The Plumbline

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. (2 Peter 1:5-7) Jesus has the power of God - so, if he indwells your spirit, don't lose one minute in allowing him to put that power to use within your life. Faith is good, but we need renewed thoughts, changed behavior, and a whole lot of 'umph' to get through the testing of that faith! We need his power - we have his power - but most of us still feel 'powerless' to live as we should. It is because we think we have to do all this 'changing' in our own power, not HIS. Good character comes as we begin to allow his indwelling power and his word to bring conviction to any area of our 'character' that isn't upright. That conviction should turn us away from those thin...

It seems a little 'counter' to patience to be passionate, doesn't it? When we think of patience, we probably think about the one who simply stands by waiting to see what will unfold, not losing hope, but being very, very calm, cool, and collected. I imagine being passionate as being a little more animated and less 'calm' - there is action involved in passion, so it doesn't always make me think of patience. Most of the time, we don't really equate waiting and passion as belonging together, but let me be a little bit revealing here - passion and patience make all the waiting worthwhile! I love to fish and let me just tell you that you cannot be any good at this without passion and patience! You must sit still for long times, often rethinking what you are using to attract those fish to your hook, and then know just the right time to snag that catch when they are nibbling on your bait. It is a skill learned in the waiting! Much of what we learn in life is learne...

Most of us recognize patience is a virtue, but many of us forget just how patience is learned - through tribulation!  It takes a little bit of the "troubling of the waters" of our lives to teach us the lessons of patience.  So, when you pray for patience, you are actually praying to have the waters stirred!  Chew on that one a few minutes - it might just change the course of your prayers! We have those moments when the thing we are expressing is the furthest from what we might label as the virtue of patience.  Learning how to respond in patience is what some call conforming your conduct to some moral or ethical principle.  I call it the divine work of the Holy Spirit in us in an area where he did not previously exist or have access! Patience is better than strength.    Controlling your temper is better than capturing a city.  (Proverbs 16:32 NCV) Most of us pray for strength and patience in the same breath, don't we?  Yet, patience is bet...

Have you ever tried to make jelly?  When we look at all those various flavors, colors, and pretty jars all stacked with care on our grocer's shelves, we often forget what goes into making the jelly.  It really is a science - I've tried it!  Some of it tasted pretty good, but I had a few "flops" in the process!  Today, I'd like to share a few lesson I learned in the process.  Pretty jars were all assembled, fresh lids, stock pot filled with water to boil those jars, and sugar all measured out.  Who knew the most important part of making the jelly was not in the "prettiness" of the jar I chose, nor the shininess of the caps which adorned them?  What I learned made the most difference in the jelly was not any of the things I assembled, but the fruit that went into making the jelly!  Who knew? If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.  (...

  15  Patient persistence pierces through indifference;    gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses. (Proverbs 25:15) Indifference is really a condition of the heart and mind in which a person has determined that they have little interest or concern.  Another term we use that is quite similar to indifference is the term "mediocrity".  There are some telltale signs that someone is pretty much indifferent, or that they have "settled" for a position of mediocrity in their lives.  An indifferent individual might look like this: - Apathetic to the needs of their life or those of another - Calm, cool indifference in the face of what would cause uneasiness or apprehension in others - A seeming absence of emotional connection with others or circumstances around them When you hear indifference described that way, you might think of an individual who struggles with frequent periods of depression, but they are not the only ones that experience this kind ...