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Lovable God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 16, 2020
 
You, O God, are the Lord of lavishness, full of Love and Life, Laughter and Light.
I praise you for your wise working in us in very practical ways, dealing with all the details, right down to the subatomic level, keeping everything humming along, keeping it all together—”He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). You care for us wonderfully, persistently, lovingly and graciously.
It is especially warming to think of your loving care for us in contrast to what we deserve. I give you honor and glory for your personnel and powerful, persistent and perfect agape Love.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for what lies before us today: on our part partially planned but truly unknown, while on your part it is fully planned and fully known. What an amazing thought: you have gone through the day of each one of your children—hundreds of millions of them–preparing things in detail, planning personalized lessons, readying guidance, protection, chastening, blessing and provision.
And you do the same for the non-elect, pouring out your goodness and attention on those whom you know will never believe. “…your Father in heaven…causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45).
You are truly the God of Grace, the God of Goodness, the God of Giving. To you belongs all glory and honor, all praise and applause, all worship and exaltation, all obedience and reverence, all fear and love. Such care, such compassion, such cherishing, such comprehensive love is found in no one else.
We fall to our knees in wonder, we bow down in awe, we rise up to surrender, to give you honor in belief and obedience. May you be exalted in our lives today.
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Psalm 28:2-3

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 16, 2020
 
Psalm 28:2 “Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help,”
[Where else can I look for mercy and help but you, O Lord? , You are the Source of all help, you are the Spring of all mercy. In the midst of raging wars, stricken refugees and political upheaval, in the midst of suffering, sickness and sadness, you hear our cry for help.
As we look away from the negatives to the goodness and beauty here on the earth–the green of Spring, the fruitfulness of Summer. the colors of Fall, and the white blanket of Winter–this all is but a reflection of your great, faithful and wonderful character, guiding things in history, reminding me that I can trust you to hear, to answer, to protect and guide.]
“Hear…as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.”
[To focus on you, the One who dwells in the Most Holy Place of Heaven—and also within me–is the right thing to do, for there is no real help in any other place. You are the one who is moving History to a conclusion and taking us with you.
You are the Holy One who knows what is good and edifying for us, whether it be relief or regret, what is peasant or difficult. I can trust you to bring, in your mercy, what is needed. In you I can hope and therefore I can praise you before there is any sign of your working.]
Psalm 28:3 “Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil,”
[Lord, keep me from joining the wicked, from doing evil whether in thought, word or deed. Help me to live according to the position you have given me, being a son of the Most High, a child of the mighty King and an appointed ambassador of Jesus. Help me to live in your power, to be filled with your Spirit, to be obedient and diligent in doing what is good.
I praise you that you help me every day, guiding me in deciding ahead of time to be gracious, kind, helpful, servant-hearted, and then, when the moment comes, to immediately respond with those qualities, along with thanksgiving and gladness.
I praise you for how you are changing me in this way instead of dragging me away with the wicked; for, in my old nature I do deserve to be cast out, rejected, judged and condemned.
However, in you, Lord Jesus, I am forgiven, cleansed, loved, helped, guided and protected. I am being transformed, growing, deepening and changing through your working in me in your mercy, strength and love. Praise be to you for your gracious and great provision; may you be exalted in my life today.]
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Psalm 28:1b

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 14, 2020
Psalm 28:1b “For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.”
 
[This is true: if we had no access to you, Lord, how would we be different from those who don’t believe, who live in the land of darkness and death, from those who have already died?
 
In you, Lord Jesus we are given access to light, life, love, as well as lasting goodness—for that is what you are. And you are always there in our lives.
 
Praise you that your Word ever speaks to us, that you are active to bring us through each valley, through each dark night, through each difficulty and danger, for you are our great Shepherd who speaks and is not silent.]
 
Lord, today I lay my life before you on the altar of obedience. I praise you now for what you will bring, for how you will guide, for how you will protect.
 
Because you are only good, I can trust you to do what is right, to bring what is best, to lead in what is wise.
 
May you be glorified in my life today, Lord God–honored, lifted up and exalted in my thoughts, motives, words and actions.
 
Protect me from the evil one and evil men; protect me from myself; protect me for your own glory. I praise you now for all you will do in this day. Amen.]
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Hope?

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 13, 2020
The next morning at breakfast Ayit asked his father, “Is there no hope to escape the evil that the spirits bring on us?”
 
“All we can do is to appease them, to carefully avoid angering them. And we should be careful to not dishonor any older people either because, as I said, after they die, their spirits can come back and take revenge on those who failed to show proper respect.”
 
“So, there is no way out of this?” Ayit asked, looking sadly at his father, who smiled at his inquisitive son.
 
“No, this is the world we were born into and we have no other possibility,” Okfagit said, his face becoming sad. Then he brightened, “However, many seasons ago there was a shaman on the island of Sivukuk who made a prophecy. It is said that he would set up poles and sing around them at night.
 
“In the morning there would be ropes and cloth on them, like on the whaling ships that we see sometimes off the coast. This shaman prophesied that an outsider would come to the island to bring good news. Maybe this will happen and set us free from the tyranny of the spirits.”
 
Ayit looked hopefully at his father. His eyes now had some light in them at this news.
 
After breakfast Ayit and his brother hitched the dogs to the sled and set out to the freshwater spring three miles from the village. When they arrived, they stamped the sled’s anchor into the snow and took several seal-skin pokes to the spring.
 
While Ayit held a poke, his brother dipped water into it with a wooden scoop. When the poke was full, they tied the neck and stood it on the sled. After the six pokes were filled, they lashed them down and headed back home, going slowly, being careful not to let any of the pokes tip over and spill the precious water. This water was for drinking and cooking only, but even so it went quickly.
 
That night the children again asked their father to tell them a story. He was quiet for a while, sighed and said, “Along with the spirits is the god, ‘Apa.’ He is much more powerful than the spirits, but he is far from us, he does not enter our lives. It is said that he has a helper, his son, who is also powerful, but we cannot know him either. Apa and his son do not protect us from the evil spirits.”
 
“Why is Apa so distant?” asked one of the girls.
 
“He doesn’t want to bother with us. We people do many wrong things, so he and his son don’t want to be near us.”
 
“What happens to us when we die?” one of the sons asked.
 
“We go back to the earth. We come to an end. Our spirits may roam the earth, but they will have no rest,” replied Okfagit.
 
“Is there no hope for us?” asked Ayit.
 
“We are at the mercy of the spirits, then when we die, that is the end. Life is hard and brutal, then we die.”
 
He paused, thinking, then continued, “As I said to Ayit this morning, there is one possible help for us. A powerful shaman on Sivukuk island made a prophecy many, many seasons ago, long before my grandfather was born. He said that someday men who were not Eskimos would come to the island and bring us good news. Maybe that is our hope.”
 
Unknown to Okfagit and those in his village, 60 miles to the west on the Island of Sivukuk, developments were taking place that would fulfill this prophecy and powerfully, positively affect them and their way of life.
Picture: relaxing in the inner tent where Okfagit talked with his children
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Dawning of a new day

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 12, 2020
The next morning after praying that prayer of surrender, as the first stream of consciousness flowed up into my mind, along with it rose a pearl of hope, spinning, shining, gleaming in my soul.
 
This was so different from the dark oppressive feeling I normally encountered upon awakening. The heavy blanket of depression was lifting.
 
I jumped out of bed, hurriedly dressed, ran over to Jim’s house and knocked on the door. “Guess what?” I shouted, “I’ve become a Christian!”
 
“Great,” said Jim, “have some orange juice.” This obviously meant nothing to him but it meant something to the Eskimo kindergarten teacher, Ora, who was sitting at the table doing lesson preparation.
 
“Come here and tell me about it,” she said. As a believer she was able to share my excitement and encourage me.
 
Wednesday evening I went to the prayer meeting at the Presbyterian church in the village. We sang hymns that I’d sung all my life: dry, dusty words that had moved me little. But now! Now there were flowers growing out of the words, bright colors, rich life, pure scents! The hymns were alive! Everything was different!
 
The Holy Spirit had come into my life and had brought me out of my prison cell of unbelief and rebellion. As it says in Psalm 18:18,19, “He brought me out into a spacious place. He rescued me because He delighted in me.“
 
I now grasped in a new and deeper way that Jesus loved me and delighted in me–it was more than an intellectual knowledge. For the first time I knew with my whole person–mind, will and emotions–that I was loved, forgiven and delighted in, not because I was good, but because God is good!
 
I now had what that little guy in Missoula, Montana resturant had, what the Professor in Spokane had, what that little old lady in Seattle had, what Doug the public health nurse had: a rich, powerful connection with the living and true God!
 
I knew for sure that the Holy Spirit lived within me. What a difference from the “theoretical Christianity” I’d been living.
Psalm 139 had become a literal reality in my life: “If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
 and the light become night around me…” (Ps. 139:9-11).
This describes my flight to the end of the world where the time line was just over the horizon, where darkness overwhelmed me in the physical, emotional and spiritual realms–and where God used this to bring light into my life. His faithfulness shone forth powerfully in these verses as He held me fast in His love.
 
I now had a bunch of questions about how to live. Where was I to go from here? What was I supposed to do? God had that situation in hand as well.
 
The next day Dave Shinen, the Bible translator, arrived in my village, stayed with me for the night, answered all my questions and returned the next day to Gambell!
 
He had just come along with an Eskimo for the ride, but in actuality, God sent him to lay the first row of living stones in my new life with Christ. Another Jesus sighting, a four star one!
 
My everyday life continued on with its usual difficulties: the drudgery of lesson preparation, of juggling classes, cooking, pumping kerosene into my stove and refrigerator, boiling all my drinking water and carrying out my honey bucket. There was little relaxation. My new walk with Jesus certainly infused all this with light and creativity, but it was still hard.
 
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Psalm 28:1

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 11, 2020
Psalm 28:1 “To you I call, O LORD”
[You are the great I Am, the LORD of all, Yahweh, the Holy One who is totally other, totally self-sufficient, without need of anyone. You are pure and sinless, spotless and good.
 
Your glory is in your holiness therefore you hate sin and will punish it but love the sinner and provide a way of forgiveness and escape. You are the LORD, worthy to be worshiped, worthy of praise, worthy of reverence and awe, fear and obedience. Glory belongs to you; may it flow from my life to you today.]
“You are…my Rock;”
[You, the Great and Mighty One have made yourself to be my Rock: impregnable, unshakable, unmovable, unassailable, undefeatable. In you there is security, in you there is safety. Nothing can get through you to me expect what you allow in your wisdom and love. I can rest in you, be secure in you, trust in you. You are the everlasting eternal Rock, ever the same, ever trustable, ever good.]
“do not turn a deaf ear to me.”
[I praise you, Lord, that your ear is ever listening, never deaf towards your children. You are the prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God. You delight in having us come to you in prayer, and you delight in answering.
 
You may chasten us by not answering when we are willfully living in sin, but the problem then is with us, not you. Praise you for your faithful, loving, Fatherhood commitment to hear and answer your children.
 
Help us to be consistent in coming to you in prayer, as our first resort, not our last.]
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Psalm 27

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 10, 2020
Psalm 27 “whom shall I fear?”
[With a God like you watching over me in love, tenderness, forgiveness and power, who else could have sway over me?
Who can bring real damage to me when you filter out what is truly harmful?
 
You only are the One to be feared, to be obeyed, to be revered.
Praise be to you in all, Lord Jesus, Redeemer of all, especially of those who believe.
I praise you now for what you have planned for my life today,
I delight in your power, rejoice in your provision, and revel in your perfection.
 
May you be exalted today in my life, for you deserve all glory, honor and praise, in and for all things.]
 
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Further thoughts on Psalm 27:1

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 9, 2020
“The Lord is my light”
[In my darkness, when I can’t see the way, when confusion reigns and I don’t know what to do, you, like the sun, shine your light on my path, Lord Jesus. At the right time, we will be enlightened. Praise you for your faithfulness in always illuminating the way.]
“And my salvation.”
[You, Lord God, are the Star Breather, the Earth Spinner, the Dawn Bringer, the History Ender, the great Redeemer and mighty Savior. You are at work in great power, in deep wisdom and in unquenchable love to bring salvation within a broken world.
I think of all the times over the years you have protected me in driving, all the times I should have had an accident, yet you alerted me, or kept me from changing lanes or had others avoid me.
Thank you for keeping us safe when the brakes on my aged vehicle give out–twice, but both times in good places, preventing accidents. I praise you for what you are doing every day to protect us, both from our own foolishness and from others’ errors.
Praise be to you, Lord, for your great faithfulness and love, your gracious, undeserved protection and help. Truly you do protect and deliver on every level: eternal, temporal, spiritual, intellectual, volitional, emotional, physical, financial, social, and vocational.
You shield, you deliver, you provide, you warn, you rescue, you embrace. And why? Because you are love itself, you cherish your children, you delight in us, you choose to love us in spite of what we naturally are.
I praise you in repentance for my unbelief, in wonder for your gracious forgiveness, in humility for your undeserved kindness, in deep thankfulness for your unceasing love, in amazement at your delight in your children, in joy for your marvelous, rich, positive and good character.
In you I am safe, in you I am secure, in you I am significant, in you I am supplied with all I need. Praise you that you are able and willing to save to the uttermost those who believe in you.]
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Lifting My Soul in the midst of stress

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 8, 2020
Taken from my worship journal, written a number of years ago, as I lifted my soul to God, working through my emotions about the difficulties I faced at that time.
Praise you, Lord, for your gracious work in my life: my miserable life on a human level, my wonderful life on your level. Thank you that you are working on raising me to that higher level with you, leading me upward and onward, out of the swamp of my natural self into the lushness of your green pastures, into the light of your love and into your powerful, positive presence.
I thank you for my unwanted circumstances, Lord, for the dreaded tasks I have to do, and the desired work I’m unable to do. You know what is best, what is right and will work it out. “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him” (Psalm 34:8).
I praise you, Father God, for your wisdom, love, goodness and power. You, my Heavenly Father, watch over me and bring into my life the challenges and opportunities I need.
I praise you, Lord Jesus, my great and good Shepherd, for leading me in the proper paths, guiding me through disagreements and difficulties, through my poor choices and poor responses, out to the other side into the wide place you have for me. I praise you for your good and gracious presence at all times, and that you carry me through when life is too much for me.
I praise you, Holy Spirit, that you are my Heavenly Teacher, my persistent Transformer, my gracious Guide and my determined Director, seeking to bring me to ever-higher levels of walking with you.
Praise you, O Triune God, that you are the One I can trust in the midst of my present uncertainty and difficulties. You are my Heavenly Protector, blocking what is harmful, allowing what is edifying, providing all I need. Therefore, I can give you honor and praise now, before any of this is worked out, for you are gracious, great and good, full of power, positiveness and love.
Thank you now for how you will help me today to do all the things that you desire, to make decisions based on what is best, not just on what I’d like. Give me wisdom in how to proceed and what to accomplish. Help me to consistently live the truth that Knowing Jesus Is Enough for Joy, Period!
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Psalm 27:13-14

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 7, 2020
 
Psalm 27:13 “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
[No matter how bad things get, your goodness will always be there, and it will shine through in the end. “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life”(Ps. 23:6).
My confidence needs to be in your goodness, not measured by my desires being fulfilled, by my comfort or success, but by your greatness and glory revealed in your Word, by your beautiful and pristine character, as revealed in creation and by your doing what is best, as revealed in history.]
Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
[Repetition of this command to wait shows how important it is. I must wait for you, spending time with you, listening to your direction, not acting too early and on my own desires. As my wife is fond of saying “Waiting on the Lord is the greatest economy of time.”
[In you, in the midst of my weakness, I can be strong and take heart, for you are strength itself, you are faithfulness itself, you are wisdom itself. You have a plan and will bring it to pass. “In the day of my trouble I will call upon you, for you will answer me” (Ps. 86:7).
I praise you, Lord, for your trustworthiness, for the certainty of your moving at the right time, for your answering my prayers in the right way.
You are right, Lord, you are true, you are good and faithful. Therefore I can choose to rest in you. Praise be to you for what you will do today as I wait on you.]


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