The Plumbline

We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:16-21 NLT) If you have ever thought, "Gosh, those Old Testament prophets were so hard to understand. Maybe we don't need to study those books quite as much," then hear me out. As we read in ...

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:26-28 NLT) We frequently hear the verse reminding us that God works all things out for our good. We seldom quote what comes before that verse, overlooking the fact that we will have moments when we are weak, when we don't know how to pray, and when our heart will be hurting so much that we don't even want to pray. The more we 'don't know' what our heart is trying to express, the more we need the Spirit within us to express it for us. The 'good' God will bring forth from experiences where ...