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The Lord of Love

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

“The Lord is my Shepherd…he leads me in paths of righteousness,” even when “I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” Psalm 23

This  is so true as you, Lord Jesus, have also guided us through a maze of difficulties in our lives:

a journey through depression,

adjustments in marriage and family

transition to life in the Middle East,

dark days of deprivation and difficulty,

sickness and weakness,

accidents and expulsion,

team turmoil,

arrests, trials

and uncertainty.

You not only carried us through, but strengthened, deepened and matured us while utilizing us in your Kingdom.

What a privilege to walk with you, Lord Jesus, to join you in the great plan you are carrying out to bring history to a conclusion and to take us with you.

Yes, I have tasted and seen that

you are God of goodness,

the King of kindness,

the Lord of love,

the Ruler of righteousness

and the Sovereign of selflessness.

 

Help us to walk in the light of your love, in the wonder of your Word, and the joy of knowing Jesus.

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Weak is Wonderful

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 15, 2025 Respond

“When I am weak, then I am strong.”  2 Corinthians 12:10b

Facing me is a situation where others, who are at odds with me, are going to decide my future. In this I am weak–and that is good. Yes, good, but uncomfortable.

Praise you, Lord, that being comfortable is not the measure of anything important, spiritual or significant.  You call us to a higher level, “If any man would come after  me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” Matt 16:24. Knowing your Word, trusting you, living in praise, obeying what we know to be true, these are what is important. In the midst of insecurity, what is uncomfortable, I can deny myself, take up my cross and follow wherever He leads.

As Lilias Trotter, pioneer evangelist in Algeria in the 1800s, said, “Swinging out over the abyss without anything other than you, Lord, rejoicing in this need to trust in you and your power, praising for your goodness before any solution can be seen, this is trained faith.” (1)

Praise you, Father that you are at work in ways I cannot see or foresee. I praise you for what you are doing and whatever you will do in my situation, for you are great, you are good —you are God. As your Word says,  “Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who trusts in Him.” Psalm 37:8  I have tasted and seen that He is good, so I can rest in what He will do for me and to me.

[1] A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lillias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness

Picture: the world’s view of weakness, just the opposite of God’s “My power is made perfect in weakness” 2 For. 12:9

May be an image of text that says 'helpless molested incapable. targeted undefended hurt incapable unshielded endangered harmed helpless disadvantaged unsafe neglected weak retarded ntendod insecure despised weak unshielded tnept vulnerable injured susceptible injured targeted inettendedt harmed damaged hurt inept expendable damaged endangered nguarded oken unattended nisfir teltered pathetic pathetic broken efective nprot ected nprotected retarded rerarded andicapped Btet ounded unguarded nsafe broken elpless imeapabile incapable hun+powerless -harmed defective defective unsafe untended pathetic unsheltered incepabl nsecure unatrended molested misfit defenseless negfected unprotected defenseless nuKT ad powerless fehandicapped unshiekdod threatened threatenedkerand etarded anprefected epi misfit despised Weak injure'

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To Obey or Not Obey

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 15, 2025 Respond

Today my son Josh and I were talking about offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving—that is, giving thanks for things we don’t like, things we’d rather not have in our lives.. There are times of fierce joy in offering such praise, trusting God to have a plan to work out a bad situation. This definitely honors God and opens the way for Him to show us the salvation of the Lord.

 
However, at other times it is just teeth-clenching obedience, halfhearted, going  totally against what I want. My mouth says the right words, but in my heart I’m grumbling. Does this count in God’s eyes? 
 
The question is, which of these scenarios demonstrates faith better? For it is faith that pleases God.
 
 The first scenario is obedience bolstered by feelings. The second is faith fighting with unbelief; it is active faith refusing to let unbelief win. In other words, both involve faith, so both are pleasing to God, and maybe the one involving struggle is more pleasing because it is pure obedience without any emotional backing.
 
So, especially  when we don’t feel like it, we still have the privilege of offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving and can honor God by pressing on in “teeth gritting” obedience, not relying on feelings to support us. In so doing our faith is strengthened and God is honored. 
 
So Whether you feel like it or not, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ! Thes. 5:18
 
Picture: even in great sadness we can willfully offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
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4 Star God Sighting

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 13, 2025 Respond

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them.” Psalm 34:7

 
Four Star God Sighting!

 
This afternoon I got a frantic call from a neighbor saying one of the buildings was on fire! I raced over and found that he had fortunately been able to put the fire out with his extinguisher! A close call, demonstrating God’s care. 
 
Here’s what happened. Yesterday we had asphalt millings put down on the parking area by this building. Since these millings are made up of small pieces of asphalt, if you heat them up enough, they melt and become real asphalt.  So, after spreading it out, I got out my big blow torch and heated up a section; it worked just as I’d planned.
 
Then one  of my renters asked me to heat up the section by his bay, so  today I did that. Since  I was working close to the door, the door jamb caught on  fire, but I didn’t see it, finished up and went home.  Then one of the renters happened to noticed some smoke, called others and they put it out.
 
If they hadn’t done that, the whole very large building would have gone up in flames, burning up a lot of equipment along with the building. But the Lord watched over me and saved me. 
 
Truly, as the Psalmist said, “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.” And so He did today.
Picture: “torchuring” the asphalt millings:
May be an image of 1 person and tractor
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Don’t test God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 12, 2025 Respond

“Do not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah.” Deut. 6:16

I was talking to a friend recently who intimated that I didn’t need to go to a doctor, “just trust God!”  This  reminds me of the story of the pastor who was caught in a flood, stranded on a roof. Along came a boat, “No thanks, God will take care of me,” he said. Then another boat, then a helicopter, and then he drowned. When he arrived in heaven he asked God, “Why didn’t you save me?!!”  “Well, I sent two boats and a helicopter and you rejected my help!”

There is a saying in the Middle East, “Trust God and tie your camel securely!” God wants us to live wisely,  follow biblical principles and trust Him to deal with the tings beyond our contro. We can pray for health and long life, but if we live unhealthy, we are testing Him.

I thought about this concerning my problem with backing up and running into others. I could pray for protection (I do), and along with that had a back up camera installed in my car today! Trust God, live wisely, take necessary precautions, do what you know is right. God will take care of what is out of our control.

“Trust in the Lord and do good, so shall you dwell in the land and be fed.” Psalm 37:3.

Picture: trust God and tie your camel securely!

 

May be an image of 1 person and Bactrian camel

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OOPS Blocker

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 12, 2025 Respond

Praise you, Lord, for “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.” Psalm 139:5

Had some God sightings recently. Let me back up and tell you about them.

I am blind in my right eye, so it is difficult to see everything when I back up. One day recently I was at the post office, got in the van, checked my mirrors and backed up. Then Bang! I got out and saw that the lady parked across from me had been backing out too, which put her in my blind spot, and probably me in hers. We examined her car, nothing, praise God! Then I looked a little closer and saw that her plastic bumper was raised a bit at the joint. But when I pressed on it, it popped right back in place! We were both glad there was no real damage.

Some days later, I was at the bank. Looke  in my mirrors, nothing, so I carefully backed up and BANG!  I got out to look and the other driver got out, “I’ve had this brand new truck for 3 weeks and you backed right into me!” He said loudly. I bent down to look at his pickup’s bumper. There was nothing, not a scratch, no scuff, nothing!  “I’ll have it checked,” he said, but I’ve heard nothing.

Then today at Walmart, again I checked the mirrors and slowly backed out, then suddenly I caught sight of a car across the way also backing out. But this time the other driver saw the bump coming and pulled back into his parking place!

The Lord is watching over me. As much as possible I try to park in a space I can drive out of, but sometimes it’s not possible. I do think, though, that I will get a backup camera installed in my 2006 van so I can see better! He has been so good to me, but no point in testing God any more than necessary!

Note your God sightings, nurture your faith, fall more in love with Jesus, our good Shepherd.

Picture: OOPS!

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(Untitled)

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 8, 2025 Respond

“Surely he [the Lord] will save you from the fowler’s snare…..”  salm 91:3

Praise you, Lord Jesus, for your persistence in moving us towards maturity, bringing diverse difficulties our way so that we can  practice:

procuring your grace,

persisting in prayer,

positively acting in wisdom,

purely obeying in joy,

protected from the “snares of the fowler.”

Yours is

such love,

such kindness,

such empowering,

such willingness to suffer for the good of your children!

There is no other like you!

You are the Lord my God,

you are the Creator and Savior,

my King and Shield,

my Protector and Redeemer.

To you be glory and honor and praise forever..

 

Prayer: “Therefore, I bow before you, my King, and give myself to you anew with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. May I honor you today in all I say and do as you save me from the fowler’s snare. Lead me in what is righteous, good, lovely and graceful. Amen.”

Picture: the snare waiting for the fowl.

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CHOICE

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 7, 2025 Respond

“I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.” Psalm 91:2,3

Praise be to you for your great promises, Lord Jesus, such as the one above in Psalm 91.

These promises are fastened at one end to your plans laid out before the foundation of the earth,

then stretched over time as a canopy of protection,

and fastened at the other end in the conclusion of history

when all evil and sin will be swept away and confined to Hell and the lake of fire.

Your faithfulness is our shield and rampart, throwing back the attacks of the enemy.

We live every day under your powerful, pure and persistent protection.

You have also given us the freedom of choice: great power to dwell in your shelter, or not.

And in giving us this choice-potential, you have exposed yourself to grief and pain

as we often choose to disobey, to not forgive, to not get up the shield of faith.

Thank you for your willingness to continue to suffer grief as you work in our lives to conform us to Christ.

Help us to consistently choose truth and light, doing what we know is right so that we may bring you joy instead.

Picture: God’s way or ours? Love God

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The Root of the Conflict

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 6, 2025 Respond

Through life we learn all kinds of things, good things, spiritual things. However, we are all afflicted with what I call spiritual amnesia. In the midst of a crisis we tend to forget what we have learned, and end up making unwise decisions.

But, the Holy Spirit is always there, waiting for us to turn to Him so he can give us direction. At one  point years ago  I had a colleague who didn’t like my leadership. He decided  to form his own sub team and did it by fomenting negative attitudes towards me in some of the newcomers. He was essentially my Absalom.
When this came to my attention, I confronted the man, but he denied any wrongdoing. So,  I went home and prayed about him, then  for him. “What should I do, Lord?”  I asked. Then, clear as a bell, the thought came: “ask him for advice about everything!”
Then I remembered James 3:14.  Every conflict has at its root the lust for significance and/or security. My Absalom was older than me, had been a regional leader in another organization and had just finished his doctorate. He saw himself as much better prepared to lead than me. He craved input in the decision making process because that gave him significance. And he felt insecure about not being in charge.
So with this wisdom God was guided me in disarming the conflict—not my wisdom, but His . From then on, in every significant decision we made as a team, I asked his advice. That almost immediately brought a change, although he never did like me, he did stop subverting me because I supplied the significance and security he craved.
This is another example of winning by losing. I forgot, but God reminded  me!
Picture: if we keep on the helmet of salvation, we have in Christ all the significance and security we will ever need!
No photo description available.
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Deny self, get freedom

Published by S.M. Wibberley on August 5, 2025 Respond

Death of a vision, a difficult concept.  In this, God gives a vision, but then He makes us wait, and wait, and wait before He brings it to pass. There are many examples of this in the Bible.


–Abraham, “You will have a son by Sarai.” He then has to wait 18 years before this comes to pass.
–Moses, “I want to save my people.” He spends 40 years in the desert, then weeks trying to free them from Pharoah.
–Joseph, Had a dream of leading his family. Became a slave, sent to prison, was forgotten, and after years, Pharaoh sends for him.
–Daniel, experienced God’s protection often, but ended up in the lions’ den so he could experience God’s deliverance.
–Paul, becomes a believer, is ready for ministry, but God sends him to Arabia for three years of training.
 
And so it is with us. It is hard to wait for something we can envision, but God often makes us wait. Recently I’ve experienced this; God gave a vision and I was ready to start. My normal method is to get the basics in place and take off running, learning as I go along. However, in this case, and other times in my experience,  my team mates often are “thoroughlists” wanting everything in place before starting. That is the call for me to back off, and to do the uncomfortable, waiting for things to be ready. And it is a struggle.
 
Instead of moving ahead, I must practice Jesus’ command, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must DENY themselves and TAKE UP THEIR CROSS daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23. Deny self, take up my cross, dying to my desire, my timing.
 
And then there is 2 Corinthians 12:9&10, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
 
Paul’s response to his weakness: “Therefore I will BOAST all the more gladly in my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest on me.” !!! This is what  I call “winning by losing.” Deny self, let the others have their way, and see what God does bringing in the power of Christ. Not easy for me, but necessary in the Kingdom of God.
 
Picture: Surrender to the Lion of the tribe of Judah!
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