The Plumbline

Stranger:  A newcomer in a place or locality; an outsider; a person who is unacquainted with or unaccustomed to something.  Foreigner:  A person not "native" to or in a position of being "external" to something.  Scripture declares we are no longer either a stranger, nor a foreigner, once we say "yes" to Jesus.  In fact, we are adopted into the family of God - made citizens in his Kingdom.  As a result, we are no longer on the outside looking in, but are growing more and more accustomed to the ways God moves, how he responds, and what it is he finds pleasure in.  I live in a family of "naturalized" citizens.  Mom came over from England at a very young age with her parents, naturalizing in her young adult years.  Dad came down from Canada in search of a dryer climate to help with his young son's lung health, naturalizing shortly thereafter.  My brother received his naturalization after serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era. ...

Nothing is more elusive than the approval of man.  Try as we might, we often fall short of what another expects of us - leaving us feeling like we haven't measured up and them experiencing disappointment.  Since it is so elusive, why do we spend so much time trying to "measure up" to some other man or woman's approval?  The approval of another is kind of like a well disguised snare in the path - we get caught up in it without even noticing we were headed in that direction!   The pathway to man's approval is pretty demanding, though.  It demands our time - often time we don't have to give. It demands our attention - often attention which is diverted from something which also requires our attention, but which will go without while we pursue something completely opposite.  It demands our energies - sucking us dry of that which really would be best utilized on a task designed by God for us. To the faithful  you show yourself faithful,   to the blame...