The Plumbline

 Arthur C. Clark reminds us, "The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." Scripture reminds us: “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” (Matthew 19:25-26 NLT) Everything seems impossible until God intervenes, especially when it comes to dealing with our sin nature. The truth of the matter is that the harder we try to resist sin with little more than our willpower, the harder it will be to actually break the cycle of sin and compromise in our lives. We need the Spirit of God if we are to ever break free of sin's downward cycle in our lives. Discovering the limits of our own ability to 'resist' is the beginning of our journey toward what is 'possible' ONLY through the help of God. We might think we are doing a pretty good job of resisting sin in our lives, then we realize we are just ...

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. (Colossians 3:16 NLT) Alexis Carrel reminds us, "All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people." The message of Christ, his goodness and his grace, needs to fill all of our lives, not just the Sunday-parts! Wisdom or counsel is only as trustworthy as the source of such wisdom. When we are teaching one another with the wisdom Christ gives us in our daily study of his Word and the time we spend alone with him, we are truly connecting each other to the wisdom that will guide and protect each other. Teach and counsel - two very specific actions that have a bit of a different meaning. When we teach someone, we are showing them or instructing them in how something is to be done. When we counsel one another, we are actually giving w...