The Plumbline

“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart." (Luke 6:43-45) In case you were wondering, figs are not grown on bramble bushes. The fruit we produce is equal to the 'tree' that produces it. Character is a result of what we 'connect' our lives to on an ongoing basis. The fig cannot connect with the bramble bush any more than the thorns of the bramble bush can be produced from the fig tree. The connection wouldn't be consistent with what is being produced. The fruit born actually is a direct reflection of the tree - the nature of the tree produces the fruit. When our 'fruit' is a little bitter, kind of 'pric...

The fruit of the [consistently] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures and wins souls [for God—he gathers them for eternity]. (Proverbs 11:30) The fruit of the 'consistently' righteous - those who make the choice to live 'right', following the directions God gives over their lives. The idea of consistency might just vary a little bit depending on who you ask. To the one who is 'always' on the mark, they will define it as never missing the mark. To the one who occasionally misses the mark, they might define it as making good decisions the majority of the time with a 'once in a while' slip up. I will not debate this with anyone - when God asks for consistency, he means with no or very few exceptions. He forgives those exceptions when we ask for his forgiveness, repent, and actually turn back to him. He would much more prefer that the seeds he sows into our lives would produce 'consistent' growth, but he knows that even the most ...

Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11-12) Ever stop to think why God created seed-bearing plants and trees? Why a seed? Why not just have them grow some other way? It is a principle of 'creation' and one of 'reproduction'. The seed plant or tree was originally created, but the plan for reproduction was meant to show that the life 'created' was to be sustained and multiplied. It wasn't supposed to be a one-time deal - plant born, tree born, then they die off never to be seen again. There is a great deal of potential in the seed - growth from the seed represents the poss...

"Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished." (Og Mandino) This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:12-17) The same way Christ loved us - is it possible to love that much? I don't believe Jesus would have told us to do so if he wouldn't also empower us to love in such a manner. How does one actually lay down their life for another? Does it always require physical death? I don't believe Jesus would have told us to al...

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5,8) John Calvin said a dog barks when he sees his master attacked. Why would we ever think God wouldn't raise a ruckus when the enemy of our soul even attempts to snatch away one of his own? Those who remain in him can always be assured of his protective oversight in their lives. We have a protected relationship and one that is intended to be quite productive. It is no wonder our enemy wants so badly to get at us!  To remain indicates a specific state is met and maintained. In other words, we don't move from where are because it is a place specifically designed for us - a place designed for his presence to dwell. If we want to go beyond that protection, we will find ourselves kind of on our own - outside of the place where the best fruit can be developed in our lives. Maybe this is why we haven't produced fruit - we have ...

You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:16-17) Choice - to select from a number of possibilities - usually because you know something about what it is you are choosing. I choose one of a couple of brands of toilet tissue because I know the quality of those brands. I sometimes see other choices that may cost a little less, but I don't choose them because I have no clue as to their quality. I choose one brand of dish detergent because I have observed what it does when I make a sudsy water to wash my pots and pans. We make all kinds of choices each and every day, some of them pretty much a matter of 'routine' in our lives. There are choices we make consciously and others we make subconsciously, something we might not even realize we are doing. How is it we choose to serve Christ today? Is it a conscious or subconscious...

We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne. (Marcus Aurelius) What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” (James 2:14-18) Do good - for faith is manifested in the goodness produced without thinking - all because the heart is so in touch with God that goodness just flows fro...

Thomas Fuller reminds us: "One that would have the fruit must climb the tree." I would say the one that would have the fruit must first have a good root! Without proper rooting, the tree may grow for a while, but the fruit will be lacking. The tree will not withstand the winds that actually challenge its footing. And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7) Fuller also reminds us it is possible to miss the mark simply by aiming too high or too low. Where is your aim today? At what (or may I ask at whom) are you aiming? If you are to have deep roots, you must aid them in growth.  I have planted trees in my hard Arizona soil. Before I could sink those trees deep into the harder soil, they had to take root in rich, easily tended soil. They had ...

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. (Colossians 1:9-10) The moment we say 'yes' to Jesus, this 'grow as you learn' thing begins to happen. We might 'know' a little bit about God from what he has created, for creation speaks of him all around us. We might 'know' something about him because we went to church as a kid and heard 'things' about what he had done in the past. This walk with Jesus really begins in earnest once we move from just knowing 'things' about God into a place of really learning from him directly. Good fruit is produced at the hand of a skilled gardener. I have tried my hand at planting this or that in the 'garden', but I must not be a gardener. In truth, what ...

Mark Twain said that the human race had one really 'effective' weapon - laughter. I think our most effective weapon is not really laughter as much as it is the Word of God. Laughter might give us a momentary release - the Word of God and what it can accomplish within us is lasting and sure. Have you ever been reading through scripture only to find something within the passage 'calls out' some behavior you have been struggling with, or reveals some answer to a worry you have been mulling over? The purpose of the Word of God is to teach us - to make us wise. We are able to discern direction once hidden from us because of the work of the Spirit of God within us and the revelation of the Word of God to us. If we want more than an 'immediate release', we need to take in what can give us a permanent and secure hope. If you rebuke a mocker, you will only get a smart retort; yes, he will snarl at you. So don’t bother with him; he will only hate you for trying to help h...

A good friend gave me some advice that has stuck with me that I would like to share with you again today. She said, "Green is growing, ripe is rotting." At first, this may not seem like a very "profound" truth, but I have often thought on this, mulling over decisions I have made throughout my career, in my home, with my family, and in all kinds of relationships using this simple "rule of thumb". Keep yourself in a place of being just a little greener than you may like, and you won't risk the potential of losing contact with that which will continue to produce life within! I live in a region where citrus grows better than most other fruit. That green orange is on the tree a long, long time before it ever sets its color to resemble an orange. All through that long season of growth, the orange is actually quite green. It isn't that it isn't growing, it is just not "ripening". As soon as it begins to turn its full color, it actually...

You will know these people because of what they do . Good things don’t come from people who are bad, just as grapes don’t come from thornbushes, and figs don’t come from thorny weeds. In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, and bad trees produce bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. (Matthew 7:16-18) If you have ever had something begin to grow in your garden and then wondered what it might be, you may have left it grow a little longer because you think it resembles a flower or perhaps a plant that may produce some type of "fruit". As it grows, you can begin to tell if it is what you thought it might be or not. When it no longer resembles what you thought it was, you pluck it up because you now recognize it as not being the "fruit-bearing" plant you imagined. I feed birds - this produces a variety of "undergrowth" in my flowerbeds because they fling seed everywhere. There is also a whol...

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples." (John 15:5, 8) Most might be familiar with this passage about the vine and branches - being joined together with Christ producing new life within us. I have to ask - did anyone really see the part about how God shows WHO HE IS to the world? It is the production of fruit in our lives - when we become mature in our faith and stand strong in the faith - these are evidence of WHO he is, not just what he does! The first thing to remember is that fruit cannot be produced where ...

If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree. (Matthew 12:33) If you have mastered this art of jelly-making, you know under-ripe fruit that is too green actually makes the jelly a little cloudy in appearance. It affects the clarity of the jelly. The fruit must be ripe, but firm - not too mushy. If it is too green, it does not go through the "straining" process well. If still too green, it will cook down to what you think will make a good jelly, but you will have to exert too much pressure on it to get the juices out of it in the straining process. It actually makes the resulting "juice" for the jelly very cloudy. If you have ever tried to "force" fruit from your life (or had someone else trying to do it for you) - producing some semblance of "jelly-quality juice" from your life - you might have seen some of the issues of being "squee...

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples." (John 15:5, 8) A few moments this morning pondering this passage may help us to understand just how much God is concerned with our growth - not just our statements of faith or acknowledgements that he is God. He really wants us to know that he is a 'fruit inspector' - he looks for us to bear fruit! Yes, it will be over time because no fruit is instantaneous, but he still looks for signs of a harvest! Jesus points out the 'connection' that results in fruit-...

Fruit in season - it is just about time for some of my favorite fruits to hit the market. I love cherries, sweet watermelon, and cool honeydew. When fruit comes in season, I snatch it up, as I am a big fruit eater. During the 'leaner' fruit season of winter, I only have a select few fruits to choose from, such as bananas, apples, and oranges. Now, as summer is approaching, the markets are beginning to fill with fresh berries, melons, peaches, pears, and the list goes on. The bountiful harvest of fruit is something I look forward to, while the 'leaner' times are something I endure. The wicked envy what the evil plunder, but the root of the right-living produces fruit for all. (Proverbs 12:12) Fruit isn't just 'there' - it has to be produced in season. We don't find watermelon grows very well when the ground is covered with snowy ice, nor trees laden with peaches or plums when there is an absence of leaves in the frightful cold of winter. There is a...

As a parent, we all have those moments when we are less than patient with our children. As caregivers to the elderly, we can experience those similar moments. Regardless of our 'age' in Jesus, he never seems to become impatient with us. God is immensely patient with his children. He gives us space - to make our own choices. He gives us time - to come to our own conclusions. He gives us these things because he knows that in order to have our heart, he must have it yielded willingly - we must 'want to' yield our hearts to him. God is infinitely patient in his waiting for us to turn from our sin - but he will not wait forever. Sometimes, he gives us gentle, but quite firm nudges to cause us to see our sin. When he does, remember that it is out of his immense love for us that he has done so. You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think tha...

My grandson and I built a deck on my workshop this past weekend. It was an undertaking - each of us learning something along the way. As we were working, I heard him ask if I had enjoyed any grapes from my vines this year. I told him I had not because it takes at least two years for them to begin to produce. I did not expect any this year - in fact, if I see them next year, that will probably be about as soon as fruit would be predicted. As a child, we had a home surrounded by citrus trees - 13 of them in our yard. Grapefruit and oranges abounded this time of the year, but in order to enjoy their sweetness, we had to do more than just stand under the trees and hope a fruit would fall off into our waiting hands. We could pick the low hanging stuff pretty easily, but we had to climb ladders and branches to get to the rest of it! Oftentimes the most prized fruit was up higher and more hidden from immediate view. That made the discovery of the fruit much more enjoyable indeed. It was Thom...

We find reminders within scripture of the promise that those whom God calls, he also equips or enables to do the work they are called to do. One of the various ways we are "equipped" is with the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit of Truth in our lives is resident within us as a result of our inviting Christ into our lives as our Savior - saying "yes" to Jesus. It isn't a complicated invitation - but sometimes we make the acceptance of that invitation way more complicated than it needs to really be! If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you! (John 14:15-17) What does it mean to h...

One that would have the fruit must climb the tree.  (Thomas Fuller) When was the last time you climbed a tree? It has been years since I have actually climbed a tree in a literal sense! I consider it good these days to just scale a ladder! In a spiritual sense, I am constantly being asked to climb trees and reminded of the advantage of getting that different perspective! Not to mention - access to fruit I'd otherwise never be able to reach! Godly men are growing a tree that bears life-giving fruit, and all who win souls are wise. (Proverbs 11:30 TLB) A tree is made up of all manner of branches - some large and quite broad spreading; others wispy-like, but capable of holding lots and lots of weight beyond their imagined capacity. We'd think nothing of taking hold of that one with the broad expanse and firmness evident just by its size, right? We'd be silly to expect that wispy one to hold our weight, but it holds something very good if we can shimmy our way out t...