A day in the world can take you down.
Let alone serious life events,
I’ve seen simple drama,
things less intense
turn your good days
all the way around.
Stop looking for the answers
in a bottle or a body,
the top 40
or a shiny new car.
Anything the world gives
will tarnish in time.
So listen up my brother,
it’s time to draw the line.

You’ve been
majoring in the minor leagues,
looking for worldly guarantees,
living your life on the cheap
so long.
I played
that foolish game
way too long.
I got tired of the lies
and the pull of the throng,
a crowd going places
I didn’t want to go.
I made up my mind
not to go along.
I got Jesus strong.

Old days to new days.
Old ways for new ways.

A lot of people assume that since Jesus
preached a message of compassion and peace he was weak.
But this carpenter was not only strong physically, he
was strong mentally, spiritually and emotionally.
He spent 40 days in the desert being tempted by Satan
and emerged victorious. He never took the easy road
and He told those who would follow Him that their road
would not be easy either. In Matthew 10:34 Jesus said:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Jesus meant
that like a sword severs, so some families would be severed by
the choice to follow Him. Following Jesus can
mean making hard choices sometimes. In this way we daily
pick up our own cross. But before we ever picked up ours,
Jesus picked up his.

Old days to new days.
Old ways for new ways.
Old to new…

Jesus build a man in me to weather the storm.
From my hands to my spirit make me tough.
But let your strength resound so that I never boast.
Because where my strength is not, Your strength is enough.

© Joel Tipple
#5/14