The Plumbline

You formed the way I think and feel. You put me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was! (Psalm 139:13-14) If you ever want to discount your feelings, don't! God made those emotions, and he knows how you will respond with them when life gets tough, sends a surprise your way, or gets you excited for something new you are about to experience. He formed the way we think AND the way we feel. In other words, he knows how we will 'interpret' the things we are experiencing. To think God doesn't know the way our brains work is a really silly belief. To imagine God doesn't want us to acknowledge our emotional responses to life's moments is also very foolish. He made both and he isn't 'put off' by how we think or what we feel. He may want to help us think a little clearer and have less fluctuation in our emotions on occasion, but he isn't surprised by either! The way we think can b...

  Your love must be real. Hate what is evil. Do only what is good.   Love each other in a way that makes you feel close like brothers and sisters. And give each other more honor than you give yourself.  (Romans 12:9-10) Sometimes it is way too easy to put on our 'public happy face' in the presence of what we know are unkind or evil actions, going about life as though all things within our life were wonderful all of the time, all the while struggling on the inside to just keep it together. The 'public happy face' fools no one, especially God. The more ingenuine we are with each other, the longer it will take for us to realize the healing we need so desperately require as a society. Real love for one another doesn't require the 'public happy face' to be worn. In fact, real love displayed means we are 'real' with each other - even when life is a bit messy, or our 'perfection' isn't quite measuring up that day, and evil seems to be gaining gr...