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Knowing Jesus is Enough for Joy

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 7, 2024

In these days of turmoil with many people unhappy, it is good to remember the difference between happiness and joy.

The many unhappy people can tell you that happiness is tied to our circumstances. When things go awry, happiness evaporates like fog in the early morning sun.
Joy, on the other hand continues no matter what, for it is dependent on Jesus, who never changes.
Joy can continue through the worst of circumstances, as Jesus himself showed us. As it says in Hebrews 12, “for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disposing th shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
And in several places Jesus says we can do the same thing. James:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, BECAUSE YOU KNOW that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
 
Joy is released by what we know, not what we feel. Matthew 5:11,12 says,  “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
 
Again, we can have joy because we know there is meaning, reward and a plan in suffering.
And then there is  Romans 15:13 which tells us how to have and maintain joy: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace AS YOU TRUST in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
 
Joy is always available, and we can appropriate it by trusting Him. Truly, Knowing Jesus is Enough for Joy!  Let’s live in that truth no  matter what our circumstance are.
May be an image of twilight and grass
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Nurturing Our First Love

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 6, 2024

Leading ourselves  well spiritually has to do with nurturing our first love for Jesus. and how to we do that? One way is to meditate on His character. Here’s one of mine to help you, thinking on Psalm 93:1,2.

“The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity”.  Psalm 93:1,2

You, O Yahweh, are the Holy One:

Pure and Powerful,

Sinless and Sincere,

Just and Judicious,

Rich and Righteous,

Glorious and Good.

You are Majestic,

magnificently robed in light,

riding on the wings of the wind,

commanding the stars,

guiding the planets,

towering over all heavenly beings in total otherness.

You move in wisdom and grace,

you are thorough in your thoughts,

powerful in your plans,

precise in your purposes.

You are never shaken, never flustered, never hurried, never late.

In you we can rest, knowing that you are totally trustable and very interested in walking through the day with  us. To you be glory forever.

May be an image of fog, nature, horizon, grass, tree and twilight

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Emotions and Truth

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 5, 2024

Written before the election results are known.

In this time wrought with high emotions, I’d like to share some thoughts. Today most people view their emotions as a guide. How often have you heard the advice, “Just follow your heart?”

Emotions are a gift from God, but His intent is to enrich our lives with them, not guide us. Here are three reasons from observation for which I believe God gave us emotions (He probably has more).

A first reason is that God wants us to enjoy what He’s given us: a beautiful sunset, a pleasant concert, a fine friendship, a delicious meal, a sense of achievement. He likes for us to have pleasure in the good things He’s given.

A second reason is to warn us. Our our negative emotions are like the dash board lights on our car. When the oil light, or check engine light, or battery light comes on it doesn’t mean, “turn right at the next road,” or “go faster,” or “continue straight on.” They all mean, “Something is wrong, do something about it!”

Our negative emotions, like anger, jealousy, greed, fear or hate, are warnings to us, that we are thinking wrongly, following the wrong values, or have a wrong perception. For instance right perspective is, “Let every  man be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19,20). If we follow our negative emotions, we almost certainly will get into trouble. If, instead we heed the warning, back off, think biblically and make a Godly decision, Things  will go much better.

A third reason for our emotions is to motivate us. All of us have been in a discouraging situation, when one person speaks up, “Come on! We can do this; we just have to pull together! What do you say?” Everyone’s emotions are stirred, they get up and move ahead.

And so it is now; whoever wins the election, we know that God has a plan and we can join Him, trust Him,, follow Him, not our emotions.

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Our Stability

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 4, 2024

This devotional is a good one to read right before the election, reminding us that God is in control!

“The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity”. Psalm 93:1,2

 

You, O Yahweh, are the Holy One:

Pure and Powerful,

Sinless and Sincere,

Just and Judicious,

Rich and Righteous,

Glorious and Good.

You are Majestic,

magnificently robed in light,

riding on the wings of the wind,

commanding the stars,

guiding the planets,

towering over all heavenly beings in total otherness.

You move in wisdom and grace,

you are thorough in your thoughts,

powerful in your plans,

precise in your purposes.

You are never shaken, never flustered, never hurried, never late. In your magnificent being you are

awesome in power,

overwhelming in scope,

fearsome in glory,

blinding in beauty,

astounding in wisdom,

infinite in knowledge.

You are the One to be worshiped, the only One to bow before, to surrender to, to live for–no matter what happens.

May be an image of outer space

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worship in wonder

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 3, 2024

May we daily spend time with our Lord, our Bridegroom, nurturing our first love for Him, gazing upon His loveliness, focusing on His beauty rather than our busyness. Following is an example of focusing on Him.

“I will tell of all your wonders” (Ps. 9:1b). Great and many are your wonders, O Lord, beginning with your character.

–You are Love, Light and Life.

–In you there is Purity, Perfection, and Power.

–You are filled with Greatness, Grace and Goodness.

–You are Immortal, Invisible and Invincible.

–In you alone are Righteousness, Riches and upRightness.

–You are Mighty, Magnificent and Marvelous.

–You are Holiness, Justice and Mercy.

–You are God, Lord, and Sovereign.

–You are without beginning, without end and without time.

–You are a wonder, you are worthy, to be worshipped.

–You are the One and only God. Glory be to you both now and forever!

 

Prayer: “Lord, help me to seek your face every day, to bask in the beauty of your character, to fall more in love with you. Then help me to join you in what you have planned for the day, moving in your timing, your power and your wisdom. Amen.”

 

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I Seek Your Face

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 1, 2024

“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart, I will tell of all your wonders.” Psalm 9:1

My relationship with the Lord has grown a bit stale of late; I have faithfully met with Him each day, reading the Word, praying and meditating, but it has become quite mechanical. I asked the Lord for a refreshing in our relationship, and He answered with a phrase in a verse that has made a great difference: “seek my face…” (2 Chr. 7:14).

With this phrase came the realization that instead of seeking Him, I had been more seeking His help, His power, and His direction – all gifts He desires to give us – but I had not been seeking Him personally.

To seek His face, to sit with Him, talk with Him, and to lay in His hands all I have and want, so I can focus on Him, is more important to Him than all that I can accomplish. To seek His face means we have to look away from all that we’d like to be involved in and to look into His eyes. He then, in His love and grace, can pierce us to the soul with the light of His look, helping us to deal with sins we’ve overlooked or wanted to ignore.

One help in this for me is to first lift my soul to Him, telling Him all the things weighing on me, what I’d like to do and see done, and to surrender them all to Him to deal in His power and wisdom. Then having laid these aside, I can fully focus on Him. And He then gives me insight, joy and peace, as well as a freshness in my relationship with Him. “He brought me out into a spacious place. He rescued me because He delighted in me.”  Psalm 18:19

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(Untitled)

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 31, 2024

You, Lord God,  are the great Giver of good, supplying what is needed to keep your children growing, maturing, bearing more and more good fruit. You have provided all that is necessary for living a godly life and for overcoming the evil of the world (2 Peter 1:3).

In your wisdom and grace, your great patience and kindness, you leave it to us, your children, to draw this living water up through our roots by reading, studying, meditating on your Word, to remain in your courts, to abide in the vine and to bear your fruit.

To those of your children who keep their roots down into the water of the Word, you promise: “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green…” (Ps. 92:14).

As we grow old, lose our physical abilities, have less strength, hear and see less, and may seem to dry up on the outside, we will still bear good, rich, delicious fruit for those around us: the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of good works, the fruit of people coming to Christ—which is just the opposite of what happens if we live naturally rather than supernaturally.

You cause us to remain fruitful so that we can declare “the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him” (Ps. 92:15).

To you be power, might and exaltation, Lord Jesus. You are worthy, you are glorious, you are Elohim, the triune God, the Creator and Sustainer of all.  May we honor you today.

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Like a Lush Green Tree

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 30, 2024

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.” Psalm 92:12,13

Praise be to you, Yahweh, the great I AM, the self-existent, eternal, unchanging, holy and perfect One—and paradoxically, the Lover of sinners. Your qualities of righteousness, holiness and justice dictated the necessity of judgment, condemnation and punishment of all sinners.

However,  you chose, through your own suffering, to have mercy triumph over justice, to have grace trump punishment, to have love topple wrath. You called us rebels to yourself, cleansed us, transformed us into new creatures and adopted us into your family, making us righteous in Christ.

You planted us in your courtyard, making us flourish, sprouting lush, green leaves of praise to shade those around us, and succulent, delicious fruit of the Spirit for others to taste. You make it possible for us to get our roots deep down into the wonderful water of your Word so even in drought we can remain green, bearing our fruit in its season, and being successful in whatever you call us to do (Psalm 1:3).

“I bow before you, Heavenly Father in admiration; I rise up in enthusiasm; I go forth to wholeheartedly worship you through obedience. May your name be honored today in all I think, say and do, my beloved God. Amen.”

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God knows the future

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 30, 2024

“… set your hearts on things above….set your minds on things above” Colossians 3:1b, 2

 

Our God is such a faithful guide.  From down here we cannot see much of the future. In fact, we sort of back into it, being very aware of the past and present, but seeing very little of where we should step next. God, however, being outside time, knows what’s coming and will guide us if we are willing to listen, as we “seek those things which are above.”

Right now, God is teaching us that an important part of “seeking things above” is praying through each situation, each event and then waiting for Him to open doors rather than pushing through them in our own strength. Recently we saw again how God, in His time, answers prayer for guidance.

This past weekend a man with 25 years of experience in our line of work just “happened” to drop by on his way to other countries. In the discussions with him, a number of areas we have had questions about were illuminated and guided us in how to  move ahead.

It is truly an adventure to walk with the Lord Jesus and watch Him unfold for us the terrain where we are to tred. What we need the most is to wait for Him to do so and not run ahead on our own. We need to obey the word, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…” (Pro. 3:5).

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Brokeness and Growth

Published by S.M. Wibberley on October 28, 2024

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1,2

The situation here in the Middle East is always interesting—whenever you think it’s going to “settle down,” to a nice norm, some new problem or emergency arises. Such situations are fertile ground for growing spiritually, and lately there has been such a “growth” in me that I can’t begin to describe it. Perhaps “breaking” is a better word than growth. Certainly, it is God working as a result of others praying for us and of our meditation on Scripture.

Very simply put, it is an application of Col. 3:1-2 (see these verses at the beginning of this devotional), with God is teaching me to set my heart on giving the kind of response Christ would give, instead first of setting my heart on getting things done. This is a commitment to do what God wants instead of what I want: a surrender to obedience.

Each disappointment then becomes the opportunity to see where I’ve set my heart on something here on earth, so I can surrender that to God and praise Him for what He’s going to do. This incremental surrender to the inner working of the Spirit brings ever-expanding results:

  • Barbara says I am much easier to live with, being more relaxed and less intense.
  • More gets done, probably because I have less inner tension and have insight to cut out unnecessary, time-wasting activity.
  • I have more energy.
  • Things don’t get forgotten as much because my mind is clearer and the Spirit can get my attention to remind and guide me.
  • The fruit of the Spirit is much more evident.
  • And, as a nice side result, I’m a lot happier!

This life with Christ is really something:as He leads us down the road,  up and over the next hill, there seems to be no end to the breakthroughs He has for us as we meditate on His Word, deny self and obey Him!

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