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Fear of God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 1, 2021
Tonight we drove to the airport for our flight to Columbus Ohio, but the first leg was delayed making it impossible to make our connecting flight. So instead of staying all night in the Philly airport, we came home and will try again tomorrow. Prayers appreciated.
Psalm 36:4 “he [the wicked man] has ceased to be wise and to do good. Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.”
 
[This can also be true of believers–those who at one time committed themselves to be followers of Jesus, but now follow their own way. I think of an acquaintance in ministry who has run roughshod over a multitude of relationships, and has been confronted about this by multiple people, but refuses to admit any wrongdoing. He sees no sin in himself, even though he has ceased to do what is wise and good. He has committed himself to a sinful, self-protecting and self-promoting course.
 
Fear of God brings the opposite: humility and a teachable spirit. This is in stark contrast to this believer’s independent, self-justifying attitude, manifesting itself in pride and rebellion.
 
The outcome of failure to fear God is described in James 3:16: “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” Not a pretty picture, and, unfortunately, what often happens in individuals and churches who fail to fear God. It brings the fires of conflict like in the picture below.
 
In contrast is the picture James 3:18 gives us: “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” And we can become peacemakers by fearing God as is described in James 3:17, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
 
As it says in Psalm 34:12, “Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,” fear the Lord, for it is the beginning of wisdom.
 
So let’s check ourselves regularly: are we caring deeply what God says, standing in awe of His wisdom and submitting ourselves to His Word? Or are we going by our own twisted hearts, convincing ourselves that we know best? Big consequences flow from each course!
 
May be an image of fire
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Psalm 36:3

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 30, 2021
Psalm 36:3, “The words of his [the wicked man’s] mouth are wicked and deceitful;”
[Such a person deceives himself, as well as others. He is good at giving a positive spin on whatever he desires to do. Just as Satan deceived Eve by making himself look good while implying that God was withholding something good from her (“when you eat of it…you will be like God, knowing good and evil” Gen 3:5), so a person without fear of God can convince himself that, doing the opposite of what God commands, is good.
We see this every day around us, as people attempt to use Scripture to support abortions, unbiblical forms of marriage, living together, or putting unqualified people into church leadership–to name a few of many such examples. They are actually using culture as their measure rather than God’s Word. Their desire to fit in and be accepted, to be up-to-date and sophisticated deceives them into rejecting God’s wisdom for that of the world.
In contrast stands the one who fears God, spends time in His Word, learns to think God’s thoughts and puts them into practice. He knows that God’s perspectives are consistently the opposite of our natural ones (“Love your enemies.” “Do good to those who persecute you.” “Forgive as you have been forgiven”). We could never come up with such beautiful and supernatural ideas on our own. Each command is God protecting us from unnecessary negatives and uncalled for harm, such as bitterness, worry, anger and fear.
A “God fearer” will check his desires and plans before God and in relation to His Word, rather than trust in his own devious heart. “Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” (James 1:25).
One way to do this is to wait on making a decision, taking time to think it through, asking God for wisdom, looking for direction in His Word, listing out the pros and cons., getting advice from godly believers.
George Mueller described “God fearing” as bringing his heart to the place where receiving a “yes” or a “no” to his prayer was the same to him, for he wanted God’s will, not his own.
Fearing God is standing in awe of His majestic power, His marvelous wisdom and His mighty goodness. It is caring deeply what He thinks about each thing in our life, leading us to join Him in His values, thoughts and commands.
Fearing God will protect us from the deception of the world, the devil and our own heart; it will bring wisdom and open the way to His greater working in and through us. Why would anyone ever want to reject such an offer?
 
Every day we have the opportunity to relive Eden, to choose to fear God rather than give in to the siren call of all around us, which will only lead us off into the swamp of despair, depression and death, instead of the wide place and green pastures God has for us.
May be an image of flower and nature
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More from the Add-on Eskimo

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 29, 2021
Chapter 20 God Continues His Work
 
It was the year 1968 in mid-September when a small, two-engine plane descended to the airstrip at Savoonga, its wheels touching lightly down on the crushed lava surface. A new, young teacher climbed out and peered around at the Eskimos gathered for the plane’s arrival. He looked more like fourteen than his twenty-three years but in spite of this had been hired by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to teach in this village.
 
The pilot and some Eskimos unloaded the cargo, a good bit of which belonged to the new teacher, for he had been told to buy enough food for a year!
 
The principal, Jim, was there to meet him and arranged for his goods to be brought to the little house where he would be living.
“This is your new home,” Jim said, opening the door to the fifteen by twenty foot structure. “This little kerosene stove is both to heat and to cook on. Over here in the corner is your
‘honey bucket’ toilet.” He pointed to a five gallon can with Pine-
sol covering the bottom.
 
“That Pinesol keeps the smell to a minimum. When it’s full, you’ll have to take it to the sea and dump it in. Your bed is in the attic. We insulated it well, so it should be fine, even when it hits 50 below zero!
 
“You get settled in and tomorrow we’ll talk about your teaching assignment.”
 
It turned out that his work was teaching the sixth, seventh and eighth grades of the school, all in one classroom. He had no training in teaching, no experience and very little support, but was willing to plunge in.
 
He found out that the abilities of the his students ranged from first grade through eleventh grade! Some couldn’t speak English at all, while others were fluent. It was, to say the least, a challenge to teach such a wide range of abilities.
His classroom was an old Quonset hut, the local National Guard Armory. He had to prepare 18 lessons each night, covering every subject three times. School was from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., a grueling schedule.
One way the new teacher decompressed from all this pressure was to visit some of the older Eskimos to learn more about the culture and history. One evening he went to visit Ayit and his wife.
 
In the course of the visit, he asked Ayit how he had become a believer in Christ. Ayit told the teacher of his time in Siberia, his understanding that there had to be a good Creator God, and about meeting Kalowi and accepting Christ as his Savior.
He also told about the pressures he and his family had had when they decided to follow Jesus. Then he went on to tell the continued story of God’s work on the island.
“Mr. Campbell and his wife left the village of Sivukuk for good in 1912 and they were replaced by less experienced teachers who stayed only for a year.
 
“In the next years, the commitment of Christians dwindled, with some going back to the old ways.”
 
“That’s too bad,” said the teacher.
 
“But,” Ayit continued, “God was not done and began to work with power in the lives of men who were influential in their families.”
 
“A man named Nungwok, a leader in Sivukuk, had a son who at age eight went blind. he had attended some church services with his son and had learned some about Jesus.
 
“As Nungwok was considering whether to follow Jesus or the old way, he heard at church how Jesus had healed the sick and blind. Instead of calling the shaman, he decided to pray to Jesus for his son.
 
“He went up on the mountain behind the village and, following the tradition of his people, he prayed, ‘O Jesus, my great-great-grandfather, I ask you to give my son his sight back. I don’t know what else to pray.’ And he went home to find his son seeing!
“Experiencing the powerful loving hand of God in answering his prayers led Nungwok to whole-heartedly embrace the Way of Jesus.”
 
“My goodness,” said the teacher, “that is amazing!”
 
“Yes,” replied Ayit, “it is, and it was only the first of many such miraculous things the Lord did to draw people to himself.”
 
picture: The Quonset hut where the teacher had his classes.
May be an image of sky
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Psalm 36:1-2

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 28, 2021
 
Psalm 36:1 “An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
[To fear God means, among other things, to care deeply what God has to say, which leads us to obeying Him. In the words of Psalm 34,13,14, fearing God means to “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.” This is the practical outworking of valuing His Word above anything else.
In contrast, the wicked person elevates his own intellect above God’s Word, deciding what is right and wrong himself. This is a dangerous and destructive practice, for we were created to follow God’s correct definition of what is right and wrong–and thereby be protected from much harm.]
Psalm 36:2 “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.”
[Two acquaintances of mine died within two weeks of each other. Both of them had heard the gospel from me and others multiple times, but both felt they were just fine on their own, rejecting the offer of eternal life through Jesus. One said, “My conscience is clear.” That can only be so if you have very low standards of right and wrong.
This reminds me of the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-21, who came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to obtain eternal life?”
Jesus answered, “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’
“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
What!!!??? Who is he kidding? He thinks he never lied, never was disobedient to his parents (dishonoring them), never looked at a woman with lust, never stole anything? In order to convince himself of this, he had to have exceedingly low standards, rejecting God’s measure for his own to justify himself. No fear of God here.
The reality is that when measured by God’s holy standards, every single person is guilty before Him. To flatter ourselves by thinking we are fine on our own has only one result: entering an eternity without God, separated from all good forever.
How much better it is to lay aside our pride and self-centered thoughts, bowing to God’s beautiful, bountiful and protective ways, living in the light of His Word, in the warmth of His love and in the joy of receiving true life, eternal life.
To fear God is to be teachable, humble and wise, leading only to what is good. Let’s all cultivate our fearing of God. Praying daily, “Lord, I give you my will and take yours in its place,” along with memorizing and frequently praying the definition of fearing God found in Psalm 34:12-14 would be a good start. And let us teach this to our children and grandchildren]
Picture: Barbara with two of her grandchildren
May be an image of 2 people, child, people sitting and indoor
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Soul Lifting

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 27, 2021
 
Today is an example of “lifting my soul to God” during a team conflict that occurred several years ago. Lifting our souls is an effective way to get things out, to give ourselves perspective, to remember who our God is, who the real enemy is and to seek God’s help through surrendering to Him.
“Had trouble getting to sleep, then was awake often, struggling with negative thoughts about the team’s conflicts. Praise you, Lord Jesus, that in the midst of this turmoil, you led me to think about you and how incredibly powerful, wise and faithful you are.
“You are the star Breather, the galaxy Arranger, the sun Maker who put our solar system in just the right place under one arm of the Milky Way–in a position so we can observe the universe and see the works of your hands.
“You hung the earth on nothing, put it in just the right orbit at the perfect speed, tilted its axis exactly and spun it perfectly, so each day and night are of optimal length. You set each condition of the solar system precisely so that carbon-based life could exist on earth. Praise be to you for you great wisdom and power displayed in that.
“So it is with our lives: in your mighty power, your deep wisdom, your gracious love, you bring or allow what you will use for good. This present painful situation, these messy and hurtful circumstances have all come with your permission and you are using them to develop us as leaders and give opportunity to develop our followers.
“Lord, help us to let go of our feelings of failure and frustration, and instead to stand firm in Truth, such as, ‘Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials, knowing this, that the trying of our faith works patience. And let patience have its perfect work that we may be perfect and mature’ (James 1:2,3).
“Help us to swim in the current of your Truth, Lord, letting you carry us along in the right direction. Help us to reject despair, feeling sorry for ourselves, and the embarrassment of failure along with our weariness. Help us instead to embrace what you bring by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, so that we may thereby honor you and open the way so that you can show us the salvation of the Lord.
“I thank you now for what you will do with this mess, for how you will work in and through it to bring growth, transformation and deepening for us as leaders so that you can bring the same thing to all involved in the midst of this situation.
“I praise you in faith, Lord God, our Great Shepherd, our Glorious Transformer, our Wonderful King. As you used the sins of Joseph’s brothers to provide a way of salvation for the Jews and many others, so you can use the sins in this situation to bring about good and grace for us all.
“Do that Lord, move in your might, defeat the plans of the enemy, bring glory to yourself. Answer us out of your faithfulness, your righteousness, your goodness and your power. Answer to bring glory to your name, honor through your might and maturity to your children. I praise you now for the answers you will send. Amen.”
Epilogue: God did not resolve the situation as I desired, but He did answer to deepen and mature most of us through it.
Picture: God can make what seems ugly into a thing of stark beauty.
May be an image of tree and nature
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Chapter 40

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 26, 2021
Last night I failed to post–was exhausted from a busy day, I went to bed at 8 pm and slept the night away! Well, here we are for tonight, more from my autobio.
 
Chapter 40 Next Step Towards Missions
Through that winter as we grew in our parenting skills, we also made preparations for our short term trip with Operation Mobilization in the summer, filling out the applications and doing the required reading. Our monthly prayer meetings continued, and we were becoming more and more burdened for the Muslim world.
 
After one of these meetings, the thought came, “Are you willing to be part of the answer to your prayers for Muslims to come to Christ?” Our response was a strong, “Yes!”
 
In June we left for Germany, two weeks before the OM training session in Belgium, so we could spend some time with Barbara’s parents. Josh was now nine months old and his grandfather, “Opi,” had not yet seen him, so he was very happy to have us come.
 
The weather in Europe was very hot and without a car it was difficult to go anywhere, so we sweltered at Barbara’s parent’s home.
 
Near the end of our visit Josh got sick with an ear infection. We prayed that he would get well in time to go to Belgium, but there was no improvement.
 
Several people in Barbara’s village had asked us what we were doing after our visit there and we told them about our plans for going with OM to Austria to do an outreach. Through this the Lord gave us the idea to write a letter explaining about our trip, including a brief presentation of the gospel, and deliver a copy to every home in the village.
 
I made eighty photocopies and walked through the village, putting them into all the mailboxes. When I came to the last street in the last section where the rich newcomers lived, I found that I was two letters short. I gave my last letter to the man who came to the first door on the street.
 
It turned out that he was a businessman who knew Barbara well because she had worked for the Chamber of Commerce. He asked me a number of questions and noticed that I didn’t have any more letters.
 
“I’ll make some more photocopies for you and give them to these last two houses,” he said. That offer may seem like a small thing, but as I walked home, I marveled at it. My last letter went to the man who noticed the lack and made the offer to help. That was a God sighting! God arranged things so everyone would get a letter, even though I didn’t have enough to cover every home.
 
Then the Holy Spirit led me to another conclusion: if God can fill this need for extra letters in such a way, He could choose to heal Josh, if that were His best for us; or He could choose to not heal him resulting in my going alone to the conference. This turned out to be a prophetic thought.
 
Since Barbara had been with OM twice before, at her request she was granted an exemption from repeating the orientation week; this allowed her to stay at home with Josh until he was better. I went on alone to Belgium by train and was put into the men’s dorm.
 
As I chatted with my roommates, it turned out that two of them were going to the country on our heart. They told me stories of the great spiritual needs there: less than fifty known born-again believers out of Islam among fifty-five million inhabitants.
 
As I was taking this in, I saw in my mind a picture of a log. At one end was a crowd of people helping to lift it; this represented all the Christian workers in the West. At the other end were just a couple of people, struggling ineffectually to lift their portion of the log; this represented the evangelization of the Muslim world.
I thought, “If I were going to help, I would certainly go to the end of the log where there are very few workers.” Looking back, I believe this was another thought from God.
 
Since we were going to be sharing the gospel in German while in Austria, I hung out with the German speakers, which helped my comprehension some. I learned how to say basic things like, “We’re selling Christian books. Would you like to buy one?” But my German ability to share would need some help in order to be effective and the Lord had something planned.

Picture: Barbara’s parents

May be an image of 2 people, child, people sitting, people standing and outdoors

 
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The Rock

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 24, 2021
I praise you, Lord God,
for your great Love,
your persistent Faithfulness,
your mighty Power,
your wide Wisdom,
your deep Knowledge,
your pure Righteousness
and your perpetual Perfection.
You are the One I can trust today, the One who rules every day, who rights what is wrong, who redeems what is lost, who restores what is broken, who reigns in every circumstance. You are God, you are Great, you are Glorious and you are Gracious.
I commit myself today to praise you with all my heart, with all my being, all the time. I choose to embrace what you bring, what you reveal, what you allow. I thank you for my failures which point me away from myself to you, breaking me of self-reliance, of pride, of independence, of selfishness.
Thank you for your very specific working in my life, your personal, careful, exact plan to fashion me more into the image of Christ. While I do not like it when this includes breaking, I do love the outcome of seeing you more, of worshiping you more deeply by faith, of growing in trust, of seeing your great power at work.
In thinking about my inability to bring a good resolution to the group conflict mentioned earlier, you used my failure to reveal my unhealthy desire for success and praise, my pride, my selfishness, my wanting a specific timetable.
Well, all that cannot be changed now, but I can repent, change and grow through it all. To you be glory in it, Lord. I see right now that this failure is a blotch on your name, but you can turn it into a positive as you desire.
Thank you for helping me to recognize my weakness, my smallness, and to see more clearly your greatness and power. It is such a wonderful thing to be your child, to be your servant, Lord, to join you in what you are doing, to rest in the fact that you are my Rock, my Fortress, my Redeemer. Help me, help all of us to be humble, to discern what you are doing and to join you in it so we can bring you glory and honor.
May be an image of tree and nature
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Psalm 35:28

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 23, 2021
David, envisioning God protecting him and exonerating him before his foes, finishes his psalm with this commitment:
Psalm 35:28 “My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long.”
[At this point God had not yet delivered David, but since he had appealed to the goodness and love of God, to the power and the faithfulness of his Lord, he was confident of help coming. So, David promises to be a man of praise, continually exalting his Savior.
This must be my practice, too, whether things work out according my desires or not.
Praise be to you, Lord, that you are in control, that I awake each morning to your safeness, to your surrounding love, to your eternal faithfulness, to your indwelling, unceasing presence. You are always here, patiently unfolding the intricate plan you have for my life, giving me wisdom, direction, endurance, grace, love and joy.
It is only in you that we can have joy, for without you this world is meaningless, empty of purpose, randomly dangerous and utterly pointless. You, however, are here, being our rock, our foundation, our fortress, our shield, our high tower and our deliverer.
In you there is order, meaning and purpose. In you there is protection, power and provision. In you there is love, light and life. In you there is goodness, grace and greatness. In you there is caring, compassion and completeness. In you there is healing, help and hope. In you there are answers, reasons and wisdom.
To live without you is death in delayed degrees, ever spiraling downward towards eternal destruction. With you there is life with ever increasing light, love and joy, ever spiraling upwards towards our eternal home.
 
So, in you I can rest–for in you I am chosen, loved and cherished, in you there is rightness, beauty and clarity, even in the most difficult of situations. I thank you for the great privilege of being your child and praise you now for the outcome of the present challenges in my life, for whatever you will do in our situation with my wife’s illness and other challenges. You, O Lord, are trustworthy.
No photo description available.
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The Great Move

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 22, 2021
More from the Add-on Eskimo
 
Within two years a much bigger change would come into their lives. In 1912 Okfagit decided that he would move his family to the island of Sivukuk.
 
The reindeer herders now lived in the new village of Savoonga, as it was nearer the herd than the village of Sivukuk. Okfagit knew the camp from his times of hunting there and liked the location, it being halfway down the island. Along with plenty of game, it had a small bay with a sandy beach and several of those living there were Christians.
 
Okfagit’s six children and their families doubled the size of the village when they arrived in the spring after the whaling season. Two of Okfagit’s sons had their own boats now, so they only had to make three trips from Eastern Russia together to bring all they needed, including their dogs and sleds.
They immediately set about building three houses. First, they dug into the tundra as far as they could, making the floor of the house below ground level thereby providing some insulation. If they couldn’t make it deep enough, they would build fires over the frozen parts melting them enough to dig further down.
 
Then they used whale ribs and driftwood to build a framework which rested on a central pole. The sides of the house were made with driftwood and the roof from walrus skins. Inside, of course, were tents for living space. Since two families would be living in each house, each had their own inner tent.
Okfagit, as the eldest man in the village and a respected hunter, became the village leader and also functioned as pastor, gathering the families in his house for church on Sundays. He and Ayit shared the teaching.
 
In winter they would sometimes go 100 miles by dogsled up through the mountains to the village of Sivukuk to spend time there with the other Christians. They always had a service on such visits, even if it weren’t Sunday. Time move on and Okfagit and his family moved onward and upward in their faith.
 
Picture: An Eskimo family the size of Okfagit’s in front of their house.
May be an image of standing and outdoors
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Marvelous beyond words

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 21, 2021
“The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.” Psalm 103:19
 
Praise be to you, O Mighty King, for you are the Ultimate Power, the Greatest Authority, the Final Judge, the Eternal Sovereign, the Lamb upon the throne.
 
Your power is beyond comprehension, extending from pre-time to post-time, stretching from one side of the universe to the other—and beyond.
 
You hold sway over all, from the magnificent clusters of galaxies filling the great expanse of the universe, stretching billions of light years across, right down to the sub-atomic parts of your creation, dealing with every detail, while at the same time allowing us to make real ethical and moral choices.
 
Being completely different from every part of your creation, you tower over every other being in wisdom, might, ability, character, accomplishment and authority. No other power, strength or force can ever overcome you. “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord” (Pro. 21:30).
 
You deserve praise, O Lord God; you deserve worship from all. “Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts.
 
When your awesome angels appear in their glory before men, humans are struck with fear, awe, panic and quaking in their hearts; men fall to the ground, unable to stand in the presence of these mighty beings. So impressive are the angels that John, who knew Jesus intimately, was moved to worship one and was stopped only by the angel himself, who worshiped the only One truly worthy of worship: You.
 
These members of the heavenly host are far greater, far more glorious, far more powerful than we are, but they, too, bow before and praise the Most High One: You, the Lord God, King of Heaven and earth, Ruler of all. You, O Yahweh-Elohim are worthy of their worship—and ours. Help us to worship in word, work and in wonder at your marvelous acts in our lives.
May be an image of nature and cloud
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