Jubilee Lipsey

I wanted life to be easy. I know. That sounds shallow, naïve, “first-world”, whatever you want to call it. I know it’s not even 100% real. But I’m pretty sure it’s true about you on some level, right? We all want easy. We just don’t say it. I knew life had the potential to be hard. I had read Jesus’ warning about trouble in this world (John 16:33). I saw it around me; I anticipated hostility from outside the faith. But the personalization of it was mostly theoretical in my mi

It’s late September in northern Illinois and we are slowly dipping toes into Autumn. A few trees are adding yellow caps and red tassels to their branches, while others are waiting for a real cold snap to signal their surrender. I recently heard a brief online message by worship leader and songwriter Melissa Helser about the trees and how they lose their leaves and surrender to barrenness for a long, dark season. She talked about how she sat staring at the bare hardwood trees

Doing a little devotional study on Romans 5, and thought I would share some of it. The whole chapter is spectacular. Seriously, if you’re feeling run-down or even just need to remember what it means to follow God and be a Christian…read Romans. Just sit down and read it, and let it soak in that this is all really true and really available to us! It’s amazing! Romans 5 begins, in vs. 1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have Peace with God through our Lord

It is truly wonderful to sit in God’s Presence. He is always with me of course, but as a Christian, I have the delightful privilege of seeking Him, stewarding His Presence, taking time to quiet the distractions of this world and purposefully pursue Him. Thanks to Jesus and His finished work on the Cross, there is nothing stopping me from approaching the Throne of Grace to find Mercy and help in time of need. But more than that, I come to receive Him! I want to bask in greater

Just some fun facts for you to get to know me a little. From the time I first heard River dance when I was little,  I have been captivated by Irish music. It still has the power to either make me cry or want to get up and dance. When my friends and I played Pocahontas as kids, I was always John Smith haha. Never had a pop-tart until I was in college. Thanks, “healthy snack bar!” At three years old, I prayed with my mom for a pony ride, and a pony literally showed up at our do

You all probably know the outline of the story of Joseph from Genesis. Hated for his dreams, Joseph is sold into slavery by jealous brothers and God raises him up to save Egypt and Israel from famine. In the excerpt above, Joseph thinks back over his life to the one moment that changed everything for him…the moment he realized his brothers were actually selling him into slavery. From his vantage point in the palace of Egypt, second-in-command to Pharaoh, it would have been ea

“We see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” -Hebrews 2: 9 On Good Friday, (and all year round hopefully), this is the truth that we celebrate and marvel at…that Jesus, the Son of God “partook of [our] flesh and blood,” and sacrificed Himself on the Cross, “that through death He might destroy the one who has the po

So often, we act as though being saved or “born again” is a solitary moment that happens and then it’s over. We said the magic words and now we’re going to heaven, and yet we either go back to the way we were living before, striving in emptiness after things that are passing away, or we struggle throughout life because we can never quite attain the victory we know should be available to us in Christ. It was never meant to be that way. Just picture the analogy itself. When a b