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Psalm 35:1-4

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 7, 2016

 

As we face problems in life, attacks by Satan through people and circumstances, we can come to you, Lord Jesus, and ask for your help, knowing that you will assist and protect us. As David said:
 
Psalm 35:1 “Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.”
 
[Whether those attacking us be ISIS, the neighbor next door, the IRS or the devil himself, they are all too strong for us to personally defeat; we desperately need your help, Lord.]
 
Psalm 35:2,3 “Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me.”
 
[David stood in physical danger; we more often are in spiritual danger, being attacked with temptations, problems and difficulties, which push us to act without faith. But more and more there will be actual attacks on those who follow you, Lord, as laws, government agencies and groups seek to still our voices and force us to conform to their worldview.]
 
Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’ ”
 
[I need this reminder, for you only are my salvation, Lord Jesus, the mighty One, who delivered me from the kingdom of darkness, from the oppression of the devil, of deceit and destruction. You do fight for us now, as we are your children; you protect us from true harm, you stand with us in our troubles. Praise be to you.]
 
Psalm 35:4 “May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.”
 
[On a human level there are those who seek the lives of Christians–Jihadists for sure, and others. May they be disgraced in their wrong thinking and evil intent. May they fail, be exposed, and be punished that they may see the error of their ways.]
 
Praise be to the God of Power, the Lord of glory, the King of victory for keeping us safe, for preventing Satan’s triumph and men’s winning. Instead in the midst of suffering and difficulty we are safe in you, Lord; empowered, protected, helped and sheltered. We praise you for your love demonstrated, your power displayed and your goodness shown. To you be glory and honor and praise. Amen.
 
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Better Leadership

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 6, 2016
Today’s post is from Chap Bettis, founder of The Apollos Project which exists to help families and churches pass the gospel baton to the next generation. More info at: https://www.theapollosproject.com/
 
Chap is also the author of a powerful, equipping book on child raising, The Disciple-Making Parent. You can contact him at Chap at The Apollos Project <chap@chapbettis.com>
 
Chap writes, “Years ago I heard Dr. Randy Stinson offer 9 marks of godly leadership for the home….they…set a good direction for Dad’s and Mom’s leadership in the home [and anywhere else].”
 
9 Components of Good Leadership
 
A good leader:
 
1. Casts Vision – “This is where we are going as a family….”
 
2. Communicates Direction – “This is how we are going to get there.”
 
3. Provides Instruction – “Here, let me show you how to……”
 
4. Provides Imitation – “Here, watch me do…….”
 
5. Provides Inspiration – “Isn’t this (family) great? Isn’t your mother great?
 
6. Communicates Affirmation – “You are doing well.”
 
7. Provides Evaluation – “Let’s look at how we are doing.”
 
8. Provides Correction – “Let’s make a change.”
 
9. Provides Protection and Provision – “I’ll take care of you.”
 
Good leadership in the home or church is multifaceted. As a young father, I worked hard on #5 and #6 because they did not come naturally to me. Pick one area that the Spirit might prompt you to grow in.
 
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Wonder and Awe

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 5, 2016

Praise be to you, O Wise and Wonderful God, my heavenly Father, my resurrected Brother, my indwelling Spirit. You have given me a new day, fresh from your hand, ready to be used for good. I praise you for the wonderful privilege of waking up to find you there, waiting for me, ready to carry me through all that you have planned.

I praise you, Lord, for your love, your wisdom, your power and your goodness, for including me in your plans, for giving each of your children an important part in all you are doing.

It is you who have made me yours–against all logic, all reason, all expectations, you called me out to be your son, you desired to have me in your family and you have reserved for me a place of honor and responsibility in your Kingdom. Why? Not for any reason found in me, but because you are the Lord of love, the God of grace, the Father of forgiveness.

You are also the God of Justice and Righteousness, meaning you must judge and punish sin—which is wonderful because if you weren’t and didn’t, there would be no hope for a solution to evil. Along with being the stern Judge, in your mercy you have provided the way for all human beings to avoid judgment by taking that punishment on yourself.

Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for your willingness to enter the land of darkness and death, to shine your light of love on those who hate you. Thank you that you were willing to be abused, beaten, crucified and defeated in the eyes of men. You did this so that every person may have the possibility of being forgiven, of being snatched from the jaws of the dragon and translated into a child of light and love and laughter.

The wonder of it grows as you give me a greater grasp of where I was: under your wrath, in the kingdom of darkness, on the path to destruction, with the host of the condemned, filled with evil and controlled by rebellion. There was no reason for you to choose me, save me, adopt me, love me.

But you yourself are the reason you have done the marvelous, brought about the magnificent and provided a majestic salvation for all your human enemies. You are more than amazing; we must stand in awe of your strong love, your infinite grace, your deep patience, your rich goodness.

You are the One who should fill our vision, absorb our attention and attract our thoughts. Forgive us for being distracted by the tinsel of this world, the worthless fascinations of our hearts and the destructive temptations of our environment.

These all fade into the background when we turn our attention to your beautiful character, your infinite power, your unending love, your eternal goodness, your limitless grace. As we see these more and more, to you we bow, to you we give homage, honor and praise. Then before you we rise up to live in the light of your presence, looking only to you, Lord Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Fill us so full of your Spirit that He may overflow into the lives of all we meet today. Help us to daily run the race you have set before us with the endurance and patience you offer, that we may be a light to all around us, opening the way for them to believe, to follow, to trust you, to know you in all your beauty and goodness, that there may be more worshipers in eternity.

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Delighting in Disappointments

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 4, 2016
While living in Germany in 2011, most of my ministry was done over the internet. At one point we lost our subscription and had to wait weeks to be reconnected. I tried another route, using an “internet stick” that connected through cell phone signals, and with great expectation went through the process of buying and setting it up, only to have it be so slow as to be useless. The following is what I wrote as I processed this disappointment by lifting my soul to God.
 
Thank you, Lord, for the disappointment with the internet stick yesterday—after spending 1.5 hours in the Vodafone shop, to come home and have it be so slow was a shock.
 
Here is a case of setting my heart on something, on a solution, and then having it fail. Thank you for this, Lord, another chance to praise you by faith, to look away from my solutions to yours, to rest in you in the midst of difficulties—and such minor, simple inconveniences, really.
 
One factor is that I fear missing out on something by not having connection to the internet. But that is fear, not faith. I can trust you to get me on when it is needed, to guide and lead me, Lord, to give me wisdom and direction, protection and help.
 
Thank you for another chance to give you glory and honor through trust rather than lapse into complaining and self-pity. And I do choose to praise, to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for that which I do not like so that you may have more glory and honor, Lord.
 
Thank you again, Lord, for the opportunity to deny self, to reject the input of my feelings, to get up the shield of faith and quench those fiery darts of self-pity, discouragement, negative thinking and complaining.
 
You, Lord God, are the King of glory whom we can trust to bring about what is good and best and wise. So I praise you for your gracious kindness which you have stored up for us today. “…as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ ” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
I praise you, Lord Jesus, my Great Shepherd, that you have purpose for this disappointment. At the very least it is taking my eyes off of the small, temporary and unimportant aspects of life and shifting them to the eternal and powerful truths you want me to live in.
 
I praise you that having no internet hook up is a part of our reality here. I thank you that you are directing me away from continually looking at things on line rather than spending my time in better things. Thank you for this discipline which will lead to greater freedom.
 
To know you is all I need; forgive me for trying to draw my happiness, my security, my sense of control from such temporary, unimportant, miniscule things in life. My purpose is to live for you, to be obedient to your Word and Spirit, to dwell in your Word rather than in my feelings and to praise you for your grace and goodness, Lord.
 
Today may I live for you with all my heart, being filled with your Spirit and doing what is right and honoring to you. Help me to praise you in all things, to reject complaining and negativeness and instead to rejoice in the great privilege of knowing you, Lord. Amen.
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Not Alone 3

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 2, 2016
 
In continuing our thoughts from yesterday, when we wake up in the morning and find ourselves there with God, we are not only in His hand, we are also in the stream of events that He is orchestrating around and in us. Each one is designed to carry us forward in the task and purpose He has for us. We are moved on whether we know it or not: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” (Pro. 16:9).
 
We are given opportunities every day to do our own selfish thing or to join God in His great plan; we can complain and gripe, or cooperate through praise and thanksgiving; we can do our own petty things, or, standing in awe of Him, in obedience and self-denial, surrender to His higher and greater purposes.
 
To live in these truths allows us to see more of the wonders God has poured into our lives: meaning, purpose, protection, challenge, adventure, security, significance, honor, goodness and guidance, to name a few.
 
Each day is an opportunity to join our Heavenly Shepherd as He leads us forth into the pasture of the day, to know that we are moving forward in the perfect plan that He has prepared, filled with purpose and potential for providing Him glory, for defeating the enemy with praise, for seeing others swept into the Kingdom, for moving ahead with Him.
 
The negative feelings which will arise from our flesh–feelings of uselessness and purposelessness, of alienation and fear–are an affront to this reality. In Him, in the proven Truth of His Word, we can turn from these feelings and live in the light of His presence, His purpose, His plan that is for our good and His glory.
 
Praise be to you, Lord God, for your mighty, unswerving, unstoppable, wise and good plans, into which you have brought us. Praise you that we are in the great stream of your history, where you are moving things to a conclusion and carrying us with you.
 
Praise you that our trust can be in you, rather than our own feeble wisdom and inadequate strength, rather than in government or the weather or money or power. In faith we praise you now for what you are going to do today, this week, in the elections next week and in the rest of our lives.
 
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Not Alone 2

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 1, 2016
One of the wonderful aspects of the truth we looked at yesterday—that God has a plan of good which He has laid out for history–is that God is absolutely faithful: He plans, and then unwaveringly, inexorably and powerfully keeps on course.
 
This is obvious in the dozens of prophecies given in the Old Testament which are carefully fulfilled in the New Testament, many of them thousands of years after being given. God promises and He brings it to pass, period.
The rebellion and evil of Satan, of men, of me cannot derail His purposes. He has the infinite ability to weave our evil actions into the overall outcome of good that He desires. As Joseph said to his brothers near the end of his life: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20)
 
This is also seen in Daniel’s life, where every attack on him resulted in more glory for God and more influence for Daniel. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand” (Pro. 19:21).
 
This is especially encouraging to me as I watch Barbara spiral down into dementia. God has a plan here and I can trust Him.
 
God’s faithfulness assures the right overall outcome, while He allows sinful human beings to choose a certain amount of evil against His will, the greatest of which is the rejection of Jesus as Lord and Savior.
 
His plans are so certain that they can be expressed as finished before they come to pass: “…the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” Rev 13:8b. The certainty that Jesus would die for us was so solid, so set in stone that God was able to express it as being done before history even began.
 
You, the living God, the Triune Lord, are all we need, for you are the Creator and Ruler of all. To you be glory today as I join you in the flow of events, listening to your Spirit, living in your power according to your Word, being a being of praise. May you be exalted in my life today. Amen.
 
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Not Alone

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 31, 2016
Lord, I praise you that I did not wake up alone this morning, for you were there, waiting for me, ready with the elements of this day, carefully arranged, wisely laid out, lovingly prepared. Truly, “My times are in your hands…” (Ps. 31:15).
 
As human beings we live in the river of history where events propel us through the day, the week, the year and beyond. The vast majority of these events are outside of our control, swirling in and out of our lives without our desire or power: wars, floods, famines, storms, political changes, economic shifts, accidents, illness and deaths.
 
These come and go in a seemingly meaningless, random pattern, empowering some, snuffing out the lives of others, bringing and taking prosperity, uniting and separating families and strangers.
 
Even on a personal level I have only a certain amount of decision-making control, mostly in how to spend the time, money and energy given me.
 
In the limited scope of my life, this seems to be quite a bit of power, but outside events can easily disrupt this control: an accident, sickness, loss of income, a fire, a storm, a fight ending a relationship—any one of these can come to me easily without my wanting or being able to prevent it.
 
To think of how powerless I am is disturbing: human beings do not like weakness, randomness and insecurity. However, when we become a child of God, born again into His family, there is a great shift in this scene.
 
While the situation remains the same, one significant truth is added that alters everything drastically: all those events and things that are out of my control are fully and securely in the hands of our loving and powerful Heavenly Father.
 
He who breathed the stars into existence, who hung the earth on nothing, who set it in exactly the right orbit around the sun, who spun it at the needed speed on a perfectly tilted axis, who formed the mountains and valleys, who spoke the animals into life—He is the One who holds our history in His hands.
 
He is not only in control, He has a specific, detailed plan, one that will not fail: “…the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” And no one can frustrate Him in it: “The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples” (Psalm 33:11,10).
No matter how hard we may try, we cannot circumvent what God has prepared: “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD” (Pro. 21:30).
 
And what our Father has prepared for us is good: “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jer. 29:11). He may lead us through many difficulties, as the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, but these are for our good, our maturity, our equipping, our bringing more glory to God.
 
So, Lord God, I willingly submit myself to your plan for today, whatever it may be, painful or pleasant, difficult or delightful, and commit myself to honoring you by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving for whatever will come.
 
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In Him I Can Trust

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 29, 2016
Slept til 7:45! Praise you, Lord, for this, although I’d have liked to get up earlier. But you know what is best, and I praise you for what you have allowed.
 
You are the God of glory, the Lord of Love, the King of kindness, the Ruler of righteousness and the Shepherd of strength. To you we belong, along with our time, energy, abilities, possessions and relationships. To you belongs trust, surrender, dependence, obedience and love. To you belongs worship, praise, honor, fear, awe and glory.
 
To you belongs wisdom, power, grace, goodness and holiness. And all of these you share with us whole-heartedly, abundantly, richly, graciously.
 
Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for your sweet shepherding of us through the valley of the shadow of death, through the disappointments, hurts and difficulties of life, through loss, failure, pain and suffering, through conviction, repentance, forgiveness and restoration. You are wise and good in knowing what we need.
 
I thank you for the “limbo” we are in now with Barbara’s illness and the disorientation she is suffering. I praise you, Father, that you have things planned out: how long we must wait, the help you will give and the circumstances we will go through.
 
I praise you, the Sovereign God, who allows us free choice in our sphere of responsibility; that you then weave together our choices and those of others around us to bring out in the end of time the great conclusion you desire. Praise be to you for the guidance you will give, the protection you will provide and the strength you will grant.
 
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Psalm 34:21,22

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 28, 2016

Praise be to you, Lord God, for how things play out here on earth within the rules you have laid down. As it says in Psalm 34:21 “Evil will slay the wicked;”
 
[we cannot play with evil and win. In the end it will devour those who indulge in it. The devil always destroys his own, of that we can be certain.]
 
In contrast, “the foes of the righteous will be condemned.”
 
[The righteous will be vindicated and their foes–those who oppose righteousness, Satan and his minions and those humans who reject good and love evil, who refuse to bow before Jesus as God, Savior and Lord–they will be judged, condemned and sent to the holding place of wickedness, locked up forever.
 
Praise you, Lord, for your just and right hatred of evil, for your not allowing it into heaven. You are purely good and only what is good will be allowed into the new heaven and earth, continuing for eternity.
 
Praise you that you found the way to eliminate evil from our nature, to free us from both the essence and penalty of sin, to transform us from enemies into emissaries of your Kingdom, from being condemned criminals to cherished children.]
 
Psalm 34:22 “The LORD redeems his servants;”
 
[In you, Lord Jesus, we, your beloved servants, have been bought from the kingdom of darkness, from dwelling in the land of the dead, from unseeing stumbling through life.
 
It is interesting to note that it says “redeems” as an ongoing, consistent action. You, Lord, have redeemed us for eternity, and are continually redeeming, saving us from the evil, trouble and fears which tumble unbidden into our lives. You continually redeem us in every day circumstances from the shackles of sin, from slavery to self and the schemes of Satan.You are the faithful One whom we can trust.
 
I praise you for your faithfulness in following through on your promises, Father, to provide a Savior and salvation for all. I praise you for holding open the gate of grace to every human being, continually offering eternal life to all who are willing to come, receive your forgiveness and bow before you.]
“no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.”
 
[You, Lord Jesus, are the true and mighty Rock of refuge, the Place of protection and pardon, the Fortress of forgiveness. Praise be to you for your lavish Love, your mighty Power, you great Grace and your persistent Goodness as you seek to bring all into your Kingdom, even though you know all will not come.
 
Your unending Love is so Great, so Mighty, so Eternal, so All-embracing, flowing on and on in spite of what we are. You are worthy of our love and adoration, our fear and obedience, our worship and exaltation.
 
Lord, today may you be glorified in my life because you are worthy. May you be lifted high in my being, exalted in my words, extolled in my thoughts, actions and motives. To you belongs honor; may it flow bountifully to you today. Amen.
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Psalm 34:19,20

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 27, 2016
Psalm 34:19 “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all….”
 
[Being righteous in you, LORD, does not protect us from trouble—I think of Job and his trials. And we may have much trouble—I think of Daniel and the multiple life-threatening crises he experienced. But as you were clearly with them, so you are with us in each challenge and will properly deliver us from each difficulty when the time comes.
 
You may deliver us at the moment, or in a while, or years later or at death; you know the best timing and we can trust you in it. I think of Abraham waiting for a son, of Joseph waiting to get out of prison, of Elisha’s flood of difficulties, of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jesus. You were with each and delivered them at the right time. Praise you for this promise which we can trust, even as my wife is in the midst of a distressing illness with no end in sight.]
 
Psalm 34:20 ‘he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”
 
[Here is a clear reference to how you protected Jesus in His beatings, anguish and death. In spite of all the physical abuse he took, you kept his bones whole–every single one. You are the God of detail, of power, of total awareness.
 
So you also work in our lives. I think of the many times you have spared me in driving, times when I should have had an accident because of my own poor choices, but you sovereignly intervened and kept us safe.
 
You are God, you are King, you are wise and you are powerful. You are worthy of our trust. I surrender myself to you this day, willingly giving my life into your hand again.
 
Fill me with your Spirit, may He overflow onto to all whom I meet today. May you be honored and exalted in what I think, say, do and accomplish. May I praise you in and for all things. May your name be lifted up by my responses to whatever comes. I praise you for the privilege of exalting you in the midst of suffering. Amen.
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