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Legacy

If I asked if you’d considered your legacy, you could be forgiven for launching into a discussion about your Subaru Legacy if that happens to be what you drive. However, this post isn’t about a Japanese sedan, so stop being so shallow! No, instead of the four-wheel variety, we’re going to talk about the legacy you leave on earth when you’re gone. Yes, you’re right, you can leave someone your car, but for the last time, that’s not our topic, okay? Moving on. And we’re walking, and we’re walking…

The kind of legacy you leave your loved ones can be something of monetary value, like your estate, but it can also be something difficult to put a price on, like how you lived your life. What kind of relationships did you cultivate with people? What kind of values did you emulate? Most importantly, what kind of relationship did you have with your creator? Did you give Jesus the right place in your life? Remember, Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is “the way, the truth, and the life,” not “a” way “a” truth, and “a” life. Jesus did not mince words, equivocate, or at any point present himself as only a good man or important prophet. He was and remains the Son of God, with all the authority that entails, so our relationship with Him is integral to the legacy we must leave.

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
2 Peter 1:11-15 ESV

Many times in life we’re presented with a crossroads, where the direction we choose ultimately has great import on the legacy we leave. It’s important to remember God is in the business of redemption though. So even if you’ve wandered from the path He would have you take at a given time in your life, it’s never too late to put Jesus front and center, where He belongs.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 1:4 ESV

Every heartbeat you give
me is loaned
to be returned with interest
when I go home.
There’s nothing of more value
I can leave behind
than the road to Heaven
and eternal life.

©Joel Tipple 12/28/2019

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What Courage?

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV


What comes to mind when you hear the words “encourage” and “discourage?” Merriam-Webster says of encourage, 1 a : to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope : HEARTEN // she was encouraged to continue by her early success. Of discourage, 1 a : to deprive of courage or confidence DISHEARTEN // was discouraged by repeated failure

While for all practical purposes we can agree there are right times to encourage and discourage, I argue there is a real lack of encouragement in our world generally, sometimes even coming from the people who should be the most encouraging of all, followers of Jesus. After all, who has better cause to encourage? Among our promises from God are direction, help, and comfort in this world and salvation in the next. You won’t find an encouraging package like that anywhere else; it’s a Jesus Christ exclusive.

So what is that root word, courage? Using the dictionary again, we find it defined as : mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. Everyone needs courage of some kind. For one it could be the courage to rescue someone from a rooftop in a storm. For another it might be stepping into an elevator. For you it might be telling someone the source of your hope. There are all kinds of courage. The best source of Godly courage will always be Jesus.

It has always been a strategy of the enemy to convince us that as we are at this moment is not enough, that the situation we are in or task at hand is greater than us and the God who has prepared us to this point. But God has not given us a spirit of fear, and the next step he wants you to take has already been prepared beforehand. With God there are no surprises and there is never a lack of resource. So take courage! And by all means, give it too.

When desperate and faltering
I found myself
by what I considered my lack
I searched the best source of courage
to make sure my feet on the path

I found my guide and strength in Jesus
who prepared the way before
He became my light and compass
so I needn’t fear anymore

Christ gave me courage to carry
but it wasn’t just for me
it was a lamp to show the way
so more captives could be freed

©Joel Tipple 9/14/2019