The Plumbline

Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.” (Isaiah 35:1-4 NLT) With this news...we share so much in the way of 'negative' or 'disheartening' news, why is it that we don't share the good news equally as frequently or as quickly? The moment we declare that God will display his glory in a particular situation, we are going to hear from a lot of naysayers that things are 'too far gone' or 'unable to be any better as ...

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19) The 'old' may have seemed pretty awesome, but have you ever considered what God may be doing when he is beginning something new in you? There have been times when I have been so comfortable with the 'old new' that God did in me that I resist his moving me on into something 'new' again. I want to look back instead of forward, making it harder for him to keep me focused on what he is about to do. God may be laying out some pretty awesome change right ahead of us, but as long as we are constantly looking back and longing for the 'old new', we aren't going to fully embrace the 'new' he has in store. I have noticed that God begins something 'new' and then he kind of 'wraps up' the 'old new' for us. It is like he is repainting the walls of o...

Life Hack #25: According to Webster, a crisis is a "turning point" in a set of circumstances where the future outcome is determined . The point of crisis in any issue we face is pivotal to where we will end up - it is not 'pre-determined' for it to end one way. Understanding how to hold up in the midst of the "point of turning" can be the most important part of actually making it through. Most of us just think of a crisis as something ugly happening to us at the moment and it is a little difficult to endure. If we begin to see it as a "turning point", we might just handle it differently. We might just decide we don't like what is determined and embrace a different path back into the arms of Jesus! If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place. (Proverbs 24:10) In times of crises the things we focus on make all the difference. If all we see is the insurmountable odds against us, we will tend to see only the...

Has it ever occurred to you to actually watch the road signs on your journey home from somewhere you frequent, such as work, a visit to the family, or the trip to the theater? Most likely, you just go there, and then head back the same way. You don't even consider those road signs along the way. Why? You know the way! You have made the trip so many times you don't even have to pay all that close attention. You probably navigate by landmarks instead. If someone were to change one of those landmarks, would it be possible for you to miss your turn? Maybe, but not likely. Change your route home because there is a major traffic snafu or significant road repairs underway and you have to pay closer attention, don't you? You likely follow the traffic - you go where you see them going because they must know the way, right? Having followed a few lines of traffic through winding neighborhoods only to end up further away from my destination than I was to begin with, let me assure you f...

I think Henry Ford may have been the one to remind us, "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal".  We all seem to lose focus on the mission, if even for a temporary span of time, when we get wrapped up in the obstacles in our midst. Booker T. Washington said, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome." An obstacle is anything or anyone that "obstructs" our vision, progress, or stand. It almost blocks our passage from one point to the other. If you are like me, these are simple annoyances that you "deal with" and then quickly move on. I sometimes "paint myself into a corner", then am left trying to figure a way out - tackling more than an 'annoyance'. How about you? The truth is, there has never been an obstacle (or a corner) that God has not been right there with the wisdom to help me through it (or around it).  The perception...