The Plumbline

"Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.” (Joshua 1:9) I was reminded of this verse today as I listened to that song by Hillsong Worship, "Never Walk Alone". The chorus speaks volumes:  I have never walked alone; I’ve never been abandoned. You are my inheritance. You are my strength and shield; and I have confidence. You go before me; You’re my deliverer - I know I never walk alone.  Never walked alone - not gonna start now. Never abandoned - why should I think I might be left behind now? I have an inheritance beyond my imagining - not on this earth, but into all of eternity. My strength won't falter - my protector is at my side. I can stand assured because if God is with me, nothing (and I mean nothing) is gonna get me down! Too many times we walk what I will refer to as a kind of 'incongruent' life. We are kind of timid when we should be standing strong. We get down on ourselves and heap gui...

It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action.  (Honore de Balzac) Strength comes in many forms, doesn't it? Some develop strength because they spend hour after hour 'working out' - honing the strength within their muscles. I am not much of a 'work out' kind of gal, as is probably quite evident by the extra inches I carry here and there. I do have some strength still left in these muscles of mine, as I am still able to wield open that jar of pickles with a tight grip and a little 'elbow-grease'! I know a good many who have a strength that comes from down deep inside of them, allowing them to face some pretty fearful things day after day, like the nurses who have taken care of hundreds and hundreds of COVID-19 patients, enduring the long hours and grueling work of being 'suited up' in all that protective gear. They may go home at nights absolutely exhausted, faces swollen and broken down from the hours and hou...

8  Endings are better than beginnings.    Sticking to it is better than standing out.  (Ecclesiastes 7:8) One full month of the year has already flown by at record speed and as many of us sit looking at our "resolutions", conducting an inventory of our progress toward goals we had set for ourselves, some of us will find ourselves having made a good start, but then petering our somewhere along the way!  Isn't that always the case with our "resolutions" - they are good while they last, but they tend not to last!  One of the radio announcers I listen to on Christian radio did something different this year.  She focused on making a "revolution" in her life - not a "resolution".  To some, those are just words, but if you know me by now - you know how much I enjoy looking at the words! A resolution is simply an intention - formalized by some sort of plan.  It is a determination of heart or mind, but it often lacks the quality of persev...