The Plumbline

Have you ever followed a recipe so closely so as not to miss one important ingredient and then wondered why your "finished product" did not appear just as the beautifully adorned photograph in the picture?  I have!  No one told me I'd need a sprig of parsley, a lemon wedge, and a fancy drizzling device to make my plate appear EXACTLY as the picture!  Sometimes we have all the right ingredients, but we lack something in the presentation. 3-4  Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.   (2 Peter 1:3-4 The Message) There are times when we know we have all the "right ingredients" which go into living for Christ, but wonder about the "...

Clean hands and a pure heart - two conditions we often find eluding us.  Our hands get "dirtied" by the things we do - the actions we take.  Our hearts reveal their "soiled" condition by the words we speak, the thoughts we entertain, etc.  Today's passage points to the benefits of both clean hands and a pure heart: 3  Who may go up the mountain of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?  4  He who has clean hands and a pure heart. He who has not lifted up his soul to what is not true, and has not made false promises.  5  He will receive what is good from the Lord, and what is right and good from the God Who saves him.  (Psalm 24:3-5 New Life Version) The question posed - who may go up to the mountain of the Lord?  Today we don't find ourselves making the journey to the city of Jerusalem in order to go to the Temple of the Lord.  In the times of the psalmist, this was a regular journey for the worshipers of the Lord. ...