The Plumbline

Life Hack #30: Do you know where your future lies? Our decisions TODAY impact out outcomes tomorrow, but we don't control ALL the possibilities of either day. We can "manage" as much as possible, but there are just "unknowns" we cannot really plan for. Knowing our future is important - especially in terms of where we are headed spiritually. If we haven't really made an "about-face" from doing things our own way, under our own terms, and for our own benefit, we might just be "play-acting" at this "Christianity" thing. Our future is as secure as our focus - that which we set our eyes on the most becomes the direction we take, and it also becomes what fills our "head". Don’t bother your head with braggarts or wish you could succeed like the wicked. Those people have no future at all; they’re headed down a dead-end street. (Proverbs 24:19-20) We might allow things we see or hear to fill our heads with ideas and ima...

God makes everything come out right; he puts victims back on their feet... God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins. As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him. He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud. Men and women don’t live very long; like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, but a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here. God’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever he said. (Psalm 103:6-18) Memory is a powerful tool - learnin...

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7) Go ahead with what you've been given. How many times do we think we have to wait for 'more'? We have been given a measure and we somehow think that we cannot do anything with what we have been given - there must be 'more' in order for us to 'do' something. The truth of the matter is that we are already well-equipped for exactly what we need to be doing right now - we just need to use what we have been given! We received Christ - that is a done deal. We are deeply rooted in him - another done deal. Can roots grow deeper? Absolutely, but the tree doesn't j...

  Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow; you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. (Proverbs 27:1) Gandhi reminded us that we are to "live as if we were to die tomorrow; learn as if we were to live forever". We can be certain of one thing - tomorrow is not promised to any living creature - it is a gift to receive each day we are given. I have a little harder question to pose that may not make fans of many of my followers, but here goes: What will you do with your today in order to make someone else's tomorrow better? I didn't ask what you would do today to make YOUR tomorrow better, but what will you do with TODAY in order to leave a bit of a legacy for someone else's tomorrow.  I think we spend a whole lot of time today preparing for OUR tomorrow should we blessed to receive another day on this earth, but do we spend OUR time in a way that assures someone we may not even know will be receiving a better tomorrow - a blessing prepared today f...

The preparation of today makes us ready for tomorrow. Without the work of today, the events of today won't matter when tomorrow comes. When others look at our life, do they see evidence of our faith? Do they see us laboring in love, or resisting every move we make? Do they see us patient in our waiting, or chafing in anticipation, hating the wait and disgruntled by not getting our way? Many of us can claim to be believers, but do our lives indicate we live like believers? Three things that are just not arbitrary in our live are faith, the labors of love, and the patience we exhibit toward each other (and ourselves). In fact, these things speak volumes about the work which has begun in our lives - a work God is going to finish, no matter how hard it may appear to us! Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, befor...

Never brag about what you will do in the future; you have no idea what tomorrow will bring. ( Proverbs 27:1   ERV ) "Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." (Melody Beattie)  None of us is ever guaranteed a "tomorrow" - we all have today and can do the best with today as is possible. We allow all kinds of things keep us from enjoying our "today" - including the issues of our past or the constant focus on what it is we might accomplish tomorrow. I am no different, here, for there are times when I get so "future focused" so as to miss what is right in front of me. The sad truth is that there is absolutely no guarantee there will even be that "tomorrow" I spent so much time planning for! What a shame to miss out on so much because we are not able to see what is right in front of us! For many, their lives were changed the day the towers came down in New York. Others would never ...

Each day is the scholar of yesterday. (Publilius Syrus) It is indeed a challenge to remain "current" on all that yesterday taught, isn't it? In fact, there are probably times we want to be a little the ostrich and bury our heads in the sand because the lessons are just too hard or we just don't want to be "bothered" any longer with whatever it is we have been learning. Teachers everywhere will tell us how difficult it becomes to teach kids as summer vacation approaches. Their attention is directed to the summer fun and less onto the lessons of the hour! If we really want to remain vibrant and growing, we need to continually being looking at the things we can learn from what we did yesterday. It doesn't mean we live in the past, but that we take inventory of what the day offered, how it is we can "use" what we took away from that day (the good and the bad), and how it is we can put all that into good use for our day today! Their purpose is ...

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote, "The past, the present, and the future are really one...they are today."  There are those who have a tendency to "blame" whatever it is they are experiencing today on a "crappy" past - things didn't go well for them "then", so they are certainly not going to change "now". What Beecher said bears some study, for it is true - the past affects our present and our present sets the stage for our future - in essence making today the most important day of all! And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. (Romans 8:38 NLT) There is indeed a great deal in our "past" that could affect our present - but it doesn't have to do so in a negative or damaging way because grace declares the past "done"...