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Spiritual Amnesia

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 15, 2025 Respond

We all tend to suffer from Spiritual Amnesia. This manifests itself when we face a crisis, like the Israelites caught between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army. Did they remember God’s power displayed in the 10 plagues? Did they remember that God forced Pharaoh to let them go? Did they remember the pillar of fire by night and of cloud by day? No, they forgot all this and focused only on the threat of the moment.

God knows that we have this tendency, which is why there are 365 commands in the Bible to “fear not!” This is why Peter urges us 3 times in 2 Peter 1:12-15 to remember:

“So I will always remind you of these things…

“I think it is right to refresh your memory…

“And I will make every effort to see that…you will always be able to remember these things.”

So, when we are faced with a crisis, how can we prevent this spiritual amnesia? I will give you one aspect now and more tomorrow.

First is to begin  to make yourself aware of complaining and begin to replace it with giving thanks.

++Traffic is slow? “Thank you, Lord, for this delay. My times are in your hands, I repent of my impatience.”

++Prices too high? “Thank you, Lord, that at least these things are available and I do have enough money to buy a few of them!”

++People unkind? “Thank you, Lord, for the chance  to forgive and let go, to rest in your love.”

++Broke a glass while washing the dishes, “Thank you, Lord, that you allowed that, to teach me to be more careful.”

++Hit your thumb with a hammer, “Ah! Thank you, Lord, that I have a thumb to hit!”

This utilizes this basic truth to banish Spiritual Amnesia: What God allows He does so for a purpose. I can trust Him to use whatever situation I don’t like  for good. He will carry me through. When we learn to think like this, freedom from  complaining will begin to  come, taking a big bite out of our spiritual Amnesia. Tomorrow more help with this.

Picture: Praising during a drought

May be an image of 1 person, twilight and horizon

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Opportunity for Worship

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 13, 2025 Respond

“I will bless the Lord at ALL times, His praise shall CONTINUALLY be in my mouth.” Psalm 34:1

We had just passed through the security check at the airport in Charlotte, NC. I got Barbara seated at a restaurant for a snack while I went and checked on our gate. As I was leaving, I glanced at my shirt pocket, and saw that my passport and boarding pass were not there where I always keep them! Wow, that was a potential glitch! Immediately the Spirit spoke: “This is a test! Will you trust me in this?”

“OK, Lord, I praise you for this new challenge, for the chance to give you glory by trusting you. You know what you are doing and I can rest in you no matter what the outcome!”

I told Barbara about it, and went right back to security where all the bins were searched, but no passport or boarding pass. “Well, Lord, this is another chance to give you glory in praising by faith. Thank you for your goodness in this, for however you are going to work it out.”

As I walked back to the restaurant, Barbara happily came towards me with my passport! It turns out that in the rush to get everything back in place after going through security, I had uncharacteristically stuck the passport and boarding pass into my backpack. “Thank you, Lord!” we both said.

Upon reflection, I realized this happened because I had been worried about getting through security quickly and was rushing, not being careful. Finding my passport was a great relief; however, there was more to come, and I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.

May be an image of aircraft

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Purpose of Emotions

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 12, 2025 Respond

Last night I posted about the joy and freedom in believing that God has a plan and will work out things, that He will help us in  time of need, “In the day of my trouble, I will call upon you for you will answer me.” Psalm 86:7

This reminded me of the three purposes of emotions. We hear so often the phrase, “Just follow your heart.” This is about the worse advice you can get, for the Lord says our heart is deceitful and wicked. Emotions are not to lead us. I believe that God did give them to us for a purpose, three in fact. This is from my observation, and study of scripture, but not exactly biblical.
First, emotions are for us to enjoy: a beautiful sunset, a fine concert, an enjoyable evening with friends, a delicious meal. God Himself enjoys such things. It is His good pleasure to have us as His children. Ephesians 1:5, “…Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
Second, emotions are  to warn us, especially the “negative” ones: anger, jealousy, fear, pride, revenge, unforgiveness. They warn us that we are thinking and desiring wrongly. They are like red lights on the dashboard of life, intended to warn us of some  impending danger, not to guide us. The red oil light does not mean turn right at the next  corner, it means, “Stop right now and check things out!”
The third purpose of emotions is to encourage us, motivate us, arouse us to positive action. We’ve all been in a situation of hopelessness, when someone spoke up, “Come on, we can do  this! On your feet, let’s go!” Our emotions arise and we press on to the task.
This is what happened to me as the Lord reminded me that He will help me. It is our part to listen and allow our emotions to be stirred to obedience, not to lead us, but to encourage us.
So, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, mind and soul, and love your neighbor, no matter how difficult he may be!
Picture: something to stir your positive emotions:
May be an image of tree and grass
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Looking Up

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 11, 2025 Respond
The last two months have brought some difficulties with people not following through on their promises. This failure on their part has put me into a  bind (actually several binds).
 In the midst of this I have sought to consistently offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, to trust God to work things out–and yet, on an emotional level, the dark shadows of worry were always lurking on the edges of my mind.
Then today the Lord brought a change of perspective. These “binds” are actually exciting opportunities to see God act into my life. These difficulties are actually invitations to join God in His great plans. They are the chance to live the truth that God’s power is made perfect in my weakness, it is the opportunity to let go and let God’s power carry me forward into the unknown, doing what is my part, not His!
This insight, this reminder and revelation rejuvenated my  joy. They nurtured my first love for God, and fanned  my flagging faith in the totally faithful One.
He is helping me to more deeply  live Psalm 50:23 where HE says, “he who offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and opens the way that I may show him the salvation of the Lord!”
Picture: the path disappears, but God will reveal the next stage at the right time.
May be an image of road, tree and grass
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Dirt or Flowers?

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 10, 2025 Respond

It was a “bumpy” day with a lot of small projects not working out, couldn’t find the right tools, got parts that don’t fit, the pipes I “fixed” leaked, and it rained a lot! All reasons to be discontent, to complain, moan and groan. It seemed to be an appropriate time to talk about the terrible weather and the distressing events in the world (like the price of houses). So natural. Each of these negatives is like a rock and in complaining about them, we put them into a sack one at a time: by the end of the day we end up carrying a big burden.

But, in reality (spiritual reality), these little events (and they are little) are opportunities for good. Opportunities to trust God, to act in faith, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and to honor God by doing so. What a difference that perspective brings. Each negative then becomes a step up in faith, in maturity, in usefulness for God. So at the end of the day, instead of being weighed down with a bag of rocks, we are rising above things, walking with Jesus and joining Him in His great plans.
The choice is ours, every minute!
“He who offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and opens the way that I may show him the salvation of the Lord!” Psalm 50:23
Picture: will we focus on the flowers or the dirt?
May be an image of scorpion grass and French lavender
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Blessed beyond measure

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 9, 2025 Respond

“Blessed is the man…”  Psalm 1:1

 

Praise be to you, O Lord God, for your desire is to bless people,

to bring goodness and grace into their lives,

to give them joy and satisfaction,

fulfillment and positive pleasure.

But this is not automatic, as the rest of Psalm 1 tells us. You give us the power to choose, power we can use to bring blessing or curses down on ourselves. It is like you give us a powerful machine which can lift gigantic blocks of stone: with the push of a button, the pull of a lever, we can move great weight and volume. We can use this power  to build up, or to destroy.

 

In the spiritual realm,

as we obey your principles,

as we submit to the clear directions of your Word,

as we obey the leading of your Spirit,

as we whole-heartedly embrace your commands,

then you move mountains to accomplish your will, you do great things in and through us, while bringing joy, grace, goodness, provision and safety to us and those around us.

 

As you said in John 15:10-11, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

In you, Lord Jesus, is all we need, we are complete and you have given us the privilege and power to access it all as we choose your way over that of the world, of our old nature and of the devil.

 

Help us to choose for you through each moment of today that you may be lifted up before humanity and the spiritual forces that surround us.

Picture: one of God’s blessings, the beauty of His creation.

May be an image of lake

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Wisdom when needed

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 8, 2025 Respond

Sometimes I am not sure what to do. The situation I faced this  morning had no clear connection to any biblical example or advice, but there are two conflicting possibilities. Which should I choose?

Well,  this was the time to utilize James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” I asked,  and shortly afterwards an event from far in the past came to mind, where I was faced with the same decision: should I just rest in the Lord and pray, or should I act into the situation. 
 
The past event occurred in the Middle Eastern country where we lived. A new team member came and as part of orientation, we helped him get a postbox at the post office. But several weeks went by and no mail. So we committed to praying about this, asking God to resolve this problem. Some weeks  more went by but still no mail. 
 
So I decided to go to the post office and ask, even though it was potentially inviting trouble. 
 
“Oh,” said the clerk, there was a sign on the box not to put any mail in it, so I’ve been sending everything back! I’ll take that sign off for you now.” Problem solved; God chose to answer it by my actions, not by prayer alone.
 
So today I implemented that, and took action, which brought the results I wanted. And  opened the way for further action, which will hopefully resolve the whole difficulty I am facing.
 
God is faithful: ask for wisdom and He gives it! The beauty of His love, like the flowers in this picture.
No photo description available.
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Delighting in God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 6, 2025 Respond

Delighting in God

Praise be to you, Lord, for

your greatness and goodness,

your power and your patience,

your persistence and your passion,

your lavish love and your consistent correction.

You are our Rock,

you are our Salvation,

you are our high Tower of safety,

you are our Shield,

you are our Shepherd.

You are all that we need, for we were created to partner with you, to work with you.

 

Praise you for

your persistence

in pursuing us,

possessing us,

perfecting us for our future marriage with you,

the Lion and the Lamb,

our Lord and Leader,

our Liberator and Lover.

 

You have provided us with all we need to live for you;

you are so generous and gracious in your provision.

We praise you, the totally trustable God,

the fully followable King,

the completely compassionate Ruler,

and the wonderfully wise Leader.

Therefore, we can say without reservation, “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Picture: Our God loves beauty and loves to share it with us.

May be an image of mountain-laurel

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Three ways to rejoice

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 5, 2025 Respond

Today seems to be the first day of summer here: clear, calm and 90+ degrees. People have already started to complain!

This, however, for a believer is the opportunity to practice three supernatural responses.
1. Think and live the verse, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
2. Offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for being hot and sticky, thereby trusting God and embracing what He brings.
3. Use the second secret of happiness: compare down. Compare your situation with others who are much worse off. For instance, in the city of Sibi in Pakistan today the temperature is 116 degrees!! That’s 26 degrees hotter than here. So, we don’t have it so bad after all, a bit uncomfortable for some, but we have air conditioning in our homes, cars and stores. But I will guarantee  you that not one average person in Sibi has any air conditioning  anywhere. We have it good.
So, when you find yourself complaining, take these three steps, thanking God for it. And remember, you are not in the Ukraine, or Gaza, or Sudan, or 1000 other places with severe suffering and depravation going on. We have it good!
Memorize that verse and practice it:”This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Psalm 118:24
Picture: Rejoicing in the heat
May be an image of 1 person and grass
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This is the day

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 4, 2025 Respond

“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

This verse is a comprehensive statement, including all kinds of days.

It points us to you, Lord, the Sovereign God in whose hands all days are made, whether they are in our eyes good or bad, restful or challenging.

You in your wisdom allow, create or send events which are going to be used in your great plan.

You allow people to carry out their schemes within certain boundaries, allowing evil people to do evil things, but only within certain limits.

You are able to use their evil to advance your plans and Kingdom (Rev. 9:20).

In the meantime, you continually pour out good on all your creatures, giving us air to breathe, food to eat, friends to share with, work to do, eyes to see, ears to hear, feet to walk, hands to use, skin to protect and feel—things we take for granted, but without them our lives would be very different!

In addition you give meaning, direction, provision and protection. You give grace and goodness in the midst of trials and challenges, problems as well as solutions. You use difficulties to chasten, punish, correct and restore.

Help us to remember this, to delight in you and your wonderful goodness, your beautiful creation, your power and plans for us, for history, for eternity!

May be an image of lake

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