Annagail Lynes' Blog

2007/4/30

Stay Close

@ 09:25 AM (15 months, 1 day ago)

Every word of God proves true.  He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. ~ Proverbs 30:5 (NLT).

Every promise, every word, of the Bible is true.  Not one word is a lie or just conjured up by the imagination of a man.  Stay close to the Word of God and to God Himself.  If you do, they will protect you in times of trouble.

- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/29

Who Do You Trust?

@ 12:27 PM (15 months, 2 days ago)

Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. ~Proverbs 29:25 (NLT)

Who do you put your trust in?  God or people.  When we put our trust in people, we will always be disappointed.  But when we put our trust  in our Lord, He exceeds our wildest dreams and desires.

- Annagail Lynes


2007/4/28

He Will Never Abandon You

@ 09:18 AM (15 months, 3 days ago)

Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. ~ Psalm 27:10 (NLT)

Even when everyone else has abandoned you, God never will.  He loves you.  He chose you.  He knows everything you do.  He knows all your faults.  All your secrets.  And yet He still loves you.  Imagine that!

- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/27

Only Believe

@ 11:26 AM (15 months, 4 days ago)

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ~ John 8:32

Yesterday, I listened to a preacher who asked his congregation, "How many of you know that God loves you?"  Many hands went up.  

He then asked, "How many of you believe God loves you?"  Not as many hands rose.  

It is only the truth that we believe that makes us free.

For years, I knew the Word.  I could quote it backwards and forward.  I had memorized chapters and verses.  I could argue the Bible with you and win every time.  

Within the last few years, though, the Word has become real to me.  I have applied it to my life and seen it work.  I believed the Word enough to apply it to my situations.  The more I applied the Word, the more faith grew.

Many times we know the Scriptures, but until we believe them, they will do us no good.

In Mark 5, the ruler of the synagogue sought out Jesus because his daughter was dying.  Before Jesus and the ruler reached the daughter, a person of the man’s house came and told him that his daughter had died.  

Jesus, undaunted by the situation, instructed him in Mark 5:36, "As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe."

The word believe in this Scripture is the Greek transliterated word, Pisteuo.  It means to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in.

Only believe.  That’s all we have to do.  Believe God’s Word.  When we do that, we will obey it.  We will walk in love.  We will change by and by.  Those things are byproducts of believing the Word.

Have confidence in God’s Word.  Be persuaded that every word in the Bible is God inspired and that it is the true.  Apply it to your life and watch it work for you.


- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/26

Heed Every Word

@ 09:41 AM (15 months, 5 days ago)

Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  ~  Deuteronomy 8:3  (NLT).

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2007/4/25

He Watches Over You!

@ 11:20 AM (15 months, 6 days ago)

The Lord himself watches over you!  The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. ~ Psalm 121:5 (NLT)

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2007/4/24

Speak To It

@ 11:13 AM (15 months, 7 days ago)

Then he said to me, "Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!  ~ Ezekiel 37:4 (NLT)

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2007/4/23

What's In Your Hand?

@ 01:19 PM (15 months, 8 days ago)

But Elijah said to her, "Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. ~ I Kings 17:13 (NLT).

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2007/4/22

The Best In Others

@ 10:58 AM (15 months, 9 days ago)

The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. ~ Proverbs 20:5 (NIV)

The reason we are here, the talents and gifts, our character is deep within us.  A wise person can draw the best on in us.  They can see in us what we cannot see in ourselves.  When you see something special in someone else, do you ignore it?  Or do you draw it out?

~ Annagail Lynes

 
 

2007/4/21

He Exists

@ 09:36 AM (15 months, 10 days ago)

 

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. ~ Hebrews 11:6

Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is.  This seems so simple, but there are people in this world who deny the existence of the One, True Living God.  What are we doing to show them that He does exist?  Does our walk, our talk, our actions reflect our relationship with our Saviour?

- Annagail Lynes


2007/4/20

Wield The Word

@ 11:39 AM (15 months, 11 days ago)

There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”  ~ Numbers 13:33 (NKJV).


The Israelites were like grasshoppers in their own sight.

When problems come against us, most of the time, we cower underneath them.  They look as if they are giants towering over us, too big for us to handle.

How did David defeat Goliath who was much taller, bigger and stronger than David, a mere shepherd boy?

David told Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (I Samuel 17:45 NKJV).

Just like David, we have a secret weapon.  We are not to do things in our lives in our own strength.  Instead we are to do them in God’s.

We are soldiers in the army of Almighty God.  We are to fight our battles on His authority, not on ours.

When we fight in our authority, we become overwhelmed, frustrated and ready to give up. On His authority, though, just like in David’s case, it takes only one smooth stone to knock out the giants in our lives.

Our sword is not a physical sword, such as the one Goliath used.  No, our sword is the Word of God.

The Word of God, the Bible, is inspired by God Himself.  Ephesians 6 calls it our Sword of the Spirit.  It is alive and powerful and stronger than any two-edged sword.

We have to speak the Word of God to our mountains--the problems in our lives.  We can’t complain about them.  We can’t worry about them.  Neither of those cause the mountian to fall or the problems to cease.  We have to wield the Word of God at our problems.

We need to find Scriptures concerning our problems, then pick out up to five of them.  Then we have to speak those Scriptures to our problems.

The more we speak the Word to them, the more we chip away at the problems.  As we chip away at them with the Word, the smaller they becomes until it is non-existent because  the Word of God and our faith are growing bigger in our lives than the problems.

We don’t need a sword made of metal.  All we need is the Sword of the Spirit--the Word of God.

- Annagail Lynes


2007/4/19

We Are Chosen

@ 10:27 AM (15 months, 12 days ago)
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. ~ John 15:16

God chose us.  Imagine that.  Almighty God chose us to be His fruit-bearers.  He chose us to be a part of His grand plan.  But how much time do we spend doing what He called us to do?  How much time do we bear fruit?  How much of the tim are we just stagnant, in need of pruning?


- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/18

He Cares For You

@ 10:04 AM (15 months, 13 days ago)

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. ~ I Peter 5:7

God cares about us.  The Creator of the Universe, the One True and Living God cares about us.  And not only does He care, He wants to relieve us of all our worries, everything that concerns us.  What an awesome God is He!

- Annagail Lynes

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2007/4/17

We Are The Master's Pieces

@ 09:14 AM (15 months, 14 days ago)

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  ~ Ephesians 2:10 (New Living Translation)

We are God's masterpieces.  Think about that for a moment.  God created us with our unique talents, gifts and abilities and our uniques features.  He created us as one-of-a-kind masterpieces.  We are Designer originals...approved by God.

- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/16

God Knows

@ 11:43 AM (15 months, 15 days ago)

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. ~ Psalm 139:1 (NKJV)

God knows everything about us.  Why do we pretend that He doesn't?  Why do we try to get way with things?  Are we hoping that God took a coffee break?  We have to be more honest not only with God but with ourselves.

- Annagail Lynes




2007/4/15

What Is There To Fear?

@ 10:12 AM (15 months, 16 days ago)

Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; ~ Isaiah 43:5

God is with us.  If God is with us, what is there to fear?  Yet even though God is with us, we are doing a lot more fearing than we are trusting.  We need to choose to trust God instead of letting the fear control our lives.

- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/14

In You

@ 09:34 AM (15 months, 17 days ago)

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: ~ Philippians 1:6

It is God who should be doing the work through us.  Instead of striving, struggling, to be the perfect Christian, we need to yield to the Holy Spirit. We must work with Him, not against Him.

- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/13

Delight Yourself In The Lord

@ 11:52 AM (15 months, 18 days ago)

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  ~ Psalm 37:4


Most of us want God to give us the desires of our hearts.  According to this Scripture, though, we must first delight ourselves in the Lord.

What does it mean to delight ourselves in the Lord?

In this Scripture, the Hebrew word for delight is ‘anag (aw-nag’), which means to be happy about, take exquisite delight, to make merry over, make sport of.

From this definition, it is clear that delight isn’t a feeling.  Delight isn’t the same as adoration or admiration.  We can adore or admire someone from afar, but this isn’t so with delight. 

Delight is a verb.  It requires an outward response.  To delight in the Lord, we have to do something. 

What is it that we need to do?

When we delight in a friend or our spouse, what do we do?   We enjoy spending time with them.  We look forward to speaking with them.  We are excited just knowing we are going to see them at the end of the day.  Talking about them is our favorite subject.  When people bring up that person, our eyes light up. 

Shouldn’t this be the same way we are with God?  Shouldn’t we make time every day to spend with our God, the One who created us?  The One who saved us?  The One who redeemed us? 

We need to have an ongoing conversation with Him throughout the day.  Ask Him for help with the problems we have.  When we are discouraged or happy, share it with God.  He loves to listen to His children. 

Wait on Him and listen for His response.  We can’t have a real conversation with Him unless we listen as much as we talk. 

The more we spend time with God--talking to Him and listening to Him--we begin to delight in Him.  We start looking forward to spending this time with Him. 

As we do this, our desires change.  Instead of having human desires, we exchange our desires for His.  Then and only then can He give us the desires of our heart. 


- Annagail Lynes


2007/4/12

The Well Of Faith

@ 09:38 AM (15 months, 19 days ago)


So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. ~ Romans 10:17

We must feed constantly on the Word to increase our faith.  We need to listen to the Word through television programs, taped messages, the Internet, our preachers at church.  We have to keep filling up our well of faith, so that we will be able to draw on it in times of trouble.

- Annagail Lynes






2007/4/11

He Loves Us

@ 09:47 AM (15 months, 20 days ago)


But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ~ Romans 5:8

Christ died for us while we were still sinners.  If He did that while we were living in sin, polluted by our perverseness, how much more does He love us now that we are His children?

- Annagail Lynes




2007/4/10

The Exchange

@ 09:21 AM (15 months, 21 days ago)

Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. ~ Proverbs 16:3

It is only when we commit our works to God, when we surrender our will to Him, that our thoughts are established.  We must exchange our thoughts for His thoughts, our ways for His ways.  His are always higher and better than ours.


- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/9

What Are You Saying?

@ 12:04 PM (15 months, 22 days ago)

A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit. ~ Proverbs 15:4

We need to watch the words that come out of our mouths.  When they are negative, they bring us down, make us sick and attract negative circumstances into our lives.

- Annagail Lynes


2007/4/8

Wisdom

@ 03:08 PM (15 months, 23 days ago)

Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.  ~ Proverbs 4:5

Wisdom is more important to our lives than riches, than the latest IPOD, beauty or fame.  If you seek after God's wisdom, everything else you need will follow.

- Annagail Lynes

2007/4/6

Change Your Focus

Tags:
@ 11:46 AM (15 months, 25 days ago)

Two and a half weeks ago, my laptop–my prize possession after my Bible–started giving me trouble.  I had to send away for the item I needed to fix it.  

Then seven days ago, I woke up with what I thought was just a kink in my neck.  It became clear after several days that I had pulled a muscle.  The pain made my normal activities, such as working on the computer, sleeping or writing difficult.

I wanted to complain.  I wanted to scream about how it wasn’t fair, about how the forces of the universe were ganging up on me.  Instead I decided to focus on what was going right rather than wrong.  The pain and the laptop problems couldn’t last forever.  I just had to be patient and wait.

The word complain, as in James 5:9 (NAS). comes from the transliterated Greek word stenazo, which means a sigh, to groan.

How often do we complain when things go wrong?  When we are stuck in traffic.  When the chef doesn’t make our meal just as we ordered.  When the computer loses a very important file.

I challenge you to become aware of how many times you complain in a day.  In an hour?  Many times we don’t even know that we are doing it.  Many times we react without thinking.

But words are very important.  What we say is very important.  We are creative beings made in the image of God.  He says in Mark 11:23 that we can have what we say.  If we say negative words, negative things will occur in our lives.  If we say positive words, positive things will happen for us.

Now, I ask you, do you really want what you have been saying to manifest in your life?

The children of Israel complained in the wilderness.  They complained about the food, the water, the leadership.  What happened to them?  Most of them died in the wilderness.  Most of them didn’t enter the land that God promised them.

Miriam, Moses’ sister, murmured against her brother.  What happened to her?  She developed leprosy and had to be put out of the camp.

Miriam and the children of Israel focused on the bad that was happening around them, as most of us do.  Instead they needed to be directing their attention toward the good.  They were alive. They were no longer in slavery.  God provided food and water for them.  Their shoes never wore out.

As long as we focus on the bad, we will see everything through a bad mind set.  Instead if we force ourselves to pick out at least five good things about any situation, we will begin to see our circumstances more positively.  And our lives will reflect our new attitude.

When a race car driver is learning to race, his instructor tells him what to do if he is about to crash into a wall.  The instructor advises him to focus on where he wants the car to go.  Strangely enough, when he does, the car moves in that direction.  

So it is in life.  Focus on where you want to go, and your life will follow.


- Annagail Lynes