S.M. Wibberley’s Blog

“My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Psalm 84:2

There is in each of us that deep longing for something more than this earth can give.

As one friend said recently, “The question keeps coming up inside, ‘Is this all there is?’”

God has given us a yearning for Him, a gift we often don’t recognize.

This longing can be disguised as an undercurrent of dissatisfaction,

or a realization that no matter how well things go, there is still some emptiness inside.

We tend to confuse this longing for God with our desires for material things, accomplishment or human relationships.

However, no matter what we do about it, this longing is there, showing us the emptiness of life without Him, pulling us towards Him.

If we pay attention and cultivate this longing, it can become a positive passion,

the burning “first love” that draws us deeper into our relationship with Christ.

Ignoring this yearning means we will be like the Ephesians whom, Christ said in Revelation 2,

would be judged for losing their first love and falling from the high place God had for them.

`Part of cultivating that passion is looking to see who God is.  We will do that in my next post.

Picture: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”

“My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor 12:9

In thinking further about being weak, I noticed that most of the points

in the beatitudes in Matthew 5 are a description of weakness.

Jesus said,

Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,

blessed are the meek (instead of those in control),

those who hunger (instead of those with resources),

those who are merciful (instead manipulating others),

those who are peacemakers (instead of being dealmakers),

those who are persecuted, insulted and lied about (rather than being able to protect their honor).

Praise be to You, Lord Jesus, for showing us the way in this,

as you, in your human weakness,

suffered emotionally when you could have decided to avoid it,

you suffered physically when you could have called on angels to deliver you,

you suffered spiritually when you could have come down from the cross and left us to what we deserved.

Instead, you chose to be weak,

to let the attacks of men and devils reach you,

flow over you,

defeat you in the moment,

so that you could triumph in the end.

Because of your willingness to be weak

You could fulfill the demands of justice.

You followed the unseen wisdom of God

and brought redemption, salvation, glory for all

who were to become your brothers and sisters,

and honor for yourself, which you will also share with us.

Power alone could not do it; power in weakness was the way. Praise be to you.

Picture: as we trust God, His power protects what we cannot.

“The Lord reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved!” Psalm 99:1

Praise be to you, Lord God, the holy One, our sovereign King.

Praise you that I can give thanks in all things, knowing that you reign, allowing/bringing to us what is good.

Thank you for

last night’s interrupted sleep,

the restless legs,

disturbing dreams,

waking up often,

being dried out

and the resulting grogginess this morning.

All this reminds me of my weakness, my inability to regulate even how well I sleep.

In reality there is not much that I can control,

just a tiny sphere of “power” where I can make decisions,

but not fully determine their outcomes.

I can choose to go to bed early,

but what comes afterwards is not in my hands.

To be weak is good, it is honorable because it brings honor to you:

“My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

It is something to rejoice in,

to delight in,

to praise about (talk about supernatural thinking!).

It is a chance to give you glory,

to live by faith,

to be a channel of power,

a spring of grace,

a beacon of hope,

a demonstration of goodness,

a witness of the One true God to all those around us.

Let us join Paul in consistently saying,

“I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,

so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Cor, 12:9

While walking across a field I came upon this dandelion.

Its perfectly symmetrical shape called me to look closer,

and I noted the intricate pattern made of the filaments. Look at it in  the picture.

God just loves beauty and He has hidden it everywhere for us to find.

But God is not  only the Creator of beauty, He is also very practical:

the filaments making up that beautiful pattern are also little helicopters,

just waiting for the next breeze to launch them into the sky, each carrying a seed of new life to a new place.

This dandelion reminds me of the body of Christ: formed out of the miracle of Chrst’s resurrection,

beautifully interlinked to make a striking global pattern,

while remaining responsive to outside forces,

being willing to fly away to new places to reproduce itself as it falls on fertile ground.

We just need to be willing let Him carry us to the places that need more seeds obeying Jesus’ command: “….go and make disciples of all nations…”

Our God is astounding, amazing and totally loving, as this verse declares:

“God our Saviour…Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim 2:3,4

He goes to great lengths to give people knowledge of their need for forgiveness and salvation,

as we saw last night in the near death experiences where people went to heaven, met Jesus and returned as believers.

It seems that others need more convincing and they end up arriving in Hell, which is a terrible place.

They tell of people beating, tearing, torturing each other, in darkness and anguish.

One atheist upon arriving on the edge of hell, immediatly cried “Jesus, save me!”

God in these cases not only gives them a taste of eternal condemnation,

He sends some back to live again as believers, to serve Him as effective witnesses.

This is not a “second chance” after death, it is a further chance in life.

Picture: “Jesus, save me!”

Most people have only a vague idea of what Heaven or Hell are like. There are hints in Scripture, but these are not very complete.

As it says in Colossians 2:10 (KJV), “…you are COMPLETE in Him, which is the head of all principality and power….”

When we begin to understand who we are in Christ, we can go onto verse 12, which says,

“therefore” (since you are chosen, holy and dearly loved),

“clothe yourselves with compassion,

kindness,

humility,

gentleness [“sweet reasonableness”]

and patience.”

Wouldn’t you like to be around people like that?!!!

And that is what we can be for others when we live out the Truth

of who we are in Christ. and stop fighting with others.

In Ephesians 2:18 Paul prays the God will give the believers POWER

so they can understand the greatness of the love of God,

to know the love that surpasses knowledge, (to experience His love in God sightings)

and the result is “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

To know His love empowers us to rise above conflicts

to bring grace to others and bring joy to God!

Prayer: “Lord God, grant us the power to grasp

‘how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ’

so that we may reject the human struggle for significance,

rest in who we are in Christ

and clothe ourselves with the qualities you have bought for us. Amen.”

Picture: God gives us power so we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God

In thinking about the growing level of conflicts in relationships, the question is, “What is the source of these conflicts?”

One of the deepest themes running through conflicts seems to be the struggle for significance:

**Lucifer wanted more significance, to be like God.

**Eve was tempted to be more significant in knowing good and evil independently of God.

**Cain wanted his sacrifice to accepted and to be significant on his own terms rather than God’s.

**The builders of the tower of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves by their achievement, rejecting God’s command to spread out and fill the earth.

So it goes through all of scripture and all of life. I see this in myself,

being hurt and angry when someone does something to rob me of my dignity;

striving for accomplishment to feel and look more significant.

The resolution of  this root of conflict is stated in Colossians 3:12-14, “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved….”

Here in this verse is all the significance that anyone will ever need.

We are created in the image of God.

We are chosen before the foundation of the world to be a child of the Most High.

We are made holy: forgiven, purified and commissioned for significant work.

And we are dearly loved: sought out by the intense and pure desire of God the Ruler of all,

We are unconditionally accepted, whole-heartedly adopted, deeply cared for and delighted in.

As it says in Colossians 2:10 (KJV), “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power….”

If we could just grasp this on a “whole person level,”

(that is, not just intellectually but also volitionally and emotionally),

what a difference that would make in  us and all those around us.

And this is possible.

Tomorrow I will tell you more about bringing that difference to pass in your life.

Picture: I am chosen by the Creator of the universe

Follow up on yesterday’s post on “tent caterpillar sins” of: