S.M. Wibberley’s Blog

Recently we visited a castle here in Germany (the Wartburg) where in 1520 Martin Luther worked to translate the Bible into German.  Luther knew the value and power of God’s Word and spent the time necessary to make it available to the average person. Certainly this castle is historic place for all true believers, as the translation done here played a large part in the development of the Reformation.

In this castle is another historical site for true believers, a tall tower at the lower part of the castle yard.  Here a believing farmer was held for the last 8 years of his imprisonment from 1533 to 1548.

His crime?  He refused to have his newborn baby baptized because God’s Word said otherwise.  He also had the audacity to act on what the Word commanded and was baptized as an adult. He most certainly learned the truth about these things from the Bible that Luther translated some years before in this castle.

During these long 15 years of miserable imprisonment, this farmer was periodically offered pardon if he would only recant his biblical beliefs. However, in spite of his draconian living conditions, he steadfastly refused and died in his jail.

In our visit to this castle, we could look down into his “cell”—or better put, his dungeon.  Climbing halfway up the tower, we entered a small door and looked down through a hole in the floor, the only way into the prison below.

Twenty-five feet down we could see the bare stone floor of a windowless room about 10 feet in diameter.  Here the farmer lived for his last 8 years, much of it without bed, toilet, light or heat, without fellowship, a Bible or support.

Yet this man remained faithful to what he knew of the Lord and His Word.  I thought about myself: would I be willing to endure such punishment just to defend the concept of adult baptism?  What about other biblical truths that are under assault today?  This man thought it was worthwhile to stand on the Word, for he truly he believed what God said: that we should exalt above all things His name and His Word.  And this man’s testimony rings strong and true some 470 years later!

I must come back to me, to us. Are we as wholeheartedly committed as this man to live by what the Word says?  Are we willing to exalt God’s Word above all else, or do we give in to the subtle temptations and powerful pressures of culture, to the soft call of comfort, or to fear of man and thereby compromise what is important to God?

“I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.” Psalm 138:2

 

I lay there in the dark, my mind racing from one problem to the next.  Worry, fear and frustration ruled.  I turned on the light: it was 2:30 am.  Knowing this was a spiritual attack, I reached for my Bible and opened to Psalm 34. I refreshed my memory of it, then turned out the light, settled back in bed and began to meditate through it.

I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. “Lord, I praise you for this situation, for the fear, worry and frustration I am experiencing as I think about these dozen difficult dilemmas before me.  I can praise you because you are the Ruler of the Universe, you are the King of Glory, you are the Most High and the Almighty One.  In praise you turn my attention from my problems to you.  I am weak, but you are powerful; I am ignorant but you are wise. You can and will deal with each of these situations at the right time and I can both rest in you and praise you now for how you will do it!”

I sought the Lord, he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. “Praise be to you, Lord, that you are the fear-Conqueror.  Praise you because you go to the core of the issue first, dealing with fear, teaching me what I need to know before you solve the problem!  Again I praise you for how you are going to work in each of these situations!”

Then I began to lay each problem out before Him, praying for the needs, praising Him for how He would deal with them.  And then, as my mind and spirit were calmed by His truths, sleep came: deep, restful, restorative sleep.  He had delivered me from my fears!  And in prayer I had joined Him in His plan to deal with these things.

Living for Jesus is not a neat, comfortable venture. It is full of difficulties, spiritual attacks and challenges. And this is where we get to respond in faith, to see God fulfill His promises and to give Him great glory.  If everything went smoothly we would not see our need of Him.

God calls us to a of life of praise.  He does not call us to cope, but to be more than conquerors.  His desire is that we choose the truth that joy does not come from our circumstances, but from the character of God. Then it is through praise for His wonderful character that the victories come.

 

Years ago I read a little article by Dr. James Dobson about the three things children need to have a healthy, balanced development.  He said these are: a sense of belonging, a sense of worth, and a sense of competence.

As I thought about that, the Spirit brought to mind the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1:18-20.  Here Paul prays that the believers will have each of these same three items.

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened [why?] in order that you may know

1)   the hope to which he has called you, ‘ [the certainty of being His for eternity: this the ultimate in belonging!]

2)   “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”  [being included as an eternal part of his rich inheritance: this is ultimate in worth!]

3)   “and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” [being filled with divine power to walk in obedience to Him: this is the ultimate in being competent!]

 

Satan knows how important these three items are, so he works constantly in two main ways to foil God’s desires to have us live in the reality of His gifts.

First, Satan deflects our attention from what God has provided and tempts us to fulfill these desires for belonging, worth and competence in human relationships and activities.  These are woefully inadequate sources for these divine-sized needs.

Second, he tells us over and over: you are worthless, nobody really loves you, you can’t do anything right, you can never do enough to measure up! He uses culture, advertising and the insecurity of our old nature, among other things, to snare us in this trap.

The way to avoid Satan’s wiles is to know the truth. Look at the second entry on this subject to learn more.

Let’s look at these three provisions of God in a bit more detail.

Belonging: “The hope to which He has called us.”

God the Father has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Light. (Col 1:13)  He has made us His dearly loved, deeply cared for children. (Col 3:13) He has called us to be part of His family, part of the church universal, part of the church local, part of a human family, part of His plan to redeem the universe, part of His movement of history towards the end of time where we will be called into  eternity to a rich, sinless and personal relationship with Him!  That is belonging!  There is nothing we as believers or anyone else can do to lessen that declaration of God that in Christ we belong! That is security in the ultimate call to belong!

 

Worth: “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”

In God’s estimation we are incredibly valuable. Who are we to argue against that? He granted us worth in what He did. He created us in the image of Himself. He chose us before the foundation of the world. He purchased us by the shed blood of the Lamb. He worked out all the details to adopt us into His eternal family.  The Lord Jesus thinks we are so valuable that He intercedes for us every day, the Holy Spirit prays for us continually.

God has given us great value.  We stand as Princes and Princesses, destined for an eternity of fellowship with the King of the universe, the most important Being that ever has been and ever will be.  And He says we are of immeasurable worth to Him, the riches of His inheritance. There is no greater worth that we can imagine or have.  No one else has any authority to tell us otherwise.  We honor and exalt Him by believing and accepting the worth He imputes to us.

 

Competence: His incomparably great power for us who believe

The fact is, in our natural, sinful selves we are weak and incompetent.  Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5b).  But through Him, we can do all things (Phil 4:13, Eph 2:10).

How great is the power God gives us? It “is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Immeasurable, infinite, unending, incredible, unimaginable, beyond conception.

This is the Power that raises the dead, that is far above every authority this world has ever seen, that is endless, undefeatable, incomparable–and ours as a gift.

The primary means of using this power is faith expressed in prayer (John 15:7). Everyone can access that. His power is also released in praise (2 Cor 12:9,10, Psalm 50:23). Every believer can do that.  God is fair in giving all His children the same access to His great power.

Then He gives us spiritual gifts to utilize this power in every day life.  He gives us competence and then works with us to develop it.  Are we willing to appropriate that power and use it?  Do we believe His promise?

 

Taking up what God has given.

Since these truths are outside of our natural thinking and feeling, the first way to begin appropriating God’s gifts is to internalize the truth about them: memorize Paul’s prayer in Eph 1:16-21, and pray it for yourself—as well as for others.

Then every time those negative thoughts come, (“You are nothing!  You can’t do anything right! You are worthless,”) bring out the Sword of the Spirit, and use it in prayer.  Here’s an example of how you can do this.

“No, this is not true, God says that He has given me the hope of belonging, ultimate worth in being His child, and competence in the incomparable power He has offered me.  I praise you Lord God, King of Glory, Creator of all, that I belong to you,  that I am valued in your sight and that you have equipped me in your power to live for you in might and majesty as your child!  Be gone Satan, you are the loser! Christ is the Victor and I choose to believe Him!”

Praise God often for these gifts of belonging, worth and competence.  Live in them, minister out of them, bring Him glory with them.

 

Once upon a time there were two people living in a foreign land who got a package from home.  When they went to the post office to pick it up, the customs official opened it and took out two packets of tea, the kind of tea that they really liked and wasn’t available locally. Smiling, the customs official said, “You can’t have these; customs regulations!”  And with that he put the tea into his desk drawer.

Now, how should these two people react?  There are two basic possibilities: to complain or to praise–and we all know which is the correct one.  These two people took a moment to pray, “Why, Lord, thank you for all the times tea did come to us and customs let it through. Thank you that this time we didn’t get it.” Then those two people left the post office with light hearts and had a really good day.

Praise is a wonderful responsibility that God has given us.  It keeps us dwelling in the Truth, and, as you know “…the Truth will set you free.” (as Jesus said n John 8:32).  Praise sets us free from the nasty so we can dwell on the nice. (Phil 4:8).

Very often we seek God’s will in certain matters, but more often we forget God’s will for all matters: Praise.  Praise is commanded or demonstrated over 250 times in Scripture—that alone is a powerful indication of its’ importance in our lives.  And in Revelation it is indicated that praise will be our primary occupation in the life to come.  And do you know why we can praise God in and for all things? It is simply because of His character.  Praise itself directs our attention to the character of our Lord Jesus Christ and releases in our lives a fragrance that will attract others to Him.