The Plumbline

The same road - the same direction - but do we see things differently along that road as we travel in the same direction? You betcha! This lesson was illustrated the other day as we were commuting home. Every other week, my BFF and I take turns driving. Some days mom is in the carpool with us as she heads off to her day club for a little socialization. When that happens, one of us sits in the back seat, allowing us to have both a higher view of the surroundings and a little less distracted view. I have observed just how many text while driving, reading emails and social media feeds, not just at the stoplight, but as they drive! My BFF observed the local nursery got a face-lift of sorts, complete with new parking lot and entrance. I mentioned to her that had been completed months ago and she looked surprised. Why? Although we had traveled the road multiple times in that same direction, that one observation had escaped her view. It is not uncommon that we travel at the same pace, in the

Have you ever read a portion of scripture so many times, you just gloss over it because you think you are already "familiar" with it?  What happens is we tell our brains we already know the "story".  It is like when we asked mom or dad to read us the bedtime story for the 2,000th time!  We didn't need them to read it out loud because we could have just looked at the pictures and told THEM the story!  It wasn't that we memorized it - we remembered enough of the details to "tell the story".  I like to go back to some of my favorite portions of scripture frequently because they have challenged me, given me hope, set my thinking straight, etc.  I count on what happened before to give me something "new" this time around.  The most amazing thing about scripture - it almost always does this when we come with an open mind and a seeking heart! God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of

Have you ever been guilty of identity theft?  Now, don't all rush to admit it, but at one time or another in your life, I think you probably were!  You see, anytime you compare yourself to another and then evaluate whether you can "conform" to the image you see of the other is really a form of trying to commit identity theft!  If you actually pull it off, conforming to the image of another, you have done the deed.  Problem is . . . we often compare ourselves to a flawed image - making what we conform to only able to reproduce another flawed image! God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them   reflecting our nature s o they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, t he birds in the air, the cattle, a nd, yes, Earth itself,  and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”   God created human beings;  he created them godlike, r eflecting God’s nature.   He created them male and female.  (Genesis 1:26-28 MSG) Anytime we try to be someone or somethin