The Plumbline

Do you ever feel like your prayers are kind a little like "complaints" to God?  It is like you see this shingle hanging over heaven's gate and it reads "Complaint Department".  Even I am guilty of sometimes just spilling my guts to God about stuff which comes out sounding a whole lot like I am complaining (usually because I am!) and a lot less like I actually want to spend time with him!  I think we all might just go through periods of time when our prayers are little more "needy" than others - when we just have to let it all out, so to speak.  Maybe the most amazing thing to me is the way God responds to my "complaint" sessions.  I might think he'd get a little tired of this kind of jabbering on about what is wrong in my life, but in actuality, he listens, often using my very own words to give me the change in perspective I actually need.  Did you catch that?  He uses MY OWN words to change MY perspective - allowing me to spill my guts a...

There are times when we don't realize what we have - it is of great worth, but we don't really recognize that worth until someone points it out to us.  I have some old coins which I have come by in the change I get while shopping on occasion. I tuck them away, not because I realize their worth, but because I imagine they must be worth more than the penny or nickle their face value declares.  If I were to do a little research, I might find the penny worth fifty cents or the nickle worth a couple of dollars.  To the one who REALIZES their worth - they are very important.  To the casual "collector" like me, they are trinkets to be stashed away.  Some of us don't know what we have within our reach as it comes to our relationship with Jesus.  Sure, we have accepted him as the Son of God, given for our sinfulness to bear the penalty of the cross and the victory over the grave.  Yet, we don't really know what his birth, death, burial, and resurrection REALLY ...

If you have never read the account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness just before he launches out into his "public" ministry, it is worth a read.  As the Devil tempts Jesus, he puts him through three tests - one aimed at his physical hunger with the intention of getting Jesus to satisfy his needs on his own; a second aimed at getting him to jump off a high place and presuming upon the grace of God to catch him before he fell to the ground; and a third aimed at getting Jesus to "save the world" without really having to go to the cross by accepting an alternative to God's divine plan.  After all three of these temptations, we find the words, "That completed the testing."  Lest we think the Devil is all done with us when we don't give into one or more tests, remember the rest of the passage - he retreated TEMPORARILY.  His "retreat" is always only temporary at best.  He actually is looking for the next opportunity to interject himself ...