The Plumbline

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Inside is much different than what is outside, is it not? Right now, Arizona is warming up and the temperature outdoors is hot, while the cool of the air conditioned inside is much more pleasant. Have you ever tried to take something inside that really needed what was outside in order to prosper and grow? In time, you found it could not adjust to the change and it either beckoned to be released outside again, or it died. We are coming to a peak and possibly the decline in this pandemic. What lies behind each of us with recent events? Some will have no job to return to because they were furloughed and now must find new work once the country 'reopens'. Others will realize they didn't even make a small dent in the cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and foodstuff they squirreled away against 'impending doom'. Still others will emerge with a strong...

There is something that happens when God's people gather together. By the very experience of being together in one accord - no emphasis on differences, no focus on the inadequacies of each other, but simply being content to gather in his name, united in their worship - there is a door opened to heaven unlike any other time. We have lost the 'art' of being 'one' - it has become so easy to be divided, or critical of others that we just don't realize the power we are losing out on by not being 'one'. When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.  (Acts 2:1-4) Without warning, an event began to transpire that would result in the transformation of th...

8  The psalmist tells about this, for he says that when Christ returned triumphantly to heaven after his resurrection and victory over Satan, he gave generous gifts to men.  9  Notice that it says he returned to heaven. This means that he had first come down from the heights of heaven, far down to the lowest parts of the earth.  10  The same one who came down is the one who went back up, that he might fill all things everywhere with himself, from the very lowest to the very highest.   (Ephesians 4:8-10 TLB) Christ came down from the heights, but his return to those heights made possible the "filling" - not with a temporary filling of power, but with a permanent presence of himself wherever we are and go. That means everywhere you are, if Christ's presence dwells within your heart, then Christ is right there in the midst of the present moment. Many times we focus on the coming of Christ, but forget there is a "remaining" part that actually was the ...