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Joy, Peace and Hope

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 13, 2021
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that your lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
 
Praise you, Lord God! You, like the sun, are there every day, shining in perfection, in power, in wisdom and goodness. You are empty of negatives, full of positives, perfect in character, overflowing with promises.
 
Praise you for your Word, always ready to pour its riches on us and into us as we delve into it every day.
 
Praise you for your Spirit who stands ready to teach us what we need today, guiding, warning, encouraging and protecting us.
 
Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of Hope….” and that is what you are, Lord, the God who is the source of hope, who offers hope to all, who calls us to hope.
 
And your hope is not a “maybe,” “perhaps,” or ‘I wish it were so” uncertainty. It is a rock-solid surety—you promise, you carry through, you deliver, always.
 
You desire to fill your children “with all joy and peace….” This says so much about you, my Lord God. You desire good for us, to give us the joy and peace that every person longs for.
 
We desire a joy that is unquenchable, undefeatable by the difficulties, tragedies and suffering of life; and we can have it because you, the unchanging God, are its source. You don’t do things half way: you don’t offer just some joy but ALL joy.
 
You give us a purchased peace: sure and sound, deep and dynamic, restful and responsible on three levels. First we can have peace with you by eagerly confessing our sin and sins, then receiving your rich, healing forgiveness.
 
Then we can have peace with ourselves by forgiving ourselves as you have forgiven us.
 
And third, we can have peace with others by forgiving them as we have been forgiven.
 
These are true pieces of peace, vibrant peace, renewable peace, for each time we sin, it can be restored.
 
But, there is a condition for having this joy and peace, and we’ll look at that tomorrow
May be an image of tree and nature
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Our God towers over all

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 12, 2021
You, Lord Jesus are the Rock in our lives, never shifting, never changing, never shaking.
 
You are our Salvation:
from sin,
from ourselves,
from harm,
from evil,
from fears,
from frivolity,
from negatives,
from human thinking,
from complaining,
from idol worship,
from laziness,
from overwork, burn out, selfishness, pride, manipulation and greed–to name a few.
 
You are the mighty Tower: strong and sure, standing high over the dangers and demons of this world. You are our ever-effective Refuge and Redeemer.
 
As our high Tower, it is as if you lift us up, set us on your shoulder, make us safe, give us a wider view, bring us understanding, hold us near your heart, and give us wisdom and advice.
 
With you, in you, by you, all is good. We can rejoice, we are protected, our future is secure, we are set free to obey you with joy, to worship you with all our hearts, to love you with all our mind, strength and will.
 
When we look to you and truly see you in your beauty and glory, your greatness and goodness, we are dizzy with delight, for you are beyond what we could possibly have thought up in our limited imaginations.
 
Prayer: “Glory be to you, Lord Jesus, my God and King, for you are worthy of all my wonder and worship! Help me to follow you into the freedom you have prepared for your children. Amen.”
May be an image of tree, nature and sky
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More Autobio

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 11, 2021
The next day, we set off for the capitol city, a twelve hour drive over narrow, crowded, two lane roads. We climbed from sea level to 2500 feet onto the central plateau.
 
There were hairpin turns galore, steep drop-offs with no guardrails and lots of heavily loaded trucks belching great clouds of diesel exhaust.
 
It was the same game as in Yugoslavia, searching for places to pass the long lines of slow traffic, except there were far fewer places to do so. I was exhausted by the time we got to our next city.
 
We stopped at a bakkal and used the phone to call our team leader, John. He was unable to give us directions, not really knowing where we were, so we were reduced again to asking locals for help but not understanding their answers.
 
However, with the Lord’s protecting hand, we able to arrive at the team leader’s house towards evening. It was December 16, 1979, three years and three months after the Lord told me we’d be on the field in three years. His promise for us was fulfilled again: “(the) the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore” (Ps. 121:8).
 
Beginning our new life
 
John had rented a partially furnished apartment for us, so we could move right in. The only problem was that with a shortage of fuel, there was very little heat.
 
Winter in Ankara is very similar to winter in New England, plus this happened to be the coldest winter in forty years with record-breaking amounts of snow.
 
The government had nationalized the coalfields, forgetting, however, that they had no equipment to mine it. So there was a lack of coal. Other things were also in short supply: fuel oil for heating, propane gas, cooking gas, gasoline, and many food products.
 
Another difficulty for us was the air quality; this city was located in a bowl of mountains, so the exhaust fumes from vehicles and the smoke from furnaces were trapped in the city. That created some serious air pollution.
 
How different this was from our beautiful, clean and green Connecticut. But the Lord graciously reminded us to reject the temptation to compare. Barbara had a friend tell her, “Accept where you are, don’t compare. It will only make you unhappy.” So we set our faces forward, and accepted what the Lord had for us.
 
The day after Christmas, our tenth day in the country, our team leader took us on a seven-hour trip down to Tarsus—the town where the Apostle Paul was born. We were finding out how much biblical history there was in this country.
 
Our home city was the site of the biblical Galatia. In the southwest were the seven churches of Revelation, along with Colossae. In the southeast was Antioch where the believers were first called Christians and Mount Ararat where Noah’s ark may have landed after the flood subsided. And there were many other sites.
 
It had snowed in the night before this trip, and I was thankful that the engine in our car was in the rear to give us traction as we drove up and up and up the Southern rim of the mountains to get out of the city. As we crossed the high plain, the road became more treacherous, in many places covered with ice.
 
Most of the gas stations were closed because of the shortages of fuel, so when we saw one open I decided to stop and gas up. I just touched the brakes and the tires lost traction on the icy road. We began to slide sideways into the gas station, then spun around a couple of times and came to a stop when we hit the gas pump.
 
There was silence for a moment and then from the back of the car came a small voice, “Do it again, Daddy!” We all laughed, but I was shaken.

Picture: our new city in the grip of a cold, snowy winter

May be an image of sky

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The Perfect Priest

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 10, 2021
“The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek’” (Ps. 110:4).
 
You, Lord Jesus, are, by virtue of your nature as God and by virtue of your vow and promise, our Priest forever. You are utterly, entirely, totally faithful, so you will never change your mind.
 
“… because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
 
“Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (Heb. 7:24-26).
 
You, Lord Jesus, are the One to be exalted, the Most High, the Everlasting One, the Blameless One, Pure in heart, in motive, in thought, in action.
 
All you do is good, and all you will is good. You are the Pinnacle of greatness, the Paragon of goodness, the Prince of graciousness. All must bow before such purity, such holiness, such perfection. You are worthy of praise, of trust, of obedience both now and forever more!
 
Prayer: “We give you glory, Lord God, Yahweh and Adonai. We bow before you and pray that you will help us to exalt you in our thoughts, words and actions. Praise be to you in my life both today and forever and ever! Amen.”
May be an image of flower and nature
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Our Marvelous God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 9, 2021
“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” Psalm 110:1
 
You are wonderful, O LORD, our Heavenly Father, the One glorious in holiness, might and creativity. You work hand in hand with the Lord Jesus, the Sovereign One, Master, Owner of the universe, King of glory, to bring to pass your plan of redemption and restoration of all.
 
What power, what ability, what glory is at work, for you are the LORD (Yahweh whose glory is in your holiness) and the Lord (Adonai, the Owner of all, who has the right to demand obedience and promises to supply all so we can obey).
 
You will defeat evil and rebellion, eliminate lying and unbelief and bring about beauty and perfect righteousness. Your enemies will be forced to bow down before you,
before Truth and Righteousness,
before Justice and Mercy,
before Goodness and Grace.
 
“The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies” (Ps. 110:2). No entity can resist you, Lord Jesus, no evil can stand against you, no rebellion can succeed against you. You will prevail!
 
“Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth” (Ps. 110:3b).
 
You, Lord Jesus, are gloriously dressed in your pristine, majestic, marvelous holiness. You are the eternal One, who has died once for all and rose to live forever–you will always have the dew of your youth, the vigor, strength and power of the ageless God of Creation. You are ever able to act in might and majesty, to accomplish all that your holy heart desires.
You are trustable:
completely,
wonderfully,
firmly,
powerfully
trustable.
 
Therefore I choose to trust you, especially in the midst of things I don’t like. I do this because of Romans 15:13 which promises us great results:
“May the God of hope
fill you and me with all joy and peace
AS WE TRUST IN HIM,
so that our lives may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit”
May be an image of tree, cloud and nature
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Grace

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 8, 2021
What is grace? One person describes it as “getting the opposite of what we deserve.” Some years ago I was the receiver of rich, healing grace from my teammates.
 
The local brothers had postponed a leaders’ meeting from Saturday evening to Sunday. However, I forgot to tell my two teammates, both of whom went to great effort to get there (getting a baby sitter, traveling 45 minutes by bus, being away from their families on Saturday evening).
 
I met them separately as I was leaving the store and when I apologized for my failure in communication, each said the same thing, “That’s ok, we all forget at times.” And they meant it.
 
Grace flowed; goodness welled up, joy rained down. They didn’t say the words, “I forgive you” but they certainly acted it out. If they had been measuring me by performance rather than grace, they certainly would have had the right to rake me over the coals. Instead, they were living demonstrations of being “grace receivers” and “grace givers,” forgiving others as God has forgiven them.
 
C.S. Lewis declared that every believer should be a grace receiver and giver, describing it this way: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
 
Counselor David Seamands summed up his career with this insight, “Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: the failure to understand [and] receive…God’s unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness and grace to other people…”
 
How are you doing at forgiving and extending grace in the conflicts in your life? Take a look at Psalm 37:1-10 with its admonitions to “fret not” “trust in the Lord and do good,” “delight in the Lord” and “wait on Him.” It will help!
 
Prayer: “Lord, help me to be a grace receiver and a grace giver, forgiving others as you have forgiven me. Help me to remember how much I am forgiven, and, how, in actuality and comparison, how small are others’ offenses against me. Help me to live the truth that your death and resurrection bought forgiveness for every sin committed against me. Who am I to not forgive?! Praise you for the grace you give. Amen.”

A ”Graceful Picture”

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 September 7, 2021
“Now,” Cody went on, “Doing it well has to do with starting with good motives. What good motive could you have to oppose
Dodge and his threats?”
 
“Hmmm,” replied John, obviously at a loss to answer. He was surprised at the turn the conversation had taken–and somewhat frustrated with it, too. Cody could see the anger rising in him.
 
“What gives you the right to challenge me on this?” John asked. “You just ride in here and tell me what to do!”
 
“As you may have noticed, I didn’t just ride in here, I brought your boy back,” Cody replied gently. “And I don’t have a right to tell you what to do, but I can, out of good will, help you to think things through and find a way out of this dangerous situation.”
 
John looked at the ground and was quiet for a minute. “Alright, I don’t have much choice. As it is, there’s no way I can fight off Dodge and his men.”
 
“So,” Cody said, “let’s get back to your motives, John. What good motives can you have for taking a stand?”
 
John thought for a while, setting the butt of his rifle on the ground. “Well, how about establishing a home for my family?”
 
“Yes, that’s a good one. Do you have a wife, John?”
 
“Yes. She’s in the house making lunch.”
 
“What motive of yours would concern her?”
 
“To protect her,” John replied immediately.
 
“Good, now you have two positive motives. How about a wider one, encompassing more than your own spread here?”
 
“What do you mean?” John asked.
 
“Think about the future of this country, about the other people that will come.”
 
“Ok, how about this: make it possible for other settlers to come and raise their families?”
 
“Good, very good! What about Dodge? What motive could you have for him?”
 
“I’d like to push him off his ranch and out of the area!” John said vehemently.
 
“Really? Is that a positive motive?”
 
“Well, I guess not,” replied John. He was quiet for a moment, looking off across the prairie at the mountains in the distance. “I want to have peace with him, allow him his way of life while he lets me have mine.”
 
“Now, that’s a really fine motive; it could bring about a very different solution than shooting down those who oppose you,” Cody said.
 
Just then John’s wife appeared in the door of their cabin and called them to lunch. John turned to his guest, “Will you join us, Cody? I’d like to hear more about this Heavenly Wisdom and how we can deal with Dodge.”
Amanda already had the food on the table when they came in: antelope stakes, fresh bread and some greens collected by the river. John and Sam sat in their places, and Amanda said to
Cody, “Sit there at the end of the table.”
 
“Sure is good to have a home cooked meal,” said Cody as he dug into the meat and bread. “Eating jerky and nothing else on the trail does get old.”
 
“I’m glad you could join us, Mr. Cody, and thank you so much for bringing Sam back!” Amanda said.
 
“Glad to help,” replied Cody.
 
“So, Mr. Cody,” said Sam, “tell us more about this Heavenly
Wisdom; I’ve never heard of it.”
 
“No surprise, boy, not many people pay attention to it. It’s very different from normal human thinking. It’s God’s thinking, which is usually the opposite of natural thinking.
 
“How many people do you know take the time to examine their motives before acting? Most folks don’t give them a thought, just react to whatever comes. That’s why so many people have gotten shot in pointless gun fights here in the west. Me, I’d rather talk it through than pull out my gun.
 
“Here’s another fact from the Bible that influences our motives. It says in Ephesians 6 that ‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.’ That means our actual enemy is not people but the Devil.
 
“He consistently uses people against us, so if we just fight people, the Devil wins, but if we use heavenly wisdom to fight the Devil and his helpers, then win, we, the person whose attacking us, and God!”
Picture: Cody on the trail
No photo description available.
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Psalm 37:14-15

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 6, 2021
Psalm 37:14 & 15 “The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.”
[God, in His greatness, power and graciousness, will turn the plots of the wicked back on themselves. They will not be successful in their schemes in the long run, but will be brought to justice in His time and in His way.
I think of Hitler, who was limited to only 12 years of rule instead of a lifetime. And he was used by God to plow the hearts of many people, making them open to the seed of the Word. Plus, God used him to give many believing allied soldiers a vision for the needs of the world, resulting in tens of thousands going out as missionaries all over the globe after the war. The wicked did terrible things; God used them for good.
Praise be to you, O God, my Father, my King, my Shepherd, my Brother, my Lord. You are the One we can and must trust, for you are powerfully and consistently in control. You are good, you are wise and infinitely strong, able to bring what you desire to pass and to block the way of all you proclaim to be wrong.
Praise you for the protection, the exposure, the problems, the trials you lead us through so we may be shaped and sharpened into better instruments in your hands.
May you be glorified in my life today, Lord, so that you may have more honor before men and angels. Fill me with your Spirit, may He overflow onto those around me, keeping us all washed with the cleansing, transforming water of your Word.
 
Picture: the evil will be brought down like this huge tree
May be an image of outdoors and tree
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Pray for Afghan Believers

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 5, 2021
“With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD….For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.”
Psalm 109:30,31
 
The following prayer in distress over the terrible events in Afghanistan is based on Psalm 109:20-23, 26-27.
 
“… O sovereign LORD” You are the LORD, Yahweh, the Great and Holy One, the Sinless One, the Mighty I Am, without beginning or end, without negativeness or evil, without sin or selfishness, the Perfect Judge of all and the Lover of sinners. You are the One to whom we can appeal.
 
“…My Lord,” you are Adonai, the One who has the right to demand complete obedience, for you have purchased us at great cost, in great pain, through great suffering. You also promise complete provision for us to be able to obey you, serve you and love you well.
 
“…Deal on our behalf, on behalf of your children in Afghanistan, for your name’s sake.” We are all weak and can only appeal to you to contend with those who oppose them there in Afghanistan. And my motive in praying this is that your Name be honored.
 
“…Because your steadfast love is good, deliver them!” I turn to you, for your love is sure, your power is unlimited, your wisdom is boundless, your influence is endless, your work is flawless.
 
In contrast, “…I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.” I cannot open people’s eyes, I cannot convince them when they’ve made up their minds, I cannot bring change—my ability and resources are extremely small—micro-power when what is needed is macro-power, which you have. You are the Star-Breather, the Earth Spinner, the Dawn Bringer, the History Ender, the Eternity Beginner.
 
“We are gone like a shadow at evening; we are shaken off like a locust.”
 
Praise you, Lord God, for your great love for ones like me who, in our selves, are such weak, insignificant, useless, ignorant creatures!
 
“Help us/them, O LORD my God! Save them according to your steadfast love!” Without you nothing will happen, O Yahweh, my Elohim, the Supreme God, strong in love, mighty in power, faithful in promise, trustable in your strength and wisdom.
 
And you will answer according to your unwavering love, which you demonstrated in the garden of Gethsemane. When faced with such suffering, such evil, such awfulness, you faithfully, fully fulfilled your promises because of your steadfast love, your kindness, your mercy, your pity for your rebellious creatures.
As you showed your love then, so now, for your glory, for your honor, for the sake of your Kingdom, for the sake of your desire to have more worshipers, answer us!
 
“Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it!” Act in a way so that all will know it is unmistakably your work, your desire, your perspective that prevailed.
 
Prayer: “Now in this situation that faces your children, Lord, bring glory to yourself, honor to your name and praise to your character. I commit their way to you, I trust in you and wait for you to bring to pass what is best. And I praise you now for the outcome, even though it may not be what I prefer, for you are good! Amen.”
 
May be an image of nature, tree and body of water
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More from the Autobio

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 4, 2021
After returning the money to the bank we continued on with the difficult drive to the Eastern end of Greece over more narrow and winding roads, arriving at the last city by nightfall.
 
We had hoped to make it all the way to the first city in our goal country that day, but the Lord had other plans. It turned out that our mistake of forgetting our passports and the subsequent delay were actually His protection.
 
We found out that several American servicemen had been shot by terrorists at the airport in that city the afternoon we arrived at the border, and the main roads into the city had all been closed. If we had gotten there on our timetable, we’d have been stuck for hours in that traffic. Another three star Jesus sighting!
 
The next morning, after a reasonable night’s sleep, we set off for the border. This crossing was a formidable one in our minds—what would happen if they refused us entry? We prayed for the Lord’s help. And He answered; it turned out to be pretty routine, and we pressed on toward the next big city.
 
The plan was to stay there with a worker from Word of Life, Howie Williams. He’d sent us instructions of how to get to his place, but we did not understand some points, like, “turn left at the bufe.” I had no idea what a bufe was. Now after living in this new country I know that it’s a little kiosk that sells newspapers and snacks. It did not surprise me that we quickly got lost after we left the freeway.
 
I stopped and asked directions several times, showing the locals the address Howie had given us. We seemed to be going in the right direction, as the people always pointed us further on. Later, however, we learned that this is what the locals do when they don’t know where the place is—they say “Go further on!”
 
Finally we were directed down a narrow, cobble stoned street that got steeper and steeper. It finally came out into an area filled with little car repair shops. I saw one with a sign for Volkswagen repairs, so I stopped there to ask for directions, thinking that someone might speak German.
 
The owner didn’t speak any German, but knew a little English. He looked at the address and began to give me directions: “This way, turn left at third street, then go five blocks, turn right at….” My head was not absorbing these directions.
 
A customer came by at that moment and looked over the mechanic’s shoulder at the address, then made a comment in Turkish.
 
The mechanic smiled and said, “This man’s car is done. He is going to this place, follow him.”
 
Now think about the elements of this event: to find the one repair place where someone spoke some English—a rare thing we found out–to arrive at just the right time when a customer was getting ready to leave and would be going from there right to our destination, then to have the customer take the initiative to come over and see what was happening and then offer to lead us to our friend’s home. This was definitely God’s direction and protection! A four star God sighting! God set us free from our ignorance and helplessness.
 
We never would have found Howie’s place by following anyone’s directions. The route was very complicated, but our “angel” knew the way and we stuck to him like glue. When we arrived at the right spot—in front of the factory Howie had mentioned–there was no sign of Howie’s apartment building.
 
A woman threw open the window of an apartment and called out something in French. Our “angel” replied and the woman pointed to a building a bit further on, our destination. We thanked everyone profusely, being so glad to be “found” again!
 
Howie helped us carry all of our stuff up to his small apartment, and then said, “Let’s go out to the bakkal and get some food for supper.” He was speaking what we came to call “half-Eng:” inserting local words into English sentences. We learned that a “bakkal” was a small corner grocery store.
 
Howie and I went down the three flights of stairs and out onto the street where I was startled to hear gunshots. I looked to the left and saw two men with pistols shooting at each other. Fortunately both seemed to be bad shots, but Howie didn’t seem interested in waiting around to see the outcome.
 
“Let’s go around this way,” he said calmly, like this was something normal. And it turned out that it was normal. The country was in the midst of a civil war and thirty or more people were shot on the streets every day in fights like the one we witnessed.
 
It was the leftists against the rightists, Ms against Communists, conservatives against liberals. We learned that in the university classrooms there were usually soldiers with loaded rifles sitting in the middle row from front to back. The leftist students then sat on the left and the rightists on the right of the soldiers. That was the only way to keep them from literally killing each other in the classrooms.
 
It was a brutal, dangerous time. We had stepped out of beautiful and peaceful Connecticut into a war zone. And anarchy, we found, was not limited to politics. Traffic rules were ignored by most drivers and pedestrians. Traffic lights were considered decorations, sidewalks were for parking, not walking and the pedestrians walked in the streets.
 
When we came to one intersection where the traffic did stop for a red light, the cars were lined up six abreast. When the light turned green, the car on the far right turned left, cutting across everyone else’s path. But the locals seemed used to this, letting the car pass in front of them and then going on their way. We quickly learned that one had to be always on alert for the unexpected.
Picture: the big, crowded city in 1980
May be an image of standing
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