Northern Ireland
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“Not By Might Nor By Power But By My Spirit “ says the Lord of Hosts. Zech 4:6
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October 2020
Dear Lydias,
I do hope you are well and are proving the strength of the Lord” to endure” in these challenging times, which, of course, are also full of mercy. Quite a few weeks ago when we were out driving through a number of towns and villages, I found myself asking the Lord a lot of questions as we drove. Why are all these churches closed, Lord? Why are children not able to go to Sunday School? What is it the point of all of this? When will we ever be able to meet again without socially distancing? And so on!
I then realised I was beginning to sound like Habakkuk! Remember all his How long questions? So when we got home that day, I looked up the book and what a difference it made to my heart! We know that the Word is a light to our path and here are what I have called “5 Shafts of Light” that enlightened my heart that day from Habakkuk.
1. The Just Shall Live By Faith. Chp 2:4
In answer to all his questions, God was simply saying – TRUST ME. And that really is the answer to Covid -19 , isn’t it? And indeed to all our questions! Even though we do not understand His ways we are to trust Him.
2.The Lord is in His Holy Temple – Let all the earth keep silent before Him! Chpt.2:20
Now that really helped my focus! Habakkuk then launched into his wonderful hymn of faith, exalting the God who created all things, Who parted the Red Sea, Who caused the sun to stand still ,whose overwhelming greatness and power fills the whole earth. What comfort the Sovereignty of God brings to our hearts!
What a difference it makes when we get our eyes off our problems and fix them on the GREATNESS of God. When HE is big to us our problems become small but when He is small to us our problems become big.
May He enable each of us to see His power and greatness over and above everything else, each and every day. Our faith is not in faith, our faith is not in prayer, our faith is in GOD, who fills everything everywhere with Himself. Faith will look after itself when our focus is on God. May we not waste this unique time He has given us, but use it to increase in the knowledge of Him. May He fill our horizons with more of Himself. Maybe we need to ask ourselves the question – Do I really know God?
3. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.Chpt.2:14 Yes that will happen one day. At the moment it’s as if the earth is filled with man’s knowledge and man’s wisdom, rather than the knowledge of God. But one day that will change and knowledge of His glory will be evident for ever and ever.
4.O Lord, revive Your work in midst of the years.. and in wrath remember mercy. Chp.3:2 Or as the Message puts it – As You bring judgement as you surely must, remember mercy. That word revive means – preserve, keep alive. And as I looked that day at all the closed up churches, that was my cry! Lord preserve Your Church, enliven us once again and be merciful to us. Notice that Habakuk didn’t ask God not to send the Chaldeans, because he knew God’s will was for them to be judged, but he did ask for a reviving and for mercy.
5. Though the fig tree doesn’t blossom and there is no fruit on the vine, YET I will rejoice in the Lord…… The Lord God is my strength. He makes my feet like hind’s feet. Chpt 3 :17-19
So, I have to say I was glad I had asked God those questions that day, because it led me to discover afresh these wonderful truths from this little book of Habakkuk. Yes, we are in difficult days, and difficult days lie ahead, but as we keep our eyes on our Sovereign God and determine to get to know Him, our hearts will soar with faith, and indeed a joy and peace, that is beyond understanding.
May He fill us all with ever more of Himself, and send us out to point those whose hearts are failing them for fear. to the ONLY ONE who can make sense of it all.
In His Love,
Margaret xo
Dear Lydias,
I do hope you are well and are proving the strength of the Lord” to endure” in these challenging times, which, of course, are also full of mercy. Quite a few weeks ago when we were out driving through a number of towns and villages, I found myself asking the Lord a lot of questions as we drove. Why are all these churches closed, Lord? Why are children not able to go to Sunday School? What is it the point of all of this? When will we ever be able to meet again without socially distancing? And so on!
I then realised I was beginning to sound like Habakkuk! Remember all his How long questions? So when we got home that day, I looked up the book and what a difference it made to my heart! We know that the Word is a light to our path and here are what I have called “5 Shafts of Light” that enlightened my heart that day from Habakkuk.
1. The Just Shall Live By Faith. Chp 2:4
In answer to all his questions, God was simply saying – TRUST ME. And that really is the answer to Covid -19 , isn’t it? And indeed to all our questions! Even though we do not understand His ways we are to trust Him.
2.The Lord is in His Holy Temple – Let all the earth keep silent before Him! Chpt.2:20
Now that really helped my focus! Habakkuk then launched into his wonderful hymn of faith, exalting the God who created all things, Who parted the Red Sea, Who caused the sun to stand still ,whose overwhelming greatness and power fills the whole earth. What comfort the Sovereignty of God brings to our hearts!
What a difference it makes when we get our eyes off our problems and fix them on the GREATNESS of God. When HE is big to us our problems become small but when He is small to us our problems become big.
May He enable each of us to see His power and greatness over and above everything else, each and every day. Our faith is not in faith, our faith is not in prayer, our faith is in GOD, who fills everything everywhere with Himself. Faith will look after itself when our focus is on God. May we not waste this unique time He has given us, but use it to increase in the knowledge of Him. May He fill our horizons with more of Himself. Maybe we need to ask ourselves the question – Do I really know God?
3. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.Chpt.2:14 Yes that will happen one day. At the moment it’s as if the earth is filled with man’s knowledge and man’s wisdom, rather than the knowledge of God. But one day that will change and knowledge of His glory will be evident for ever and ever.
4.O Lord, revive Your work in midst of the years.. and in wrath remember mercy. Chp.3:2 Or as the Message puts it – As You bring judgement as you surely must, remember mercy. That word revive means – preserve, keep alive. And as I looked that day at all the closed up churches, that was my cry! Lord preserve Your Church, enliven us once again and be merciful to us. Notice that Habakuk didn’t ask God not to send the Chaldeans, because he knew God’s will was for them to be judged, but he did ask for a reviving and for mercy.
5. Though the fig tree doesn’t blossom and there is no fruit on the vine, YET I will rejoice in the Lord…… The Lord God is my strength. He makes my feet like hind’s feet. Chpt 3 :17-19
So, I have to say I was glad I had asked God those questions that day, because it led me to discover afresh these wonderful truths from this little book of Habakkuk. Yes, we are in difficult days, and difficult days lie ahead, but as we keep our eyes on our Sovereign God and determine to get to know Him, our hearts will soar with faith, and indeed a joy and peace, that is beyond understanding.
May He fill us all with ever more of Himself, and send us out to point those whose hearts are failing them for fear. to the ONLY ONE who can make sense of it all.
In His Love,
Margaret xo
Pray For The Power To Endure
Dear Lydias,
I do hope you are well and have found the verses sent out in the last email helpful as you pray- that we will be equipped and strengthened in the Lord, for these challenging times, and indeed the challenging times ahead. As I’ve been praying about what lies ahead, and as I’ve been reading in Revelation and also Matthew 24and Luke 21,I have found myself asking very especially for one thing, and that is for the Power To Endure. One definition of endure is – to suffer something difficult, painful or unpleasant in a patient way over a long period!
In Colossians1:11 Paul prays that the Colossian believers will be strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, for all patience and endurancewith joy. The Message puts it like this – We pray you will have the strength to stick it out over the long haul- not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is the strength that endures the unendurableand spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. From this prayer of Paul’s, it is very clear that in order to endure we needGod’sstrength and we need to pray for it!
When Jesus was explaining the terrible events of the last days, in the middle of all the horror he said – But you- Lift Up Your Headsfor your redemption draws near. (Luke 21:28). How can we do that when we are pressed down and dismayed by ongoing distresses and troubles, of which Coronavirus, is probably only the beginning? Well the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 3:3 – But You, O Lord, are a shieldfor me and my glory and the One who lifts up my head. Yes, praise God, HE is the LIFTER OF OURHEADS. Again we cannot do this in our own strength, only in His.
So my dear Lydia sisters, let us pray this for one another, our families, and our church families, that as we face increasingly uncertain and indeed perilous times, the Lord will be the lifter of our heads and give us strength to endure. In fact I have begun to ask God for this, first thing in the morning, before I lift my head off the pillow- Lord, YOU be the Lifter of my head today, and give me the strength to endure whatever this day holds. And I’m praying it for you too!
When we think of the phrase- lift up your heads –so much is implied in it. “Looking up” was the quality of faith found in Abraham, and is the disposition of the person who is steadfast in prayer and looking heavenwards e.g. Gen 13:14, 22:13. See also Psalm 5:3, Dan.10:5; Zech 2:1. And, of course, looking up, lifting up our heads, is associated with the work of Watchmen,which we are called to be as intercessors. Watchfulness suggests alertness and a keen awareness of potential danger, and again was a word Jesus often used in His accounts of the last days- the days like the days of Noah! I read a quote recently “an age of anxiety can breed inward- looking, self-centred people”. But Jesus calls us to look-out and look-up, only in His strength.
Apart from the fall-out and continuing implications of Covid19 for the whole world, we see unrest and riots in many countries. At time of writing, Lebanon is in the midst of a great catastrophe, and with it’s proximity to Israel, the implications are obvious. (I will forward a separate email about this later). As the Church we are also facing increasing persecution and growing attempts to silence us. And we can be sure this will increase. So again we need to be strengthened to “endure”and stand strong in Him. So “let us run withendurancethe race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Himenduredthe Cross, despising the shame and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!” Hebs.12:1b-2
Until next time, may the Lord be the Lifter of Our Heads each and every day. May He strengthen us to endure, and to persevere in prayer for a lost and dying world!
Every blessing and much love
Margaret
Dear Lydias,
I do hope you are well and have found the verses sent out in the last email helpful as you pray- that we will be equipped and strengthened in the Lord, for these challenging times, and indeed the challenging times ahead. As I’ve been praying about what lies ahead, and as I’ve been reading in Revelation and also Matthew 24and Luke 21,I have found myself asking very especially for one thing, and that is for the Power To Endure. One definition of endure is – to suffer something difficult, painful or unpleasant in a patient way over a long period!
In Colossians1:11 Paul prays that the Colossian believers will be strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, for all patience and endurancewith joy. The Message puts it like this – We pray you will have the strength to stick it out over the long haul- not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is the strength that endures the unendurableand spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. From this prayer of Paul’s, it is very clear that in order to endure we needGod’sstrength and we need to pray for it!
When Jesus was explaining the terrible events of the last days, in the middle of all the horror he said – But you- Lift Up Your Headsfor your redemption draws near. (Luke 21:28). How can we do that when we are pressed down and dismayed by ongoing distresses and troubles, of which Coronavirus, is probably only the beginning? Well the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 3:3 – But You, O Lord, are a shieldfor me and my glory and the One who lifts up my head. Yes, praise God, HE is the LIFTER OF OURHEADS. Again we cannot do this in our own strength, only in His.
So my dear Lydia sisters, let us pray this for one another, our families, and our church families, that as we face increasingly uncertain and indeed perilous times, the Lord will be the lifter of our heads and give us strength to endure. In fact I have begun to ask God for this, first thing in the morning, before I lift my head off the pillow- Lord, YOU be the Lifter of my head today, and give me the strength to endure whatever this day holds. And I’m praying it for you too!
When we think of the phrase- lift up your heads –so much is implied in it. “Looking up” was the quality of faith found in Abraham, and is the disposition of the person who is steadfast in prayer and looking heavenwards e.g. Gen 13:14, 22:13. See also Psalm 5:3, Dan.10:5; Zech 2:1. And, of course, looking up, lifting up our heads, is associated with the work of Watchmen,which we are called to be as intercessors. Watchfulness suggests alertness and a keen awareness of potential danger, and again was a word Jesus often used in His accounts of the last days- the days like the days of Noah! I read a quote recently “an age of anxiety can breed inward- looking, self-centred people”. But Jesus calls us to look-out and look-up, only in His strength.
Apart from the fall-out and continuing implications of Covid19 for the whole world, we see unrest and riots in many countries. At time of writing, Lebanon is in the midst of a great catastrophe, and with it’s proximity to Israel, the implications are obvious. (I will forward a separate email about this later). As the Church we are also facing increasing persecution and growing attempts to silence us. And we can be sure this will increase. So again we need to be strengthened to “endure”and stand strong in Him. So “let us run withendurancethe race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Himenduredthe Cross, despising the shame and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!” Hebs.12:1b-2
Until next time, may the Lord be the Lifter of Our Heads each and every day. May He strengthen us to endure, and to persevere in prayer for a lost and dying world!
Every blessing and much love
Margaret