The Plumbline

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.   ( 1 Thessalonians 5:11   NLT ) What does it mean to be encouraged? I have experienced the type of encouragement to say or do something that later I would regret, such as when someone "encouraged" me to eat dirt clods because it would show that I was "cool" and "fearless". I was encouraged to stay away from any drugs when I was coming through school, both by role models and those who loved me very much. We can be "encouraged" in many ways, but not all types of encouragement is really intended for our good, so we need to become wise in discerning when it is truly encouragement and when it is just unwise taunting or prodding. Persuasion is rarely the type of encouragement God intends for each of us to engage in as brothers and sisters in Christ. Persuasion has a bit of manipulation behind it - either because we want something to go our way, or we want the other ...

I believe that a trusting attitude and a patient attitude go hand in hand. You see, when you let go and learn to trust God, it releases joy in your life. And when you trust God, you're able to be more patient. Patience is not just about waiting for something... it's about how you wait, or your attitude while waiting.  (Joyce Meyer) So, how's your trust developing these days? According to what Joyce proposes to us, when we develop a deeper and deeper trust, our patience is also developed. I believe she is spot-on with that belief, for none of us actually learns patience when we don't have trust in something to occur because of where or what we put our trust into at that moment. We look to that object or person to be the thing to accomplish or allow something to happen. I don't open a box and find cake - I find cake mix. Add to that some eggs, oil, and a little water - mix thoroughly - and I still don't have cake, but I have batter. Pour that into a greased pa...

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.   (Henry David Thoreau) My pastor did a wonderful job this past week describing the power of that "first step", so to speak. In his teaching, he described the pathway from desire to addiction. Desire is a good thing - it drives us to move, take on new things, and even to experience deep, meaningful relationship with others. Desire gone awry is not such a good thing - for the path first walked, when repeatedly walked will become a rut we find ourselves too easily drawn into as desire seeks to be fulfilled. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and wo...