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Forgiving Myself

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 4, 2025

More thoughts on “Forgive as you have been forgiven.” Colossians 3:12

Concerning the poor decisions I made that summer. The bottom line here is, “what do I do with my failures?”

For someone with my natural, old nature’s drive for success and fulfillment, these failures produced anger: towards myself, towards those who may point out my failures, and ultimately towards God who has “allowed me to be imperfect.” And then I am easily angry towards others who irritate me in some way.

None of this anger is righteous, but God used it as a “prod” to help me take up and put on the second piece of His armor of Eph. 6:10-18, the breast plate of righteousness. It is His righteousness that counts, not my being perfect, and He offers me His righteousness on a daily basis. I need to lay down my idol–my desire for the perfection, seeking to look good, even to myself–and instead affirm that only God does everything right.

God has, through Christ’s sacrifice, forgiven me for my sins and failures, so I need to agree and forgive myself on the basis of Christ’s work. Failure to appropriate this forgiveness is a greater failure than any of the other lacks I’ve mentioned!

Not everyone struggles with forgiving themselves, but many of us do so without realizing it. To accept God’s forgiveness allows us to forgive ourselves on the basis of His work, and then we are freed to forgive others.

Our Lord knows what He is doing in our lives, often leading us by enlightenment through our failures. The ways of God are both inscrutably complex and marvelously simple. Are we following?

May be an image of 1 person, twilight, mountain, cloud and fog

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Mistaken Growth

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 3, 2025

“Forgive as you have been forgiven.” Colossians 3:12

 

The legalistic quest for perfection is a natural one in my life–but it is futile. Every day I fail multiple times to do what is right in my thought life, or in some words spoken, or in some choice, action or relationship.

On one hand this is part of being a fallen person living in a fallen world, (although I must hasten to add that this is not a valid excuse for choosing failure).

On the other hand, our failures can be fertile ground for spiritual growth.

This past year, and especially this summer, I made a number of choices that did not work out for the best. Almost all of these were made with the intent of doing good, and many for doing what was best.

However, there were also heavy strands of wrong motives woven into the fabric of the decisions, and these marred the final product. For instance, jumping in to give good advice to a person who is not ready to hear it. Many would not consider such failures to be all that bad, but when I consider how they can affect outcomes, they are significant.

The bottom line, however, is what I do with my failures. God allows them and will use them for profit. Tomorrow I will tell you some good things I learned to utilize these failures for good and growth.

May be an image of climbing

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God’s Our Good Shepherd

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 2, 2025
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

With the Lord’s permission, mysterious things come. Recently my wife, Barbara, has been going downhill, both physically and mentally. There was nothing specific, nothing to address, nothing to tell a doctor. Of course we prayed–and of course the Lord answered, and in a strange way.

 A friend from Canada called a couple of weeks back and we had a brief conversation. He asked about Barbara and I told him of her situation. Well, he called back this week and said that from her symptoms he thought she might have a urinary tract infection. Hmmm.

Well, that gave me a clue and I jumped right on it, getting a home test for it. And it came out very positive (interesting, this is a case where positive is negative!). There is a new Urgent Care place not too far away, so I got an appointment. We went this afternoon, got in without a wait, and their test also was positive. Meds were proscribed and so there is good hope that Barbara will get better soon.
 We prayed for her health and He responded. In our ignorance God acts in grace. We thank him for it and what He’s going to do.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  And so they did today!
May be an image of 1 person, smiling and beach
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God our Shield

Published by S.M. Wibberley on February 28, 2025

“We wait in hope for the Lord, he is our help and our shield. In you our hearts rejoice, for we trust in your holy name” (Ps. 33:20,21).

Praise you for what will come today:

good things from your hands,

wise things from your mind,

loving things from your heart,

challenging things from your will,

grace-filled things from your compassion.

“May your unfailing love rest on us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you” (Ps 33:22). Help us to hope in you alone.

You, O Triune King, are worthy of worship and praise, even before we see what will happen,

for you are good and gracious, wise and wonderful, strong and sure, true and trustable.

 

May I be a glory-giver, by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, rather than a glory-stealer by complaining. May I hope in you.

May honor flow to you today from my attitudes and actions, my words and worship. Amen.”

Picture of the shield of God, from internet

May be an image of 2 people

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He has Plans for me!

Published by S.M. Wibberley on February 27, 2025

God’s at work in every situation. If i believe that, life becomes much better!  Here’s an example.

–I took plans for a project to the place to get permission. The answer was “NO! you need better plans!”
–Home for a revision; next week went again. Rejected again!
–Then the  third, fourth and fifth attempts also were rejected. Final comment: “You have to have an engineer draw up your plans.”
–OK,  found an engineer. In the process of working with him, he accepted the Lord! Then  he did the work for free!
–Took the plans to  the proper office; again rejected! Directive: “Need more detail, and go see the fire marshal first!”
What in the world was going on? Well, it was obvious God was up to something: either I should drop the plans or look for what else He’s doing.
–Reworked the plans. Fire Marshal accepted them, and the other official too! But then added another step for  me!
–Next day went to the next office where my application was accepted.
Then on the way home, decided to stop at a restaurant for a presentation we’d been invited to but missed it the day before.
Just as we came to the door, there were two high school friends I hadn’t seen in a long time!
Because we arrived at the same time, we got to sit together and had a great time sharing, including spiritual things.
So what was going on? The Lord was orchestrating things so the engineer could come to the Lord;
and I could share further spiritual truth with my high school friends! He has a plan in the most
convoluted happenings; if we trust Him, eventually we will see the goodness and Mercy of the Lord following us (Psalm 23)!
And our faith will be strengthened, ready for the next challenge.
May be an image of floor plan, measuring stick, blueprint and text
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The Lord’s Way

Published by S.M. Wibberley on February 26, 2025

Words to remember as we face difficulties.

“No king is saved by the size of his army,

no warrior escapes by his great strength,

a horse is a vain hope, despite its great strength it cannot save” (Ps. 33:16,17).

It is not the seen that saves, but the unseen, the invisible power of the living, loving God. His eyes “are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine” (Ps. 33:18,19).

You are the One who saves, Lord Jesus. You saved us from all forms of death:

–eternal separation from you,

–emotional separation from ourselves,

–social separation from others,

–physical separation from our bodies.

This is because you are:

–the Defeater of death,

— the Giver of life,

–the Provider of protection,

–the Shepherd of souls.

You, Lord Jesus, are trustable, you are wise, you are thoroughly good.

Therefore I surrender myself to you, and determine to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving in whatever  comes. You are leading me in the right path.

Tomorrow I’ll give an example of how Jesus orchestrates things to bring good out of things that look bad, for He always has light at the end of the tunnel for us.

May be an image of tree, nature, road and fog

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The “Every where” God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on February 25, 2025

“The Lord foils the plans of the nations, He thwarts the purposes of the people.” Psalm 33:10

It is wonderful to know, Lord Jesus, Heavenly Father and Holy Spirit, that you watch over all that is going on in our lives and overrule in what is harmful. What cannot be used for your purposes is prevented, as the above verse points out.

And Psalm 33:11 adds, “The plans of the Lord endure forever and the purposes of His heart through all generations” (Ps. 33:11).
You Lord, never tire of carrying out your plans;
you never fail to attend to every detail;
you never are caught by surprise.
You are the God of completeness and competence, care and concern;
you know exactly what is happening all the time.

In addition, You know all that is going on:
“From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—
he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do” (Ps. 33:13-15).

Praise be to you, O Lord God for your omniscience, your omnipotence, your omnipresence.

You are the Lion and the Lamb watching over us.
You see all, know all, calculate all, consider all and are able to do all that is good, no matter the cost to you.

This leads us to great trust, deeper surrender and more ardent obedience. May we bring glory to you today.

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Our only true Help

Published by S.M. Wibberley on February 24, 2025

More from Psalm 86

“O my God, save your servant that trusts in you.”

When faced with the two sides of Truth–my weakness and your gift of holiness–the conclusion is obvious: don’t trust in myself, instead trust in you, throwing myself on your mercy.

You, Lord God, King of Glory, Judge of the Ages, could rightly condemn me immediately to Hell right now. But instead, you continually pour out your goodness upon me as well as on all your enemies.

How can we not trust you? In the turmoil of life, only you can help us, save us, bring us through.

“Be merciful to me, for I cry unto you … all day long.” Praise you that we can continually appeal to your wonderful, full-orbed character, oiled with mercy, motivated by love, moved with grace.

Heavenly Father, Creator and Lord of all, I praise you that we can come to you any time, all the time, and that you delight in our praying. Praise you that your heart is ever open to the cry of your children and that we can be certain that you will answer at just the right time.

Picture: The Lord of all creation

May be an image of 9 people

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Worship followed by Obedience

Published by S.M. Wibberley on February 23, 2025

“Bow down and hear me O Lord, for I am poor and needy.”  Psalm 86:1

Yes, Lord, I in myself and we in ourselves are poor and weak.

 Without you we are powerless, directionless, in the dark. Our tendencies are all in the wrong direction: we are naturally proud, judgmental, divisive, lazy, selfish and unbelieving, fighting each other, wanting control.

We are hopeless without you, Lord; alone we can do nothing right. This is one side of the picture. Help us in the church to recognize this.

“Preserve my soul, for I am holy…” (verses from Ps. 86:1-3). The other side is that you have made us holy: you called, cleansed and transformed us; you claimed us as your children; you commissioned and equipped us for special service to you.

Now we stand before you dearly loved, decisively accepted, delighted in, deeply cared for, doted on, and doubly blessed in being your children–when what we actually deserve is Hell.

We are given over and dedicated to you, Lord. We praise you for the great grace, the immense grace, the unfathomable grace you show us in this.

You are the God who deserves worship and praise, love and obedience. May we give that to you today!

Picture: worship followed by obedience

May be an image of 1 person

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Experiencing God’s Love

Published by S.M. Wibberley on February 21, 2025

Yesterday was a great demonstration of God’s love orchestrating things in our lives. 


We had been invited for a free dinner on Wednesday at a restaurant to hear a pitch from a funeral home. But I forgot and we missed it.
 
Thursday I had a bunch of errands to do in the morning: going to the dump, the town hall, and the health department—which was right down the street 
from the restaurant we had been invited to. I knew that there was another session today and it was 11:55, so I decided to stop in and see if we could get that free meal. 
 
I parked in an awkward place just to go in and ask, and the lady said, “Sure, we always have no-shows so there’s room.” I went back and reparked. That little bit of extra time meant that we entered the restaurant exactly as two men went in ahead of us. And as they turned, I realized they were good friends from my high school and after.  In fact, one of them had  worked with me in my father’s tire business for several years. 
 
We were able to sit together and had a wonderful time visiting. And most importantly, I was able to share with them how my father and  mother had come to Christ in their mid-80s. These men knew my parents well, and also had heard the gospel in their youth, but to my knowledge had not made a commitment. So here was more  input for them, giving them strong evidence of God’s work in resistant people!
 
Think about how God worked things out for this meeting: having us leave home at the right time, spending the right amount of time on each errand, arriving at the restaurant at the perfect  time–right down to having to repark so we walked in with my friends and were able to sit together.  “Coincidence” one might say; or “serendipty” as one of  those friends said–but it was much more than that: a 4 star God sighting. Another chance to glorify God by experiencing His love and having my faith grow. 
 
This was an exact  fulfillment of Ephesians 3:19 which says, “to know this love that surpasses knowledge [not just knowing His love, but experiencing it through God sightings]—[and the result] that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” And so we were filled with joy!
 
Picture: 3 old guys visiting
May be a black-and-white image of 2 people and street
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