Tag: healed

“Help us Keep Focused Lord!” (Be Thou My Vision)

I have trouble with focus. I struggle with many directions of thought. Do you?

God is a gracious help when it comes to focusing. He basically says,

“Stop. Think of Me!”

In Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

There’s so much going on. “Outside there are conflicts, inside there are fears,” much like in Paul’s day as he wrote of his time in Macedonia in 2 Corinthians 7:5.

“But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us,” Paul continues, and He comforts us today.

Where’s my focus? I need to remember to spend time with God.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Psalm 37:7. 

God’s allowing trials in all our lives. He warned us in His Word we would have tribulation, but to rejoice because He has overcome, He is our victory, (John 16:33).

When words to our prayers feel weak, I speak the words of this favorite ancient 8th Century hymn:

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

When we speak to one another in hymns and psalms, we put on the spiritual armor of faith and truth, to gird ourselves for battle.

Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one

In Christ, “in Him,” we have salvation and security. He is our peace. In His presence is fullness of joy, the Bible tells us. And, ” . . . in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

The hymn reminds us of this. He is with us!

Be Thou my battle shield, sword for the fight;
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight;
Thou my soul’s shelter, Thou my high tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O power of my power.

Together, we must stay focused on the battle. The Word of God must be our sword of thought to overcome:

” . . . since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us

 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, 

who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,

despising the shame,

and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12: 1,2.

This is easy to read. Hard to do. But with God, all things are possible. His Word is a double-edged sword:

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” Exodus 14:14.

To quiet the mind is a challenge. But to spend time with God is to be still.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.


Ancient Irish, 8th-century hymn

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Let’s be equipped for battle, focused on the Lord, in His Word, speaking the hymns. When we get our focus on Him we remember we are His and He is ours.

We pray, “Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, . . .

still be my vision, O ruler of all.”

(If you have trouble resting, listen to this hymn on my Music Therapy Souncloud and go from fretful to restful and assured sleep.)

Cancer Hope: A Hymnal and a Phone Message

It was a day of great sickness after chemo. I opened a hymnal on my bookshelf. It opened to Be Still My Soul by Kathrina von Schlegel.

In a horrible physical and emotional state, the words jumped off the page for me. Just for me. I felt the Lord unveil these words personally, to me. . .

Be Still my Soul. The Lord is on thy side . . .

After great trials and this physical pain, I honestly forgot, that the Lord I believed in and asked to come in my life, was “on my side.”

I struggled in my faith. But the hymn:
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain

Actively reading this phrase, I understood immediately, the Lord could see it all. Faith ignited in a second through the reading, (not even the singing) of this hymn.

(Quite honestly, I had no idea the melody. Old hymns weren’t regularly played at my contemporary Bible-teaching church.)

I read more:

Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.”

And when you fight a cancer battle, it does come into the mind, “Am I going to make it?”

God knew I was asking and God answered me through a phone call, (though I will confess, God showed me other glimpses of my healing along the way until I finally believed completely).

A young 13-year old, Landon, (whom I had spent some moments with to get started playing his guitar), learned I was sick with breast cancer.

He not only prayed for me, but he sought the Lord in His Bible for answers and hope.

Landon called me, on August 23rd, 2010.

I didn’t hear the call. It went to voice-mail. I’m so glad it did. I replayed it over and over again. Here is the voice mail I saved:
“Hello Ms. Toni, this is Landon. I just wanted to read you some scriptures that the Lord gave to me for you. It is from Psalm 18:

“I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies . . .


He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from the powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support . . .


As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect . . .
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.


You give me Your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me;
I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.

You armed me with strength for the battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet. You made my enemies turn their back in flight, and I destroyed my foes.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them- to the LORD, but he did not answer…
The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!”

Yes, Landon read his Bible to me on the phone and he left this message.

“You made my enemies turn their back in flight, and I destroyed my foes . . . ” This was amazing.

The precious phone message, Psalm 18, and the hymn Be Still My Soul mean so much to me.

I share what I put down those many years ago as music therapy for myself in my cancer battle. I hope it brings peace and rest of mind for someone as they draw near to Jesus.

He promises to draw near: For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13.

Music Therapy/ Painted Bible by legacystudio.co

Please feel free to share this with any friends or family unable to sleep or rest during a physical or emotional challenge. Thanks – toniryp

 2 Be still, my soul; your God will undertake
to guide the future as he has the past;
your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
his voice who ruled them while he lived below.

4 Be still, my soul; the hour is hast’ning on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still my soul; when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Source: Christian Worship: Hymnal #847

Pizza Note #5 Jesus says, “Call Me”

“What? An automated response?”

“There will be a cost for this service,” notifies a computerized voice.

“Who can I call to help me clean the messy house . . . of my heart? Who will listen to me?”

Pizza Note #5, reminds us, “Don’t Panic!”

Jesus knows the condition of the house of our heart. Psalm 139 helps us understand that.

God is full aware of the tangles in our minds. He’s the de-tangler.

He understands the losses of our soul. He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up our wounds Psalm 147:3.

God doesn’t want us to run away in shame and regret, but instead, He desires we turn, be still, and call on Him.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble Psalm 46:1.

Pick up the phone of prayer and call Jesus. His number is Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

“This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name Jeremiah 33:2.


There was a man with leprosy who called on Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

He knew the Lord was able to make him clean, but was He willing?

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him Luke 5:12,13.

Jesus is able, and He’s willing to clean our mess as well.

We must accept our need for a Savior,

believe on Him,

and call Him to help us in time of need.

No more excuses.

Do we want a heart-house where Christ is center?

Call Jesus. He answers. He transforms us by renewing our minds through the power of His Spirit to those who believe.

The best part about calling Jesus is, He cleans our mess and forgets, forever!

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:1.

Give me five slices of this excellent pie:

For ‘Now and Again, Letter #3, She was running

Dear Girls,

This is letter #3 about your mom. I’m sure your heart breaks in many ways at times when you think of her.

The huge disabilities. With absolutely no ability to serve her girls cake on your birthdays. Unable to pick up a pencil to show you how to do the math problem. Or clap when you swam your best in the pool.

The tears that must have flowed from her eyes when she badly wanted to give you hugs.

But, I want your thoughts to be wonderful of your mom, not filled will sadness. So, I share this letter with you.

You may wonder, “How  did it come about that Ms. Toni would come once in a while and bring songs to your house.”

Your mom welcomed the songs and the music. They were a joy to her heart.

Her respirator alarm would go off while she was singing, but she sang anyway with all her breath.

And with the respirator, it was limited.But she sang with all her heart. God has a promise about that:

You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”Jer. 29:13.

God knew we needed each other, at this time of our lives. How I loved your mom.

I think of her often, her attitude, her faith.

The elders from the church came to anoint her with oil and pray the prayer of healing over her in the name of Jesus. That’s what we were all waiting for.

We all know the stories. We’ve heard them, they were taught to us, when Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”(Acts 3:6). And we know that he took the man by the right hand and helped him up and the man’s feet and ankles became strong.

Your mom had faith to believe she would walk again, day in and day out.

We picture all this in our minds, that “He jumped to his feet and began to walk.”(Acts. 3:8).  And we can see them as well, “walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts. 3:8), into the temple.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God,” (Rom. 10:17).

Your mom had believing faith.

She told me, when forced to go to the hospital because the Home Heath Care had expired,  “I’m going to walk out of this hospital.”

Tears did flow from her eyes. I know. I had to wipe those precious tears and cry with her a time or two.

Incredibly, with her very next breath, she would say in that sweet, whispery voice, “God is working. He’s going to do something amazing real soon!”

Well, guess what? God did answer that prayer the elders prayed. Your mom was healed of everything. Everything spiritually and emotionally.

So let me tell you the story, so you can read it now and again, the day your mama was running.

Well, since God had set it all up, that your mom and I would meet two times a week while she lay motionless on a bed for weeks.

We were living the Word. It was really precious: Yep, we would Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; and talk of all His wondrous works, Psalm 105:2, and we would Seek the LORD and His strength; and Seek His face evermore.”,Ps. 105:4.

And we read the Song of Solomon together. So, going on a journey of the Song of all songs we began. Let me tell you, God was working, and He was doing something amazing everyday.
So, you see, I brought to the hospital along with my ‘Baby guitar’ my Jon Courson’s Application Commentary, Old Testament, Volume 2.

We discovered the King’s love for His maiden, (or Jesus’ love for you and me and for all the “whosoevers spoken of in John 3:16), and we felt like two schoolgirls together with giant ‘crushes’ on…Jesus.

Your mom and I were so enraptured like never before by the Love of our Bridegroom Jesus, how even though we were messed up and ‘dark’ with sin, (Song of Solomon 1:6), and we felt He shouldn’t look at us, the King said,
“I have compared you, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.” Song of Sol. 1:9.

Our King, our Love compares us to  His prize possessions, (not a mule or donkey), and He says,
“Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, Your neck with chains of gold. We will make you ornaments, [braids] of gold…”(Song of Sol. 1:9-11).

The commentary told us that the King’s maidens wore headdresses with jewels and the “We will make you ornaments . . .” reminds us of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Jon Courson then explained this verse, “We will make you ornaments, or braids of gold “, like this: “When we wonder what the Lord is doing during times of trial  and testing, He is braiding us – His gold- through hard times of pounding and beating and shaping.” “What right does He have to pound on me and to beautify me in that way?” you ask.””

He said, “Read on.” So, read on we did. The song: “We will make you ornaments [braids] of gold with studs of silver.”(Song. of Sol. 1:9). Silver means redemption.  Then the song continues, “While the king is at his table, my spikenard sends forth its fragrance. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, That lies all night between my breasts. . .

And we remember,’myrrh’. It was the spice that was brought to Jesus when He was a baby. It’s a burial spice. And we know the Table, the Table of communion that reminds us of His love that was poured out. Jesus died.

“A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,” the song goes. Yes, we hold our Jesus close to our hearts. He loves us ultimately.

Your mama and I experienced a bit of heaven on that morning together. So much love was poured out in our hearts that morning. Your mom couldn’t hold anything in her arms, but we both held Jesus.

Let Him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

Jon Courson did a great job reminding us that “you cannot kiss two people on the lips at one time.”And we thought, “Hmmm, very true.”

 “Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth for Your love is better than wine.”  And your mom and I learned that the word ‘wine’ in the Bible speaks of joy. So here in just the first two verses in the song this maiden is saying, “Lord, I am completely, absolutely, 100% Yours, and Your love is more to me than anything this world has to offer.”

I bet you are asking yourself, “Didn’t she mention ‘running’ in this letter? I am not seeing any ‘running!” You are right, but I had to get you ready for it.

Song of Solomon 1:4, “Draw me, and we will run after thee…”

Listen girls, spiritually and emotionally, on that day, together, I believe the Lord healed both of us emotionally.

Emotionally, Your mom wasn’t just walking and leaping, she was running.” We were both running after Jesus together.

God had drawn us both and we were running after Him. But I have to say, your mom was “smoking me” in that run to her Prince of Peace.

I know this is long, but you’ve got this for ‘now and again’ when you need to read about your amazing mom and what the Lord did for her mad me.

I write for you girls with great amounts of love. I pray that you may you be blessed, for now and again with these reminders.

Love,
Toni Rypkema