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Psalm 32:5-6

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 10, 2021
Psalm 32:5b-6 “you forgave the guilt of my sin…Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found;”
[In every situation, this is what we have the privilege of doing: running to you in prayer, Lord, seeking you and your help. Prayer is not our last resort, nor the least we can do; it is our first resort and the most we can do for anyone.
 
I praise you that you can always be found by your children, for you are consistently with us, always watching, always ready to help: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1).
Praise you, that you have called us to a partnership where we must seek you, come to you in prayer, and then you will answer. It is a relationship: wonderful, positive and powerful. It is a responsibility: we must reject the desire to fix things ourselves and instead come first to you, acknowledging and rejoicing in our weakness.
 
Praise you for the possibility of entering into your presence at each moment and finding help. “In the day of my trouble I will call upon you, for you will answer me” (Ps. 86:7).]
“surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.”
[This danger is not an “if” but a “when.” Floods of trouble will come, but you will set us high upon a rock and keep us safe.
 
“God is our refuge and strength…. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and foam, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof” (Ps. 46:1-3).
This is true today—as the tide of culture now is flowing against you, Lord, against your Word and your children–and it’s true that tas we rest in you he flood will not overcome us. I praise you, Lord, and give you glory and honor, joy and exaltation, because, whatever might come, you are there in power, love and grace. “My soul, find rest in God alone; my hope comes from Him” (Ps. 62:5).
Help us to rest in you and your greatness today, Lord Jesus, rejecting worry, fear and anxiety, instead embracing love, joy and peace, trusting in you, living in your desire: “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” (Rom. 15:13).
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The Add-on Eskimo and freedom from the evil spirits.

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 9, 2021
 
As Ayit walked with his father to the next visit he asked, “Father, is there no way to protect ourselves from these evil spirits?”
“None that I know of,” replied Okfagit, “we can only do what the shaman tells us and hope that this will be enough to defend us. We have no other power.”
 
“What if the prophecy you told me about came true?” Ayit asked. “You know, that an outsider would come to the island with a message of hope?”
 
“Yes, I remember,” his father replied, “but many, many seasons have passed since then, and no such person has come. True, whalers have stopped by, but they brought no message, only goods along with troubles from whisky and disease.”
 
“What would you think if I said I’d met someone who knows the outsider who brought a message of hope?”
 
Okfagit stopped and looked at his son in astonishment. “Why, I would first wonder if that was true. And then I’d want to know what the message was! Why do you think this?”
 
Ayit told of his thoughts about all the evil the spirits did and that they could not have created a beautiful word. Then he shared about his conclusion that there must be a good creator God, who was as beautiful as what he had made. Then he told about meeting Kolawi and how he told him about Jesus, the son of Apa who sent him into the world to save all who would believe.
 
“But Kolawi is from this island, he is not an outsider,” Okfagit objected.
 
“It was the teacher, Mr. Campbell, who came to the island and brought the message of hope,” Ayit explained. “He brought this thing called a book which has stories and wisdom Apa wants to share with us. Kalowi has taught me some of it. Come with me, father, let us talk with Kalowi about it.”
 
When they were seated on the floor of Kalowi’s house, they were served tea and after a time of respectful silence, Okfagit began to ask Kalowi about this “New Way” and how he had entered it.
 
“My child was sick,” began Kalowi. “We tried all the ways of our people, including having the shaman come to play his drum and sing. But my boy only got worse.
 
“Then Mr. Campbell came and prayed for my son in the name of Jesus, the powerful creator God. My son got well, and I believe it was in answer to Mr. Campbell’s prayers.
 
“So, I began to ask Mr. Campbell about this New Way, about Jesus, the son of Apa. He explained to me that Apa wanted to have a relationship with each person, but our wrongdoing keeps him distant.
“So Apa sent Jesus to the world to open the way by taking on himself our punishment for what we have done wrong. As I have told Ayit, Jesus died in our place buying for us forgiveness, and then rose from the dead to buy eternal life for us. And because of this, we can now come close to Apa.”
 
Okfagit shook his head. “How can a man die and rise again?” he asked.
 
“Jesus was a man, but he was also God who created all we see here. He had the power to give his life and to take it up again. This is the power he can and wants to use in our lives. It is the power with which Jesus healed my son.”
 
Okfagit was quiet, again shaking his head. “This is so different from our way,” he finally said. “I will have to think about this.”
 
“Come tonight to the teacher’s house and you will learn more,” Kolawi said.
Picture: Grave yard where the little children killed by the evil spirits were buried
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Disappointment

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 8, 2021
This devotional is very needed by me. I have had two days full of frustrations, the final one being a big disappointment with an event I’ve been waiting for for 7 months suddenly being postponed for another month! OOOOO! Was I angry!
 
But, of course, the Holy Spirit immediately convicted me of thinking in human terms and that I’d set my heart on this event, making it my idol. It took gut-wrenching, teeth gritting obedience (through lifting my soul to God) to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for this painful happening.
 
The bottom line, of course, is that God knows best. Who knows what He is protecting me from, what doors he is opening with this delay. And certainly he is putting his finger on my idol worship, calling me instead to join Him in what He is doing.
 
So here’s the devotional.
 
Lately the Lord has been reminding me of two familiar and important truths. The first is stated in Psalm 62:1, “My soul finds rest in God alone.” It is so easy to try and find my rest in other things, especially in seeking situations without tension, getting my way right now.
 
The second truth is stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances….” I often forget that the thrust of my life should be to glorify God, primarily by thanking Him in and for all things.
 
He is using whatever circumstances surround me both for my good, and to bring about His will in the universe. Praising and thanking the Lord Jesus is such a freeing and empowering activity: “let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb. 13:15) “so that the power of Christ may rest on me (2 Cor. 12:9).
 
Praise is one very practical way of taking “up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16).
So I want to continually live in the rest that only God can give and to honor Him by giving thanks in all circumstances. These are what God calls us to. Are we joining Him in His great plan, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving and thereby fulfilling our part in the restoration of the universe?
 
No I haven’t but I’m going to.
 
Prayer: “Father, help me to remember these basic truths and to live them each day, resting in who you are and thanking you in and for all things. Amen.”
 
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Psalm 91:14

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 7, 2021
“’Because he loves me,’ says the LORD, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.’” Psalm 91:14
 
You, Lord Jesus, are a wonder, able in your incarnation to combine the unimaginable: you were both God and man, heavenly and earthly, infinite and finite, all-knowing and in need of teaching as a child, perfect and yet learning obedience.
 
No one else could have united these mutually exclusive opposites! I exalt you for your wisdom, your insight, your ability to put together things that we cannot unite even in our farthest imagination. You are the complete One, the perfect One, the holy One, the worthy One.
 
You also put together things in our lives that seem opposites. Psalm 91 says, “Because You have made the LORD Your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent” (Ps. 91:9-10 ESV).
 
But then I think of Job, a man who made you his refuge, yet he suffered great tragedy, heartache, sickness, pain and problems both with his wife and his “friends.”
 
This is hard for us to understand. We must turn to you, Lord Jesus, as you have a bigger and better view of things. Your understanding of harm or evil is different than ours.
 
According to Him, evil or harm is not what makes us uncomfortable or disappointed or in pain–but evil and harm are what damage us spiritually, what drive us away from you. As we make you our refuge, you are always there to protect us from spiritual harm.
 
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him” (Ps. 91:14,15 ESV). And so you did for Abraham, Joseph, David, Daniel and Paul.
 
Praise be to You, Lord Jesus, that you reveal to us wisdom, understanding and knowledge so we may join you in what you are doing by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving in each happening, no matter how painful or problematical it may be.
 
Praise you that you have given us the armor to wear so that we may avoid spiritual harm in whatever you bring us through. You are faithful to deal with evil, to protect us, to give needed grace, to carry us along, to deliver us at the right time, to work out your purposes in our lives. Glory be to you.
 
You are worthy of worship, honor, praise and exaltation. I bow before you in amazed worship, and I rise up in wholehearted praise to live in joyful obedience to you throughout today.
 
Prayer: “Lord, help me to think as you do, to view difficulties with your eyes, as opportunities to join you in what you are doing, to honor you, to demonstrate your grace to those around me. Help me to take up your grace, to move into and through suffering and pain with endurance, to learn from it the lessons you have for me. May I honor you in trust demonstrated through praise. Amen.”
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Learning to Really Live!

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 6, 2021
As I now committed to following Hebrews 12:12-13 which says, “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed,”I got dressed and trudged out to my father’s tire shop, prepared to return to work, trusting God to show me the next step.
 
God didn’t keep me waiting long. In the following two days, three people unknowingly pointed out the major obstacle to my “really living.” It was very simple and very wrong: I was trying to draw my worth from my performance by doing things at an extraordinary level.
 
I realized now that my goal of redoing the woodshed roof in 3 or 4 days was totally unrealistic. A team of carpenters couldn’t have done it in that time. And I realized that my inability to achieve goals set at these high levels made me appear to be a failure in my own eyes, so on a subconscious level I was protecting myself from future failure by retreating into sleep.
 
The same had been true of a lot of the things I tried to do in life—setting unrealistic and mostly unachievable standards– and when I didn’t reach them, I felt like a failure.
 
For instance, a customer would come into the tire shop and want four new tires. My goal was to have those four tires mounted, balanced and onto his car in 15 minutes. Doable, but only if everything went just right, which wasn’t often. All it took was one phone call to make me unsuccessful in reaching my self-centered, foolish goal.
 
The important question for me was, “What difference did it make to accomplish this in 15 minutes?” The difference was only in my mind and emotions because I craved significance. It was an artificial, destructive goal.
 
With this new insight came a solution: I decided to set small, realistic goals for myself and begin to build up a series of small but real achievements.
 
A customer wanted four new tires. OK, my goal now is to jack up the car. Success! Now to take off a tire and rim from the car. Success. Now to dismount the tire. Success. Mount the new tire. Success. And put the new mounted tire back on the car. So it went, one small success after another.
 
In following this new way of thinking, within three months my heavy depressive feelings slowly receded until I had no feelings at all. In some ways this was worse, like walking a tight rope with no support on either side. But I kept on doing what was right, and soon positive feelings began to emerge. In another three months I was back to more or less feeling normal, with good, positive emotions.
 
For the first two months I had taken the anti-depressant the doctor had prescribed. It made me very restless; in order to just sit through the Sunday service, I had to walk the three miles to church.
 
One day I forgot to take my pill and one week later I experienced a big drop back into depressive blackness. When I later decided to stop taking the pills altogether, I found that I had become addicted! It was an uncomfortable time of weaning myself off of it.
 
This drug only dealt with the symptoms of my depression. In contrast, application of Biblical truth dealt with the cause of my depression. I was glad that God had freedom for me: both from the depression and from the drug!
 
Now that He had led me out of my prison of depression, life began to move uphill at a steady pace. Work in the tire shop went well. I was asked to work with the youth group in church. My prayer life continued to develop and I was continually experiencing new insights from meditating.
 
I was moving towards really living! Just as it is declared in Hebrews 12: “…we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?” In the Greek this word means “really live!”
Picture: Dad and helpers in tire shop
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Absolute Acceptance

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 5, 2021
In you, Lord Jesus, I am forgiven; in you I am being transformed; in you I am on the upward journey to heaven; in you I have worth and meaning and unfailing love.
Lord Jesus, my wonder at you grows as I consider what I am in myself: selfish, proud, weak, unstable, lustful, lazy, impatient, unbelieving and rebellious, to name a few of my sinful tendencies. And then my wonder grows more as I consider what I, as a sinner, deserve: condemnation, rejection, punishment, suffering, failure, death and eternal separation from you.
In the light of this, I am more and more amazed at your unending, rich, powerful and enthusiastic love, poured out over me every day. You are too good to be true. Too wonderful to be real, but you are! Too great to be grasped–you are beyond human conception, but you have revealed enough of yourself for us to trust you.
Yet, this is what you are! Your love is real, demonstrated at the culmination of history at the Cross and Resurrection–and then repeatedly affirmed in my life each day by your forgiveness, patience, kindness and grace.
What a privilege to bask in your love, exult in your goodness, revel in your acceptance, and rejoice in your forgiveness. May I dwell throughout the day in the warmth of your approval and acceptance so I may be a light to all those around me.
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What a graceful God!

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 4, 2021
I praise you, my Heavenly Father, for your steadfast, unwavering love and goodness.
 
I am so much the opposite: my emotions are up and down; my sense of achievement and worth waver; my happiness with myself fluctuates with what I perceive to be success or failure: my feelings change with how people interact with me, with how well I sleep and even with my dreams.
But you, Lord God, have made yourself my Rock, my stability. You are my Protector, my Fortress, my Forgiver, my Cleanser and my Father.
 
I praise you for the whole-hearted, deep and full acceptance you have given me in Christ. I thank you for the gracious correction, the loving help, the continual support from your glorious riches, from your constant presence, your protection and provision.
 
What a privilege to bask in your love, exult in your goodness, revel in your acceptance, and rejoice in your forgiveness.
 
May I never take any of this for granted, may my wonder at your great goodness ever increase and spill over into ongoing revival, which results in worship through obedience, praise through faith, and rejoicing through surrender.
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Psalm 32:3-5

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 3, 2021
Psalm 32:3,4 “When I kept silent, [not confessing, not acknowledging my sin] my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; [this is your love, moving us towards repentance.] my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah”
Psalm 32:5 “Then I acknowledged my sin to you [may I ever do so quickly, immediately!] and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
[Because you are Love, Lord Jesus, because you are Faithful, because you have paid the great price and you love to forgive, we can eagerly and boldly come to you to confess and repent. We are safe in you, we are protected in you, for “you are good and ready to forgive and abounding in mercy to all who call on you” (Ps. 86:5).
Why hold back? Why prolong the painful resistance? And for what? A little more indulging in anger or resentment or lust? We thereby grieve the Spirit and end up with a mouthful of gravel!
Let us instead run to His open arms, eager to lay our sin at His feet, to be forgiven, cleansed and back into fellowship. This is wisdom, this is freedom, and this is what He desires for us–the restoration of our joy in Him.
Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, my great Shepherd, my big Brother, My Lord, my King, my Creator and Sustainer, my God. You are worthy of worship, of honor, of glory and exaltation. May I give you these through whole-hearted faith, quick repentance, immediate obedience and ongoing praise in all things.
Help me to walk in the light of your presence today, Lord, clearly, unreservedly accepting what you have to say to me about my sin and about your love.
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(Untitled)

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 3, 2021
Further Learning for the Add-on Eskimo
 
Ayit went to where his father and the others were gathered. The shaman was just finishing
his ceremony and the people were drifting away.
 
“There you are, Ayit,” said his father. “I wondered where you were. Come now, we are staying with Kingeekuk.”
 
Ayit followed his father to the house where they all sat down on the floor. Kingeekuk’s wife and daughters brought them food: walrus meat, fish, tundra greens and sea fruits, along with tea. They talked until late, then all slept together on the sleeping platform.
 
Ayit lay awake thinking about Apa and Jesus, about freedom from the spirits, about how to talk with his father about his new faith; and Jesus gave him an idea.
 
They all woke early and after breakfast, Okfagit went to visit others in the village, exchanging news, asking about hunting, getting hints on where to find seals.
 
Ayit went to visit Kolawi again, as he had questions about his new faith.
 
“What does our Jesus expect from me now?” he asked.
Kolawi thought a bit before answering. “The portion you memorized yesterday gives direction. Can you recite it?” Ayit repeated it exactly as he had heard it.
 
“Faith is Jesus’ gift to us,” said Kolawi. “Then we are to add to it the things he provides, but we must decisively take up and use them. Jesus does not expect ritual or religion. The first thing we are to add, virtue, means agreeing with Jesus. That is, we take his thoughts, his values to be our own. It is a full surrender to him.
 
“The second thing to add to your surrender is knowledge. You need to learn more about him, and this morning I will teach you another passage which will give you a wider view of him.
“The third thing to add is self-control, which means doing what he wants, doing what you are learning, whether you want to or not.
 
“This is then followed by endurance, for when we obey Jesus the spirits are not happy with us and may attack us; and for the same reason, many people will not be happy with us. They will oppose our new faith, for they do not want change and they are afraid of the spirits, of offending them by abandoning the old way. I know this from my own experience with my family and neighbors. But we can endure, press on through these difficulties with Jesus’ help.
 
“Then we are to add godliness, which means becoming like Jesus in our character. As we rely on him in our difficulties, we will be transformed by his Spirit. We will be more loving, more gracious, more kind and more wise.
 
“Then we add brotherly kindness, being good, kind and generous to each other, and add then God’s love, which keeps on even though the other person does not love us back. With God’s love we do good to those who do evil to us.”
 
“This is so different from what we all do now!” said Ayit.
 
“True,” Kolawi agreed. “We might say that the world is upside down, but knowing Jesus turns it right side up! Now, let’s go back to endurance. I want to repeat that when we leave the old ways it makes people afraid, for they think we will offend the spirits by not appeasing them and will bring suffering on the village. But the truth is, Jesus has vanquished the evil spirits and will protect us. Which is subject of the passage I’m going to teach you today.”
 
They talked some more, then Ayit went out to find his father. He was sitting and talking with Nungwook, a great hunter in the village. Nungwook had gotten a whale in the spring and was held in high regard by the other villagers.
 
“Yes, Apa gave me a whale but the spirits took my child shortly after,” he said. “She was a beautiful little girl—seven seasons old—happy, pleasant and hard working. She became sick shortly after the whaling season ended, although we did all we could to make her well.
 
“We changed her name to fool the spirits that were making her sick. We went to the cemetery up on Mount Sivukuk and offered sacrifices to the spirits of our ancestors. And, of course, we called the shaman to perform ceremonies, to use his good helper spirits to drive away the evil spirits who made my daughter sick. But nothing helped. The evil spirits were too strong, and they took my girl, my beautiful little girl!
“Oh, that we had stronger help! Oh, that Apa had used
his power to defeat these spirits that torment us!”
 
Nungwook hung his head and looked so sad. He did not cry, for that was for women, but he was stricken by this loss.
Picture: shaman in his ritual garb with boy he’s trying to heal
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Psalm 32:1-2

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 1, 2021
Psalm 32 Of David. A maskil.
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”
[Praise you, Lord God, the Great and Holy One, that you have provided forgiveness for my many sins, wiping clean the record of my multitude of transgressions, including the ones to come.
I thank you, with all my heart, that you took me from being a correctly condemned criminal to being a sovereignly saved son, dearly loved, doted on and delighted in. I praise you for qualifying me to be a partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in the Kingdom of Light–when what I actually deserved was to be cast out into eternal darkness.
What a wonder to be cleansed, transformed, adopted, accepted and delighted in–all contrary to what I actually should have been given! You are truly the God of Grace, the King of Kindness and the Lord of Love.]
Psalm 32:2 “Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.”
[Lord Jesus, I praise you that you not only erased my guilt, taking it upon yourself, but that you consistently work in me to bring transparency, making my spirit one of truth, instead of deceit.
My soul certainly has deceit—I do not like my sin being exposed, even to myself, and naturally seek to cover it up. And there is much hidden there that I don’t even know yet, but I know enough to confess consistently to you: that it is natural for me to be selfish and impatient, impolite and curt, proud and negative, thoughtless and overly focused on self–among many other sins.
Praise you, Lord, that your Spirit works in my spirit and soul to change all this, making me aware of what is wrong so I can abandon it, and what is right, so I can embrace it.
Help me to stand in ever-growing awe of your greatness and goodness, of the unceasing, ever-cleansing flow of grace from your heart, and to fear you, not man.
Help me today to follow the leading of your Spirit and to be wise and effective for you, basking in the truth that you will never count my sin against me and that you are unceasingly at work to move me forward in sanctification. I thank you now for what you will do today, whether it be pleasant or painful, trusting you to do and bring what is best.
 
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