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
A couple of weeks ago, God dropped the word perseverance into my spirit.
That’s
when I looked up the word. The word perseverance comes from the
Greek transliterated word proskartereo. It means to be
steadfastly attentive unto, to give unremitting care to a thing.
In
our lives, we have plenty of opportunities to quit, to give up.
We confess the Word. Nothing seems to happen. We become
discouraged and opt to quit.
We’ve prayed and prayed, but our prayers don’t seem to be answered. Again we opt to quit.
We
keep being good to people, only to be betrayed....once again.
Then we opt to withdraw and not put ourselves out there anymore.
The
Bible tells us to seek and keep on seeking, ask and keep on asking,
knock and keep on knocking (Matthew 7:7 Amplified Bible).
Quitting
for Believers should not be an option. If we are blown away by
every disappointment, every difficult time, every distraction, we will
never fulfill the purpose God has for us.
We have to determine in our hearts to be steadfast, to be devoted to those things that God has spoken to us to do.
We
have to be like a bulldog with a bone. When someone tries to take
that bone from him, he digs his teeth in and holds onto it. He
refuses to let go no matter how hard the person tries to wiggle it,
jerk it or yank it from him. He isn’t giving it up.
When
it comes to the things of God, the promises that He has given you both
through His Word or through His Holy Spirit, the dreams He has planted
in your heart, we should be as that bulldog.
We
should dig our teeth into our promise and not give it up no matter how
many disappointments, distractions and difficulties come our way.
We need to hold onto our promise until we see it manifested.
But
most of us give up before our promise comes to pass. Most of us
become so discouraged that we decide that God failed us, that our
promises are too hard to obtain, that it wasn’t God’s will for us.
No,
if we hold onto the promise God has given us, it has to come to
pass...no ands, ifs or buts because God’s promises are yea and in Him,
amen (2 Corinthians 1:20).
So don’t give up. Hold onto your promise from God, and wait for it to manifest. Hallelujah!
- Annagail Lynes
My grandmother stood in her yard a little over a year ago. She shook a
photo. One that I had seen many times. One of me and some distant
cousin playing together when we were real young. I didn’t recall the
actual event, but I had heard the story many, many times.
Read the rest of this entry ... (412 words left)
For years, I
wanted to be someone else. Anyone else. Someone
prettier. Someone smarter. Someone more talented. I
wanted to be anybody but me.
I couldn’t wish,
beg or plead myself into being a different person. I didn’t have
a magic wand to transform myself into someone else. The only
person I could be is me.
I compared
myself to others. It wasn’t the models in the magazines that
tripped me up. Instead it was the people who seemed to have it
altogether. They looked just right. They said the right
things at the right time. Everything they did turned to
gold. And I am just not like that.
I worried and
fretted, trying to be like them, only to fall flat on my face. I
could follow the same steps they took and still fail. Things just
didn’t come as easily for me.
Over the years,
I have learned a valuable lesson. God didn’t create me to be
someone else. He created me to be me.
He created me
just the way I am–with my brown hair streaked with gray, to be my
height, to have my talents and even my personality.
If He wanted me to be someone else, that’s who He would have created me to be, but He created me to be me.
He has a purpose
for my life and for my specific talents, just as He does for
yours. He has a reason why I was born at this particular time in
this particular place.
The only person
you have to be is you. The only person you have to be like is
God. If you will let Him, He will teach you how to be all He
created you to be. And that’s all you ever have to be.
- Annagail Lynes
When did you become religious? I didn’t.
I went to church
for the first fifteen years of my life. I memorized Bible
verses. I attended Sunday School. I acted in the church
plays. But I am not religious.
I have a relationship.
You see, religion is a list of rules and regulations that determine if you are good enough to get to heaven.
Religion is a one-way street. You do, do, do. And the more you do, the more you have to do to “please” God.
A relationship is a two-way street.
Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
There is nothing
that you can do in your own strength to qualify you for heaven.
The only thing that qualifies you is accepting Jesus as your
Saviour. It isn’t anything that you do. It is what Jesus
did by taking your sins on the Cross. It is what Jesus did by
laying His life down so that you may have a place in heaven.
His shed blood
on the Cross puts me in right standing with God. As a result, I
have the opportunity to develop a relationship with Him.
Instead of
praying, begging and pleading, I talked to Him as I would a
friend. Then I listen, which to me, is the most important
part. When I listen, I hear Him speak. It may not always be
a voice. Maybe it is a thought that pops into my mind out of
nowhere. Perhaps it is a feeling or an impression, but I know
that when I listen, God will speak.
I don’t do
things because I have to. I do things for God because I want
to. I love Him and out of love comes obedience and the desire to
want to do things for Him.
A relationship
with God doesn’t just happen. As in any relationship, you have to
work at it. You have to carve out time in your schedule to spend
time with Him. The more time you spend with Him, the more solid
your relationship becomes. The more your love grows and so does
your need to obey Him.
Remember,
though, that a relationship is a two-way street. You can’t do all
the talking. You have to listen. If you don’t, you
will never really know God.
- Annagail Lynes
