Devotion

Sacred

“The moment someone chooses to trust in Jesus Christ, his sins are wiped away, and he is adopted into God’s family. That individual is set apart as a child of God, with a sacred purpose.”
Charles Stanley

“What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and work flow.”
Martin Luther

“Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking where they should be listening. But he who can no longer listen to his brother will soon be no longer listening to God either; he will be doing nothing but prattle in the presence of God too. This is the beginning of the death of the spiritual life … One who cannot listen long and patiently will presently be talking beside the point and be never really speaking to others, albeit he be not conscious of it. Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sacred is an anagram for the word, scared. This, I believe, is a hint to the attitudes we choose from in pursuing the lives our God has entrusted us with. We each have the choice to live our lives in a fear based manner that views each day as a series of attacks and challenges on our well being, or we may choose to see our lives as sacred gifts we can dedicate to service and transformation of ourselves and others through Jesus Christ. Which theme will you choose… scared or sacred?

Our lives are not our own,
they are sacred.
Invaluable gifts,
to never be squandered.
There should be no mystery
at the end of our days
how we were used by God
when it’s pondered.

A pen should only be lifted
if God’s invited to write.
A speaker should only read
if he’s prayed for God’s sight.
Silence is sacred
and listening king
when the suffering are heard
and given love’s wings.

©Joel Tipple 7/20/2019

Hearing God

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:27 ESV

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17 ESV

“Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.”
From an essay titled, “Social Aims” by Ralph Waldo Emerson published in 1875.

Communication. It’s not so easy, is it? And we live in a time when communication is seemingly effortless. Unless the person we wish to speak with is located somewhere one of the many technologies dedicated to communication is not available, we are often able to connect almost instantly. Any time we want. Not that long ago, within the perspective of human history, one had to wait weeks or even months for a letter to find its recipient. I’m guessing letter writers were pretty careful with their words. Now, we live in a sea of words. Print media has virtually ceded power and influence to television and the internet. Vigilance over what we read and what we listen to is more important than ever. Who we listen to and believe and our responsibility to do our own due diligence is more critical than ever.

The two scriptures shown here at the top reveal aspects of God talking to us. One of the primary ways we are able to hear God is through scripture. The Bible we rely on to hear God remains remarkably unchanged. It is truly a miracle that it has stayed intact over the centuries. It’s clear God has kept a hedge of protection around his word. However, contrast those scriptures with the quote from Emerson. A Google search will reveal multiple versions of the original words, some differing so as to seem like the results of a game of telephone. Some of my favorite quotes are attributed to Winston Churchill. Unfortunately, there are a few that can’t be accurately sourced to the famed British leader, though they are repeated often.

So, we rely on scripture to hear God. Also, we rely on prayer. And part of prayer is listening. Being quiet. Finding a gentle river apart from the thundering sea of words and other sounds we are bombarded with every day. If sleep is a way for our body and mind to repair itself, surely prayer is a way to repair our spirit and hear God. Finally, we come to fellowship. God has designed us to be social beings, even for those of us who prefer solitude over crowds, there is a need to speak and be spoken to. God made us for community, where there is learning, sharing, and yes, healing, to be found.

I search for the hearing of you,
with every sense with which I was born.
I cry for the knowing of you,
and pray for the knowing to never be torn.
Teach me to gather every way
I can be with you.
Help me collect them,
as gifts beyond value.
Though the world may thunder away,
let me yet hear your whisper today,
the precious treasure,
the hearing of you.

© Joel Tipple 7/13/2019



Don’t Wait

The first funeral I remember is one I didn’t go to. I don’t know if my parents decided I was too young or if I was given the choice of going and decided to opt out. I do remember what I spent the service’s time doing while I was waiting at my aunt’s house: I read a book called, “Rascal,” by Sterling North. Wonderful book, but I digress.
For as long as we have records to tell us what humans have been up to on earth, we’ve had rituals associated with death. Christians believe a person’s afterlife experience has everything to do with whether the man or woman asked for forgiveness of their sins and committed to a relationship with Jesus Christ. But even within the Christian faith, funerals and memorial services vary greatly in style and tone. What’s true of an Irish Catholic service is not for an Irish Protestant. What’s true of Greek Orthodox is not for the Southern Baptist, and so on and so on. Any way you slice it, these celebrations of life can be tricky affairs for our emotions to handle. The grieving process involves pain, even when the person we’re saying goodbye to left a long and fulfilling life. If we’re not ready for them to go, or if the hole left in our life seems impossible to fill, the trauma can take a lifetime to resolve, if it’s ever resolved at all.
It may sound trite, but I’m convinced how we handle death has a lot to do with how we handle life. What I mean by that is, if you had told your loved one all the ways they had contributed to and enriched your life, if you had told them not just that you loved them, but why, would it make dealing with their passing much, much better? Beyond that, and beyond whether it would be a good thing to do, isn’t it absolutely the essential thing to do? I believe it is.

If I didn’t say, loved one, how much I love you,
if I didn’t say how much and all the whys,
if I put it off till all of our todays ran out,
would there be too much pain to say goodbye?

If I didn’t lift you up
when you were discouraged,
feed you when you were too weak,
If I didn’t give you the words
Jesus said were most important,
when the time came to say goodbye,
how could I speak?

Sometimes in life we see death coming,
but too often it comes
and we didn’t know.
Since we might not see tomorrow
the people we care for today,
let’s not put off the loving words
that we owe.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:1-7 ESV

©Joel Tipple 7/6/2019

Stubborn Joy

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 16:13 ESV

…and those the Lord has rescued will return, they will enter Zion with singing, everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 35:10 NIV

Dandelions are one of the most persistent and stubborn of all common garden weeds. They’re also known as swine’s snout, yellow gowan, Irish daisy, priest’s crown, peasant’s cloak and wet-a-bed (possibly for its diuretic effect). The common dandelion was introduced to North America by European settlers in the 1600s. Settlers grew it in their gardens for food and medicine.
Although common garden weeds like the dandelion may make our lives difficult if they aren’t part of our landscape plans, our difficulty in eradicating them points to a natural strength we might choose to emulate, especially when it comes to joy. Weeds stubbornly cling to life and proliferation, though rare is the gardener who invites them into their garden or seeks to nourish them. As is the case with the useful dandelion, joy in its proper context, righteous joy that encourages our spirit and binds us to God, should be sought by every believer. Though certainly not every circumstance we experience is joyful, God invites us to inhabit his joy in the midst of every circumstance anyway.

Joy, you have always found me when I called,
though the times at times were desperate.
When fears and doubts filled my mind,
your stubborn light still calmed it.

No matter the matter with me,
or standard attacks from the enemy,
when I sought you out within
the treasure of God’s word
you became for me a lifeline to victory.

Though joy impostors
spawned by a lost world
may seem right for a time,
Their empty promises
and false flags unfurled
will always be revealed as lies.

True joy does not compete with God,
but draws us to him instead.
A diet rich and uplifting
filled with his love
should always be our bread.

©Joel Tipple 06/29/2019





One Voice

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Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God and there is no other.
Isaiah 45:22 English Standard Version

The Summer of 1972 I was 13-years-old, and in between falling in love with girls, I managed to fall in love with Jesus. It was the height of the west coast Jesus movement and the week-long church camp I attended that August was infused with joyful gospel music and the promise of an exciting life following the Lord. In the Fall several members of our church youth group formed a lunchtime Bible study and we experienced misguided pushback when the school told us we couldn’t hold our prayer meeting on school property. Looking back, I think this only served as encouragement for me. After all, didn’t this reaction from the adults in our life prove we young people were doing something daring and rebellious? Whether we fit the classic mold of rebels or not, God used those early experiences to bring many of us to what would become a lifetime commitment to seeking God’s way. I may not have felt like a revolutionary, but, as my faded blue jeans jacket with “Jesus Is The Way” on it indicated, I wanted everyone to know where I stood. In the years since, my devotion to God has waxed and waned, but true to His Word, the Lord always sought me out, drawing me back to Jesus, where I belong.

Today is truly a concerning time for those committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In some countries, societal pressures and trends have led to the watering down of God’s message, while others have taken a more direct approach by simply outlawing the gathering of Christians altogether, even threatening with death Christ followers who persist. However, attempts to marginalize, politicalize, or weaponize the Church have always ultimately been overcome by the simplicity of Jesus’ message. The power of the Bible lies in its mind-blowing resistance to change and misinterpretation, its ability to bring redemption to fallen man, no matter the forces arrayed against it.

They didn’t know, God,
when they drove you to the cross,
that the message they considered
as so much dross
would change the world.

They might have read, Lord,
their own prophets had preached,
but they lost their ears to hear
and shortened their reach
instead of taking hold
of the only lifeline that mattered.

But as the years continue,
Lord, we’re forced to ask,
how long our world has
before it’s taken to task?
We know you are patient
but now call for us to decide
to be gathered up
as your flock and bride.

For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2 New Living Translation

© Joel Tipple 5/18/2019

Respect

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So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12

Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
1 Peter 2:17

My first job was working for our family business. In the little town where I grew up that happened to be a service station. Typical of small-town America, “Jack Tipple Motors” did everything from selling and servicing cars to fixing lawn mowers and pulling wayward motorists out of ditches. Beginning in my adolescence, I learned the subtleties of pushing a broom and as I got older did other jobs like running out to the gas pump when a car made the bell ding. That’s back when “full service” was the norm. My dad taught me by example and instruction the way I should conduct myself when serving the public. Although I never had the knack or inclination for the technical aspect of the business my Dad was in, I learned how to work hard, be reliable, and treat people with respect and courtesy.

One such learning opportunity came when a sales representative was visiting the shop one day. He had just finished showing my dad a display and I thought this would be a great opportunity to show off something witty I had probably picked up watching TV.  Although my dad had a sense of humor, I had not yet learned the art of when to speak up and when to remain silent. This was probably not the first, and certainly not the last time I would have to learn this sometimes painful lesson. As the sales rep wound up his talk I piped up and asked, “Got any more bright ideas?”  Everything stopped. Rather than the hearty laughter and knee-slapping I expected from the adults in the room, there was silence, an expression of hurt from the salesman, and anger from my dad. I had managed to simultaneously embarrass the salesman and cause my father to lose face. I don’t remember the details of what I was told after being marched off to our office. The lecture was brief, heated, and included my going back to the salesman and tearfully saying I was sorry. After all these years, the memory of that moment still makes me cringe.

Are you a miser?
Is respect your currency?
Do you dole it out
to those you think most godly?
Are you only a respecter
of those who stroke your ego?
Consider carefully…
before saying no.
Do you jealously guard
what you believe your place to be?
And who put you there? Was God the authority?

The love of God
we express for all we meet
must surely
generously
share a dose of dignity.
Befriend someone
who needs a friend,
but remember…
You can’t lift someone up
by looking down on them.

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
Winston Churchill

© Joel Tipple 5/4/2019

Children

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Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciple rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away.
Matthew 19:13-15 ESV

I don’t blame Blanche Wilson at all for the wreck I almost got into the day of her funeral. It wasn’t her fault I was nervous and running late on my way to be one of her pallbearers. She had no part in my failure to wipe down the dewy windows of my 1965 Oldsmobile Cutlass that morning. No, this was all my doing. I failed to do all the things a good driver normally does when they’re pulling out into traffic, like making sure I could see what was coming down the road before proceeding. Fortunately, as the angry officer who came so close to hitting me explained, he had been well trained in accident avoidance by the California Highway Patrol. Otherwise, both of our mornings could have been much worse. As it was, instead of severe damage to my first car, me, and maybe the officer, I was given a stern lecture and a traffic ticket before I headed on to the service.

All that is less important, however, than the reason I found myself participating in the service at all. Mrs. Wilson was one of my Sunday School teachers and she loved me. She made sure I knew I was the apple of Jesus’ eye and that went double for her. Another thing I remember about her is that we were to be referred to as children, not kids. According to her, kids were small goats, children were children, and there was to be no confusing the two. I think sometimes we fail to appreciate the impact teachers and other caring adults have on children. Many times, children simply need to know they are important and have people in their lives who recognize that fact. The critical nature of the role we have in lovingly pointing little ones in our care toward Jesus can’t be overestimated.

God bless the children in our lives.
Do you remember
what it was like to be one?
In the rush to get things done
don’t forget to show God’s son
to the most precious people of all.

God bless the ones who must look up.
Let them see the savior mirrored in your face.
Take the time to teach,
to model more than preach
like Jesus did.

God bless the little ones
who must follow our lead,
whose good lot in life
is not always guaranteed.
Do what you can to fill the gap,
for the times when they lack.
God’s provision of care
is first for these.

An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
Luke 9:46-48 ESV

© Joel Tipple 4/27/2019

Storms

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I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 ESV

When I was growing up there were essentially three places for us to get groceries: large, medium, and small. Large meant driving across the river and over to the next biggest town. Medium meant going up Main Street to our own town’s primary grocery store. Small meant going down our street and around the corner to what we referred to as “The Little Store.” The Little Store was the place my mom could send me to get that last minute item she needed to complete our dinner, like a half gallon of milk. One afternoon I was on such an errand. After making my purchase I got back on my bike for the short ride home and noticed the wind had picked up considerably. What you’d expect to be blowing across the street, like small leaves, had been joined by small limbs and roofing shingles. By the time I got home the wind was getting even stronger and over the course of that evening, the wind storm would continue to strengthen, taking out our electricity. The next day we learned many trees, telephone poles, and even several barns had succumbed to the wind. It would be a couple days before power was restored. Now, the reason I remember this particular storm so clearly is not just for the damage that it caused, but for how our household functioned while the power was out. The oven didn’t work, so we cooked on the Franklin Stove in our dining room. The TV didn’t work, so we played games and read by candlelight. We talked more. Even though technology hadn’t yet become the behemoth it is now that we all carry computers in our pockets, the lack of electricity meant living differently for a short period of time. And it wasn’t so bad. In some ways, it was better.

Storms of other kinds we encounter in our lives may be more or less disruptive than the one my family encountered that windy night. We can count on their arrival. We just can’t predict exactly when we’ll experience them or how challenging they’ll be. However, we have a guide. We have an advocate. We have someone to shoulder those burdens and disruptions in our lives that are too great for us to handle. Jesus, in fact, became human and sacrificed himself to bridge the gap between ourselves and God. In this way, we have both the means to bear this life and its storms and the promise of an eternity better than our ability to comprehend. This is the promise of Easter.

When our world
is breaking,
when what we thought was solid ground
gives way
and all we feel is the wind
rushing past
as we’re falling,
Jesus arrests our fall.
Jesus anchors our line,
He is our guarantor, protector
if we believe.
He came down to earth for us.
He lived,
died,
and defeated the grave
for us.
Your first and greatest step
is to receive
a new life,
then live a changed life,
learning better ways to climb mountains
and trusting Him to carry you safely
through your storms,
if you believe.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9 ESV

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night,
Psalm 92:1-3 ESV

© Joel Tipple 4/20/2019

Some Comfort

20190413_214413.jpgIt is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV

Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Psalm 86:17 NIV

Inspiration came to me this week via my allergies. Here’s why.  I recently ordered some handkerchiefs, because… well, when your need is as great as mine, tissues just don’t cut it. By the way, did you know that a standard men’s handkerchief is 16 x 16 inches? And if you want something smaller, you have to get women’s handkerchiefs. And they’re more expensive. For less of the same material. They call that the pink tax. But I digress.
One of my earliest memories of my dad was a time as a small boy when I was hurting. I don’t know whether I was suffering from an ear infection or just a garden variety earache, but whatever it was, it was causing me a considerable amount of pain. I don’t know what other steps were being taken to alleviate my distress but seeing how upset I was, my dad gave me his red handkerchief. Aside from being practical, at that moment it simply felt like love. Now, when I pull out my own handkerchief, the material reminds me of that moment and my father’s love.

Some bit of comfort,
from a father to a child
can spell the difference
between calm and despair.
A hug,
compassion,
bound up in a bit of cloth,
can be as vital
to  the one who needs it
as air.
Not every effort we make
to share God’s love
need be expensive
or grand.
Sometimes all we need to share is a smile.
Sometimes all we need to give is a hand.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.
Proverbs 18:10

© Joel Tipple 4/13/2019

Worthy For a Purpose

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:13-16 ESV

I have a Christian friend who, truth to tell, I look up to. He knows his bible very well and is one of the most self-sacrificing and loving people you will ever meet. But… there’s something he says that bothers me. Often, when we haven’t seen each other for some time, I’ll ask him how he’s doing. His response is often, “Better than I deserve!” It makes me cringe. Now, I know where he’s going with it, and I’m not bothered that it’s a pat response. We all say things without thinking, and greetings often fall into that category. I know when he says he’s doing better than he deserves he’s referring to the grace that God has extended to humanity through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. My friend is saying he once was lost, but thanks to God’s offer of forgiveness and his acceptance, he is now saved from the fate he deserved.  So, if I understand my friend’s greeting, why does it bother me? It bothers me because just as God loves us enough to want us to give up our sinful ways, he also wants us to change our old view of ourselves, and that includes the worth God places upon us. If we fail to embrace how God sees us, in light of Jesus’ sacrifice, we run the risk of never fulfilling the purpose He has for each of our lives. We are indeed worthy of the purpose for which God has preordained us. Why? The same reason your finally exasperated parents gave when they had run out of other reasons… Because He says so.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
John 1:12 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10 ESV

Have you been conditioned
like me
by the world you live in?
have you tried filling
that God-shaped place
with counterfeit feelings
and things?
There’s a way for you to go home.
though for too long you have roamed.
Because the Bible tells me so,
Jesus is the means.

Take on
His worthy purpose.
He’ll answer your questions
for existence in time.
Beginning with salvation,
new ownership,
and management,
his business will become your own,
as will mine.

With gifted strength
from God,
fulfill His purpose,
though you can’t see the goal
from your own endzone.
Give the fight to the Lord,
He’ll help you endure.
God has promised
you won’t have to get there
on your own.

© Joel Tipple 03/09/2019
Author of Written in the Light.