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Languages of Love

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 1, 2025 Respond

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her….” Eph. 5:25

We had a good discipleship lesson tonight with a friend, talking about how to love his wife in practical ways.

We worked off of the five languages of love; perhaps you know of these (You can look them up online if you’d like more information on them):

–words of affirmation
–touch
–service
–gifts
–quality time.

Spouses often have different languages of love. For instance my wife’s two primary ones are gifts and quality time. Mine in contrast are words of affirmation and touch.

These often work against each other, so the key ingredient in really loving your spouse is often denial of self!

For instance, I like to work not play games or watch movies or take walks. But these things speak love to my wife, so I do them. And in her family compliments and touch were almost completely absent so for her it is not easy to love me this way. But she does!

Take a look and see what your two primary love languages are, and then talk with your spouse about what his or hers is. Then practice them.

We told our disciple tonight to bring his wife a little gift each week, maybe just a flower, or an apple telling her that she is the apple of his eye! Our friend said this was hard for him to do as it’s outside of his male thinking, but he said he would try it I’m sure his wife will appreciate it.

As it says in Ephesians, if we deny ourselves and love our spouse we are actually doing good to ourselves! God is very economical in his commands, accomplishing several things in one ruling.
Let’s join Him in that!

Picture: a little gift of love.

May be an image of flower

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Reaction vs Response

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 31, 2025 Respond

Every day is an adventure, every day has twists and turns on the road of life giving us the opportunity to play a significant role in the plan of God. A lot of these twists and turns are not pleasant or wanted but they are allowed because God has a purpose in them.

Today I was inspired concerning the sermon I’ll give next Sunday. So I sat down with my PowerPoint and constructed the whole sermon and was very pleased with it.

Then when I went to save it, I touched the wrong button and it disappeared! I tried looking up on YouTube how to find it and the videos given each skipped one or two steps in the process assuming that I’d know them, so they proved to be of no help

With my will I obediently thanked God for this, but I can tell you that my emotions were somewhere else! Then the Spirit reminded me of the verse that I had worked on for the sermon: ”…you are…God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 1:9.

So there it is again the chance to fulfill our purpose by praising God when we don’t feel like it. I am thankful that He patiently and consistently works to teach me that. And I want to do it better!

Picture: what I felt like, then what the Spirit led me to do.

May be an image of 2 people

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Trust Brings…

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 29, 2025 Respond

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him….”  Romans 15:13a

Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, King of Peace, God of Grace, Giver of Good.

You, in your wisdom have brought to us the possibility of peace, but.

have left to us the practice of partaking, implementing and enjoying it.

You invite us to dine with you at the table of peace;

if we refuse to sit down and join you by trusting you,

we, by our own choice, will live in peaceless turmoil, worry and fear.

Trust is an act of the will, based on our knowledge of God.

As it says in Psalm 86:15”… you, Lord,

are a compassionate and gracious God,

slow to anger,

abounding in love

and faithfulness.

What more do we need, just one thing: Faith.

Faith comes by hearing the Word.

So let’s get into it every day,

increase our faith,

choose trust and receive

the joy and peace God wants to give us.

May be an image of tree and grass

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Letting Go

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 28, 2025 Respond
“…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Following Jesus is summed up  in this verse. Many times we are called to do the opposite of what we’d prefer. And today is one of those times for us. We must again bid goodbye to our son, our beloved daughter in-law and grandchildren as they return to the Middle East tonight. But we choose to rejoice in launching them out into the battle again, joining Jesus in reaching an entire country.

The nation they are returning to has a population of 85 million but the known number of born again believers is just over 10,000. That a .00011% of the country. Just for comparison, I looked up the population of our county here in CT; it is 116,000, and the number of born again Christians as counted fly church attendance, is 10,260. That is, they make up 11%. The need for the gospel in that Middle Easter country is much much greater than the need here in CT. There are plenty of believers to share the gospel, but not so in this other country.
So we gladly let them go, gladly launch them off  into the great task God has given them. In this light, we can deny ourselves with joy, joining God in what He’s doing, letting them go, holding on to God’s love and rising above the necessity of letting go.
Please pray for a safe trip for them, an unproblematic entry and renewal of their residency in the near future. Also for resolution  to the significant challenges they face upon return. Thank you.
May be an image of aircraft
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The Silver Lining

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 26, 2025 Respond

Well, I’ve missed a couple of days of posting, but have a good reason.

On Saturday while  changing a tire, the tire changer jammed, and when I tapped it with my hammer, the arm swung around and cut off the end of my left ring finger!
Not exactly what I was wishing for, but immediately a series of God sightings began to appear.
—I could effectively stop the bleeding with my handkerchief.
—My son Josh was with me and took me right over to the emergency room.
—When we got there, no one was in the waiting room! And I was taken right in (very unusual for a Saturday).
—Athis point I had very little pain—up until they washed my hurt finger with salt water and that did smart!
—Since there was nothing left to sew up, they just wrapped it and sent me home with instructions.
—The low level of pain continued on and I didn’t need to use the strong painkiller they’d prescribed.
—When we came out of the emergency room, there was a puddle of  oil around my back tire, but I could find no source on the van.
—On the day home we found the cause: there was a leak in a brake line—but we made it safely home anyway.
—The van is my only vehicle, so now we were stranded; but the Lord provided as my neighbor came right over and fixed it!
—Then on Tuesday, as instructed, I called an orthopedic sergeon. After listening, the secretary asked, “Can you be here in 20 minutes?” Unheard of getting such a quick appointment!
—And a final God sighting: the doctor I saw was a Turk! And we had a nice conversation in Turkish!
So in the midst of what could look like a little tragedy (I can’t type very well with only 9 fingers!) God is doing many good things.
Truly “Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Psalm 27:6
My wounded finger and Psalm 23
No photo description available.
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Freedom and Light

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 22, 2025 Respond

Spotting and rejecting our idols (whatever we demand to be happy) opens the way for grace to flow in us and through us.

As it says in Psalm 146:7 and 147:11, “The Lord sets prisoners free….The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”

He wants to set us free from the traps of the enemy, from the idols of our own hearts, and from the values of this world. We need to be cooperating with Him in this process by soaking in the Word, replacing lies with Truth and choosing to live in praise.

Prayer: “Lord, help me to see the traps of the enemy, the idols that are set up in my heart. Help me to immediately confess and forsake them so your Holy Spirit can have free rein in me so you may have more glory. Amen.”

Picture: letting go of idols, coming into the light, enjoying the freedom God has for us.

May be an image of 1 person, ocean, twilight, lake and horizon

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Dealing with Jealousy

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 21, 2025 Respond

Effective confession is more than just admitting a sin, like being jealous; it also requires looking at the layers of sin hidden under jealousy, some of which are:

selfishness,

accepting worldly values,

believing lies,

rejection of God’s standards,

pride,

rebellion

and unbelief—to name a few.

As I began confessing down through the layers of sin under jealousy, the Holy Spirit brought something to mind: the principle of setting our hearts on things above (Col. 3:1,2), especially as it is explained in Matthew 5:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

What a different perspective that is, especially compared to my jealousy and the sins under it. So, with the Spirit’s help,  I choose confession, repentance and surrender instead—and thereby stepped into the light, into the freedom that truth and transparency with God brings.

Picture: Keeping on the armor of God and stepping into the light of truth.

May be an image of 1 person and the Arno River

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Jealousy

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 20, 2025 Respond

“…set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 2:1b

 

One mornings as I was driving my very basic 12-year-old rusty Fiat, I suddenly became aware of the locals around me driving their shiny, new, beautiful Mercedes, Volvos, BMWs, and Fords. And just as suddenly I experienced a strong surge of jealousy.

But the Holy Spirit was “on duty” and brought this to mind: “These men don’t actually own those cars, the bank does. And they have a big payment each month. Plus, think how much it costs for upkeep for these expensive cars. Yours is simple, 1950’s technology, easy and cheap to fix!”

These simple facts snapped me out of my selfish jealousy, and launched into thanking God for what I had. It got me there and back and that was all I needed! Focus on God. Be thankful for what you have; be glad for others for what they have.

Picture: Do I need this? Or is what I have adequate? Be thankful, think truth.

May be an image of car and text

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The Hand of God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 19, 2025 Respond

“…to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge….” Ephesians 3:19

 
I love the way that God shows His love for us in what looks  like ordinary happenings, coincidences  many would say. 
 
But they are much more than that: they are God reaching into our lives to provide for us, guide us, protect us. This is His love that passes just knowing about it. As you know, I call these “God Sightings,” events that let us taste the love of Christ in a very practical manner. 
Here is one from this week. While at the transfer station I saw a man throwing away beautiful deck railings and deck boards. He let me take them. That made me think about the bridge from our parking area to the house. I’d built it in 1999 out of pressure treated wood, and it was pretty weathered. I could use this stuff  to rebuild it.
 
Got home and  measured the railing: it was the right length right to the inch. With my grandkids’ help, we put up the new railings and laid down the boards on the floor. There weren’t quite enough, but I had others I’d also gotten from the transfer station to complete the task. I even had a two big boxes of the right kind of screws that someone had left for me.
 
So now we have a rejuvenated bridge and it didn’t cost us a cent, except for the silver dollar I gave my grandson for helping me. A nice, unexpected, unplayed for gift from God.
 
Watch for them in your own life and see your faith bolstered.
 
Picture: my grandson, Kenan taking off the old boards.
May be an image of 1 person
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Majestic beyond Comprehensiion

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 18, 2025 Respond

“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.” 1 Tim. 1:17

You, Yahweh, are the God who is

pure in motive,

perfect in planning,

persistent in values,

perceptive in understanding,

purposeful in love.

You are flawless in execution,

abundant in mercy,

rich in resources,

overflowing in love,

generous in giving,

gracious in provision,

limitless in creativity,

slow in anger

and positive in patience.

You are a marvel,

you are majestic,

you are trustable,

you are great.

To you be glory both now and forevermore.

Prayer: “Lord,in the  midst of uncertainty,

I praise you now for how you are going to work things out for me.

I give you honor without seeing the end, for you are absolutely trustable.

Keep me thinking these truths,

help me to respond with love and grace and goodness,

to fight the real enemy with praise, prayer and persistence in obedience. Amen.”

Picture: The Majesty of God our Rock and Light

No photo description available.

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