TAKE HEART AND GAIN STRENGTH
04th May 2022
Whatever is happening in the circumstances of your life you need to be assured that you are not alone. If you are a child of God, He lives in you in the person of His Holy Spirit and he has promised never to leave you nor forsake you. Never means never!
I have been singing an old CSSM chorus,
“I’m not alone for my Father is with me, with me wherever I go.
Speaking words of faith, of courage and of love,
He’s with me, He loves me, wherever I go.”
I know the truth of these words to counter fear, inadequacy and terror.
The apostle Paul faced terrible situations, but wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.”
We need both God’s comfort and presence, but also the support of those who pray, who keep looking to the Father and interceding for the resources we need. One of the enemy's tactics is to cause us to feel alone uncared for, abandoned - all lies, but easy to seem a reality.
A word to those who pray. I was recently reading the story of the fall of Jericho in Joshua 6, and God spoke to me saying that every time you pray and bring a set of circumstances before me, it is similar to walking round Jericho. Each time something is being visibly shaken and when the word comes to “shout” you will see the wall come crashing down. Keep this in mind as you pray for your friends; it may seem that nothing changes, but foundations are being shaken. God is at work and we need each other. Keep your joy level up.
Habakkuk 3:17 says, “Though the fig tree does not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vine…… yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my Salvation.”
Habakkuk 3:19 in the Message says, “Counting on God’s rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength.”
by Joyce Sibthorpe
