faith

Not My Idea

It wasn’t my idea that water come in raindrops.
They aren’t very convenient and arrive unannounced.
The weather person gives his best guess when I turn on my television,
but if a butterfly does a barrel roll
all bets are off.

It’s an unpredictable world
and thank God for it.
It’s an unpredictable world
though we think we can.
It’s an unpredictable world
and I trust Him,
though I’m not always in on the divine plan.

Avoid tainted water.
Avoid declassified ads.
Avoid mono-sodium glutimawhatzit.
Now doesn’t that last sound awful bad?
Are we to avoid negative ions?
Or are the positive ones what we should fear?
It’s no wonder some folks just check out and have a beer.

But even though…
It’s an unpredictable world
with its bulging waistline,
and earthquakes and storms and huge floods,
I’ve got faith that even if I don’t, God has this,
so I continue to pray and worship and trust.
It’s an unpredictable world, but that’s okay.
God knows whats going on.
God, I trust.

© Joel Tipple
356

Warriors Forgive

Forgiveness is not for the weak of will, it’s for the warrior,
who knows well the battleground of his mind.
Each day he puts on his best armor,
choosing what to set free and what to bind.
A warrior is not mastered by bitter hate
that seeks to dominate and make subservient his will.
Instead he emulates his Savior, Jesus Christ,
the warrior who gave all on Calvary’s hill.
If we ever choose instead the wrong path
and install ourselves as judge
we will find ourselves the prisoner
instead of being freed by the warrior’s love.

© Joel Tipple
350

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (NIV)
Colossians 3:13

Moving Forward

13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal
for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14 ESV

A mind held to the past
lacks the energy to engage in the now
and what will be.
Endless replaying of foibles and feeble missteps
serves up little more than mud splattered fenders.
God rewards those who seek Him
and a great veil is lifted from our eyes
when we come to accept the freedom gained from surrender.

© Joel Tipple
348

Intercession of the Spirit

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We do not know what we should pray for as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered —Romans 8:26

Thank you Holy Spirit for Your work in me,
praying for me in ways too high for me to understand.
I keep my body a temple for You, while you intercede
for me in accordance with God’s plan.

Heaven on earth may not seem possible
due to our earthly circumstance,
but we have an advocate in the Spirit of God
so we are never left to chance.

© Joel Tipple
331

I Trust in Your Lovingkindness

But as for me, I am like a
green olive tree in the
house of God;
I trust in the
lovingkindness of God
forever and ever.
Psalm 52:8 NASB

I will trust in Your lovingkindness,
come to me Lord,
without delay
your mercy without measure
poured out over me.
Tip over this vessel
to empty
anything not of You.
Anything tainted
with the things of this world.
Fill my mind with You
so there is no room left over.
Fill me Father,
with you.

© Joel Tipple
325

Not of the little g

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God
not of the little g
not only of the easy moments
when my sanity
seems certain

God
not of the little g
not of the times when I measure you
to see
if You’re big enough
to trust

I want to walk
bold confident brazen loud
throwing open the pages of Your holy scripture
You are my God and I trust You
though you slay me

God
not of the little g
not of those years when I turned my back
fervently searching for anything else
easier
than everything for you

God
not of the little g
too big for me to contain
but more than big
enough
to hold me

The earth may shake
winds may blow
floods roar
carrying away
what seems our very foundation
but
God
not of the little g
I don’t doubt your guarantee
I won’t try to reduce you
to bargaining

I praise you God
not of the little g

© Joel Tipple
323

Commence

com·mence
kəˈmens/
begin; start.
“his design team commenced work”
synonyms: begin, start; get the ball rolling, get going, get underway, get off the ground, set about, embark on, launch into, lead off; open, initiate, inaugurate; informal kick off, get the show on the road
“the meeting will commence at noon”

I wonder if God has ever looked at onions and people and considered whether he got the two of us mixed up somehow when we were created. There are so many layers to go through to get to the heart of us. I suppose for some Christians, soon after the alter call, however it manifests itself, there is an immediate jump into the deep water. All or nothing. They choose all. Then, there are the rest of us. A big toe in. A jump back. A foot in. A jump back. And so it goes. I don’t think many Christians dedicate their lives to Christ and then make the conscious decision to be mediocre followers. They just keep fighting surrender to the Holy Spirit indwelling them and becoming the prime motivating factor in their daily actions. Like Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman when his drill sergeant, played by Louis Gossett Jr. is trying to get him to quit, we have to get to the point sooner or later that we cry, “I got nowhere else to go! I got nothin’ else!” When you do get to that point, however God gets you there, that’s when your walk with God really begins. As long as you’re hanging on to something else, as long as you have somewhere else to go, a backup plan, you haven’t given Him everything. Don’t you think it’s time to begin? To commence?

© Joel Tipple
313

Vessel to Serve

Why did you call
me,
this nondescript vessel?
I’m every-day-ware, with a few chips from use.
How do I dare take a place on your table?
And yet you say I’m beautiful. And you use me.

It’s the same mistake we make every time,
trying to discover our purpose
our way.
But the vessel cannot dictate to the potter.
It doesn’t have the final say.

Let your love pour forth from this vessel.
Help me get out of the way, and let Your Spirit work.
I know this God, You didn’t make your vessel
to store.
You made it to serve.

Here at your table, your everyday vessels,
redeemed and rescued from sin.
We humbly offer ourselves Lord.
however you care to use us,
pray begin, Lord.
Begin.

Let your love pour forth from this vessel.
Help me get out of the way, and let Your Spirit work.
I know this God, You didn’t make your vessel
to store.
You made it to serve.

© Joel Tipple
310

Walking Around

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Lord, do you think it’s breaking?
Can you confirm the sound?
They say when you have children
it’s like your heart out there
walking around.

Walking around out there in the world,
a boy, a girl, or both.
Forever young though years may pass,
the cord feels like a rope.
Lord I know you’ve been there,
so I won’t waste words complaining
it isn’t fair.

Lord I know we can be
a little melodramatic,
and parents throughout the ages
have been correctly described as frantic.
But since you gave us each a heart,
perhaps share the reasons,
and as long as we’re going through it,
help us survive the seasons.

Walking around out there in the world,
an evolution of trust.
A joy and burden all wrapped up,
though we try not to fuss.
Mentioned in our prayers often,
if not more.
A wise parent focuses on the gratitude score.

© Joel Tipple
307

300

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Taking into account a couple of times when I’ve reblogged someone else’s post on “Write here, Joel” in addition to my own for that day, today marks blog number 300. The official beginning was Jan. 1, but I already had a few things written so I had something of a running start. The daily blogs will continue through the end of December. I have an idea of what will happen at that point, but you’ll have to wait until then to see just what that something will be.

I promised at the beginning that I was going to experiment a lot. True to my word, I’ve tried all sorts of stuff. All kinds of poetry, short stories, jokes, social commentary, devotions. I’ve been all over the place. While we bloggers have access to, and probably watch too closely, the myriad of statistics about what we’re doing, I’ve tried not to be a slave to the numbers. By now I have an idea of what will do well and what won’t. However, I try not to let that drive what goes into this blog. This has been a learning experience and you can’t learn by always playing it safe.

I’ll say it again, but I want to say thank you now to everyone who has taken the time to read and comment. I never take for granted the opportunity to express myself in print and the spoken word. My overriding desire is that God is glorified through my expression in words. Towards that end, some exciting things are brewing that I’ve prayed about for some time. Thanks be to God for grace and for truth, always.
Joel

© Joel Tipple
300