Faithful

I hope you enjoy my song Faithful.  In this odd uncertain season, let it remind you of God’s great faithfulness!
https://katiegirlcreative.podbean.com/e/faithful/

Also, you can enjoy this short devotional.

Hope by Katie Rippy

Dear Reader,

Have you ever considered the power of hope?  One glimmer of hope in the eye of a friend concerning your ability to rise above “it”, can be the difference between getting up to take the next step or finding your fat pants and diving into a bowl of chocolate dairy free ice-cream.  Maybe that is just me, nevertheless, hope is the difference maker when it comes to endurance.  You can’t hold hope and despair in your hands.  You can’t put it into a container to measure its contents.  These qualities are internal. They are unseen.  Often folks dance between the two especially in seasons of uncertainty, and only their response to an instigator reveal what lies underneath.  The last few years have been fraught with uncertainty on a global scale.  People without hope are rolling over their rights to the loudest most official sounding voice.  People grasping at hope feel compelled to radical displays and discourse to sway their fellow man.  It’s amazing to me how despair can present in one person a quiet resignation to the grave and in others a loud clamor of rhetoric.  Whether silent to the slaughter or clamoring against it, both wreak of despair.

I once saw a photo of mouse in a jar of water.  Unaided, the mouse would surely drown as the sides of the container were too sleek, steep, and high for the mouse to climb out.  The photo reported that a study had been conducted using this condition to identify the power of hope.  One swimming unfortunate mouse would be timed until it decided to succumb to  inevitable drowning.  The other slightly more fortunate mouse would be rescued just before despairing only to return to the water after a short rest.  This mouse, having the memory of being rescued, managed to endure ridiculously longer than the mouse that had no salvation experience.  The memory of salvation caused the mouse to keep paddling.

Hope without an anchor is no more than wishful thinking, but hope anchored in something believed indestructible firms up its believer to endure whatever experience might challenge it.  Hope in one’s ability might prove useless in battles of the body.  Hope in one’s relationships might prove unstable when dynamics shift.  Hope in one’s leaders might become dashed upon evidence of pride and greed.  In truth, hope in ourselves and others is pretty easily toppled in the storms of life.  For hope to remain, we need someone who is master over the wind and rain. We need an agent that can withstand battles of the body and mind.  We need a rescuer. We need a memory of salvation that can keep us paddling longer than we ourselves could have imagined. For hope, we need an indestructible anchor.

My hope is anchored in the work of Jesus Christ.  I was fourteen when I first believed in the man who wore other’s sin on a cross like a weighted blanket. I believe Jesus Christ truly is the son of God, who bore the sins of the world, and then rose from the dead three days later to prove it. This belief has shaped my life and I have experienced the good and gracious provision of God.   In my song, Faithful, I describe some moments that God has showed off in his practical provision to me.  When others said I was in trouble and would never make it, God got me through.  When others said the blessing of family was not going to be for me, God made a way.  When others cast me aside, God said you are mine.  When others said, “its hopeless” and when my own faith said, “I can’t make it,” God stepped in and provided. I literally watched Him unfold a story in my life I would not have had the imagination to write! He has loved me so well!  I have story after story of the Bible leaping off the page into my life, showing me which way to go.  Just yesterday in the heat of grief, He orchestrated His creation to make tangible His love.  At a public park, I played my guitar and looked up to find a momma duck and her 15 chicks, two squirrels, and a heron had become my audience!  It was a quintessential “princess” moment. I was shocked and immediately received the pleasure of God my Father.  While I grieved the death of my dad, my Heavenly Father held me fast using all His resources to assure me I was seen and cared for. God has never abandoned me, or left me to wander aimlessly.  He is faithful to His beloved children.  He has been faithful to me!

Romans 5:2b-6 TPT

“What indescribable joy bursts forth within us as we keep on celebrating our hope of experiencing God’s Glory!  Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us … hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can NOW experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!”

Psalm 136:4-5

“Give thanks to the only miracle working God! His tender love for us continues on forever! Give thanks to the Creator who made the heavens with wisdom! His tender love for us continues on forever! “

Tomorrow when the sun shines in your window, praise the Lord for His endless love and the gift of His reliable anchor of hope! Be encouraged, God is SO faithful to us! Thanks for reading!

For fun and love,

Katie

God sees you. He knows you. You are His.  He is faithful! 

Faithful  
song by Katie Rippy (Lyrics)

You gave me hail in a summer when all I had was a sweater
You made a three-hour delayed plane with mechanical failure get me there on time
You sent a paycheck from the IRS, when I didn't see another one comin'
You gave a baby boy and girls, so precious to me, in His perfect time

I don't know why I worry
When in faith's eyes I can see

That God your faithful faithful
faithful faithful, faithful faithful to supply every need in my life
Faithful, faithful, faithful faithful, faithful faithful 
to supply every need in my life
ohhhh yeah

You found me blind in my selfishness and gave me another sight
You healed my heart and made it clean, cost nothin' to me
in Your perfect love

I don't know why I worry
When in faith's eyes I can see

That God your faithful faithful
faithful faithful, faithful faithful to supply every need in my life
Faithful, faithful, faithful faithful, faithful faithful 
to supply every need in my life
ohhhh yeah

From the air I breathe
From this melody
Lord, I can see your faithful faithful to me
From the storms in life
And in your sacrifice
O Lord, I can see your faithful faithful faithful faithful.. oh yeah

God your faithful faithful
faithful faithful, faithful faithful to supply every need in my life
Faithful, faithful, faithful faithful, faithful faithful 
to supply every need in my life
ohhhh yeah
God You're faithful to me!