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Ever Present

Published by S.M. Wibberley on April 13, 2015

Praise be to you, Lord God, that I awoke this morning to your presence, in which there is safety, security and significance through your love. You were there, waiting for me, watching over me in the night, ready to meet with me and take me through the day you have prepared, equipping me with grace, your armor, wisdom, patience and joy. All I need to do is turn to you, spend time with you and take up all that you have given.

I praise you for your unceasing and beautiful love, uninfluenced by my failures, rebellion and selfishness. You are love, you cannot not love, and in that is stability, surety and joy. You are worthy of our worship, our surrender, our obedience, our praise.

All that we can give you is so feeble and inadequate in the light of your perfection, your eternal infiniteness and immeasurable might. Yet you stoop down, accept our worship, draw us to yourself and love us unceasingly.

You are wonderful, you are lovely, you are majestic, you are magnificent. You are too good to be true, yet you are more than true. To you belongs glory, honor and praise in each moment, in each event, forever and ever. Guide me today in giving you all the honor I can, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving in each happening so you may be lifted up, exalted and glorified throughout this day. Amen.

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Powerful Planner

Published by S.M. Wibberley on April 11, 2015

Thank you, Lord, for how you have given prayer as a means of healing, growth, perspective and direction. Thank you for being able to lift my soul to you, tell you what’s bothering me, remembering how Big you are and to again start thinking your Word.

To you be praise and honor for your gracious working in me to bring balance and stability, to help me process my negative feelings and to rest again in your love and grace, power and purpose. As there are things that I’m unsure about, not clear on and vacillating on, it is so helpful to lay them out before you, get your perspective and to be able to lay aside what I shouldn’t do, to forgive myself for failures and to listen to your Spirit’s comfort.

I praise you that you are my rock, my fortress, my stronghold and my defender. Nothing can get by you without your permission, you express, carefully though out and wise permission: you have specific reasons for allowing things we don’t like, you have a good plan, and we can trust you to carry us through the painful parts and out into a new green pasture. To you be honor and glory, Lord, in all.

I thank you, Lord, for all you have done in preparation for today, for what you will accomplish, and for how you will guide me in moving ahead. Keep me on track, help me to remember to check in often and to be wise and creative in decision making.

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Praise you for your patience

Published by S.M. Wibberley on April 10, 2015

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your patience, your persistence, your graciousness and your kindness to me as I zigzag through life, obeying at one moment, then not considering your commands at the next; open to your leading one minute, not asking the next.

I praise you that you are working to move me towards more consistency; this process will go on until I die, I’m sure, and I praise you for your persistence. Help me to check in more often, to be more disciplined in doing what is right and best, to be consistently wise and teachable. I praise you for all that you have done, are doing and will do, for you are faithful and wise, good and powerful.

I praise you for your Word, which can penetrate our thoughts, our motives, our attitudes and expose the sinful, selfish, seductive aspects of our being, bringing us to repentance and a new level of surrender. I thank you for each temptation that comes from the world, my flesh and the devil, as each one is an opportunity to confess, repent, grow and give you more glory. Help me to respond to each in a way that will bring these good responses, by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, letting go, holding on and rising above.

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Surrender in Trust

Published by S.M. Wibberley on April 9, 2015

Give me wisdom in how to work with you, Lord God, to obey you, to do what is useful for you in your Kingdom, instead of focusing just on what is easy or possible.  I open myself to you completely, I relax in your presence and praise you for your trustworthiness, your goodness, your wisdom, power, grace and kindness.

You are the One who knows the future, understands the outcome of every possible decision, who warns us of impending errors and guides us in every aspect of what we are going to do. The question is, are we going to listen and follow?

I praise you, Lord, for your wonderful work and power in our lives. You always act out of perfect motives, out of full knowledge, out of love and concern, out of a desire for the best. In you is all we could desire: the ultimate Father-heart, the protection, purpose, presence and provision of One who loves us deeply, wisely and consistently.

You have poured out your love upon us, giving us the certainty of a future with you, the solid hope of heaven, a promised inheritance of spiritual riches and the possibility of receiving glory, honor and praise from you when we arrive there. To you be exaltation and glory and praise in all.

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Perspective

Published by S.M. Wibberley on April 3, 2015

As I interact with people these days, many talk about how terrible the winter was. It is so much better to think instead of what a challenge, what an adventure it was, for you allowed it, you have reasons for it, with you nothing is random. Was it difficult, uncomfortable, not what we wanted? Yes. But “terrible” should be reserved for events way beyond that.

We can embrace what you allow or send, because we know the wonder of your love, the power of your abilities, the wisdom of your plans and the goodness of your heart. Living in the light of your mighty character makes life so much better.

It saves us from the burden of complaining, the frustration of focusing on elusive comfort instead of truth, and from the darkness of thinking about the negative instead of the many positives you have brought into our lives.

When we lift our eyes from our circumstances to you, we can chose to live the truth that knowing you, Lord Jesus, is enough for joy, no matter what.

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Embracing What He Gives

Published by S.M. Wibberley on April 2, 2015

I praise you, Lord, for what you have planned today, for what you are going to do in my life. I thank you that it is your wisdom, insight, knowledge and power that will determine what comes to me, not unknown, random, out of control forces out there.

You are the Filter of wisdom, the Provider of protection, the Bringer of good, the Channel of challenges. To you I can bow, by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving for whatever comes, thereby embracing what you allow, send, provide and prevent.

You are the God of goodness, the provider of power, the window of wisdom, the giver of grace. Your basis for action is love, your motive is our maturity, your goal is glory for all and your desire is good beyond measure.

In you I can rest, in you I can trust, in you I can live with joy, freedom, praise and thanksgiving. To you be glory in this day; help me to effectively live out the purpose of my life—giving you honor—in every happening, great and small, through offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Amen.

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Jesus, the Rock of our Lives

Published by S.M. Wibberley on April 1, 2015

Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness in the face of my failures. You are ever the same, your love never wavers, your commitment to us is sure, firm and final–you are ever present in our lives.

I praise you for all that you have done and all that you will do, for all that comes to us flows from the goodness of your grace, the wisdom of your will, the mercy of your emotions, the purity of your plan and the power of your purpose.

Because you are gloriously good, powerfully pure, majestically merciful, persistently patient, eternally effective and lavishly loving, we can rest in the crook of your arm, in the shelter of your heart, in the embrace of your goodness, in the security of your greatness and in the joy of your unending presence.

In every circumstance you are there, giving us guidance, grace, power, patience, wisdom and endurance. To live with you is wonderful, for from you flows meaning and purpose, hope and a future, freedom and faith. We can walk in the light of your wisdom, proceed in the light of your knowledge, rest in the light of your love and sleep in the light of your presence.

Because of your goodness, we can give up the futile pursuit of fleeting happiness, dependent on circumstances, and choose instead to live in the truth that knowing you is enough for joy: when you, the Creator of the universe, the Breather of the stars, the Spinner of the earth, the Beginner and Ender of time are at our side, what else do we need? You, Lord Jesus, are enough.

 

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The Purpose of Our Existence

Published by S.M. Wibberley on April 1, 2015

Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for a new day, a day of hope, of meaning, of direction, of purpose. To live with you is to take part in your perfect plan to right the wrongs of rebellion. It is to join you in your design of this day and fulfill the purpose of our existence: to glorify you. You are worthy of our worship, for you are perfect, pristine and pure in your personality. You are filled with good, wrapped in light, overflowing with grace, clothed in righteousness and infused with love. You are just and merciful, gracious and impartial, forgiving and consistent, creative and unchanging. You are the Spring of positives, you are Opposite of negatives, you are the Source of joy, you are the Ruler of righteousness.

You are worthy of worship apart from any goodness you bring to us, for your positive personality is infinite, eternal, ever-flowing and never ending. You never do anything wrong, you never make a mistake, your ways are always righteous and you thoughts are always pure. To worship you is a privilege, to trust you is right, to live for you is joy and to obey you is freedom.

As today rolls out from your hand, may I take my place in your plan, playing the part you have prepared, doing what you declare to be meaningful, joining you in the reclamation of ground given to Satan, bringing glory to you and joy to the universe.

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Delivered by Jesus

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 28, 2015

Psalm 143:12 In your unfailing love silence my enemies, destroy all my foes, for I

am your servant. Because David belonged to Him, God answered, delivering him from king Saul.

And because we belong to you, Lord Jesus, you have answered and delivered us, destroying the devil and freeing us from the fear of death, for perfect love banishes fear. And now we are the children of God, the chosen and holy ones, dearly loved and deeply cared for.

In you, Lord Jesus, we are accepted, sung over and rejoiced in. You delight in us, care for us and watch over us eternally, entirely, endlessly, unconditionally and whole-heartedly.

In you we can rest, reflect and rejoice; for you we can live; with you we can work; by you we are protected, strengthened, guided and cared for.

What more could we ask for? Whom do we have in heaven but you and earth has nothing I desire besides you. May you be honored, lifted up and glorified in my life today. Amen.

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Christ's Beautiful Character

Published by S.M. Wibberley on March 27, 2015

I praise you, Lord Jesus, for your beautiful and magnificent character. You are the perfect blend of every quality: love and justice, goodness and righteousness, power and tenderness, forgiveness and wrath, grace and firmness, wisdom and understanding, knowledge and self-control, quickness and patience.

You are full of goodness, grace and glory. But more importantly your ARE Love, Light, Life and Truth. You ARE the Way. You can never NOT be these items; they are more than qualities, they are your very essence.

This gives us great security, great stability, great rest, for you will never waver, vary or change in your being. You will always love us, you will always do what is true, you will always give us light, you will always be our way.

So, today, as we walk into the darkness of the next moment, you have already been there, preparing things, giving us wisdom, insight and grace so we can move through whatever you send and allow. Some things may be very challenging; others may be pleasant, but all comes by your good hand and we can thank and praise you for it.

Today may I walk in the light of your presence, in the power of your goodness, in the glow of your love and in the understanding of your truth. May you, thereby, be honored and glorified in every moment today.

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