Prophetic Vision: Plumb-Line Prophets, Arise!

As I think about all of the things swirling around us, both seen and unseen, I am convinced that we are in a season of cleansing and great self introspection. I have been thinking about the plumb-line prophets for a while now. It all began a few months ago when two separate people messaged me and identified me as a plumb-line prophet, one who declares the truth of His Word with fiery passion and the love of the Father. I had released a video on social media addressing a practice in the church that was controversial and frankly, unscriptural. The video was not to berate anyone, but to wake us up and to direct us back to the Word of God and to the Spirit of truth. We are called to discern and to test the spirits, and this seems to be lacking as of late.

There is a tendency in the charismatic sphere to go the way the wind blows and to accept anything and everything without question. If you do question or test what is done, you are deemed to have a religious spirit or a critical spirit, to be a closed-minded Pharisee lacking deep spiritual sensitivity. The problem is that we are using our experiences and our goosebumps to set the standard of truth instead of the Word of God, and we fail to have the proper plumb line in place. As I meditate on what it means to be a plumb-line prophet, I sense so strongly the urgency for the authentic plumb-line prophets to arise in this time to declare the truth with His heart at the center of every uttered word.

A Higher Standard

While in prayer recently, I laid in the floor in His presence, and as I did, I saw an internal vision of a plumb line dropping over me. A plumb line is a tool that is used to determine if something is vertical. My body was postured horizontally, but my prayers and my worship were directed vertically. The Lord was checking my foundation and my position. He was calling me to a higher standard in the Spirit while testing my verticality. Am I directing men and women to me, or am I directing them to Him? Is my life aligned properly with Him? Prophets, the plumb line is being dropped in the Spirit upon us to see if we are directing everything back to the Father.

I have read that carpenters and artists use plumb lines to ensure that their work remains straight. Almighty God, the greatest artist of all, desires for His masterpieces to be without any crooked place. Isaiah 28:17 (NIV) says, “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line.”

We must remember that it is because of the righteousness of God that we are able to be His mouthpiece upon the earth. We cannot be righteous in and of ourselves. Righteousness is imputed to us by faith in Jesus Christ. In the day in which we live, it is tempting to compromise the message so that the messenger is exalted. It is tempting to sugar coat a word so that it is easier to swallow.

I say this with the utmost humility as I am still learning myself, but we do not understand grace and holiness. We believe that one has nothing to do with the other when grace empowers us to live holy. We do not understand that real love corrects. It is completely possible and biblical to deliver a word of correction in a dispensation of grace. We must be willing to deliver the difficult words, knowing that the ultimate goal is to draw men’s hearts back to Jesus so that they can come to the Father.

Plumb Intimacy

God is raising up men and women of God who have the word of the Lord on their lips and the heart of the lion in their chests. They are prophetic voices of integrity, character and honor. They do not bow to status quo, nor do they alter the word to avoid persecution. Their wall is found straight, and they stand upon it to watch and to sound the alarm. They speak as an oracle of God, releasing nothing more and nothing less. They are fiery, yet they are compassionate and merciful as they minister from a place of brokenness before the Lord. My God, may brokenness return to our prayers and travail be a staple in our spiritual diet so that Your ways are brought forth.

These plumb line prophets’ fortitude is found in His presence. Intimacy is the substance measured. Do not fall into the trap of believing that power supersedes His presence. You and I can do great things and still not know Jesus Christ. The Word of God is supreme. However, make sure that you know the one who is the Word. Plumb-line prophets are laid-down lovers, beckoning the craftsman to drop the plumb line and to find them completely sound and vertical in their relationship with Him.

I sense such a stirring for pure prophetic voices to arise now. Edification, exhortation and comfort are important and biblical, but we also need words that cause us to check ourselves and to properly determine what is of God and what is not. As mature believers, we are to welcome the testing of the Spirit in operation so that we are not led astray by every wind of doctrine. Not all winds of doctrine blow back to the Father. Let us be willing to love each other enough to speak the truth. {eoa}

Dawn Hill is a Christ-follower and a freelance writer. She writes a blog called “Lovesick Scribe.”

This article originally appeared at lovesickscribe.com.