The Plumbline

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. (Colossians 3:15-17) Have you ever been around someone who really has a grateful heart? Their gratitude just comes through in everything they do because it is a lifestyle, not just an attitude.  Another word for gratitude is gratefulness. I sometimes call this being "grace-full". Grateful people have a way of exuding grace in some of the most unlikely ways, don't they? God is focusing us on something which keeps people together - "staying in tune with each other". In ...

Let me see clearly so that I may take in the amazing things coming from Your law. ( Psalm 119:18 VOICE ) What is it you are not seeing that clearly right now? Is there some question you have been wrestling with for some time unable to quite reach some form of resolution or solution? Is the time you spend pondering the stuff of everyday life kind of getting harder and harder when you expected it might just let up a little? If so, you are not alone in this inability to see clearly at times - we all suffer from the same "lack of clarity", but may not always admit to it because we don't actually realize we haven't reached a point of "clarity" yet. I think one of the greatest things which unlocks clarity in my own life is when I reach a place of gratitude in whatever are I am struggling or wrestling with at that moment. That may seem a little naive at first, but hear me out. When I transition from questioning into trusting, it usually happens when I begin to set...

There are some of the instructions in the Bible which we just don't "get" because they seem so counter-intuitive to what life sends our way.  Whether it is "turn the other cheek", or "give and it shall be given to you", the instructions seem a little "opposite" of what most of us would think as being "rational" or "sound reasoning".  Turning the other cheek means I may get hit again - resulting in TWO wounded parts, not just one.  Giving what I have doesn't seem to make sense because everyone knows we need to have a "nest egg" of sorts to fall back on, so if I give away something I may need down the road, what sense does that make?  For most of us, the thought of being "cheerful no matter what" is almost as counter-intuitive as the other two.  Yet, this is the way God want us to live - so it behooves us to understand how to incorporate these attitudes or actions into our lives. Be cheerful no m...

Every now and again we just need a reminder to be grateful, don't we?  When I stop to consider some of the stuff others around me are dealing with, my "issues" pale in comparison.  When I stop to consider my "momentary afflictions", the life-long battles some face with disease make my aches and pains look like a vacation.  Sometimes we forget the principle of thanksgiving as the scriptures would teach:  Give thanks IN everything, not necessarily FOR everything.  We don't have to give thanks for the flat tire, but we can give thanks we have roadside service to get it changed! On your feet now—applaud  God !   Bring a gift of laughter,   sing yourselves into his presence.  Kn ow this: God is God, and God, God.  He made us; we didn’t make him.   We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.   Enter with the password: “Thank you!”   Make yourselves at home, talking praise.   Thank him. Worship him.   For God is sheer be...