Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Psalm 25:8-9

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 16, 2020
Psalm 25:8 “Good and upright is the LORD; therefore, he instructs sinners in his ways.”
[Praise you, Lord God, that in your goodness, you work in the lives of sinners who do not yet know you, teaching them your ways, how you do things, what leads to light and life. It is so encouraging to know that the way you lead us is always good and upright, never into anything wrong, evil, negative, destructive or bad.
You use your creation to show your greatness, your Spirit to convict of guilt, your intervention to show your love, your prayer-answers to show your power, your firmness to show your righteousness and your kindness to show your grace.
Praise you for sending the Word, sending the prophets of old, giving revelation and offering repentance with faith. Your love and care are overwhelming as we look gratefully at them.]
Psalm 25:9 “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”
[Praise you for your further work in those who do respond to your instruction, bringing them to belief and salvation. Praise you for guiding us then in what you know to be right, warning us of what is harmful, disciplining us, guiding us.
Praise you that you teach us your way in which we can walk— how you would have us live, speak and love.
You reveal your way so we can walk with you in it. But we must be humble and teachable, accepting the reality of our innate depravity, our ignorance and our desperate need as believers for your input and guidance. Only you know the right way, only you can guide us as we need. As you told us in John 15:5, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”]
So, I exalt you, my Gracious and Firm Shepherd, my Loving and Kind Lord, for your Good and Wise leading. You are the only One to be followed fully, for you never make an error. Guide me in following you today.
Filed under:

Psalm 25:6-7

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 15, 2020
Lord Jesus, your character–marvelous, rich, infinite and eternal–led you to finished your work on the cross. It is the basis of your character that we can come to you; In our needs and distress we can cry with the Psalmist:
Psalm 25:6 “Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.”
[Out of these two wonderful qualities of mercy and love you acted into the world, bringing complete, powerful, full-orbed salvation, freeing us from guilt, shame and fear.
Now, in our days, you continue to act out of the same monumental mercy and long-lasting love. It is in you that our trust comes alive. It is your mercy and love that are the grounds for appeal to you. And it is out of love and mercy that you will answer today with what is best, wise and good. We can rest in that truth, praising you now for what you will do without knowing what that will be.
Psalm 25:7 “Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;”
[How can the eternal, infinite all-knowing Creator not remember all the pain-producing rebellion that flowed from my heart and actions? The wonder is that you can choose to do so, you choose to not remember.
This is different than forgetting; the memory is available, but you willfully do not bring it to mind, for my sin and rebellion have been dealt with in Christ’s marvelous sacrifice. You can put it out of your mind, removing it as far as East is from West.
“according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.”
[You allow us to appeal to your love, which is not just one of your characteristics or qualities which you can choose to exercise or not. No, you are love itself; it is your essence; it is what you are made of, along with life and light. Therefore, we can rest in the ocean of your love and grace, in your endless goodness and forgiveness, confident that we are cherished, delighted in and deeply loved.
What a marvelous, majestic, magnificent, mighty privilege it is to be in your family, to be a child of the King, fully pardoned, free of accusation, resting in your grace and goodness.
We are motivated by your love to respond in amazement that leads to obedience, rejecting the selfish, independent, stubborn, rebellious desires of our natural self. Within this freedom you have given us, we can choose to obey your Word and your Spirit, trusting in you, serving you, loving you.
Praise be to you, Lord God, for you have drawn us into your embrace, and now lead us onward and upward in our walk with you, through the difficulties, dangers and disappointments of this world—all of which fade to nothing in the light of your presence. With our eyes on you, we can say with the Psalmist Asaph, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” (Psa. 73:25).
Be glorified in my life daily, Lord Jesus, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit. May your goodness, grace and glory overflow from my life onto all those I will meet today, so that they may also turn to you. Amen.
 
Picture: Barbara loving two of her grandchildren
Filed under:

Amazing God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 14, 2020
As I write this (on a summer day some years ago), I am enjoying a perfect, absolutely gorgeous day: pleasantly hazy and sunny, in the 70s with a slight breeze, giving the air a refreshingly cool touch.
Praise be to you, Lord, for such a foretaste of Heaven and the New Earth, where all will be perfect every day. There we won’t need the challenges of weather or the news to keep us occupied. Your presence and personality, filling all the universe, will be far more than enough to keep us fascinated and focused.
And there are hints that you will have lots of engaging work for us to do there for you. You are such a creative God: there will be no end to the new things you will bring out of your infinite mind and heart.
You, the One and Only True God, are perfect, immutable, lovely, wise, powerful, just, pure, kind, forgiving, gracious and good. You are worthy of our whole-hearted worship, of continual and complete follower-ship, of full obedience, absolute surrender and total trust.
You are far better than anything we could imagine, for in you there is no flaw—we have never experienced anything like that here on earth, where everything has weaknesses, problems, faults and lacks.
But in you there is no lack, no end of supply, no failure, no loss. You are all that is good; you are void of what is bad. I praise you that you cannot sin, you cannot lie, you cannot be tempted with evil, you cannot do any wrong–for these are the opposite of your beautiful nature.
You are unchangingly pure, consistently positive, absolutely powerful and unceasingly persistent in protection. Therefore, we can call you our Rock, our Fortress, our Defender, our Shield, our Strength, our Stronghold.
You are glorious beyond our conception, you are great beyond comprehension, you are good beyond understanding and you are gracious beyond measure.
In you is found all we desire, for we were made to live in you, with you, by you, for you. In you we are complete, with you we are protected, by you we are empowered, for you we can live and work, love and die. Help us to do that today, running in the light of your lavish love.
Filed under:

Psalm 25:4-5

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 13, 2020
 
Psalm 25:4 “Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;”
[Praise be to you, Lord Jehovah, the holy One who loves to reveal your ways to us. I thank you for what you have shown us through your Word, for what you will show us through your Spirit, and for how you will faithfully shepherd us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake.]
Psalm 25:5 “guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior,”
[Praise you that you have made yourself our God and our Savior. As such, you desire to keep us in your way, showing us your truth through your Word, giving us the needed input so we can obey you.
You are Elohim, the mighty and faithful One who has provided salvation through your powerful and personal suffering and have shown your faithfulness by bringing us to yourself, then guiding and protecting us. Having paid the highest price possible, you will certainly follow through in the small acts of applying that salvation to our lives every day. You are worthy of worship! You are worthy of obedience!]
“and my hope is in you all day long.”
[In what else, in whom else can we hope? There is no one else powerful enough, big enough, loving enough, wise enough, long-lived enough to hope in. And there is no one else who is faithful, gracious, good and great like you, who cares for your sheep, protects your lambs, leads your flock.
You are the God of hope who desires to fill us with all joy and peace, if we will only trust in you. Then our lives will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)
I praise you, Lord Jesus, for what you will do in this day, in the large situations before me as well as the small details. I praise you that you will do this in your goodness and grace, in your wisdom and love. I praise you for the need to wait, for the opportunity to trust before seeing your help, for the chance to give the sacrifice of thanksgiving, for the privilege of giving you honor by responding in faith rather than in fear.
You are worthy of our trust, our worship, our obedience, our praise. May you be exalted in my life today, O Lord God, King of glory, Ruler of all.
Filed under:

Psalm 25:1-3

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 12, 2020
Written several years ago in the midst of a difficult situation.
Psalm 25:1 “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;”
[It is wonderful that I can freely, transparently tell you, Lord, everything I am thinking, wanting and feeling. You know it all anyway; nothing shocks you; and you are “good and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy and truth to all those who call upon you” (Ps. 86:5).
 
I don’t need to fear being transparent, for you are not out to punish but to protect, to nurture, mature and guide. You are the God of Goodness, so I can be fully open to you.]
Psalm 25:2 “in you I trust, O my God.”
[Your Character, your Word and your Acts all give far more than ample reason for trusting you. You are perfect in Mercy and Justice; you are Lavish in Love and Kindness; you are consistent in Goodness and Grace, you are unwavering in Presence and in Power.
Your Word is living and strong, shining the light of wisdom on our way. Your actions, both in history and in the present, show your careful planning, persistent follow-though and sacrificial love in dealing with us. You are utterly trustable, and to trust you is a great opportunity to give you glory; you are totally worthy of our confidence in you.]
“Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.”
[Yes, Lord, this is what I pray concerning the difficult issue before me. In your goodness work out what is best. May you be honored and we edified by how you bring things to a conclusion.
Psalm 25:3 “No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame,”
[My hope must be in you, for what else can I do? My feeble arguments, my weak communication, my inability to reach everyone involved are all woefully inadequate. But you are able to do these things. You are able to work all out. May this difficulty conclude in a way that will bring you glory and honor and exaltation.]
“but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.”
[May the real enemies–Satan and his helpers–be put to shame. May those who have put culture above the Word be put to shame. May those who mishandle your Word be put to shame.
May all of your followers come together under the umbrella of your revealed Truth; may we exalt above all things your Name and your Word. I praise you now for what you will do. Amen.]
Filed under:

Psalm 18

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 11, 2020
I seemed to have startled many with my “hospital picture” in my last post. This is an old one from the last time I was in the hospital a while back. It was intended to be an illustration of how we can praise in all circumstances. My apologies. Now for today’s entry.
Psalm 18, one of my favorites, helps me to deal with the anxiety and fear that so often grip me –and all of us at times. It shows me the way to defeat fear and anxiety, which is using the sword of the Spirit.
Psalm 18:1-3 “I love you, O LORD, my strength.” [my weakness is both real and irrelevant, for His strength is everything.]
“The LORD” [the holy, sinless, completely other One, who rules with indisputable might]
“is my rock,” [my unshakable stability]
“my fortress” [my sure safety]
“and my deliverer” [my ever-present protection];
“my God” [the powerfully creative and utterly faithful One who has claimed me as His own]
“is my rock” [He has made Himself the place of stability, safety and security for me, more strong and immovable than the Alaska mountain in this picture],
“in whom I take refuge” [this is my part, fleeing to Him in praise and persistence, thanksgiving and trust when difficulties, disappointment and seeming defeat come].
“He is my shield” [my personal, portable protection, covering my head in every moment of the daily battle]
“for all who take refuge in him” (v 30) [Again, here is my part in the process: I must run to Him, think His Truth, trust Him—for He is the only place of safety and I must choose to stay in His Way.]
“and the horn of my salvation” [His power at work is what will save me, not my feeble effort],
“my stronghold” [the impregnable, impenetrable, undefeatable One who is my place of safety.]
“I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,” [only You, O God are worthy, only you are the One who can help]
“and I am saved from my enemies.” [simple, clear and true, but often not visible at the moment.]
As I call upon the Great One, the Holy One, the Ruler and Judge of all the universe, I am saved—not necessarily in the way or time I want but saved in the way He, who sees and understands all, knows is best.
He wants to save me first from my fears, then from my troubles (Psalm 34:4-6). I can praise Him now for what He will do, and my anxiety and fear will be defeated by His grace! (Phil 4:6-7)]
Filed under:

Chapter 13 Sleeping in Seattle

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 10, 2020
It took a whole day to make it from Spokane to Seattle. The central part of Washington was a high plain with a very strong head wind blowing, so I struggled to keep my speed up to 50 mph much of the time.
 
Finally late on Sunday afternoon I came down out of the mountains towards the city. On the way I passed a campground with a Christian name, so I stopped in to ask if there was a good church in the area that I could attend that evening.
 
“Sure is,” replied the camp manager, “There’s a good one not far from here,” and gave me directions. Then he asked, “You got a place to stay tonight?” When I told him I hadn’t, he said, “Well, you’re welcome to stay here. Costs a dollar a night.”
 
I was very glad to think of spending the night in a bed, and said I’d be back. This obvious provision of a place to stay, along with the other divine interventions on the trip, were what I later came to call “Jesus sightings”: clearly seeing the Lord reaching down to protect or provide for me.
 
I roared up into the church parking lot, put my motorcycle in a corner spot and took off my helmet, letting my long hair fall around my ears and neck.
 
I turned and looked at the church, the wind blowing in my scraggly beard. One whole wall of the church was stained glass windows, quite different from the plain church I attended back in Canterbury
 
I turned to the entrance and went in. The sanctuary was plush: thick carpet, padded pews, and the evening light streaming in through the stained glass. It was impressive.
 
Surprisingly, in spite of my appearance, people greeted me warmly as I made my way to a pew near the front. The pastor welcomed me as a visitor, and after the service took time to chat with me.
 
Other attenders also came to greet me. One elderly woman in particular talked with me at length. “Connecticut. That’s a long ways from here,” she said. “How often have you communicated with your family during your trip?”
 
I thought, “Well, I’ve called them at least once a week and written some, but probably not enough.”
 
“How about if I give you my address so you can write to me and let me know how it goes with you in Alaska. Let me have your home address, too, just in case you lose mine,” she suggested.
Giving me her card, she got out her address book and handed it to me so I could write my Connecticut address in it.
 
“When I get an address in Alaska, I’ll send it to you,” I promised.
 
“Now, young man, I’m going to pray for you that God will guide you and protect you in this venture of yours,” she said.
 
This commitment was more important than either of us realized. True to her word, this prayer warrior wrote almost every week and interceded for me daily over the next year, bringing me up each week in prayer meeting. She probably played the most significant role in the next steps the Lord had for me.
 
She also immediately wrote to my mother to give her some unbiased news of my whereabouts and condition, which Mom appreciated greatly.
 
I thanked the little old lady, picked up my helmet and went out into the parking lot where my motorcycle waited. That night I slept very well in a cabin at the campground and awoke with the sense that a new part of my journey was about to begin.
Picture of Seattle from internet
 
Filed under:

God and Good

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 9, 2020
Written some years ago.
 
Praise be to you, Lord, for your goodness to us, of which there are two kinds. First there is that which we commonly express after we get what we want. We say, “God is good!” We can easily see His goodness when He gives us the pleasant, the preferred, the prayer answers we wanted and the protection that we crave.
Then there is the other kind, when God’s unwanted goodness comes our way: the trials, chastening and challenges He sends or allows, like my unwanted trips to the hospital this year, like unanswered prayers (actually, the answer is “no” or “wait”), the protection withheld, healing not given and problems unsolved. These all are also your goodness, Lord, as you have higher, deeper, longer and wider reasons for them.
It was your goodness, Lord, that sent Joseph to Egypt as a slave, that sent him to prison for doing what was right, and that in the end made him the Prime Minister of Egypt so he could save his family, the Egyptians, many from surrounding countries–and eventually us, as his work preserved the life of his brother Judah from whence came the Messiah.
All of this was your goodness, although much of it did not look, feel or smell like it to Joseph at the time. But he, by faith, declared his suffering and trials good, as he said to his brothers concerning their selling him as a slave, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen. 50:20).
Paul, too, knew the goodness of God in his difficulties and chose in faith to embrace his weakness. When Paul prayed to have his thorn removed God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s response was, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest on me!” (2 Cor. 12:9,10).
What if Paul had sat in prison sulking and feeling sorry for himself, angry at his captors and God? We wouldn’t have two thirds of the New Testament, for it was in the quietness of prison that Paul had the time to write all those letters.
The truth is, “God is good, all the time!” and “All the time God is good!” We need to expand our vision of who He is, so that when things don’t go the way we want, we can, by faith, declare and embrace His undesired goodness. We need to grasp that He has a plan and will work it out. We need to comprehend that for each disappointment He has a sequel.
As it says in Hebrews 12:1&2, He has laid out a race for us, He goes before us and is working on maturing and completing our faith in the process. He calls us to run the race, looking to Jesus, not at our circumstances, our comfort or the crowd.
As it says in Psalm 23, He calls us to live in the truth that He, as our good Shepherd, knows where He’s going (in paths of righteousness) and we can follow Him with confidence, through beauty and past beasts, through light and darkness, through green pastures and valleys of shadow.
We can choose to measure things by our own very limited, self-centered human wisdom, complaining when we don’t get our way, and living in discontent, self-pity and shallow faith. Or we can choose to be confident in God’s all-encompassing goodness and wisdom, embracing whatever He brings, finding our rest in Him alone, remembering that our Hope comes from Him (Ps. 62:5).
Let us live in the light of His beautiful character: God is good, all the time; all the time, God is good.
Filed under:

Peace

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 8, 2020
Zechariah continues, declaring that Jesus will come, “to guide our feet into the path of peace,” as in this picture leading us ever closer to the light of your love.
 
How wonderful you are, Lord Jesus, to call us to the path of peace: peace with you, peace with ourselves, peace with others. You, as the King of Peace, have bought this peace with your death and resurrection.
 
We praise you for this marvelous gift to us, which we must reach out and take by trusting you: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace AS YOU TRUST IN HIM, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 15:13).
And we can trust in you because you are our Sovereign Lord who has redeemed us, saved us, has a plan for our lives and will carry us through with you to the end of history, on into eternity.
 
Praise you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that you have made this known to us through the revelation of your written Word, through Jesus, the living Word, and through the Spirit using the convicting Word in our lives.
 
We could never have known peace without your revealing the way of faith to us–salvation through the forgiveness of sins apart from the law, fully dependent on your finished work.
Praise be to you that we can today walk down the hallway of peace moving towards the light—having peace in our thoughts, will, emotions and relationships–because you, Lord Jesus, are our Prince of Peace, our King of Peace, our Presence of Peace.
 
Praise you that as we rest in you, accepting your forgiveness, forgiving ourselves and forgiving others, we can be channels of peace to those around us, letting your light of grace and mercy shine out of us. Help us to so brightly shine today that there will be more and more glory for you in our lives!
Filed under:

Zechariah’s Proclamation

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 7, 2020
Here is a beautiful message in Luke 1, spoken by Zechariah, addressing his son, John the Baptist:
“you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,” [and so John did, sent by God for stirring up the people’s desire for righteousness.]
Luke 1:77 “to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,”
[This was a new truth, for the Jews thought that through the keeping of the law they could be saved. However, as it says in Romans 3, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” This is a mystery revealed in Christ; it is the perspective of God, different from the tradition of the Jews.]
Luke 1:78 “because of the tender mercy of our God,”
[And this new way, the costly way of Jesus, is opened because our God is gracious, tender and merciful towards His enemies. We exalt you, O Lord, our God, for your kindness, your grace, your loving goodness towards us when we deserve the opposite.]
“by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven”
[Praise you, Lord Jesus, that you, as the Son and the Sun, the Dayspring and Morning Star, came down to us from heaven to be with us in our desperate, depraved and deceived state.]
Luke 1:79 “to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death,”
[We are born into the devil’s kingdom of darkness, unable to find our way without revelation. We were under the curse of death, living in the land of the dying, walking in fear, stumbling through life, unable to understand, for: “…the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble” (Prov. 4:19). But then you, Lord Jesus, the bright and shining Son, came to open our eyes. You are “The true light that gives light to every man….” (John 1:19).
Now, because you have come, Lord Jesus, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day” (Prov. 4:18).
You have given us sight, and we can choose to use it or not. As we walk with you, you give us more and more light every day, for “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD” (Ps. 89:15). Help us to walk in the light of your gracious and good presence today, Lord, that we may be light carriers to all those around us.
Filed under: