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Immensely Great

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 28, 2025 Respond

How great is our God?

“I, even I, am he who comforts you.” Isaiah 51:12

He is the King of Glory, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Guide and Lover of my soul.

You Lord, are wonderful in your words of comfort: “Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth…’” (Isa. 51:12-13).

Yes, You are the Mighty One who made the measureless heavens, stretching them out light year after light year, in length and breadth, height and depth.

You filled them with stars and galaxies, light and dust, space and nebulae. Your love of beauty, your enjoyment of variety, your penchant for order and the vastness of your power are all on display there.

You number the stars and call them each by name. The scope of your power is overwhelming:

the power of planning to lay it all out;

the power of creativity to make them out of nothing;

the power of greatness to create stars so gigantic;

the power of memory to know each one by name;

the power of faithfulness to keep each in its place.

Yes, You, Lord God, are marvelously, amazingly powerful. You only are the totally Trustable one.

Forgive us when we doubt you, worry, fear, and fret.

Help us to live in the shadow of your greatness,

to revel in your power,

to rest in your wisdom.

May be an image of outer space

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Living Right Side Up

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 27, 2025 Respond

The world is upside down from a biblical perspective.

In the world,
 to win you have to conqueor.
To have worth you have to perform.
To be successful, you have to be better than others.
To lead you have to get others to accept your way.
But the biblical way, the “rightside up” way,  is very different.
To win, you have to lose:   
 
“whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” Matt 10:29
Jesus won by losing His life so He could defeat Satan, death and sin.
To be productive, you have to die:
“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Matt 12:24
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Matt 16:24
To have worth, you have to let go and accept what God says about you:
“…he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Eph. 1:4
To be successful, you have to surrender:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matt 16:24
To lead you have to serve.
“whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, Matt 20:25.
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up….” Eph. 4:11,12

To live the ” right side up” way, 

we have to live by faith, 

to  think Truth, 

to trust God and surrender to His way. Let’s do it!

Jesus is leading; are you following?

May be an image of 1 person

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Walking on with Him

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 25, 2025 Respond

Psalm 23 summary

As the Great Shepherd, Lord Jesus, you are constantly at work in our lives:

leading,

guiding,

disciplining,

protecting,

providing,

commanding.

You are worthy of all

exaltation,

worship,

glory,

honor

and praise.

It will require more than eternity

to give you what you deserve,

and I glorify you for that!

 

Prayer: “Today, may my drinking of the pure waters of your Word

and my walking with you in the path of righteousness you have prepared,

bring glory to you, Lord, and transformation to me

so that I may give you more and more honor each day. Amen.”

May be an image of 2 people

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Being led, am I following?

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 24, 2025 Respond

More thoughts on Psalm 23

You, Lord Jesus, lead me in paths of righteousness,

guiding,

teaching,

warning,

disciplining.

You nudge me when I am about to say something negative, out of bounds, unhelpful or gossipy.

And when I heed your warning, there is a sense of freedom—freedom from the selfish desire to give myself a thrill by being the one to pass on information or to be the authority in some matter.

To deny self and obey you, that is following you in the paths of righteousness.

I praise you, Lord, for you have sent your Spirit in me to lead me.

I praise you for your great patience in working with me to help me to

quit worrying,

reject complaining,

refuse to feel sorry for myself,

walk away from disappointment and discouragement,

choose instead to walk with praise in the demanding paths of righteousness that you have prepared and where you lead me.

I praise and thank you

for your wonderful shepherding,

for your faithful goodness,

for your continued, gracious patience.

You are marvelous, merciful and magnificent

in your persistent, powerful, positive transforming work

in the lives of your children.

Help me to  live in the light of these truths, no matter my circumsatnces.

Picture: The Great Shepherd  Jesus watching over us, leading  you and me in paths of righteousness.

May be an image of 1 person

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Living in the Light

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 23, 2025 Respond

As my good Shepherd, you, Lord Jesus, are teaching me to think like you, rather than being swayed by my feelings.

 

This is your doing, to your glory, in line with your greatness.

I praise you for your faithful, deep work, your gracious goodness in bringing this change as I follow you beside the still waters, spending time gazing upon your marvelous Character.

You truly are Glorious, Great and Gracious!

You lead me in paths of righteousness: warning, guiding, teaching, disciplining.

You nudge me when I am about to say something negative, out of bounds, unhelpful or gossipy.

And when I heed your warning, there is a sense of freedom—freedom from the selfish desire to give myself a thrill by being the one to pass on information or to be the authority in some matter.

To deny self, to obey you, that is following you in the paths of righteousness. Help me to be more consistent in that, thereby giving you honor and glory.

Picture: the joy of living in the light

May be an image of 1 person

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A Quality of Great Value: Humility

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 22, 2025 Respond

 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6.

In remembering this verse, the thought came that humility is the most important virtue for a believer. Why? Because it is the doorway through which grace can enter our lives. Grace is God giving us the opposite of what we believe: joy, peace, goodness, love and mercy. Those are things to desire!

However, to pray to be humble is a dangerous prayer! It like asking a  coach to turn you into an olympic runner: lots of pain, self denial, cutting many pleasant things out of your life, and sweating a lot.

Praying to be more humble is asking for demanding training. To be humble means to not trust  in yourself but to deeply trust in God. We can only learn that through trying times. As one of my mentors said, “The shortcut to humility is the road of humiliation!”

So, if we want to be humble, we must embrace the difficult, the uncomfortable, the unwanted situation. We have to learn to win by losing. We have to laugh when we humiliate ourselves, knowing that we are on the way up by going down. More easily said than done.

I do pray for more humility so that more grace can flow into my life–and out to others. And God obliges, reminding me that He knows more than I do (!). Thus He draws me on to submit my intellect, my perception and my thoughts to Him, for He knows better! And therein we will find humility.

Picture: Great example of humility.

May be an image of grass

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Pure Motives

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 20, 2025 Respond

“Wisdom from above is first of all pure….” James 3:17

After a tumultuous week, even thought I’d used all my “spiritual tools,”– putting on the armor, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, forgiving, letting go–there was still unrest in my soul.
This morning the Holy Spirit brought to mind the description of Heavenly Wisdom in James 3. The first quality is being pure, and I believe that purity starts in our motives.  So I sat down and began to write out my motives for what I desired.
What I was looking for were the ones that were negative (to be rejected), neutral (to be shifted if possible) and positive.
As I wrote, out came four motives, and I looked them over. Although they all looked good on the surface, in two I could see how they were aimed at making myself feel good. The third was neutral, but irredeemable for the bottom line was also selfishness.
But the fourth, now that was a good one, aimed at doing good for others without thought of myself. Now  that’s one I could act on. This helped me let go of the strong desire I had that others follow my plan; I could bend to fit in with them.
This was freeing and helped me to relax in God’s hands. Now I can move ahead trusting him.
Heavenly Wisdom is first of all pure….”  Check your motives, rejecting the negative and neutral, affirming the positive, be free to follow God with all your heart.
Picture: get rid of the “e” and you are ready to “go.”
May be a doodle of 1 person, segway and text
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Through the Darkness

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 18, 2025 Respond

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; your rod and your staff they comfort me…” Psalm 23:4

After making us lie down in green pastures, Jesus leads us, first in paths of righteousness, and sometimes He leads us into the dark valleys. This is unpleasant, but we know He will lead us through, out to the other side.
In this valley we have the opportunity to die to self, to obey His command, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”  To deny self–to give up one’s plans, one’s desired timing—this is to suffer the death of one’s vision—this is painful, but God allows it sometimes and has many reasons for doing do.
Today I experienced this and I know three of His reasons:  to humble me, to give direction, to help  me grow spiritually. It was a good opportunity to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, to honor God and open the way that He may show me the salvation of the Lord.  I haven’t seen that yet, but it will come! As it says later in Psalm 23, “…surely goodness and mercy shall follow me….” I will see them at the right time.
To follow Him wherever He leads is a good, godly and in  the en, grand. Guide us, Lord, in embracing whatever you bring, to rejoice in our weakness, knowing that when we are weak, you are strong.
Picture: through the valley of darkness
May be an image of tree, fog, road and nature
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Green Obedience

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 17, 2025 Respond

Thinking more of bumpy days.

“The Lord is my shepherd…he makes me to lie down in green pastures.” Psalm 23:1,2

 

Praise you, Lord, for you do not take our advice on where we should be at each stage of life. Instead you make us lie down where you know it is best—you don’t ask us or suggest or advise, you make us stay there.

That green pasture could be a

moment of great success—or of monumental failure;

it could be great comfort—or painful suffering;

it could be in wonderful health—or in severe sickness;

in rich, positive relationships—or in continual conflicts;

in having plenty of money—or in pitiful poverty;

in being wonderfully fulfilled in work—or living in futility and frustration; i

n having warm, supportive relations—or in being cut down, wounded and rejected.

 

You know what is best for the moment, Lord Jesus, so you make us lie down in this green, sustaining, place of growth—

a place where we can feed on your Word, drink from your presence, rest in your love.

If we cooperate in this way, then this pasture becomes one of learning, growing and deepening until we internalize what is necessary.

The pasture we find ourselves in may look brown and desolate to us, but it is exactly what we need at the moment to drive us into your embrace where we will be transformed for the next step up in our life with you. Help us to embrace whatever pasture you give us, Lord, and cooperate with you and your plans by first  offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Picture: ears open to the Lord, staying in His green pasture.

No photo description available.

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Rise Above

Published by S.M. Wibberley on July 16, 2025 Respond

Wow, today was an even bumpier day than yesterday! Certainly walking with Jesus is often an adventure, if we are willing to accept it. And today was a series of adventures.

The key to navigating these is found  in Colosians 3:1&2
“Since, then, you have been RAISED with Christ, 
set your hearts on things ABOVE, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things ABOVE, not on earthly things.
 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
 
So when confronted with a big “bump” I need to check where I am holding onto things on earth instead of things above. For instance, the challenge of  working with those who are very cautious, while I am a risk taker, eager to move ahead, seeing the way clearly. 
 
But as I struggled with this, the Lord brought to mind the description of heavenly wisdom in James 3:17, which is, “…peace loving, sweetly reasonable, approachable and submissive [to a better idea]….”  
 
So the Spirit said to me, “Are you being sweetly reasonable, are you open to other’s ideas or stuck on your own?” Well, the answer was clear. I was not acting according to heavenly wisdom and had to repent.
 
And then the Spirit brought to mind  a phrase I learned from Colossians 3:  “Let Go, Hold on, Rise Above!” 
“Let go” of what I want to do,”hold no” to the fact that God has a plan, a better one than mine, and I can” rise above” my disappointment and anger, I can bless those who are slower, knowing God is going to use them for good sin this situation.
 
Yes, life with Jesus is an adventure, if we embrace it, giving thanks for every challenge, irritation and disappointment.
 
Picture: with God’s help we can rise above whatever comes
May be an image of 1 person, climbing and horizon
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