The Plumbline

There are times when we all need to hear the words that are more than 'fluff' or 'flattery' - they need to be words that will bolster our courage, increase our faith, and help to put "steel in our spines" again. No matter how hard we try, we ALL experience moments of doubt - the siege "against" us seeming to be far more prepared than our own defense. The truth is, we are often caught unaware in the moment of attack in our lives. Most of us have little to no clue of the next thing which will put us into a tailspin. As I am writing this, I am listening to the words of a song declaring our God is stronger, our God is for us, so who could stand against us or stop us. Now those are rallying words! Hezekiah rallied the people, saying, "Be strong! Take courage! Don't be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops— there are more on our side than on their side . He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us ...

We all have a bad hair day once in a while, or one of those 'clothing crisis' mornings when nothing seems to fit or flatter your frame the way you want it to. Consider the outfit, thinking it would make you look good for whatever meeting or event lay ahead that day, then almost immediately you pull it off, replace it back on the hanger and return it to the rack? Your first impression when you picked it from the closet was that it 'would do' for the day, but you quickly found out it wouldn't 'do' at all! Maybe it is a "girl thing", but I think guys go through this frustration once in a while, too. They may just not admit it! There is one form of "attire" which will never disappoint, never look odd or old on us, and it is guaranteed to always flatter our 'frame'. It is the 'suit' that cannot be bought, but is 'hand-made' just for us. I will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed...

Working hard at a task, seeing incremental changes which appear to be in the right direction, gives a soul expectancy for things to be different from what they are today. The idea of "hope" is the anchor which holds every person in the battle of cancer treatment. The chance the latest chemo treatment may just be the one to kick those rebellious cells into remission gives one a chance to believe things may turn out well. Studying hard for an upcoming examination, reading and rereading every important section of our books, gives us hope of a good grade in the end. We all live with some element of "hope" in our lives. If we did not, we'd shrivel up and die - if not physically or spiritually, at least emotionally! Hope is found in the smallest things - even the tiny blade of grass that emerges from the ground after a long winter of ice and snow gives hope of spring's warmth and the return of 'color' again to our world. Unrelenting disappointment leav...