The Plumbline

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. (2 Timothy 1:7-9 NLT) Plato once said, "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." Light brings what didn't seem to exist into existence. I said "didn't seem to exist" because it was there all the time, we just didn't acknowledge it. Sin remains hidden until light exposes it. Greed, mistrust, and our own human lust is uncovered by light. Even our human limits are uncovered by God's light, are they not? Mankind has come to fear light because they have become comfortable with their darkness. Never be ashamed to bring the light into the darkness of this world, my friends. It may seem a little intimidating to stand before others, allowing your light to shine brightly. It may even seem that you will face more battles when you declare...

God loves all who hate evil, and those who love him he keeps safe, snatches them from the grip of the wicked. Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people, joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil. So, God’s people, shout praise to God, give thanks to our Holy God! (Psalm 97:10-12) What a joy it must be when God's people love him so much, they just cannot help but hating everything that is evil! When we draw so close to light, we cannot stand to live in darkness any longer. In love deeply with Jesus, or kind of on the sidelines of just not wanting to have much to do with him - the same fact remains: God's love is reaching out for you! When we respond to his reaching love, we are brought into places of communion with him never before imagined possible. Communion is really "common union" - it is the sharing in "common" of what each brings into the relationship. If you haven't figured this out yet - we don't bring much into this relationship ...