The Plumbline

Do you think God wants to judge anyone 'guilty' as they stand before him? If you know anything about scripture, you will know it is quite the opposite - for God "did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17) God's greatest joy is to receive us each into his great big family through the work of his Son, Jesus. If we desire to be free of guilt, we only need ask for that gift! The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do. But those who follow the true way come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through God.” (John 3:19-21) When we ask for light, we receive it and so much more. Grace comes in waves upon waves. Aren't you glad that grace is limitless? How is it that grace begins to do more

This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is. (John 3:20-21) A crisis is a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined - some call this a turning point. It can represent a condition of instability or danger, leading to a decisive change - not always for the best. Equally so, it can represent one of those events where there is a lot of dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life - leaving one to sort out the pieces when all is said and done. When a person is not interested in p

Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people, Joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil. (Psalm 97:11) Seeds are unique to the type of plant from which they come and their purpose is to bring forth growth that is the same as the plant from which they came. You cannot expect to obtain passion fruit from a grapefruit seed, nor grapefruit from a grape seed. To expect something other than what you plant is just plain silly. You might have planted some 'bad seed' and then hoped for a better outcome than what you planted, but that just isn't logical. Maybe this is why God reminds us it is reasonable to expect to harvest what we plant, and we must plant in order to harvest. The one planting seeds is as significant as the seeds being planted - not to mention "where" the seeds are planted - because the outcome is based on both. If God is the planter of the seeds, the harvest is more likely to produce the type of growth which will edify and build us up. He take

I don't know what God has planned for me or you or anyone, but I do know that in darkness, you discover an indistinguishable light.  (Cory Booker) There are seasons in our lives that we might call those 'dark' times when we just feel like the clouds are closing in around us emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. We cannot avoid them anymore than we can avoid the influx of clouds up in the sky. We could try to outrun them, but then would we ever truly appreciate the light that comes after the darkness passes? Would we ever truly begin to influence the darkness if we never let our inner light shine?  The light of the right-living brings joy as it burns brightly; the lamp of a wrongdoer will be snuffed out. (Proverbs 13:9) The light within burns brighter than any darkness we can experience - even those times of deeper emotional darkness when we think we might just become totally undone, destitute and alone. I am not ashamed to say I have stood squarely in th

Every now and again, I will purposefully use 'bad grammar' just because I am trying to get a point across - usually to show my genuine openness to an idea, or because I am just being a little silly. If you ever hear me tell my BFF that I just 'got schooled' in something, or 'learned me a new thing', it is just a way of letting her know I know something today I didn't know before. It may be seriously important information, or it could just be something that peaked my curiosity. I can be heard saying, "Hey, let's Google that", meaning that I want to understand the meaning of a word, figure out where something originated, or what something looks like. Yesterday, it was an herb used in traditional Mexican dishes, while a week ago it may have been why lady bugs are always called lady bugs and not man bugs! Being interested in learning is a very good thing, my friends, especially when the 'thing learned' helps us to grow stronger in Christ, m

"The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights." (Giotto di Bondone) If you have ever sailed through a dark, dark night on the ever black expanse of the tossing seas, you know the value of seeing even the tiniest of lights beckoning you on in the right direction. It is like a glimmer of hope that you are neither sailing alone, nor are you lost forever in the storm tossed seas. Light has a way of beckoning us - while darkness attempts to envelope and engulf us. Light brings expanse into perspective - darkness allows us to imagine all manner of whatever it is we can make up in our minds about whatever it is we are experiencing. Some of the best light I have received was not read in scripture, nor was it given in an audible voice from heaven. It came in the form of a sincere friend just simply stating things as plainly as possible and leaving those words there to just have their effect on me. I can admit to almost getting way too familiar with t