S.M. Wibberley’s Blog

As our time here is drawing to an end  in this country and we prepare to leave, I praise you for the peace you give, Lord, a certainty that we are going to be able to accomplish all that is necessary and leave in good shape.

This is because you, Lord, are good and gracious, powerful and protective, all knowing and all present. In you we can trust: fully, completely, whole-heartedly, entirely, always.  Our souls find rest in you alone (Psalm 62:1)—why do we bother to look other places? It is our sinful nature to do so! Our salvation, however, comes only from you, only from your powerful, all-present hand.  Nothing we can do can save us from the net of self, sin, Satan and sorrow, but you have slashed the ropes, turned on the lights and beckoned us out of this four-fold captivity into whole hearted capitulation to your love.

Praise you, Lord God, for your wonderful provision every day of salvation from this unholy gang seeking to wreak havoc in the lives of believers. You only are our Rock, our Salvation, our High Tower.  When we rest in you, on you, with you, we will never be shaken. Our salvation and honor depend on you, our mighty Rock and Refuge. Praise be to you for ever and ever, the great Lover of your enemies, the wounded Cleanser of criminals, the gracious Forgiver of traitors, the powerful Transformer of rebels,  the resurrected Savior of sinners.

You, Lord God, are such a marvel, always doing what is right in line with your beautiful, rich, powerful, loving character, which is so contrary to our natural, sinful, twisted, miserable selves. In you we can rest, in you we can rejoice, in you we can reside, for you created us to do so.

May your goodness shine out of us today, may your glory be highlighted in our lives, may your grace be poured out on those around us, may your love spill over onto all who bump into us. You, Lord Jesus, are worthy of love, of obedience, of honor and joy. May I give each of these to you today. Amen.

 

 

A new day, a new week, a new opportunity to live for you, Lord Jesus, my God and King. Praise you that the purpose you have given us in life is not dependent on our success or failure, on other people’s opinions of us, on our feelings or perceptions, or by our circumstances. In every instance, at every moment we can trust and praise you, Lord God, and thereby bring you glory and honor—this is the purpose of our lives, to worship you, the Creator of all, the Sustainer of all, the ender of all—for you are worthy.

You are the One who breathed the stars into existence, who gathered a handful of them into the Milky Way, who arranged our solar system in one little corner, who hung the earth on nothing, who set it’s rotation, axis and orbit at the optimum levels, at just the right distance from the sun. You spoke into existence the fish and fowl, the beasts and beauty of the earth. You fashioned from earth man and from man, woman.

You, O Lord God, are immensely powerful, unwaveringly strong and wonderfully wise. As you created and now sustain all in your wisdom and love, so you have worked in our sin-warped lives. You created a way of salvation which was much harder than speaking the stars into space. You became the man, Jesus of Nazareth, you suffered the unjust attacks of people, demons and the devil, you became sin for us, you endured the ripping of the Trinity, and you were crushed under the just wrath of the Father against sin. And you took  it all with patience, trust and love.

You then rose up to defeat the devil and death, to open the door to life and light and to invite all to come through it into the Kingdom of Truth, Purity and Love.  Those of your sinful human beings who come are transformed as they pass through the doorway of your sacrifice.

–They enter as enemies, they exit as your children.

–They enter as those excluded from heaven, they exit as qualified by you as partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in the Kingdom of Light.

–They enter as grotesque rebels, they exit clothed in the beautiful righteousness of Christ.

–They enter as weak in flesh and dead in spirit, they exit with a resurrected spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

–They enter as aliens, they exit as those in whom the Lord delights.

These truths never alter; these privileges are given for eternity, sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit as the first portion of the inheritance of the children of God.

Lord God, what a wonderful and gracious God you are, way beyond anything that man could ever think up.  You live in dimensions we have never seen or could imagine. A few of these we can name, but not actually know: you are eternal, all seeing, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, never tiring, never sleeping, never changing, living outside of time and loving all perfectly. We can only glimpse tiny portions of these dimensions in descriptions of you in the Word. We must bow before you in the small window of knowledge you have granted within the limits of living in a three dimensional world bounded by death and decay.

The wonder of becoming the beloved child of such a Great and Gracious God is incomprehensibly wide and deep and long and high. It is good we will have all eternity to rejoice in you, to worship you, to love you.

We begin now with putting on the armor of God, lifting the shield of faith through praise to give you honor, glory, exaltation and power all through the day. When we desire to live thusly, each event becomes a stage upon which we can live in your grace and be a signpost pointing to you: the living, loving God of light, beckoning to all mankind from the doorway of salvation.

Today may we live the purpose for which you created us, resting in the mighty Truth of your Being, bringing joy and honor to your heart through praise, prayer and persistence in obedience. Amen.

Praise you, Lord God, for your goodness, seen in the clear and beautiful dawn, in the wisdom of winter with the trees asleep, stretching their bare limbs to the heavens, awaiting the warm weather to stir them from their slumber with the juices of Spring.

Praise you that you are the God of beauty, doing what is right and good, creating and sharing loveliness with us, drawing us into the beauty of your character in a rich relationship of love lavished on the undeserving.

Praise be to you, Lord God, for your gracious greatness, as you stoop down to view heaven and earth. You do not distain the smallness of your creatures or the lowness of our existence. You are intimately involved in our lives, providing, protecting, proactively guiding.

You are the God of infinite ability to see, hear and attend to every human being, all at the same time. Praise be to you for your eternal, immeasurable powers and abilities, far beyond the comprehension of little man, yet revealed to us in your Word and Incarnation.

I give you glory, O God, for the privilege of knowing you, of being called to your side, of being adopted into your family, of being given love, grace, worth, status and work. Praise you that your love for us flows not out of our performance, but out of your character. What security, what joy, what motivation that brings to live for you. May you be glorified in my life today, Lord, as I live in the glow of your glory and greatness!

Lord, as we face times of change and adjustment, it is so good to be your child, to know that we are within the strength of your arm, that you are guiding us in how to proceed, that you are protecting us and will carry us on to whatever conclusion and outcome you desire in our lives. And, most importantly, you will provide us many opportunities along the way to give you glory, honor and praise.  Doing so is fulfilling the purpose for our existence—giving you glory–so will bring joy, fulfillment, goodness and strength. Truly, the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Lord, out of your immense, eternal, never ending power, you share with us, pouring into our lives every day the grace we need to keep going. As it says in Isaiah:

Isa 40:29  “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” [When we feel we can’t do any more, can’t take another step, He gives us strength to go on. “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand.” (Eph 6:13)

Having this strength depends first on God’s giving it and second on our accepting it, taking it up and using it. It has to do with obeying in faith, in thinking Truth, in praising in all, in resisting despair, self-pity and fear of man. It has to do with viewing weakness as an opportunity to see your power at work, Lord. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9a)

Being weak is uncomfortable, distressing, humiliating–and good, for it reveals to us our true state and helps us turn to true partnership with God. “I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness so that the power o Christ may rest on me.” (2 Cor 12:9b) God gives, are we accepting, embracing His strength, or do we demand to have it on our terms?

Isa 40:30  “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;” [Even in the flower and power of youth, when the day of evil comes human strength isn’t enough. We need strength from another source in order to move through life with grace, goodness and greatness.]
Isa 40:31  “but” [now comes the shift of vision to the source of all] “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.” [here is our part, to hope in the Lord, not in our own abilities, not in our talents, not in chance or luck, but in the Lord who created heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. We look to Him for the outcome, wholeheartedly cooperate, and He brings it to pass. In that hope He gives us renewed strength.]

“They will soar on wings like eagles” [able to rise above the events of the day, the evil of the world, the darkness of our old nature. We must stretch out our wings of hope and faith so the wind of God’s Spirit will lift us up to new heights.]

“they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” [At whatever speed we move forward in God’s will, sufficient strength will be supplied, for God is faithful, His resources are endless, His grace is abundant, His heart is ever giving, His plan is relentless and will be completed. Are we willing to embrace what He sends, join Him in what He’s doing and receive the power he proffers?]

You, Lord, are the God of wisdom, of insight, of understanding. You require of us what each of us can do: have faith in you. And you give us plenty of evidence so that we can trust you, submit to you with joy, obey you with confidence. You are the great and mighty God who has never been defeated, who will never fail, whose plans will come to pass. “The plans of the Lord endure forever and the purposes of His heart through all generations.”

Praise be to you, Lord, in my life today. May I so remain in the light of this truth that I consistently live in hope, taking up your grace, running in your strength, soaring in your truth and giving glory to you. Amen.

 

Praise you, Heavenly Father, that you have given us your Word to instruct us, to rebuke us, to remind us, to lead us. In our self-centered humanness it is so easy to forget who you are, to get absorbed in our tiny personal world, caught up in the details of life. But as we read regularly in your Word, you draw our attention back upward and outward to yourself, reminding us of how great and powerful you are and how you invite us to walk through the day with you. As Isaiah wrote:

Isa 40:28  “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,” [Of course we know and have heard, but we forget who you are: the eternal Holy One, powerful in glory, perfect in greatness, pure in goodness, persistent in grace. You are the Final Authority, the Most High, the Beginning and the End, the Savior and Judge, worthy of worship, praise, glory, exaltation and obedience.]

“the Creator of the ends of the earth.” [It is you who have made all, all we can see and all that is beyond our grasp. The earth, vast as it is to us, is but one speck in the great sea of space which is populated by billions of other bodies from small meteorites to stars a million times bigger than our sun. You spoke and brought them all into being. You are the Creator and Concluder of all: time, space, matter, life and history.]

“He will not grow tired or weary,” [You never run short of strength; you are endlessly, continually, unwaveringly powerful. Your work does not drain you, it does not make you tired, it does not bring you weariness. We are dependent on intake for  our strength: food, water and rest. You, in contrast, are dependent on no outside source. You are THE Source of all strength, all power in the universe and will never run short. You are eternal, perfect, sufficient.]

“and his understanding no one can fathom.” [How can we begin to understand the mind of One who is Triune, who exists in many dimensions beyond the three we inhabit, who lives outside of time, who can create just by speaking, who fills all the universe, who is eternal without beginning or end. We are way too small to comprehend anything beyond what you have revealed to us in your Word. We praise you for being beyond our understanding, that you are God, not us.]

To live in the light of the greatness of your being, Lord, is to live in Truth, in Hope, in Freedom, in Grace. It is so easy to look away and to think in simple human terms, but this leads only to complaining, selfishness and pettiness.

Praise you for reminding us of the privilege of knowing you, being your child, ever learning about you, joining you in your work and living in your protection. You are great and gracious, trustable and kind, patient and persistent, faithful and firm, just and merciful, stern and forgiving. In you is all good and living with you is only good.

Praise you, Lord, for what you will do and bring today, for we can trust you with all our hearts. May you be glorified in my life today. Amen.

It is true that complaining is unbelief being acted out, as Isaiah points out in the following verses:

Isa 40:27  “Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?

[When we do not like what is happening, we  think God is not personally involved, or if He is that He’s not doing a good job. Our complaining clearly reveals our unbelief, our very small concept of God, our focus only on what is seen.

However, the truth is, our way is totally open to you, O Lord. As it says in Psalm 33:13-15  “From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;  from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.”  You watch us all, see our actions, weigh our motives, know our thoughts. You are at work all the time in our little lives, protecting, guiding, communicating, drawing us ever towards you.

We are the ones who are not aware, who are letting unbelief and rebellion blind us and bind us into a three dimensional existence. You call us to live with you in a much more multi-dimensional life with angels, demons, unseen forces and most of all your Triune presence, which is multi-dimensionality itself.

You are always present, always active, always involved, always loving, wise and good. When we are willing to look up and learn from your Word the extent of your involvement, Lord, we can shed our unbelief and live in the light of your lavish love and life.

You are the Great and Glorious God who deserves our whole-hearted worship, our full faith, our total belief. In living in such Truth, being people of praise all the time, we give you some of the glory and honor and exaltation you so rightly deserve.  Forgive us for our unbelief, help us to become people of faith, rejecting complaining and self-pity, embracing truth, praise and thanksgiving as the central response of our lives to you.

 

 

You, O Triune God, are the Great One, far above the tiny speck of dust we call home. To grasp how eternally huge you are is difficult for our finite minds. As Isaiah wrote,

Isa 40:15  “Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;” [The billions of people on earth, to us a mighty throng, are to you a tiny, insignificant speck, one drop, hardly noticeable. You are so much greater than all the people who have ever lived and you are involved in so much bigger things, like the birthing of stars a hundred times bigger than our sun, yet you love and care for each insignificant, tiny person.]

“he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.” [All the islands of the world are almost microscopic before you, Lord, easily blown away by a breath. In comparison you are monumental, majestic, massive, immovable and mighty. You are eternal and everlasting, the opposite of the temporary, tiny and tentative islands of the earth.]

Isa 40:16  “Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.” [Your greatness, your holiness, your righteousness all deserve lavish, abundant, continual worship, but in the world there is not enough wood or creatures to offer up in sufficient sacrifices of worship. Which is why you offered up yourself as Jesus to pay our penalty, to move worship beyond blood sacrifice to Spirit and Truth. Praise be to you, the worthy One, the righteous Ruler, the caring King.]

Isa 40:17  “Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.” [In the light of your presence, Lord, the nations are hardly discernable, like miniscule flecks of dust, useless in themselves, harmful to your desire to eliminate evil. All their culture,  cities, achievements and wars are less than nothing, for they flow out of sinful hearts and are on such a tiny scale, they are not worth noting.

But you, Lord, in spite of your greatness that fills the whole universe, you not only note the nations, you love each individual, you see what they do each day, you send your Spirit to strive with each one, desiring that every one come to belief and allow you to qualify them to enter the Kingdom of Light. You are the Great Lover of your creatures. You are the Powerful Redeemer of twisted sinners. You are the Tenacious Transformer of our evil into impetus to believe.]

We praise you and glorify you for your marvelous, complex, inscrutiable, holy and gracious nature. You are worthy of worship, honor, exaltation and glory. May I live in such a way today before men and demons and angels that glory will flow to you from my thoughts, motives, words and actions. Amen.

We praise you, Lord Jesus, in and for all, for you are our great and wise King, who is fully sovereign, in control and incredibly powerful. You are worthy of worship no matter what.

You, the incomprehensibly powerful Creator, are able to do things that no one else could even think of accomplishing. Your greatness dwarfs all creatures and all of creation. As Isaiah marvels:

Isa 40:12  “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,” [The millions of cubic miles of water found in all the oceans, rivers, lakes and seas are only a few handfuls for you.]

“or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?” [The vast stretches of space, billions of light years across, are easily measured by your equally vast hands. As we cannot even begin to grasp the size of one light year, so we cannot even begin to comprehend the greatness of your being, able to plan, measure and create the length, breadth, height and depth of the universe.]

“Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,” [The earth, in its millions of tons of rock, dirt, lava and minerals, is just a basket full of dust to you. Your strength is so great, so vast, so powerful that to lift the earth is nothing.]

“or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?” [The majestic Alps, the rugged Tetons, the vast Himalayans, the elongated Rockies—these are for you just tiny weights, able to be measured on a scale. This is beyond comprehension for human beings, but for you a small act, giving us a glimmer of grasping the greatness of your power, your might, your strength. We are nothing next to you, a collection of a few atoms, dwarfed by the oceans, mountains and stars which were easily created by you, simply by speaking. You are incredibly, incomprehensibly, inscrutably great, O Lord!]

Isa 40:13  “Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor?” [We struggle to understand just the things you have created, Lord: the micro world of elements and atoms, quarks and photons; and the macro universe of giant stars, huge galaxies,  and beyond that clusters of galaxies millions of light years across. We cannot even begin to comprehend the wise ways in which you created all these things; how could we ever give you advice? In the face of your greatness it is laughable to even think about helping you.  So Isaiah goes on with his ludicrous questions:]

Isa 40:14  “Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?” [Your wisdom, your understanding, your knowledge is so far beyond anything that man could even dream up. Just think of the incomprehensible concept of the Trinity–never has there been any such inscrutable element in any story man or angel has told. In addition, there is your breathing the stars into existence, determining their number, calling each by name, of your hanging the earth on nothing, setting it and all its surrounding conditions perfectly so that life could flourish, of your creating the multitude of creatures on earth with vast variations on the same theme—100,000 types of beetles, countless varieties of fish, birds and mammals.

You, Lord God are brilliant beyond measure, intelligent beyond comprehension, wise beyond knowing. You are worthy of praise and exaltation, of worship and honor, of love and obedience. To you be glory, strength, thanksgiving and awe today in my life, in my prayers, my plans and perceptions. Amen.]