The Plumbline

I do not mean that I am already as God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal, but I continue trying to reach it and to make it mine. Christ wants me to do that, which is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above. All of us who are spiritually mature should think this way, too. And if there are things you do not agree with, God will make them clear to you. But we should continue following the truth we already have. (Philippians 3:12-16) If any of us were what God wants us to be, we'd be perfect, and I haven't met one 'perfect' person yet! There have been some I'd say were 'pretty close to perfect', but nobody is perfect on this earth - especially apart from having Christ in their lives. Perfection is

Those who listen to instruction will prosper; those who trust the Lord will be joyful. (Proverbs 16:20) Norman Vincent Peale told us, "It is always too early to quit." Most of us want to 'prosper' - not just have prosperity. We want to have things 'go well' in our lives, without too much resistance involved. People who want to 'prosper' are not quitters. They find a way, maybe one that was not even considered in the beginning, but one they come to see as opening up before them. We might want to open a few doors ourselves, but until we learn to listen to God about which ones we are to open, we might just find ourselves opening a few that should have remained tightly closed. We have already said some consider 'prospering' as coming into a patch of good fortune - amassing something of 'value' that one thinks of as 'prosperity'. I think God has a different type of 'prosperity' in mind for us than amassing things or finances