The Plumbline

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10 NLT) So rich in kindness and grace. This really paints the picture of our loving and gracious God, doesn't it? We don't deserve his 'richness', but in spite of all our sin, he loves us so much. Our freedom from sin - our way out of all hurtful and harmful habits and hangups - is given in Christ Jesus. His kindness will never be 'repaid' by anything we do or say. We can but revel in his grace and worship him. God's plan? To bring us back into right relationship with him - no longer captive to sin; no longer given ove...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT) If you are reading this passage for the hundredth time, it is still possible God will bring to light something that 'hits home' with you, isn't it? Therefore - because of the finished work of the Cross. Since we are surrounded - there are both good examples of our faith and those we can learn from because they did stuff we do. Let us strip off every weight - there are more things that slow us down in our faith journey than there are things that seem to be encouraging us to move forward. It takes a conscious effort to see the things that encourage us to move on and then neglect to pay attention to those things that wa...