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Incredible Help

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 6, 2017
 
I praise you, Lord Jesus, for your active work in our lives. I surrender to you my desire to be getting more done, and thank you for what we don’t get done, for that which we must wait upon. I praise you for how you are watching over us in great and powerful ways.
 
I praise you for your great patience, for your waiting, wooing and winning many for your Kingdom, while allowing the headstrong and unbelieving to reject your offer, inflicting shame, pain, suffering and sadness on your heart. Praise be to you that you give every person many chances to believe, that your Spirit works with each one, giving them enough light to pursue–and will give them more if they do.
 
I praise you for your compassion released upon your creation through your giving justice its due on the cross. I praise you for your love setting fire to our hearts when we begin to grasp our own depravity and your great, costly forgiveness. I praise you for your graciousness in granting us all we need to live a godly life for you.
 
Praise you for being you, the Powerful Creator, the Faithful Savior, the Wise Shepherd, the Righteous Judge, the Lover of sinners, the Redeemer of all, the Ender of Time and the Lord of eternity. To you belongs glory, honor, power and praise.
I bow before you this morning, confessing my total unworthiness to be your son, rejoicing that you have qualified me to be a partaker in the inheritance of the saints, and I rise up to obey you in all I know to be true. May this lift your name on high today, bring you much glory and proclaim your greatness to all around.
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Praying in Power

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 5, 2017
A prayer written years ago in my worship journal while living in another country; a prayer for healing and restoration in the church we attended.
 
Praise you, Lord, that I awoke this morning to find you there. In fact, I woke up several times in the night and also found you there, leading me to pray, especially for our church, using Psalm 86.
 
I pray that you will grant us a token for good that those who hate you may see it and be ashamed. We are poor and needy, Lord, hear us, have mercy on us, help us to lift our souls to you, to trust you. I cry out to you in the day of trouble that you will save us.
 
Let not this blow that fell Sunday on the wall of pride, tradition and fear of man go for nothing. Press the attack, Lord, widen the crack, blast through. Bring revival, bring great conviction of sin, a vision of your holiness, a grasp of how much we have undeservedly been forgiven.
 
Lord, only you can do this, I cry out to you for a working in power, a defeat of the enemy, a powerful overcoming of his plans and tactics with your great wisdom, power and love.
 
Shine on us, expose sin, bring repentance, deal with pride, clean house that this church may become again a beacon for you. I ask that you answer in power for the sake of your name, for the sake of your glory, for the sake of more worship in eternity.
 
Answer out of your great love, your mercy and grace. Sweep in in strength, transform in power, tear down and build up in wisdom. I praise you now for what you will do. Work especially in the leadership, Lord, and bring to pass what will glorify your name.
 
Epilogue: God did answer, much more slowly than I wanted, but thoroughly, carefully and as far the people, including us, were willing to change. He is faithful to His Word, and praying it is how we join Him in what He is doing.
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Psalm 37:12-15

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 4, 2017
Psalm 37:12 “The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;”
 
[This will always be: there can be no blending of the wicked and the righteous; there will always be hatred against those who follow Jesus. The wicked will seek to eliminate anything that stands in their way, and we certainly are a thorn in their side, so we should expect opposition, hatred and attack.]
 
Psalm 37:13 “but the Lord laughs at the wicked,”
 
[“but” is a wonderful word here, bringing hope of justice, protection and deliverance. God is not intimidated by the anger and plots of the wicked: “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD” (Prov. 21:30). He is completely in control and will easily limit their actions to what He will use for good.]
 
“for he knows their day is coming.”
 
[God doesn’t just desire justice, He will competently bring judgments against those who oppose Him. He stands outside of time, seeing the future as well as the past. He knows what He will do to thwart the plans of the wicked, judging them at the right time and in the right way . We can rest in this certainty of God’s power, plan and purpose.]
 
Psalm 37:14 & 15 “The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.”
 
[God, in His greatness, goodness and graciousness, will turn the plots of the wicked back on themselves. They will not be successful in their schemes, but will be brought to justice in His time and in His way.
 
I think of Hitler, who was limited, lasting only 12 years instead of a lifetime. And he was used by God to plow the hearts of many people, making them open to the seed of the Word. Plus God used him to give many believing soldiers a vision for the needs of the world, resulting in tens of thousands going out all over the globe as missionaries after the war. The wicked did terrible things; God used them for good.
 
Praise be to you, O God, my Father, my King, my Shepherd, my Brother, my Lord. You are the One we can and must trust, for you are powerfully and consistently in control. You are good, you are wise and you are infinitely strong, able to bring what you desire to pass and to block the way of all you proclaim to be wrong.
 
Praise you for your good work in our lives, for the protection, the exposure, the problems, the trials you bring to us so we may be shaped and sharpened into better instruments in your hands.
 
May you be glorified in my life today, Lord, so that you may have more honor before men and angels. Fill me with your Spirit, may He overflow onto those around me, keeping us all washed with the cleansing, transforming water of your Word.
Image may contain: mountain, sky, tree, outdoor and nature
 
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Thankfulness for Every Day Things

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 2, 2017

I praise you, Lord God, for your care and protection, your guidance and grace. I thank you for your goodness evidenced in your daily provision—it’s good to list these out periodically, as I so easily can take these for granted.

I have a bed to sleep in, a home to live in, food in abundance, income, warmth, water, clean air and physical strength. I can see, hear, walk, talk, feel, taste and grasp. You have given me good relationships, protection, work, meaning, hope and love.

I praise you for your Word, your prophetic, powerful, pro-active, penetrating, pro-creative Word, bringing revelation, repentance, rejuvenation, rebirth and release from Satan, sin and self.

I praise you, Lord Jesus that in you I am complete, you are enough, you are the total sum of my needs, wants and longings.  I was made to be one with you, to fit into the perfect relationship where you employ, empower, empathize and eternalize all who come to you.

You, Lord, are my wonderful and wise Shepherd, watching over us, causing us to lie down in green pastures and know when to move us on. There is nothing I lack, even from a human perspective, and certainly nothing from a heavenly perception.

You, Lord God, are the great and gracious provider. I thank you for all that you have given and will give, for you are faithful and wise and good.

To you be glory in my life today, help me to do what is best, what is wise, what is glorifying to you. Help me to rest in you, to rejoice in you, to resist the devil with you, to rise up in praise at each challenge.  I praise you now for how you will lead me in doing these things. Praise and glory be to you all through this day.

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Entering A New Year

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 2, 2017

Twenty-Seventeen–a new year, a new start, a white parchment stretching out before us, blank to the horizon. What will God write on it? What will we write? We cannot know now, but we do know that God is good and has prepared a course for us that will move us upwards and onwards, no matter how it may appear.

Hebrews 12:1&2 has been a great help to me this year, assuring me that God has laid out a path for us and that Jesus is running with us. It gives us the perspective needed to realize what great roles He has offered us in the midst of distressful happenings.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,”

[Indications are that we are being watched by many: angels, demons and those who have gone on before us who lean over the balcony of heaven to cheer us on, as well as the people who see us every day. We are not hidden in a corner, but are in the stadium, running for God, and our performance matters.]

“let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”

[Realizing our role, we should eagerly look to jettison anything that prevents us from running well. This could range from too much phone/TV/movie/game time, to sin we are willfully engaging in. Like a runner shedding his street clothes, stripping down to just the essentials, so we should eagerly give up what hampers us in this race for life.]

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”

[It’s clear: God has set out a course for each of us; nothing is random, we cannot get lost as long as we stay on the path as it twists and turns, dips and climbs. The race will require perseverance, and endurance, but God gives those, too. Are we going to run or sit and feel sorry for ourselves when the climb is steep or the mud is deep?]

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

[Jesus is running with us! And as we run, we are to keep our eyes on him, not circumstances, other people or our feelings. When we encounter difficulties, we can know they are for the development of our faith as Jesus works to mature and perfect it.]

“For the joy set before him, he [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

[We need to have Jesus’ attitude. As he faced the cross, He looked beyond to being seated again with God. We, too, need to look to where we are going (eternity with God), to count as nothing the shame we and the world try to heap on us, and to rest in the Truth of the coming new Heaven and new Earth. Charles Spurgeon said, “Christian, meditate much on heaven, it will help you to press on and to forget the toil of the way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country; this world of woe is but the stepping stone to a world of bliss.”

So true! So let us run with perseverance and endurance the race He has set before us for 2017, keeping the big picture in mind, laying aside whatever hinders us, looking to Him, trusting Him, praising Him in all, following Him–and we will fulfill the purpose of our lives, honoring Him.

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Psalm 37:6,7

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 30, 2016
 
Psalm 37:6 “He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
 
[Praise be to you, Lord God, for you truly know where we are right and where we are wrong. When we are falsely accused, unjustly condemned, or wrongly attacked, we are to entrust ourselves to you. Then at just the proper time, you will clearly and publicly reveal where we are right in you.
 
The key is that we need to wait for your timing. This means be willing to endure wrong, to pass through the tension of others’ disapproval and condemnation, believing that you, Lord, know the truth and will bring it out at the right juncture. I praise you for the times in my life where you did exactly this, with those attacking me admitting in the end that they were wrong, without my forcing their hand in any way. I praise you, Father of Truth, that you are faithful to bring timely vindication of those who trust in you.
 
Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;”
 
[That can be so hard, so difficult. We want help and justification now! But you, Lord, in your wisdom and complete knowledge, have your perfect timing–which is usually different than ours.
 
“Why do you wait so long?” we cry. Yet you are at work, preparing all for the right time of revelation and deliverance. A good example is Joseph. You kept him in captivity “till the word of the LORD proved him true.” (Psalm 105:19). When Joseph had learned all he needed, then God acted and brought him out to Pharaoh for service.
 
And it wasn’t until more than eight years after becoming the ruler that Joseph was justified before his family, as they came to Egypt for food. Then his prophetic dreams came true as they all bowed down to him. It was God’s time.
 
Am I willing to wait for His timing? Things work out much better that way! Help me, Lord, to rest in you, to patiently trust you, to join you in waiting for the perfect time to answer my prayers–and thereby bring you honor before the great cloud of witnesses that surround all believers (Heb 12:).]
 

 

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Loved, Protected, Prepared

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 29, 2016
From my worship journal, written 5 years ago, but so relevant to our present dark situation.
 
Lord, I praise you this morning for the great and high privilege of knowing you, of being your child, of knowing how I fit into your creation. It is wonderful to have in you acceptance, worth and value, position, power and privilege, holiness, help and happiness. These are your gracious gifts to your children; I can find them in no other source.
 
You, Lord Jesus, are my Savior, my Shepherd, my Sovereign. I praise you for your great Love, for your Faithful follow through, for your pure Perfection, for your high Holiness, and for your gracious Forgiveness. You are always there, always loving, always good, always effective, especially when I cannot see or sense any of this. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them” (Psa. 34:7).
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(Picture from Museum of Biblical Art)
 
I praise you that you help me as I need it—which is all the time. I thank you for the difficult times you lead me through, I thank you for the problems, the disappointments, the anguish that are important for my growth and deepening (James 1:2-4), opportunities to give you honor (Psa. 50:23). I praise you for your care, your protection and your provision in the midst of it.
 
You, Lord God, are Mighty, Majestic and Magnificent; you are Great, Gracious and Good; you are High, Holy and Humble. You are worthy of worship, of obedience, of glory, of exaltation, of magnification, of honor, of praise. And I want to give all of these to you today.
 
Lord, at this time of such difficulty in my life, one of the most comforting, encouraging things about you is that you have a plan and a purpose in what you do: “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever and the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:11). You know exactly what you are doing and you are going to bring about your great goals no matter what the enemy, Satan, wants, what your enemies, unbelievers, do, or how your children rebel: “The Lord foils the plans of the nations and thwarts the purposes of the peoples” (Psalm 33:10).
 
I praise you with my whole heart, with all that is within me, for your wisdom, your power, your love and your faithfulness–all of which are displayed in your planning, promises and past performance. These give me great security, for when all seems to fall apart around me and in me (as it is now), I can know that you are at work bringing to pass your plans for history, for the universe, and for me.
 
Just as you were with Joseph, so you are with me. You were with him when his brothers sold him, when he trudged through the desert in shackles, when he was sold again in Egypt to just the right man, when he was put in prison, when the man who promised to help him forgot—you were at work, preparing Joseph for the great task of saving many and preserving the line of Christ, playing the role you had for him.
 
So you are doing in my life. I can trust you, no matter how bad things seem to get. I can know that you are carrying me forward, not because I deserve it, but because you are the God of Love, Light and Life who has proven your care for me, and for every other person in the world, over and over again. I can rest in your Truths when, from my perspective, everything is going wrong.
 
You only, Lord God, are my rock, my salvation, my high tower, my fortress, my sanctuary. In you I am safe, in you I am protected, in you I have refuge. I praise and thank you for your goodness to me in every way, none of it deserved, all of it appreciated.
 
I thank you for your care and protection you will provide for today. I bow before you in worship. I surrender to you my will, my life, my future. I rise up to obey you no matter how I feel. Help me to keep on the armor, to stand firm in your Truth, to follow you consistently. To you be glory in my life today. Amen!
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Light Bearers

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 28, 2016
From my worship journal, written December 2011 when Nat and Abby were visiting us in Germany with their first son, little Benaya
 
Praise you, Lord, that you are the One in charge, that you know what is best and that you allow things into our lives that we would never choose ourselves–events that will prove to be of great use to us and to you in the long run.
 
Benaya was awake quite a bit in the night, crying before 5 am so I got up, took him into the living room and shortly he fell asleep as we sat in the easy chair, both of us waking up about 7:30. He felt much better and so did I!
 
This gives me a late start in the day, which I don’t like–but it is your day, Lord, and I praise you for it. It is so good to be flexible and let go of things easily and quickly, moving on with you in what needs to be done.
 
Thank you, Lord God, that you are Sovereign, in control, moving things ahead, working with our errors and even our sins and the rebellion of mankind to bring about your over all plans. Praise you that no detail escapes your attention, that you arrange the smallest aspects to give all people the opportunity to hear and believe. Praise you that you love all, have provided the possibility of salvation to all, and work with all to bring understanding. As Jesus said, the Holy Spirit “will reprove the world [everyone] of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…” (John 16:8).
 
I praise you that you call us to partnership with you in this, giving us truth and wisdom, desire and guidance so we can be carriers of the gospel, purveyors of truth, giving light to all those around us. Praise be to you for your graciousness in including us in such a great and wonderful work.
 
You, Lord God, the Triune One, are worthy of worship and glory, honor and praise all the time. Praise you for your Word that gives revelation and insight, light and direction. I am so thankful for how, over the years, you have gotten me into your Word in mediating, in reading, in studying and, as a result, have brought continual growth .
 
You, O God, are the great and good One, before whom I now want to bow and worship, whom I want to fear and obey, whom I want to honor and exalt before all I meet today. Help me in this, Lord. Truly, it is a joy to belong to you, it is a delight to delight in you!
Image may contain: 1 person, sitting and baby
 
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Beautiful Disasters

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 27, 2016
From EDIFIED!
 
“Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
Psalm 50:14,15
 
The last few days of my time in the States in June brought one disaster after another. The almost new starter in my van went bad and the replacement one I had installed in PA cost twice what one did in CT. I got a sore throat the last night there, the beginning of a cold—and I didn’t have time to get sick. My plans to return to CT on the 17th were foiled by the decisions of others, making me wait until the 18th, so I lost one day of work in CT. My computer seized up and wouldn’t allow me to send email.
 
When I finally did leave on Friday for CT, I realized I’d forgotten to give an important item to someone and had to return to do that. On the way home the traffic was the worst I’ve ever seen, with numerous slowdowns, including going 10 miles an hour for 24 miles.
 
At the one gas station stop I made, someone was in the single bathroom for a long, long time. Then I locked myself out of the van by accident, with the keys inside. I was late in getting home, losing three hours of good work time. And the materials I’d ordered two weeks ago hadn’t been delivered yet! Then when we brought the pickup truck over to unload the roofing I’d brought, it ran out of gas halfway there. Then I realized that I’d forgotten the charger for my computer in PA, and since I was leaving for Germany Monday morning, there probably wouldn’t be time to get it.
 
In each of these happenings, I was weak: things certainly were beyond my power to control. And in each of these happenings the Holy Spirit said to me quietly, “Don’t complain; this is an opportunity to praise!” He had to remind me because I’m a slow learner–and with His help in each instance I did praise, for our God is Sovereign and Good, Wise and Strong. Everything that happens comes with His full knowledge as well as His purpose and grace. The chance to be weak, to appear foolish or to have plans foiled, are opportunities to give Him glory and to honor Him through the praise of faith.
 
As these burdens came one after another, with His help I carefully lowered each one before Him in praise, and was able to stand upright, unencumbered by self-pity, anger, frustration, disappointment, or complaining. Each event then became a step up in my walk with Him, an opportunity to take up His grace, to rest in trust and to rejoice. What a privilege to walk with such a God! What a privilege to go through difficulties so we can honor Him with praise.
 
And as I praised, He worked all out, true to Psalm 50:23, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”
 
I never really got sick. At the gas station I could get back into the locked van because the back door was not latched but tied shut to accommodate the roofing I was carrying. The building materials arrived early the next day and were exactly enough for the job. God sent people to help. All the work got done. The computer straightened out with a restart. The charger arrived an hour before I left for the airport, and He enabled me to be completely ready for the trip.
 
What a God we have! Even if things don’t work out as we desire, we can still praise Him for His wisdom and for how He will use this. Truly, Knowing Jesus is Enough for Joy.
 
“Lord, help me to always think in terms of Psalm 50:23, praising you in and for all things, knowing that you do what is best and I can trust you. Amen.”
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Safety?

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 26, 2016
From EDIFIED!
 
“Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain” (Ps. 127:1b). So it is with trying to protect ourselves.
 
We can make all the preparations we want, but unless you, in your great power, actually protect, there is not much that we can do.
 
Jericho comes to mind: high and thick double walls and a powerful army within, but against the Lord there was no defense as you caused the walls to fall, the army to be defeated and the city to be destroyed. Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylon and Tyre, Samaria and Jerusalem—at the right time your just judgment fell on each and there was nothing that any person could do to prevent the just destruction of these cities.
 
Without your care, we are totally vulnerable. With your care, we can live in your security by faith, in trust, with thanksgiving. You, O Lord God—Triune, Pure and Powerful—are worthy of praise, honor and glory.
 
Your Love, your Wisdom, your Grace are high, mighty, good and everlasting. Your character shines in holiness, gleams in goodness, sparkles in graciousness, illuminates in gloriousness–all exposing your expansiveness.
 
No matter what happens in my life, you, O Lord God, are worthy of worship, honor, praise and obedience. May you be glorified in my life today, Lord Jesus, as I trust in you with praise and obedience. Amen.
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