It’s difficult to accept
that it’s easier
to serve God when people are looking.
What chef, for instance, doesn’t want diners
to know who is cooking
that wonderful meal.
But it’s the ordinary times,
the every day times,
the I won’t get anything
tangible from anyone
who can do anything for me times,
that count most.
© Joel Tipple
340
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
A man of too many friends comes to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24
Most of the rest of the world knows you
from the outside in
but
Jesus knows you
from the inside out
be authentic
there’s something about being real
if you’re not putting up a front
you don’t have to be afraid
of someone looking behind it
Jesus always pleased His Father
and learning to be a follower of Jesus
means opening up to God when you
are up to the challenge of living
but still trusting Him
when you’re not
© Joel Tipple
327
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
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
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
If the season you’re going
through seems cooler,
and small is the fire
in your hearth,
abide in the Lord,
make Him your refuge.
Stoke the fire
in your heart.
© Joel Tipple
Do I think myself opaque, Lord?
Not transparent, though I surely am.
Hesitant, do I seek to hold back
some part of me from your plan?
Help me surrender every aspect,
reveal you in me as I do.
Mold me, oh great Maker.
Perfect me for Your use.
© Joel Tipple
I opened the door one day,
to the room
where I had decided to keep God.
It was a nice room
I thought,
decorated lavishly
but tastefully.
To my dismay,
revealed
where I believed
I had left God
was
instead,
my ego.
It was then
that I realized my mistake.
I had built a special room
for God,
while allowing my ego
full roam
through the house
of my life.
In that moment
of clarity
I realized I had managed
to get it all
quite backward.
© Joel Tipple
23 But Jesus didn’t swerve. “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works.”
24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?
Matthew 16:23-26
The Message (MSG)
much is expected from whom much is given
but all the same
so much more
He will do
through His children
the children of the Lord
often He waits only
for the moment we dare to ask
and then step out
believing He wants
to strengthen our bodies
for the task
our minds, too
to focus
on not small things
but great
for there is victory
in climbing daunting mountains
and reaching for a higher fate
© Joel Tipple
8-10 So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.
11-12 This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.
13-14 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.
2 Timothy 1 8-14 (MSG) The Message
Write here, Joel. 