11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
New International Version (NIV)
H)eaven knows how encouraged I am.
O)nly You Lord know every plan.
P)rosperous in all ways.
E)very day I praise Your name.
28) “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29) Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30) For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 New American Standard
Your yoke, Lord,
Your discipline,
is not so difficult.
But the surrender of our wills
seems to be the field of challenge
we most often find ourselves engaged on.
Why do we hold so tightly to what does not serve us
or the Lord we claim to serve?
Surrender is a challenge,
but we seldom recognize holding back for the anchor it is,
or surrender for the freedom it represents.
© Joel Tipple
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. Ephesians 1:3-5 (NASB)
If you knew me
before the world’s foundation was laid
knew my foibles and faults
all the mistakes I’ve made
chose to adopt me
and call me your own
only waiting for my decision
to set my life toward that home
If you still called me
knowing all that you did
even when I foolishly
tried to hide my sin
If you knew that even after
I asked forgiveness and joined this life
that sometimes I’d stumble and create
unnecessary strife
If you knew all that
and still gave me your name
the least I can do
is every dawn
say thank you
and start again.
© Joel Tipple
(NASB) – New American Standard NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE Copyright (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977,1995 by THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION A Corporation Not for Profit LA HABRA, CA All Rights Reserved http://www.lockman.org
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:15-18 (ESV)
Am I a slave
held in bondage?
No,
I think not.
But do my actions
support my words?
What evidence have my actions wrought?
Am I there more for my television
than for my family?
Of the myriad of vices available,
which of them defines me?
God offers two choices: sin, which leads to death,
or obedience, which leads to righteousness.
There doesn’t seem to be
a lot of area here that’s gray.
So far as I can tell,
God wants it all,
not just your first thing in the morning,
He wants all day.
© Joel Tipple
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®)
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
All rights reserved.
ESV Text Edition: 2011
Many times I’ve wondered
at my lack of vision.
What would it take to wash
the scales from my eyes.
Tender words or lightning strikes,
perhaps nuclear fission,
you just can never tell heart-wise.
Just be open
Just be open
Everyone is crying for some freedom,
But with so much they don’t know what to do.
I have found there are so many wrong directions,
leading to blind alleys for me and you.
There’s a cry that’s living deep within us.
Heaven’s message sprouting deep inside,
like two magnets speeding cross the universe,
God’s coming for us and it’s useless to hide.
Just be open
There is surely more than you’ve been told
Just be open
You don’t have to sell yourself to be sold
Just be open
There’s no need any more to be afraid
Jesus knows already what your soul craves.
Just be open
Just be open
© Joel Tipple
The recording that’s playing,
running in your mind,
that condemns at every turn,
only to rewind,
is not correction or direction
unless you count the blind alleys.
This voice makes it difficult
to rebound or to rally.
It’s not an encouraging voice
to bring you to the fold.
It’s purpose is to bludgeon,
criticize and scold.
Its name is Self-Talk,
and if this sounds like your own,
record new material, call yourself
on the phone. Read what God
says about you
apply some of that.
Let His voice redeem yours;
set your mind to this task.
© Joel Tipple
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not
let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
John 14:27
Not as the world gives,
short-lived.
Not as the world gives,
ephemeral.
Not as the world gives,
fleeting & unsure.
A vision floating on the desert horizon,
cruel and deadly.
Instead Lord, your peace is the gift you left with us
and that which we share.
It’s a cup that cannot be emptied,
but instead grows if we give it away.
Peace everlasting,
our inheritance by virtue of adoption.
There’s no night so dark
His name can’t illuminate,
no depression so deep
He can’t lift it.
No heart so weary
and grown tired of beating
He can’t recharge
like the sun coming up.
The meaningless
find new meaning.
Those wondering why
find new hope.
Those finding themselves
short of the summit
suddenly spy
a new length of rope.
He’ll breath into you compassion
when maybe you thought
you didn’t care.
He’ll be the force
lifting your wings
with angels into ebullient air.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer
and thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Phil. 4:6
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also
know how to live in prosperity; in any and every
circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled
and going hungry, both of having abundance and
suffering need.
Phil. 4:12
Lord in all my days
in my times of lean
and well fed
the times I look forward to
and yes those that I dread
build within me a structure
of peace
like a tree
long used to storms
let me not rely on happenstance
but rather look to You
Your steady hand
and guiding voice
will always hold me fast
There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
It seems too much to take in. When we
consider all that God has made, the complexity
of the systems that guide everything from the
smallest organism to the largest planet, I find
it unreasonable to presume it all came about by
accident.
But there is a rhythm to life, isn’t there?
From the time we are born to the time we die,
however long or short that may be, the curtain
goes up and comes down in a seemingly never
ending cycle, guided by an unseen hand.
Christians live a life of faith, that is we
trust that God has a plan for each of us that fits
into His infinitely bigger picture, our unique
puzzle piece, along with the rest of His creation.
A worthy goal is discovering just how we do fit in.
I pray that you ask God to reveal this to you. Begin
by searching His word.
Write here, Joel. 