The Plumbline

As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God. (Galatians 6:14-16 NLT) Our interest in this world went to the cross the moment we said yes to Jesus - it was nailed there once and for all. We don't have to struggle with this world's temptations and influence if we truly believe all that 'old stuff' of our lives before Christ was actually dealt the final blow of death. We try to complicate this new life in Christ will all manner of things, rituals, and 'systems'. Truth be told, the world only complicates things through 'religion'. All 'belonging to a denomination' will ever...

Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. (Romans 12:12) Luther said, "To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." So many believers have such a hard time with prayer, though. It is as though you begin to pray and your mind is making your shopping list, calculating the budget, or thinking about the outcome of the baseball game last night. We get distracted in prayer - we all try to focus, but then our mind does its own thing. Perhaps that is why we are told to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). God knows our tendency to get 'mind-napped' when we pray! It is said that prayer doesn't change God's mind, but it sure can change ours, can it not? We go to God with one thing on our mind, almost as though we know what we expect him to do or say in response to our prayer. We soon find ourselves thinking about things in a different way and wonder what happened. It is because God was at work THROUGH OUR PRAYE...