JANNIKA PIPKINS

[jpipkins]

Better not tell me I’m beautiful.

I’ll steal your beauty away.

Better not tell me I’m worth it.

Those feelings only apply for today.

Better not tell me I’m lucky.

You don’t know what I’ve been through.

Better not tell me I’m great.

But it’s an empty compliment, nothing in comparison to you.

Meanwhile you withhold edification and esteeming those you envy.

You’re too naive to give anything away, even though you’ve got plenty.

It must be so hard sitting at the top of the throne.

Though you’ve created many enemies.. you cry because you’re alone.

Better not love your neighbor.. none as deserving as you.

But without love life is empty.. you know this to be true.

We’ve all done things to go out of our way to be hateful. To never give ourselves. But life without these things are futile. Never ending well.

I loved you with an everlasting love he said. And then he taught you how. But the only way to do this… is to shatter our pride and bow.

You lose nothing from lifting others. I hope you learn this in the end. You gain everything as you lay this one life down for a friend.

Jp circa 2025.

[jpipkins]

Go to God.

Stop looking for people to validate what God already told you. You are forgiven. You are beautiful.

Even in the mess God sees the masterpiece in you. Even when it gets cloudy and people try to steal the light in you because their world is full of darkness. Don’t believe the lies. Believe the truth. You are valuable, you are a great friend, person, the world would shift without you in it. Esteem yourself highly because God esteems you highly. He believed you were worth dying for. He gave his life for you. You have to connect with that. One person, or two or three or 100 peoples opinion cannot and will not sink your ship. You are purposed. Valuable. Beautiful. Worthy and deserving of respect and admiration.

[jpipkins]

It’s the cold air.

Settling on my skin.

The silence all too loud closing it.

It’s the dark night’s sky.

But the moon shining through.

It’s the feeling that I get when I think of you.

[woodsandhearth]

What is the meaning of repentance? Repentance (metanoia) literally means to “change your mind” regarding both ourselves and God. But the mind controls the will, so this ‘turning’ of the mind has massive implications for the human soul. Repentance is forsaking one’s sin and turning completely to Christ with the whole heart. Louis Berkhof even went as far to say that “metanoia includes a conscious opposition to the former condition.” Repentance is the direct and immediate result of God’s work of regeneration in the heart (John 3:3; 3:5; Ezek 36). In repentance, the sinner comes to a deep, godly sorrow over their sin and turns instead to God with a heart of loving devotion. David Wells defines it this way: “Evangelical repentance is turning from sin, now recognized as ruinous, to a new life of following Christ in righteousness, now embraced as the only hope of life.” Repentance is at the heart of true conversion.

Conversion is believing in Christ for all that He is with all of who we are. Conversion is embracing Christ as both Savior and Lord. Conversion is a 180-degree turn from our ‘old man’ to embrace a perfect Savior. Conversion is the death of our old life and the beginning of Christ’s life in us. Conversion is, in a word, repentance.

The consequence of the absence of repentence is devastating. Jesus warned that tares would be sown amongst the wheat—meaning that there would be ‘believing unbelievers’ in the Church until He returned (Matt 13). These are people who profess faith in Christ, even in some sense resemble believers outwardly, but in the end, it is shown that they were never truly converted. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, the absence of repentance from our message exacerbates the problem. Jesus calls us to repentance, not merely to believe intellectually in the bare facts of the gospel. This is why Jesus emphasized the new birth with Nicodemus. Entrance into the kingdom of God requires much more than knowing basic, facts about Jesus. We must be born again (John 3:3). We must repent of our sins and turn to Christ. Without the message of repentance, it is easy for the devil to fill our churches with ‘believing unbelievers.’ Satan loves nothing more than to delude ‘believing unbelievers’ with false assurance. - Grant Castleberry, Repentance: the Lost Doctrine of the Twenty-First Century

[wanderinginhisgrace]

“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish."”-Jeremiah‬ ‭31:25‬ ‭

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

“It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability, that counts.”

—

Corrie Ten Boom

[gratitudechangesthings-deactiva]

Your communion with Jesus in secret is the best thing that you have, for out from who you believe you are in His presence determines who you’ll be in the open. You’re never alone when He never leaves you nor forsakes you, so take time out to fill your spirit with His truth so you can live your days doing what pleases Him and walking in His purpose.

[aidashakur]

“if your relationship with God isn’t right, no human relationship will fill your emptiness.”

[velvetmysoul]

[jpipkins]

Settled 7-31-2020

Let the flood of your love come crash into to my bones.

Let the sound of the light send colors of many tones

Into the sky, let the whole world see

Let the whole world see

Just how beautiful

Your love exemplified to me

Let the weapons I formed fall to the ground

And all the lies come crashing down

When the king and His kingdom comes

When the light of your love comes in.

I’m undone in your presence

No amount of doubt can stop my belief in your love.

It’s settled in my soul

It’s settled in my soul.

[aureliism]

Source : wetheurban

[dragadiddle]

Becoming more like Christ will hurt. It will hurt because we are comfortable in our flesh. And we are comfortable in our flesh because we are born in iniquity. But once born again through Christ by faith, we become slaves to righteousness. We begin to see ourselves mourn over our sin and yearn to become like Christ. And to become like Christ is the consistent killing of ourselves, our desires, our wants. Giving them up for the ultimate satisfaction and majesty found in Him. For He alone can satisfy. 

[romanticnihilists]

Flux by Orion Carloto 

[jericosilvers]

[lovechangeseverythang]

Consider what God may be trying to teach you...

When you feel isolated and lonely, consider that God may be trying to teach you that we can trust He will never truly leave us alone.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

When you feel heartbroken, consider that God may be trying to teach you what it means to fully rely on His strength and perfect will.

“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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

When you feel like your future is going nowhere, consider that God may be growing you for the next season of your life in which you would never experience without the growth process first.

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2)

When you feel hopeless, consider that God may be trying to show you He gives us eternal hope, which outweighs the temporary hope this world offers us.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

The point is, God can teach us in every situation of our lives… we need only to be open to learning what that is.

Consider what He may be trying to teach you now!

[jpipkins]

It’s been a super long day.

[fullyknownbritt]

The things that you’re worrying so much about, He’s already taken care of.

When you don’t have the slightest clue of what’s about to happen, He’s already got it planned out.

When you don’t see a way out, He’s already there waiting for you to follow Him through.

He knows. You can trust Him.