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Psalm 6:3-5

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 11, 2016
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 have made us glorious in Jesus and you delight in us, despite what we are naturally—rebellious, unbelieving, selfish and proud. To you we have become a new creation in Christ, welcomed with joy into your presence, delightful, rejoiced over and treasured. In you we can rest securely, knowing that you have accepted us fully, finally, faithfully. It is in you alone that we are safe: 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 Truth, you bring freedom, joy and peace as well as grace 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 offering them 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.]
 
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: 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; whatever you allow to be attacked will be used for good, no matter how unpleasant it may be.
 
I can rest in the security of your salvation and the certainty of your powerful protection. Whatever may happen, positive or negative, pleasant or painful, I can rest in your great and endless power and perfection, knowing you will weave all into your great plan for the end of sin, evil and time, and to sweep 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. May praise 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 you may have more glory before both the unseen hosts and visible folks.]
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Psalm 16:1-2

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 9, 2016

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, as well as 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, by coming to you, meditating on Scripture, thinking Truth, trusting, praising before any answer comes—prayer without obedience does not “work.” 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.]

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, 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, tools, 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 existence, the focal point of life, the eternal and infinite God.

Therefore I choose 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 for your honor. May you be exalted in my life today.

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Spiritual Amnesia

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 8, 2016

Praise be to you, Lord, for your guidance and goodness, for your kind and consistent, detailed and direct involvement in our lives. I praise you, Lord, for how you are so consistent in pouring grace 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 so quickly forget the most basic spiritual truths, like the fact that you are our Shepherd so we will not lack; like need to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving instead of complaining; like what we actually deserve is condemnation and rejection but you give us the opposite; like the fact we can do nothing without you, and that we should keep the armor on so we can effectively fight the devil rather than people. We are so prone to spiritual amnesia!

But you do not give up on us, Lord. You are gracefully, lovingly consistent in correction, protection and, when necessary, rebuke.

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. You are a wonder, too good to be true, but are actually even better than that!

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 to find rest in humbly bowing before you in the fear of God, joyfully accepting all you will bring.

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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Psalm 15:3-5

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

Jesus is the perfect Paragon of excellence, the sinless Savior and Shepherd, the marvelous and majestic Author and Perfecter of our faith. As we look at Psalm 15, every quality the LORD, requires for dwelling in His sanctuary is found in Jesus.

Psalm 15:1 “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?”

Psalm 15:3 He “ has no slander on his tongue,”

[When you accuse or judge, Lord Jesus, it is correct, it is spoken to the right person with the right motive at the right time. There is no falsehood, no exaggeration, no twisting of truth. There is no malice, selfishness, evil motive or wrong desire when you speak. Instead you speak correctly to convict, to bring repentance, to restore and lead, giving light, love and healing.]

“who does his neighbor no wrong”

[You only do what is right, pure, helpful, good and positive. To live with you is to experience the light of your goodness, the power of your purity and the provision of your positiveness.]

“and casts no slur on his fellowman,”

[You never speak unjustly, you never maliciously cut people down, or try to put them in a bad light. In fact, as the good Shepherd, you will work to protect people rather than expose them to ridicule. You always first nudge us towards repentance before having someone come and confront us. As you are light and live in the light, so you shine the light on what is true, not to condemn people, but to bring them to repentance and restoration.]

Psalm 15:4 “who despises a vile man”

[You see all, nothing is hidden from you, so you know what is vile and rightly reject it. In righteousness you despise what is unrighteous, while somehow still loving every sinner and seeking to bring them into your Kingdom, into your Family, into your Forgiveness.]

“but honors those who fear the LORD,”

[You love what is right and good, and are able to discern what really motivates a man: fear of people or fear of God (Psalm 34:11-14). And you will give glory and honor to those who walk in your ways because they love you and trust you.]

“who keeps his oath even when it hurts,”

[You are the One who always keeps your Word—you kept your Word to provide a Savior who could only redeem through intense, infinite suffering, and you, Lord Jesus, followed through by submitting yourself to anguish, pain and an unjust punishment of death. Praise you for your faithfulness.]

Psalm 15:5 “who lends his money without usury”

[You are generous and good, pouring out your riches on us without thought of profit.]

“and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.”

[You are absolutely just and do only what is right. No one can cause you to move against your children, who through Christ’s sacrifice are declared innocent in your sight. A bribe has no influence to change your mind to condemn the anyone. On the other hand, we believers can’t get you to change your mind with our “good works,” our fasting or self-denial; we can’t twist your cosmic arm, to “make” you answer our selfish prayers. Praise be to you for your unbending goodness and purity.

Lord, help us to live like you, to follow your example in each of these wonderful qualities and thereby bring honor to your name by showing your glory to all those around us.

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God's Lap

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 6, 2016

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 into galaxies which are gathered 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 hundreds of times I’ve had close calls in driving: 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 but 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 avoided the females in the house and 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 are faithful, you are able, you have a plan.

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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Living Out the Purpose of Our Lives

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

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. 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 this, you give us joy and peace and make our lives to 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. As we note this and talk about it we are revealing your faithfulness and power to those around us.

Which brings us to another way of giving you glory: noting the God-sightings you bring into our lives daily and then sharing 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. But, as I went around the corner, there was my neighbor who is an electrician! 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 rememorizing 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: when Jesus is revealed, we will be given praise, honor and glory by God Himself for responding in faith to today’s trails! 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, the reader, more of His powerful and pristine Character, helping you to worship Him more and better.

May we be aware of opportunities every day to reveal God’s glory to others 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 and may God be glorified in our lives today!

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Retiring, but not shy

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 4, 2016

Praise you, Lord, for this, the first real day of my retirement from Christar. This 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, seeing how the Lord provides beyond social security. We are waiting for Him to provide renters for the storage spaces in the barns. They seem to be slow in materializing, but one thing we know for sure, the Lord is our Shepherd and therefore we will not want.

A second way that retirement will change me is in attitude. I feel free now to do spontaneous things, like going out to breakfast with the guys after men’s prayer meeting on Friday mornings instead of getting back to work. 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 decadel milestones often bring changes in focus and responsibilities. So 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, to know that He has the course laid out for us and calls us to join Him in the adventure of the rest of our lives. I do want to lay aside every weight and sin that can so easily entangle, and run with patience 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/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, 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, and move into the future with His presence, provision and protection. I look forward to living this on a new level! Praise be to Him!

 

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Perfection Eludes Us, But Not Jesus

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 2, 2016

Psalm 15:1 “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?”

[Praise be to you, Lord God, the High and Holy One, for you invite us into your sanctuary, to live with you on your holy hill–if we believe on the risen Jesus. This possibility is a delightful demonstration of your great love, your grace and goodness, your pure and positive character at work in the midst of a sinful, twisted and destructive world.

Each of the conditions listed in this Psalm for living in close relationship with you are unreachable for us in our own strength; our sinful flesh prevents this, even when our spirit is willing.

But you, Lord God, in your rich and powerful, active agape love have, through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, provided these qualities for all who believe. You have imputed them to us and have made us qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of light!

This is against all logic, all normal justice, all human reasoning and the heavenly expectations of angels. This grace, giving us the opposite of what we deserve, is marvelous. It is the demonstration of your loving, lovely, lustrous Character at work in mysterious and majestic ways, moving us from hopelessness and despair to certainty and grace.

I praise you for the great and transforming truth of your total commitment to save all who are willing. The following qualities are therefore a description of the Lord Jesus.]

Psalm 15:2 “He whose walk is blameless”

[I praise you, Lord Jesus, that in you there is no sin, no evil, no slipping into error, no darkness, no injustice or rebellion; you are without blame, without accusation, without sin. Praise you for your perfection, your purity, your pristineness, that you are the paragon of all virtues. You are completely worthy of worship and glory.”]

“and who does what is righteous,”

[All you have done and do is righteous, Lord Jesus, there is no error in your ways, no wrong, no fault, no blame. Therefore you are absolutely trustable and believable in your faithfulness and goodness.]

“who speaks the truth from his heart”

[You are Truth itself and therefore speak only Truth from the center of your being. All you say is true, right, correct, positive and good.]

Therefore we can trust you totally, rest in you fully and follow you wholeheartedly. In the midst of all the turmoil of these days, with war, and terror, lawless governments, rejection of what is right, denigration of what is good and exaltation of what is evil—in the midst of all this, you, Lord Jesus, shine your wisdom, power and goodness into our lives. You connect and protect, you provide and guide, you carry us forward and we can trust in you.

May we honor you today by resting in your goodness, obeying in your power and living as carriers of light and hope to all around us. Praise you for what you will do today!

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A Joyful and Grace-filled New Year

Published by S.M. Wibberley on January 1, 2016

January 1, 2016, Friday.

Praise be to you, Lord, for a new year, a new day, a new start. I praise you that you have already been through this year and in your sovereign knowledge know all that will happen.

I praise you that you have laid out a course for each of your children to run the race you have for us (Heb. 12). Help us both to lay aside all the weights and sins that so easily entangle us, and to put on the full armor of God so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:10-18).

I praise you now for the protection, the guidance, the grace and the goodness you will give. I thank you for how you will lead us through valleys, up steep hills, over the top with a wider view, down into another valley. You will take us over, around and through obstacles.

And each step of the way there will be opportunities to honor you by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving in the little frustrations, disappointments and failures as well as in larger losses, tragedies and evil happenings. Help us to praise in all, knowing that whatever happens you will be with us every step of the way: “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me” (Ps. 23).

I praise you, too, for the many opportunities you will give us to grow (James:1:2,3). And through those opportunities to do the dance of grace on the stage of faith that those around us may see you at work in our lives.

Help us to trust you so that you may fill us with all joy and peace, and so that our lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13). Thereby we can be hope-carriers to all those around us.

Give us  discernment each day so that we can understand what you are doing and join you in it, first in prayer, then in action. Help us to recognize the opportunities you will give us to share about you with all those around us who are ready to hear. Bring them to us, give us the words and bring many into your Kingdom this year.

May we be glory-givers, grace-receivers and grace-givers. May you be honored, exalted and pleased with what you hear from our lips all year. Amen.

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Who is listening to the Lord?

Published by S.M. Wibberley on December 31, 2015
Psalm 14:4 “Will evildoers never learn—”
 
[Lord, this means you are working at teaching all rebels the error of their ways. In your faithfulness and love you are calling them to repentance and surrender, but they are not listening!]
 
“those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the LORD?”
 
[These rebels commit two evils: they abuse people and trust in themselves, not you, Lord. They believe themselves to be in control, able to handle life on their own as they bully all those around them.]
 
Psalm 14:5 “But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous.”
 
[In spite of their bravado, inside they have dread because they sense God’s presence among believers. That’s why they so viciously attack those who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ. We see this today in the way ter.roists try to wipe out all Christians in their territory.]
 
Such evildoers do not know the future and they are afraid of death, if they think about it. They may be aware of the coming judgment, and that they are apart from the righteous–those have believed in Christ, surrendered to Him, have been forgiven and cleansed–but they do not repent.]
 
Psalm 14:6 “You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.”
 
[Ungodly people prey on the poor instead of praying to God. But when the poor turn to you, Lord, you are their help and protection. You are faithful, you are good and you are powerful.]
 
Psalm 14:7 “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!”[And it did in Jesus!]
 
“When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,” [and you have in Jesus]
 
“let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!”
 
[Yes, the first believers–who were all Jewish–and we who are your children have rejoiced and will rejoice in our salvation! And we can continue to rejoice in what will come, as you lead us on each day, further up and further on in your Kingdom. Truly, you are our Shepherd and we will not lack anything we need.]
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