The Plumbline

Light, space, zest—that’s God! So, with him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing... I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth. Stay with God! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God. (Psalm 27:1, 13) Begin with God, and we will surely end well! I wonder what could happen within our days if we'd make a conscious effort to begin with God and then at the end of the day begin to recount the things of our day in the light of what he brought us through, showed us, and even kept us from experiencing some harshness just because of his awesome oversight? Beginnings often differ from endings, do they not? Some of us begin quite well, ending with less than stellar performance. Others begin on a little bit of a shaky footing but somehow end pretty well considering how we began. One thing I believe God wants for us is the certainty of beginning well AND the reward of ending well. If we consider there is a whole lot of "in between&q

Are you one of those individuals with unfinished projects tucked away here and there throughout your house? Maybe something about your house is unfinished and you have been just 'living with it' for a while because you lack the resources or energy to get it finished. We may even have things in our lives that we'd like to see changed, but the completion of that change just seems to be stalled. God, high above, sees far below - right into those areas of our lives that are 'started', but not quite 'finished' yet! We may not "see" him, but he sees us! If nothing else, the fact that God even notices humankind should bring us to our knees! Be quite clear on this - "no matter the distance, he knows everything about us". Nothing escapes his notice - nothing is overlooked for his intervention. Too many times we come to the conclusion that we are in the thick of things all alone - no one noticing the mess we are in. Just the opposite is true - God

We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God’s anger just like everyone else.    But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much  that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead—only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved— and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms—all because of what Christ Jesus did.    And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:3-7 TLB) Yesterday, we began a study in this passage. If we want to deal with the residue we have in life, we need to recognize WE started out bad, but WE don't have to finish the way we started! The truth of the matter is that none of us is truly all that different from the other - we all have a sin nature and we all need a Savior. God's

"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." (T. S. Eliot) What ends have become your new beginnings? One of the most fearful places to be is at the "end" - for the "end" requires one to either choose a new beginning, or to settle for a place of stagnancy. Either way, there is something to be "feared" as one approaches the "end" of any matter. As my BFF and I were sitting at lunch the other day, we began to contemplate just how near retirement was for each of us. Not too awfully long ago, I was just "starting out" in my career as a nurse, and in about the blink of an eye, here I was contemplating what the next six years might bring before "retirement" age was reached. It is kind of scary to think about occupying my time with new ventures, while at the same time it is rather exciting. In the end, I will choose to "end" one thing