Devotion

Worry

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6

Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.
Swedish Proverb

I’ve wasted the sun of too many todays
predicting dark clouds for tomorrow.
Anxiety rents space but never pays.
Facing this moment is all
God’s ever asked me to do.

I have my job
and He has his
and the blessed thing about it,
is His promises are true every day.

Every day, no doubt about it,
the Bible’s pages light up a path,
the leather’s worn, the pages thin
but when fear of the future has me in its grip
the security of God’s Word
weighs more than worry’s mass.

© Joel Tipple 12/01/2018

Drive

But if anyone is a hearer and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in what he is doing.
James 1:23-25 ESV

“God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails.”
William R. Inge

Church records attest
I’m a regular attender,
an attendee, if you will,
of the regular sort.
I stand up and sit down,
and amen render
with nary a protest
or wayward retort.
But if my heart and gumption
isn’t where
God wants it to be,
it’s all show
and no go, you see.

Mediocrity isn’t anyone’s stated goal.
It’s just where we slide back to
when we stop reaching,
so it’s okay if His teaching smarts a little
and makes you decide
to stop riding and
drive.
Get an oar out and paddle.
It’s time for you to
drive.
Put your foot on the throttle.
Go ahead and
drive
and even if you make some mistakes
God honors His servants
who are willing to
get in,
ask God for direction…
and drive.

© Joel Tipple 11/29/2018

When the Seasons Come

When the Spring comes,
God, you help me grow.
The word you planted in me
shows brightly in all its colors.

When the Summer comes,
you cool my feet
in your river of life.
You give me rest
under a canopy of trees.

When the Fall comes,
you nourish me
with your bounty of blessings.
You make me strong and whole.

When the Winter comes,
your house shields me
from the storm.
And your love
keeps me warm
and safe.

You have prepared Lord,
for all our needs,
no matter the challenge,
so that we may weather…
every season.

© Joel Tipple 11/28/2018

Use Me Anyway

(God doesn’t use “perfect people.” He uses “available people.”)

All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them.
Oswald Chambers

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

It doesn’t do any good to protest,
or to presume to tell God He’s mistaken.
The Spirit of God begins a work in us
from the moment we’re reborn.

He chooses someone like you,
with the qualities you like
and those you’re unsure of,
because a puzzle piece simply takes its place,
for the picture wouldn’t be right without it.

© Joel Tipple 11/27/2018

Kindness

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, …
Colossians 3:12 ESV

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
Mark Twain

Do you have any to give away?
If you do, then it was given.
The inexhaustible supply began
with Jesus.

Warming the cold,
filling the soul
with goodwill till it’s overflowing.
In an angry world on fire,
kindness can extinguish the blaze.

It has a wonderful
rejuvenating quality,
energy for another mile.
Sometimes all it takes
is giving away a smile.

© Joel Tipple 11/24/2018

You Know Me

Even the darkness is not dark to You.
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
Psalm 139:12

“Not everything that is faced can be changed,
but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
James Baldwin

Sing to the Lord the new song He gave.
Sing to the Lord, and be amazed.
Oh ohh, never let go.
Sing to the Lord when the battle seems lost.
Sing to the Lord when the cost seems too high,
and you want to cut and run.

It’s easy to give up on supernatural.
It’s easy to abandon what isn’t naturally known,
even when the known is getting you nowhere.
We cling to familiar like a broken-down car,
sit in the seat though we can’t get far.
allowing our lives to be run by fear and regret.

Since you are with me wherever I go,
since you know my every thought,
I might as well get to know you.
I can’t run so fast as to get away.
I can’t stop the sunrise by holding down the curtain.
Of all these things I’m certain.

You formed me, designed me,
made me unique for a purpose.
When I was still an unformed substance,
you saw me, you knew me,
you knew where my piece fit in the puzzle.
Lord, help me find my way in the puzzle.

© Joel Tipple 11/23/2018

You Gave

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:15 ASB

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”
John F. Kennedy

This Thanksgiving Lord
I’d like to say, thanks, you gave.
When, as Christians, we try to thank you,
we start with the price you paid.

As with all gifts,
there was a cost for life
and, that eternal.
In our small human way,
we try to understand
why you saved us
from the infernal.

You created us.
You gave us
the freedom to choose.
From the moment we are able
to decide for life,
it’s ours to win or lose.

Our time in this body
is a fraction
of that resurrected.
Thank you
for giving us
the book of life
so we can read
the directions.

© Joel Tipple 11/22/2018

Encourager

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:9-10

“Everyone has inside them a piece of good news. The good news is you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is.”
Anne Frank

Speak life,
and encourage
everybody
your body
runs across each day.
Be the salt
that seasons
every conversation.
Be the light
that illumines,
your part
of your nation.
Step in
when someone steps out.
Lift your voice
when they can’t shout.
Ask God
to let you
have a part
in His answer
to a desperate prayer.

© Joel Tipple 11/15/2018

 

Good Shepherd

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
John 9:10-11 NASB

“It takes some of us a lifetime to learn that Christ, our Good Shepherd, knows exactly what He is doing with us. He understands us perfectly.”
W. Phillip Keller

“In most, when you go to church, most churches when they have images of the good shepherd, they show Jesus carrying a nice fluffy lamb. Now fluffy little lambs don’t stray from their mommy. The lamb that will stray is the most obstreperous, troublesome one.”
Desmond Tutu

God, I struggle to believe you are a “good” shepherd. For I believe good implies average. An average shepherd would go the reasonable distance, put forth a reasonable effort. A good shepherd would weigh the odds of success in each effort to protect a lamb from harm. A good shepherd wants to live to see another day, another paycheck, another warm meal. A good shepherd might take into account whether his health insurance is going to put him back together again if an aggressive wolf decides to test his resolve.

But you’re not just a “good” shepherd, are you, Lord? No, you’re the kind of shepherd who would and, in fact, did, give His life for His flock. This kind of resolve and protection was not modeled accidentally. The lessons made manifest in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ are many; enough to ponder over a lifetime. Help us to recognize the difference between the average shepherd and the greatest.

© Joel Tipple 11/14/2018

Quick to Hear

Know this, my beloved brothers; let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
James 1:19

“Just as love to God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren begins with listening to them.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Do I hear you?
Or do I only hear your voice?
Not the words between the words
and emotion conveyed
not the words left out
for fear of their weight.
Do I hear your concern
and mix it with my own,
or do I rush to correct
with an errant tone?
Do my thoughts replace what I might learn
because I’m anxiously waiting my turn?

© Joel Tipple 11/13/2018