The Plumbline

The celestial realms announce God’s glory; the skies testify of His hands’ great work. Each day pours out more of their sayings; each night, more to hear and more to learn. (Psalm 19:1-2 VOICE) As a child, I'd lay under the shade of a big tree's shadow just staring at the clouds passing overhead. If I was with friends, we'd try to imagine the shapes were dogs, cats, horses, or some such thing. If I was alone, the geek in me would come out and I would ponder how they came to be made, what caused them to move so rapidly, why they changed appearances as they did. Way out in the desert at night, the skies would be pitch black, stars aglow in massive quantities. The heavens did declare something of God's glory, even back then, and they continue to do so now. His 'great work' is on display for us in the skies overhead, although we may miss it if we don't stop long enough to ponder it. That simple activity as a child was possible because I had nothing but time! As...

 Jesus answered, “I told you, but you don’t believe. Everything I have done has been authorized by my Father, actions that speak louder than words. You don’t believe because you’re not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind.” (John 10:28-30) Has God ever told you something, shown you it through scripture or in a sermon, only to find you still don't believe what he has shown you? It can sometimes take days and years for some of us to believe what God says and then to act upon it, or allow it to act upon us as he desires for his words to work. Why? We question authority. We hold onto preconceived ideas about how God works. We live in fear that God will ask us to...