The Plumbline

Train me, God, to walk straight; then I’ll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear. From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord; I’ve never kept secret what you’re up to. You’ve always been great toward me—what love! You snatched me from the brink of disaster! God, these bullies have reared their heads! A gang of thugs is after me— and they don’t care a thing about you. But you, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and you never, never quit. So look me in the eye and show kindness, give your servant the strength to go on, save your dear, dear child! Make a show of how much you love me so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed, as you, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet. (Psalm 86:11-17) Character traits are the things that actually "reflect" better than any "image" we see of ourselves in the mirror on our wall. Justice and Joyfulnes...

We can AFFIRM or REASSURE - both have a little different meaning. Affirm refers to remaining true to that which has been promised, such as confirming or ratifying an agreement. WE all want to know that we have the confirmation that God's promises will remain true for all time. Reassure carries the idea of being encouraged again by those promises. When one is reassured, there is a confidence that what has been promised will indeed come to pass. There is a difference between the promises God makes and the ones we make to God - most of the time it is in the fact we never 'ratify' the agreement! At best, our own promises are marginal - we seem to vary our commitment to them with the changing of circumstances in our lives. The tougher things are, the more we draw into God. The converse is true - the better things seem to be going, the less intent we may be at honoring those promises we made in the tougher times. Isn't it reassuring that we don't have a God that is "...