S.M. Wibberley’s Blog

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 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.”

 

“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

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.

“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.”

“… 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).

“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!

How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!”

You have given us the delight of flowers with colors vivid and gentle, deep and pastel, having tiny beautiful details within, gorgeous shapes without. I think of the rich red and yellow of a tulip’s petals, sheltering the white stem within, like a lady wearing her three-pointed crown, surrounded by her deep brown guards—a tiny world of beauty, waiting to be discovered.

You have made joy available everywhere. Think of the joy of a new born colt, staggering to his feet, shaking off the surprise of birth, running at his mother’s side. Think of the exuberance of a shooting star, streaking across the night sky. Or the contentment of a crescent moon in winter, cradled low in the West in the bare arms of upstretched winter tree branches. Think of the happy croak of frogs on a warm spring night. Or the joy of a dog, greeting his master in the morning, tail wagging, tongue hanging out, smiling with anticipation of the day.

Your works give us joy, O Lord, they are marvelous, revealing to us your greatness, wisdom and beauty. And this is only a dim reflection of what it will be like with you in Heaven, where all will be more of everything: more beautiful, more vivid, more delightful, more tasty, more varied, more vibrant—for there will be no twisting of sin to mar our vision or your creation.

We praise you, Lord, for all you have given us. May we ever think on you as we enjoy your beautiful creation.

“For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!” Psalm 92:4,5 ESV

You are marvelous,  Lord God, and we see this in your creation, with the dizzying array of size, shape, variety, color and texture in plants, animals and landscapes. You have shared with us your love of beauty, your graceful shaping, your wisdom in practicality, your intelligence in complexity.

I think about the million optic nerve cells in a developing baby in the womb; at one point, two sets of nerves grow simultaneously, one set from the eye and one set from the brain, joining at the right place, with each individual nerve finding and joining with its corresponding partner. This perfect weaving brings to our brains an exact image of what is before us. And all this is done in the way you designed.

You made our bodies to be so effective, so compact, so efficient, creating some parts to be amazingly multifunctional: mouths for speaking, tasting, eating, breathing, smiling and kissing. Legs for locomotion, lounging, lifting, lugging and loving.

You build into our being the ability to enjoy a wide range of experiences. You give us the joy of running, of relaxing, of sleeping, of walking in a snowfall, of feeling the warm sun, the crisp cold air, the tingle of frost, the drumming of rain.

Your sharing all this with us, when we don’t deserve it is a marvelous demonstration of your love. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all the good you do to and for us.

On another day, this new believer and I sat on a hillside, chatting. Below us sprawled the capital city, a wave of red tiled roofs that washed up and over the hills and mountains surrounding the city center. Although sunshine splashed over most of the scene, dark thunderclouds menacingly shouldered their way in from the West, foreshadowing the suffering that would come into this man’s life. But it would be a while before these storm clouds reached us: there was still time to talk.

We watched four children playing in front of their solitary house down below us. “Yes, I enjoyed reading the book you gave me, but it’s more important that we read this,” he tapped the New Testament portion lying in his lap. “Tell me,” he continued, “what does it mean here…?” And he went on to ask a number of questions.

To have an eager, serious disciple like this who has come out of a different religion is the dream of every evangelist. It is important to note that this man’s coming to Christ is the fruit of many people praying. fWe  and many others had been praying that God would bring to us those who would believe. He is a good reminder for us to be faithful in interceding for the world, for we do not know what distant lives those prayers willenter to stir up a desire to know the true and living God.

 

Prayer: “Lord, help me to be faithful in praying for those who have never heard. Work in them, give them a desire to know Truth. Bring them into contact with your Word. Sweep them into your Kingdom, into your Church, into your protection. Amen.”