overcoming

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

Start Where You Are

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Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7

Start where you are,
no matter your dread
despite the ruminations
running ’round your head.
You’d like to be ready,
more than you find yourself now,
but God’s got a plan
and he’ll keep the vow
that he’s made.

God’s not surprised,
with God, there’s no lack.
He sees what you don’t see
and he’s got your back.
When you think you’re
found wanting,
or your giant’s too big,
God overcomes your deficits
and ensures all your debts are paid.

©Joel Tipple 05/25/2019

 

I Choose Joy

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Dr. Seuss

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”
Nicolas Chamfort

“What day is it?”
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
“My favorite day,” said Pooh.
A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

‘Oh yes, nodded Pollyanna emphatically, ‘he said he felt better right away, that first day he thought to count ’em. He said if God took the trouble to tell us eight hundred times to rejoice, He must want us to do it – some.’
Elenor Porter, Pollyanna

From the moment we begin a day,
foggy though we may be,
a choice is made,
destiny laid,
to carry on through eternity.
A deep connection to God
and how we fit in His plans
each dawn’s birth
we must employ.
But I can’t imagine
God and beginning
unless I’m beginning with joy.

I choose joy!
though circumstances
shout a different direction,
though news in its varied guises
favors a negative slant.
I choose hope over despair
though hopelessness
clamors for attention,
and tries to blind us
to better horizons
before our faith
has a chance.

You may call me a Pollyanna,
but I don’t mind.
In a world filled with darkness
count me in
with the light giving kind.

Give me joy!
A better, not bitter mindset
is fighting against the tide.
But God wouldn’t tell us to rejoice
without giving us fuel for the ride.

In the course of a day
on this earth,
we make countless choices
that affect
ours and others’ lives.
I have a certain faith,
God’s not playing with loaded dice.

I choose joy!
It’s a habit worth promoting
a way to identify
life
versus death.
When waters threaten to drown,
joy makes you taller.
I’m enrolled
in God’s Hope University,
so I suppose
that makes me
a Joy Scholar.

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
Psalm 47:1

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

© Joel Tipple 1/19/2019

Future Through Failure

“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Henry Ford

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.”
Johnny Cash

“The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting liquid imperfection of people’s lives.”
Steven Weber

God, you see a painting of me,
But it’s one, I fear,
I often fail to see.
I know you,
the ultimate artist,
with the deft stroke of your brush,
can make a man
by your plan
from this accumulation of dust.
I’m not finished
because you’re not finished with me.
From failures to future
the ups and downs of life,
I refuse to give in to misgivings.
I won’t wallow
in disappointment and strife.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV

©Joel Tipple 1/12/2019

We Will Rise

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV

Lord, I’m so inspired,
when I consider that because of you
we don’t have to be normal,
living by the world’s rules
and by them being defined.

We don’t have to
look to the lives
of reality television stars,
political pundits,
or professional athletes
to know how to think
or even what to think about.

We don’t have to fight
artificial battles
that only serve to distract our minds
from the struggle for our souls.
Instead, we can wrest control
from the darkness
that would consume us.

We
will make your Word
our standard.

We
will expect more of ourselves
than ordinary.

We
will light a firestorm,
a revolution of praise
in the land.

We
will rise
by taking hold of your hand.

© Joel Tipple
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This is not defeat

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This is not defeat,
it’s a bridge,
over the raging river
in which you might have drowned.

This is not defeat,
it’s a landslide,
which fell to create a pass
where none existed through the mountains.

This is not defeat,
this is an earthquake,
a jagged arrow pointing the way
toward solid ground.

Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I’ll take care of you and your children.” He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart. Genesis 50:19-21 The Message