The Plumbline

Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?  Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever. (Psalm 15 NLT) Who gets invited into God's presence time and time again? Who enjoys the freedom of access into his presence without worry or fear? Those who have said yes to his invitation, of course! - Those who walk straight, act right, and tell the truth. That is a pretty big order on the scale of obedience, is it not? Walk straight with no deviation from God's planned course. We attempt deviations all t...

I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! (Philippians 3:9-11 NLT) How many times do we count on our own efforts to make us feel 'better' about ourselves? If you preen in front of the mirror each morning, are you doing it to please God, yourselves, or others? While I am grateful that I have a hairbrush, toothbrush, and soap, I don't spend a whole lot of time focusing on physical appearance. I choose not to wear makeup, but there is nothing wrong with it. I choose not to curl my hair or straighten it with a flat iron, though those styles are quite nice on others. I do choose to sit each morning with my Bible, read a bit, spend s...