It wasn't until I began to realize God has dreams for me that were being limited by the ...

Those who find wisdom are fortunate; they will be blessed when they gain understanding. Profit that comes from wisdom is better than silver and even the finest gold. Wisdom is worth more than fine jewels. Nothing you desire has more value. With her right hand, Wisdom offers long life—with the other hand, riches and honor. Wisdom will lead you to a life of joy and peace. Wisdom is like a life-giving tree to those who hold on to her; she is a blessing to those who keep her close. (Proverbs 3:12-18) It would not be wrong to think of wisdom as an application of knowledge obtained throughout some field of study, but God's wisdom isn't just book learning applied. If we are to understand God's wisdom, we are actually in need of the person of wisdom resident in our lives. Jesus is wisdom in the flesh. We need Jesus if we want God's wisdom. Our passage is saying that those who find Jesus are fortunate - they will be blessed when they gain his understanding.  We can search after ...