The Plumbline

Who can see into a man’s heart and know his thoughts? Only the spirit that dwells within the man. In the same way, the thoughts of God are known only by His Spirit.    You must know that  we have not received the spirit of this  rebellious and broken  world but the Spirit that comes from God, so that we may experience and comprehend the gifts that come from God.    We do not speak of these  gifts of God  in words shaped by human wisdom; we speak in words crafted by the Spirit because our collective judgment on spiritual matters is accessible to those who have the Spirit.    But a person who denies spiritual realities will not accept the things that come through the Spirit of God; they all sound like foolishness to him. He is incapable of grasping them because they are  disseminated,  discerned,  and valued  by the Spirit.    A person who walks by the Spirit examines everything , sizing it up and seeking...

  8-9 "Don't think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment...   12-13 Then they were on the road. They preached with joyful urgency that life can be radically different; right and left they sent the demons packing; they brought wellness to the sick, anointing their bodies, healing their spirits. (Mark 6:8-9; 12-13) The disciples are being sent out in pairs to begin to reach out to those in need.  Their goal is to preach that the Kingdom of God is at hand and to heal the sick - setting the captive free.  Before they go, Jesus takes a moment to give them their "marching orders".  The first thing he focuses on is the human tendency to tell God we don't have what we need to accomplish what it is that he is asking us to do.  Jesus tells them not to be concerned about the "equipment" to perform the tasks ahead - letting them know in no uncertain terms that THEY are the equipment God needs and plans to use. This is an important mess...

1-3  "I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. (John 15:1-3) An age-old question:  Why does a tree or vine need to be pruned?  Doesn't it hurt it?  Won't it die if we do all that cutting?  I remember watching Dad take out the pruning sheers, oiling them a little, sharpening the blades, and then cutting the bushes, vines and trees until they barely resembled what they were.  In the end, they looked "naked" - cut back almost to the point of what I considered to be "death". What I did not understand was that proper pruning produces even more growth and prolongs the life of the tree or bush.  In fact, Dad would point out that an un-pruned tree could actually be a hazard - branches breaking off in windstorms or causing damage to roofs and surrounding st...