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Beauty

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 18, 2018
From EDIFIED!
 
“My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:26
 
As I look out the window, the morning sun creeps over the horizon. As it emerges, everything is lit with a burst of glory: the sun’s first rays shine golden on the maple leaves of fall, their beauty doubled by their reflection in the pond. The still-green grass, clothed in frost, shimmers like a thousand diamonds. Overhead a flock of geese wings towards the south, sent on their way by the barking of our faithful dog, Jack. Such is the beauty of our home in Canterbury.
 
This scene reminds us of the goodness of our God who loves beauty and shares it with us. He knows the future and has reminded us that the loveliness we have here is only a dim shadow of the beauty He has in store for us, both here and in Heaven.
Psalm 73:25 speaks of this: “Whom have I in heaven but you, and earth has nothing I desire besides you!” To live such a truth! That is where I would like to be–so in love with God that all here on earth pales, fading into the background, serving only as a picture frame for the character of Christ.
 
We can only move towards such an understanding by letting go and moving on when He calls. But thinking Truth brings both perspective and joy: a fierce kind of joy that comes from giving up what we can’t keep anyway and moving on to what He has not yet revealed. But because His is faithful, we know that whatever comes, it will be good.
 
Prayer: “Lord God, more beautiful than any scene on earth, more valuable than all the wealth of the world, more loving than all mothers put together, more powerful than all the energy of every star in the universe–You are the One to love, to worship, to honor, to obey. Help me to nurture my first love for you, to be in your Word every day, to praise you in all things, to live in the light of your love so that I may bring glory to you each day. Amen.”
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Psalm 16:5

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 17, 2018
Psalm 16:5 “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;”
 
[All I have comes from you, O Holy God: my position, my provision, my protection, my portion. And what you give is good. This includes my body, my brains, my boundaries, my bonds, my bounty; whatever they appear to be from a human perspective, they are good and I will praise you for them.]
 
“you have made my lot secure.”
 
[You, Lord, are the God of power and authority. Only you can give security: whatever you choose to protect will be untouched by the enemy; whenever you allow an attack, it will be used for good, no matter how unpleasant it may be.
 
I can rest in your glorious and endless perfection, knowing you will weave all into your great plan for the end of sin, of evil and time, while sweeping as many as possible into your Kingdom.
 
To you be glory and honor today, Lord. May praise and thanksgiving continually well up in my mind and spill off my lips. May the light of your love shine from my being, may you be lifted up in my actions and reactions, my attitude and speech. I thank you now for your provision for today.]
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Psalm 16:3-4

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 16, 2018
Psalm 16:3 “As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.”
 
[You, Heavenly Father, made us saints when we were born again. You qualified us to be partakers in the Kingdom of Light, you rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of your beloved Son. And you have made us glorious in Jesus, giving us His righteousness. Therefore you delight in us, despite what we are naturally—rebellious, unbelieving, selfish and proud.
 
You have made us new creations in Christ, welcomed with joy into your presence where we are delighted in, rejoiced over and treasured. In you we can rest securely, knowing that you have accepted us fully, finally, faithfully. In you alone we are safe, for safety is not the absence of danger but the presence of Jesus.]
 
Psalm 16:4 “The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.”
 
[Every other god is false–the gods of every religion, along with the gods of comfort, power, materialism, politics and business, sex and entertainment, getting my way and controlling others.
 
Each one is an illusion and leads only to disappointment, bondage, oppression and darkness—the opposite of what you bring, Lord, for you are Light, Love and Life, you bring freedom, joy and peace as well as grace, greatness and goodness. You are the opposite of all other gods, you are the only One worthy of worship.]
 
“I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.”
 
[I must avoid involvement in any way with these other gods, not making them gods in my life but using those that can be positive in a proper way.
 
I must not offer them, as gods, any acknowledgement or worship, time or affection; I must not put any hope in them. I must not give them any credence or credit, but look only to you, Lord Jesus, the Creator, Sustainer and Ender of all, the only true Hope there is.
 
May praise for you be the keynote of my life today, may the darkness of complaining and discontent, grumbling and negativeness be swept away in the brightness of your presence so that you may have more glory before both the invisible hosts and visible folks.]
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Psalm 16:1-2

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 15, 2018
 
Psalm 16:1 “Keep me safe, O God,”
 
[You can easily do this, Lord Jesus, my Good Shepherd, for you are incredibly powerful, deeply wise, all-knowing, all-present and all-seeing, living outside of time. You are passionately loving and whole-heartedly compassionate. I can cry out to you, know that you will hear and that you will answer in the best way. Praise be to you.]
 
“for in you I take refuge.”
 
[This is my part, coming to you, meditating on Scripture, thinking Truth, trusting, praising before any answer comes—prayer without obedience to what we know to be try hampers the answer. As always, it is a partnership between you, Lord, and your children. I praise you for how you call us to join you in what you are doing, making us responsible, giving us the power of causality.]
 
Psalm 16:2 “I said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord;’”
 
[This is a statement of surrender—you are my Adonai, my Authority, the One I obey, the One who has the right to demand absolute obedience while promising absolute provision. To say “You are my Lord” means, “What you command I will do.”]
 
“apart from you I have no good thing.”
 
[This is a full focus on Truth—only you, Lord, are truly Good. All else that I have is chaff–temporary and worthless in the long run. As the author of Psalm 73 said, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you!”
 
To live this Truth is freeing, powerful and focusing: “apart from YOU I have no good thing!” All else must be viewed in relation to you, as elements of stewardship, as tools, as means of obeying and glorifying you. It is in you that all comes together.
 
Praise be to you, Lord God–Heavenly Father, King Jesus, Holy Spirit–for you are the reason for our existence, the focal point of life, the eternal and infinite God.
 
Therefore, I choose anew to bow down before you, praise you, love you, glory in you, honor you, exalt your name and your Word, rejoice in you, revel in you, and obey you–all for your honor. May you be exalted in my life today.
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Family

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 14, 2018
Family can be a very good thing, and I’m glad to say ours is. The five of us siblings had a good childhood, growing up together on the farm, all going to a good church, most of us working together on feeding the cows, getting in hay, helping my father in his tire business and playing an instrument in my Grandfather’s family band.
 
And our good relationships have, for the most part, continued on into the present, with grace, kindness, love and support–even though we live far apart.
 
I am so thankful for this as I look around and see so many broken families, so many families filled with strife and discontent. Truly It is good when brothers and sisters live together in harmony.
 
This picture of us all, with Mom and Dad, was taken in East St. Louis while visiting our Grandparents, probably in the mid 60s.
 
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Spiritual Amnesia

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 13, 2018
Praise be to you, Lord, for your kind and consistent, detailed and direct involvement in our lives. I exalt you, Lord, for how you are so persistent in pouring pardon into our lives, giving us the opposite of what we deserve. Thank you for your patience with us as we zigzag along, bouncing between arrogant rebellion and abject self-pity.
 
We are so prone to spiritual amnesia! We so quickly forget the most basic spiritual truths:
 
–that we deserve condemnation and rejection but you constantly give us the opposite;
–that we can do nothing without you;
— that you are our Shepherd so we will not lack;
–that we can offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving instead of complaining;
–that we can keep on your full armor so we can effectively fight the devil rather than people.
 
But you do not give up on us, Lord. You are gracefully, lovingly consistent in correcting, reminding, protecting and, when necessary, rebuking.
 
You, Lord, are a wonder, too good to be true–but are actually even better than that! I thank you so much, Lord, for the privilege of not just being in your family, but of being able to come, at any minute, directly to you in the throne room of Heaven, and to crawl up in your lap for comfort, encouragement and redirection.
 
Help us to live in the light of your great goodness, your rich righteousness, your lavish love and your powerful presence. Help us to join you today in your plans, to shed our pride, our selfishness, our lust for significance and security, and instead to find rest in you alone, humbly bowing before you in the fear of God, joyfully accepting all you will bring in your plan for us.
 
Help us to move by prayer, to work through obedience and to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit so that you may be honored throughout this day.
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God’s Embrace

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 12, 2018

Praise be to you, Lord, for how faithful and good, wise and powerful you are. We see this in the expanse of the heavens, which you stretched out for billions of, not just miles, but light years. You filled it with stars, gathered them into galaxies and the arranged the galaxies into formations—and you know the name of each of these trillions of stars; you know their number and you keep them in place.

As you are able to administrate all that, so you are certainly able to deal with the details of my life. Being outside of time, you know every event that will come and can shape them to be useful in our lives, or prevent them if it is best.

I think of the many times I’ve had close calls in driving, including one this week: you prevented an accident each time and kept us safe. And I’m sure there are thousands of times you have protected us in every area over the years that we were not aware of it. You are certainly the Deity of details, the Shepherd of strength, the Lord of lavish love. You are the One we can trust, rest in and rejoice in.

Last night when I went to give a discipleship lesson, the couple had just gotten a new little dog. He’d been suddenly taken from his familiar environment where he’d lived all his 3 years and was feeling very unsure and insecure in this new situation. For some reason he would not got to the two females in the house but jumped up on the man’s lap for a bit, then onto mine where he snuggled down and stayed for the whole lesson. Somehow he felt safe there, and enjoyed the scratching I gave him.

So it is with us and you, Lord. No matter how challenging our situation or how dangerous and painful the happenings in our life, we can snuggle down in your embrace, knowing that you have already prepared a path through whatever is facing us, that you will accompany us along the way and carry us through. You have a plan, you are faithful, you are able to carry it out.

The only element we have to add is trust, based on our knowledge of who you are; then you will pour peace, joy and hope into our lives (Rom. 15:13), along with more than enough grace (undeserved help) to move through any circumstance with power.

I praise you now, Lord Jesus, for the day you have laid out before me. Help me to keep on the full armor you have provided, to trust you by getting up the shield of faith through offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving and to join you in what you are doing so that I may give you more and more honor each day.

 

 

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God’s Direction

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 11, 2018
In 1981 we made a trip to Eastern Turkey. On the way our transmission gave out, so we had to leave our car, travel back to Ankara and order a new transmission from Germany. When it came, we got on a bus and made the 12 hour trip to our car. I subsequently had to make another trip to Ankara for more parts and had the same driver going and coming. He invited me to have breakfast with him, and we struck up a friendship.
 
After our car was fixed, we started home, stopping in a small city for lunch. There were about 10 small stores on the main street and I randomly went into one, and there was my new bus driver friend, Adnan, sitting there! He said, “I’m only home one day a month and you find me!”
 
He took us to his home where we met both of his wives and his many children. Subsequently when he passed through Ankara driving his bus, he would come for a visit. We shared the gospel, gave him a Bible and had some good discussions.
 
Then 2 years later we went to visit and found that Adnan had been killed in a traffic accident! We were so sad, for he had become a real friend. The Lord had given us the opportunity to share Truth with him, as the Lord knew he was going to die soon. We hope that he responded to the gospel before he died. Since he was in a coma for four days before dying, he had a clear opportunity to accept Christ.
 
In the picture below, taken in 1983, Barbara and the boys are sitting in Adnan’s house.
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Glorifying God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 10, 2018

Praise be to you, Lord God, that you were there, waiting for me this morning, after watching over us all night. I praise you for your grace and goodness, your power and provision which you’ve prepared for me for today.

Thank you so much for the purpose you give us in life: living for you, joining you in your great plans and giving you glory–which means revealing you to those around us. And how can we do that?

First of all, by being people of praise. As we respond to the events swirling around us by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving in whatever comes, we reveal to others your Sovereignty and Love. We live the truth that you are in control, so whatever comes to us flows with your permission and purpose, from your wisdom and love.

As we trust you in the events of our days, you give us joy and peace and make our lives overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13). Then, as you promised (2 Cor. 12:9)), your power will come and you will show us your salvation in the events that face us (Ps. 50;23). As we note your power and salvation and talk about them, we are revealing your faithfulness and power to those around us.

Which brings us to another way of giving you glory: seeing God-sightings  you bring into our lives daily (when you provide, protect and  guide), and then share them with those around us. Like yesterday while shopping, I had a question about an electrical item, but there was no one to help me. However, as I went around the corner, there was my neighbor who is an electrician and he readily answered my question. God at work. God revealed.

Another way of revealing Him to others is to share what we are learning as we read, study, memorize and meditate on Scripture. The insights and understandings He brings are far above human thinking and help us shift from a natural worldview to a biblical one.

For instance, in 1 Peter 1, where I am re-memorizing now, it says that trials come to us to test the genuineness of our faith (are we responding with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, trusting God, or do we complain, revealing the falseness of our faith?). Every negative event is a test and a chance to reject our natural response, to trust and grow.

But there is a further reason for trials: if we respond with faith, then when Jesus is revealed at the end of time, we will be given praise, honor and glory by God Himself!

That’s a worldview shift–moving from the momentary, myopic goal of being comfortable, to the wide, high and deep understanding of how this particular discomfort fits into God’s great scheme for the finishing of history and ushering in an eternity where He will share His glory with those who have lived by faith here.

This is the call for us to fix our eyes on Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him—the joy of redeeming all mankind, pleasing the Father, being glorified as the Savior, ending evil and ruling forever in righteousness–endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).

Even in writing this, I am glorifying God, revealing to you, more of His powerful and pristine Character, helping you to worship Him more and better. May we be aware of the everyday opportunities to reveal God’s glory to those around us by praise, by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, by noting and sharing God sightings, and by sharing what we are learning at the feet of the Holy Spirit.

May we live out the purpose of our existence today, glorifying God in our lives!

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Retirement

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 9, 2018

Day one of my retirement.

Praise you, Lord, for this, the first real day of my retirement from Christar. At this point it is primarily a financial change, as I plan to keep on doing all the things I did before (teaching, counseling, writing, and traveling to speak as opportunities come), I just won’t get paid for them!

So, this will be a financial adventure, too, seeing how you, Lord, provide beyond social security. One thing we know for sure is that the Lord is our Shepherd and therefore we will not want.

A second way that retirement will change me is in attitude. I now feel free to do spontaneous things, like going out to breakfast with the guys after men’s prayer meeting on Friday mornings.
I don’t want to become less disciplined in how I use the time left, but want to be less focused on work and more on people.

This retirement coincides with my turning 70 this year. In the past, I’ve found that decadal milestones often bring changes in focus and responsibilities. I expect this to be a bigger one than previous “big O” years.

Hebrews 12:1-17 is my map. It certainly is a pleasure to walk with Jesus into the future, knowing that He has the course laid out for us, calling us to join Him in the adventure of the rest of our lives. I want to obey His command to lay aside every weight and sin that can so easily entangle, and to run with patience and perseverance the race He has set out before me.

It will require patience, for as we move into the future, I’m going to be losing things: strength, endurance, hearing and other physical abilities. Truly, old age is the process of losing things, but maturity is letting them go and using these losses to focus on what God has for us. I suspect that worship and intercessory prayer will become the primary focus, with discipleship and counseling being the second.

Whatever it is, I can take my cue from Jesus, fixing my eyes on Him who, “for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross (for me that’s old age), despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Truly, to know Him is to have hope, to have peace and joy as we trust in Him, so we can move into the future with His presence, provision and protection. I look forward to living this out on a new level!

 

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