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Idle Worship

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 21, 2022
Psalm 4:2 “How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?”
 
[It is the nature of human beings to worship, and you, Lord God, are the only One worthy of such adoration, honor and obedience.
 
Yet we so often leave your glory to worship the tinsel and lights of this world: shiny new cars, flashy new electronics, exciting sports events, absorbing work, stimulating relationships, a focus on food, the slippery slope of sensuality, or the latest electrifying entertainment.
 
The wrongness in this is that we seek our fulfillment, our excitement, our security, our significance in these things. We worship them as our idols, meaning we demand these things to be happy. I get so absorbed in a project that I will snap at anyone who interrupts me. I focus on the feeling of accomplishment, not on my fellow followers.
 
In seeking elsewhere for what only you can give, we turn our backs on you, shaming the Creator and Source of all, the Provider of the possibility of these momentary pleasures. We willfully forget that it is you alone who are Eternal, it is you alone who are Almighty, it is you alone who holds time in your hand, who sets up and takes down kings, who breathes out stars and fills the heavens.
 
Yes, you alone are the glorious One to be worshiped, adored, exalted and obeyed, yet we let the momentum of the moment divert us away from your majesty to focus on the microscopic.
 
Forgive us, Lord, lift our eyes to your greatness and free us from our idol worship so that we may fulfill the purpose of our life, to exalt you.]
 
May be an image of nature, tree, sky, lake and snow
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The God who Sees Me!

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 20, 2022
 
I praise you, O Lord, for you are “the God who sees me” (Gen. 16:13). You are a shield around me (Ps 18:30), you shut me in behind and before and lay your hand over me (Ps. 139:5). You are my refuge and strength (Ps. 18:2).
 
I praise you now, Lord Jesus, for what you are going to do today: the events you will allow, the positives as well as the disappointments, the difficulties and the downers, for these valleys bring death to self and growth to your children.
 
To you I am
a valuable inheritance,
a beloved son,
a cherished family member,
bought with a price,
adopted with fervor,
loved with passion,
sung over with joy
and cared for with power.
 
In you there is safety, in you there is help, in you there is goodness and grace.
You are the great Transformer, using the attacks of the enemy, the power of sin, the consequences of our rebellion to bring growth and goodness to us and glory to your name. You use them to unmask our sin, break our crookedness and undo us so you can reshape, redo and restore us towards the original image of yourself, to make us more like Christ.
Therefore, I choose to live today in the truth that “Knowing Jesus is enough for joy!” I choose to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for each thing that comes–as all comes with your permission and in your plan–and thereby fulfill the purpose you have given me of bringing honor to your Name!
 
I pray that, in the power of your Spirit, my thoughts, motives, words and actions will bring joy to your heart today, my Lord and Savior!
Picture: Barbara at her mother’s grave

 

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Psalm 3:8

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 19, 2022
Psalm 3:8 “From the LORD comes deliverance.”
 
[From you alone, Lord, by you alone, for your glory alone comes deliverance. “He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The LORD watches over all who love him…” (Ps.145, 19,20a).
 
We must look to you, LORD, the great I AM, the King of glory, the Lord of all, for deliverance–not to people, to our own efforts or some other source. Forgive me for looking first elsewhere for help–to medicine, to friends, to influential people, to money–before coming to you. You may use these to help me, but I must first come to you.
 
You are the Source of all good, the Creator of all existence, the Sustainer of all life. Praise be to you that you are the answer and the Answerer; you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. You are the Lover and LIght of my life. Help me to keep you as the focus of my existence!]
 
“May your blessing be on your people.”
 
[You are the One true source of blessing—genuine happiness and true joy come only from you—all other sources are temporary and inadequate. And many are destructive, addictive and harmful. With you, however, is the fullness of joy combined with the freedom to live in ever-growing obedience to Truth.
 
You are worthy of worship, Lord Jesus, and I give you honor, praise and glory now; I give you obedience, respect and joy.
 
May you be glorified and honored this day in me and before me. Bless me with reminders to check in with you at each juncture for your direction and wisdom that I may join you in your great plan to reach the world.]
May be an image of flower and nature
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More from the Cowboy with Heavenly Wisdom

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 18, 2022
More from the Cowboy with Heavenly Wisdom
 
Out hunting
 
They rode over to the two antelopes lying on the plain and dismounted. Cody showed Sam how to skin and butcher the animals, all the while frequently looking around.
A bit later he said quietly to Sam. “The Indians are here. Let’s load up our meat.”
 
“How do you know,” asked Sam, looking around and seeing nothing.
 
“I feel that we are being watched; they are behind a hill observing us.”
 
They each tied a bundle of meat wrapped in a hide behind their saddles and mounted up. They hadn’t gone far when the Indians appeared from behind a hill. Cody rode directly towards them.
 
Sam could see the Indians talking amongst themselves, uncertain of what this meant. Cody called to them and when he was close enough, used sign language to call them to himself.
One brave carrying a rifle came closer. “You brave warrior,” he said, “why you not run?”
 
“Because I have done nothing wrong. I am Tall Warrior and I bring you and your people a gift,” said Cody, pointing to the pack of meat behind his saddle.
 
“Tall Warrior, we hear of you. You good man!” The brave came closer and Cody took the bundle of meat from behind him.
 
“This is for your squaws and children,” he said. “Tell chief
Buffalo Head I said hello.”
 
The brave took the meat, “I do that,” he said and rode back to his companions and they all turned their ponies and rode off.
 
Sam watched it all in amazement. It was so different than all the stories he’d heard about Indians. “Why did you ride to them instead of getting as far away as possible?”
 
“Well,” said Cody, “To start with, I applied the first three qualities of Heavenly Wisdom. I had good motives, wanting to do good to them and to keep us alive. Second, I was peace loving, not shooting, not threatening. Third, I was sweetly reasonable, bringing them a gift. And I sought to be approachable, ready to talk with them.
 
Along with this, I knew that if we ran, they would have caught us. They don’t mind running their ponies into the ground if there’s a chance for a scalp.
 
“Also, they respect courage. As you saw, going directly at them without firing confused them, and impressed them. In addition, I am known among their people.” “How is that?” asked Sam.
Cory related his fight with Chief Buffalo Head and how he had spared the Indian’s life.
 
“That story, of course, was told over many a campfire. Now the Indians know that I am not against them.
 
If they know who I am, they will probably leave me alone—and they weren’t going to find out who I am if I had run from them!”
 
Picture from internet: Cody and Sam heading back to John’s ranch.
May be an image of 2 people, horse, nature and sky
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More on Psalm 1:6

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 17, 2022
“For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,” Psl. 1:6
 
In you only, Lord God, is what we need:
the goodness and grace,
love and care,
protection and security,
significance and peace,
hope and joy
that every human being longs for.
 
How sad that so many, for the sake of feeling independent, reject all this and end up in utter darkness and total destruction. “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness….” (Prov. 4:19).
 
You, Lord Jesus, are the opposite: the Lord of Light, who is worthy of praise. You shine your light upon every human being, you call all, you chose those who respond, giving us more and more light.
 
Truly, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining on every more brightly til the full light of day” (Prov. 4:18).
 
Praise you for your grace, Lord Jesus, undeserved by us, but continually poured out on us in great waves of love. You are worthy of worship, of praise, of glory, of honor. I bow before you now in surrender, and I rise up to join you in obedience, to follow your leading today.]
May be an image of nature and tree
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Psalm 1:6

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 16, 2022

Psalm 1:6 “For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,”

[You, Lord, the infinite and eternal One, are abundantly able to actively attend to all the needs of your children, whom you have made righteous in Christ. You are consistently, powerfully, intimately involved in protecting, providing, and carrying us forward in this life. You lead us beside still waters.

As we walk in the way of the righteous, you give us multiple opportunities every day to fulfill the purpose of our lives in offering thanks in every situation—especially the ones we don’t like—and thereby honor you before all the unseen hosts as well as humans. You are our Good and Gracious Shepherd.

Every day we get to see your hand at work in our lives as you guide us along the way. You provide God sightings every day so that we can know your love that surpasses knowledge, experiencing your grace. Open our eyes to see all the good you continually shower out on us.

“but the way of the wicked will perish.”

[The way of the wicked spirals downward into ever increasing darkness, for they have rejected the light-giving Grace and Mercy you offer. O Lord, you want to watch over the way of everyone, but sadly not all will enter your path.

Praise you, Lord Jesus, that you came as Savior first, and that you will come again as Judge to end wickedness, sin, evil, suffering, pain, sickness and death. You will usher in the New Heaven and the New Earth with all their beauty and sinless glory.

Help us to live in the light of the great future you have in store for us.

 

May be an image of flower and outdoors

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More Autobio

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 15, 2022
More from my Autobio
 
Chapter 55 Further Adventures
Shortly after our return from the far East, I ate a overly ripe peach and got really sick with diarrhea, vomiting and a high fever. Just after I became ill, two single German women came to visit and set the scene for a cultural clash between Barbara and me.
 
For Germans, any guest has definite priority over family. In addition, in Barbara’s family culture if family members got sick, they were tolerated, but it was clearly communicated that they were being a bother, so they’d better hurry up and get well.
 
In my family culture, however, if you were sick, you were waited on hand and foot and treated like royalty. These contrasting viewpoints had not been much of a problem before now but the arrival of the guests caused Barbara to slip back into German mode, bringing on a conflict.
 
Barbara was busy being a good German hostess, taking care of every need of our guests, while I, from my point of view, was hovering on the edge of death in the bedroom.
 
I was unable to eat, wracked with chills, barely able to crawl to the bathroom when the need arose, as it did often and violently. I was thirsty, but my hand was shaking so much from my chills and fever, that before I could bring a glass of water to my mouth, most of the water sloshed out onto the floor.
 
Every few hours Barbara would come in to poke the pile of blankets and make sure I was still alive underneath them.
 
During those two or three days I lost so much weight that I looked like a walking skeleton. My wedding ring fell off my emaciated finger and I didn’t even notice it.
 
When the guests finally left and I got well enough to have a coherent conversation, we had a little chat about priorities. Barbara had been sincerely unaware of neglecting me, and was very sorry. Being a good listener and teachable wife, that never happened again.
 
Shortly afterwards it was my turn to be the host. My parents wrote to say that they would come to visit in September as Dad was going to Paris to run in a half marathon. He had given up motocross at age sixty-three and had found more attention and admiration in the runners’ circles. He told us that after Paris they’d come to see us for a couple of days.
 
A couple of days!??? I understood Dad’s love of moving quickly, but to come all that way and stay only a couple of days? We finally convinced them to stay for a week, and it was a good time.
 
Dad went out running each day on the streets of Ankara and usually ended up with a crowd of little kids tagging along behind him—very few people in Turkey were runners back then.
 
We took a trip down to the biblical city of Cappadocia to show them some of the sights of Turkey. They were duly impressed and were very glad that they’d come.
 
Picture Us with Dad in front of our faithful VW. You can see how skinny I was after my illness.
 
May be an image of 3 people, child and people standing
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Psalm 1:5

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 14, 2022
Psalm 1:5 “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”
 
[When judgment comes–and it will, for you are righteous and just–those who have rejected you will be swept away. They will suffer the rejection they have given you and your offer of mercy. As a consequence, they will be excluded from all goodness, banished from your presence and lost in darkness—by their own choice.
 
Praise you, Lord God, that this is not your desire. It is your will that “all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth…” (1 Tim 2:4).
 
It is your desire that no one be condemned; but you give human beings the power of choice, first exercised by Adam and Eve in disobeying you, and then in a growing cascade of rebellion through the ages. And so, in the judgment to come, there will be consequences. As John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”
 
John 3:18 adds, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
 
In spite of the ongoing rebellion of many you, Our Heavenly Father continue to call all to repentance as Hebrews 4:7 states, “Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today…as was said before: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’”
 
So, we should be guarding our own hearts, while praying for and sharing with those who haven’t yet believed, so they may not condemn themselves, so there may be more worshipers both here in this world frozen in the grip of sin, and then in the sunshine of Heaven Forever.]
May be an image of nature, tree and body of water
May be an image of nature, twilight, tree and sky
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Psalm 1:4

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 13, 2022
Psalm 1:3,4 ““Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.”
 
[This shows that you, Lord are just, wise and good. You bless those who obey and allow those who rebel to live out the consequences of their rebellion.
 
While those who surrender to you are like a fruitful tree, bearing good fruit, prospering in what you call them to do, those who don’t are like worthless leftovers on the harvest floor: abandoned as useless and blown away by the wind.
 
They have, by their own choice, become of no purpose, are of no consequence and no value, frozen in the rebellion of their own decision.
 
The sad thing is that people choose to be in this situation, meaning they choose to devalue themselves. You offer them love, grace, worth, purpose, protection, a present joy and a future hope–but they reject this to feast on the chaff and tinsel of this world, and they become what they feed on.
 
Praise you, Lord God, that this is not your desire. It is your will that “all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth…” (1 Tim 2:4). It is your desire that no one be condemned.
 
You work consistently to give them light, sending the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin, righteousness and judgement. But if they refuse to follow the light, they cut themselves off from all that is good. Sad, but their choice.
 
I praise you, Lord, that this saddens you more than me, for you are the God of love, forgiveness, mercy and compassion. Help us Lord to be consistent in joining you in sharing your light with all around us as the boy is doing in the picture below!
 
May be an image of 2 people and people standing
 
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haber

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 13, 2022

Merhabalar. Biz şuanda Ankara’dayız. Bizimle görüşmek istersen bize bir facebook message gonderin. Steve ile Barbara

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