Surviving Depression

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. Psalm 34:17(NIV)

All pictures are taken by and edited by Lesli Allyn Blogs unless otherwise stated.

Depression  and other  mental health issues is a subject that  too  often goes unaddressed.  It's can be  an  uncomfortable   subject to talk about especially if you're personally  battling any form of depression.   Just admitting that  there is something that  sets you  apart in that  way.  So many  are walking  around with their   guard up in an effort to  protect themselves  from  the judgement of others.  Carrying this  burden on your own is not only  exhausting because you  have to fake happiness but  it  also  keeps  you isolated in  your pain.


But there is HOPE!

Today,  if there is one thing that I  really want you  to walk away with is  that   there  is  HOPE! Speaking from experience I know what it's like to  go through bouts  of  depression  for weeks and not being able to see the light at the  end of my pain.  But in the midst of  all of my  pain God reached down and  gave  light to  the path of  my recovery. What you  need to know is that  what  you are  going through is  valid and most importantly  what you are going through  matters  to God. You matter  to  God!  He understand and He want to  pull you through your circumstances.


 So  today I want to briefly share with you  a few steps that  helped me   survive  depression.

• Time with God: This is your first and most important on the road to recovery
• Create  Pinterest board with  bible verses that  uplift you and read them as often! (Click on the word pinterest for my personal  helpful collection of  verses and  quotes.)
• Get help! Ask God to  lead you to someone  that you can trust to walk you through this time in your life.

Let's  connect you can  find LesliAllynBlog on most social platforms.

Love,

What to Do With Your Worries

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7(ESV)

All  pictures are taken by and  edited by Lesli Allyn Blogs unless otherwise stated.

Life  happens and  we  all  face things in our lives that   makes us  anxious  especially when we  don't have  all the  answer to fix the  situation ourselves. This is when we  must  look beyond ourselves and  our  abilities and  seek  Christ and His abilities. Worry  distracts us  from  trusting  God  fully and it  keeps us  stuck in our emotions. The  tricky  thing  about our emotions is that they aren't  reliable and the enemy  will feed your anxiety with  all sorts of  lies to keep you  stuck in one place.  God  never intended for you to carry all your burdens, in fact  Matthew 11: 28-30 say this.

“Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest.  Accept my teaching. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. Yes, the teaching that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30 (ERV)

So what  should we do with our worries and the  anxiety?   Give them to  the Lord  because  He cares  for you, give it to the  Lord because   He  promises to  give you rest and  relieve you  of all the things that are weighing you down.  God   has given  you His  word but  you must  be  willing to  first admit that you need His help. You don't  have to spend  anymore time  trying to figure things out on your own because  when  you let go  God  will  release from your burdens and replace them with a peace that only He  can give.  When we  are  receptive to His  grace He will fill us with exactly what we need to move forward and win the battle over  anxiety and  worry.

Love,

The Reality of Faith

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) 

All pictures are taken and edited by Lesli Allyn Blogs unless otherwise stated.

The one thing that we  all have in common is  a   desire to  see the things that we  are  hoping for  come to fruition. But  when  we  submit  our  prayers to  the Lord  do  we  really  have faith  in  Gods  ability to  grant  the desires of  our heart?  I'm sure there have  been  instances in your life where  you've been  praying for  something and there seems to be a  delay between  when you've prayed and  when your prayers are answered.  In these cases we  often  mistake  Gods  timing in the matter   for a denial  of  our  request.

Hebrews 11:6 (NCV)6 Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him. 

The truth is when we  make  our request known to  God  we   must  first  start  by fully trusting that God  not  only  hears  us but  He  really cares.   If  you are praying for something but your faith is wavering ,   how can our  prayers possibly   be  effective? You must  be  all in  and begin to cast down any doubts that  attempt to distract you.   If you have  poured your  heart out to  the Lord in prayer then   trust He is  shifting things around and  creating a  perfect  moment   for things  to come together.

When we   seek  the  Lord  with all of our  heart we  can be  confident in the fact that  He will  meet us at the point of our needs.    Cultivating an  attitude of  expectancy in our  prayer  life  plays  a vital  part in   pleasing God  and our spiritual  growth. When the   hope  we have  in  God  meets  with His ability to  completely  change  our circumstances around  there  is  nothing that  we  cannot do.

So  your mission moving forward  is to pray earnestly, trust that  God  has heard you and  leave  all  your  request at His  feet.   For  your own  peace of  mind I encourage  you to get rid  of the   timetable that you've  created for your prayers to  be answered  and   just  trust the  Lords timing.

Love,

His Grace is Enough

9 He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.” So I’ll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power can rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (CEB) 

All pictures are taken and edited by Lesli Allyn Blogs  unless otherwise stated.

There is  wisdom in being  honest  with ourselves and admitting that  we need  help.   To  accomplish all that God  has  placed in our heart to  do  we need  His  grace  daily.  We  often  put  so much  pressure on ourselves to  figure things out that  we  weigh ourselves down with the  burdens  of life. God  never intended for us  to navigate through  our life  alone, and  the   sooner we  realize this the  sooner we  can  receive  the  freedom of  serving a  God that   partners with us   to  ensure that  we succeed.

Letting  go can  be difficult  especially  when  fear  begins to   clouds our   vision.  Sometimes  it  is  hard to see ourselves  breaking  through the cycles in  our  lives when we  cant   seem to see  beyond   our challenging  circumstances.   In these instances we  have to be determined  to    trust  God and really  submit  the burdens  in our  hearts  over to Him so  that  He can begin to restore us. 

You  may  not have  all the answers  right  away  and that's fine, but  you do have  to  be  willing  to  keep  moving  ahead  even when you don't understand.  Will you trust  God  with   your pain and the  areas in your life that  you are  insecure  about?  It's not easy to   expose the  areas of our life that  we are weak in but   2 Corinthians 12:9  say that    God's  grace  is  enough and  His power is  made  perfect within our  weakness.  The good news is that  He will  exchange  our  weakness with  His  power and  His   love.

So ask yourself,  what am I  holding onto and what do I need to   hand over the  Lord?  Will you make  room for Him to shift   your circumstances or will you  continue to   circle  around and  around with the same old  issue?  There is  no peace  in  having to  fight  every  battle  alone and to be honest I wouldn't  want  to  face  everything  with my  own  abilities.  When you fully trust  God and His  capable  hands it  is impossible to   lose.  Victory is  already   set in place.  Will your  receive it?

Love,

Loyal Followers

8 I heard what the Lord God said. He said there would be peace for his people and his loyal followers.  So they must not go back to their foolish way of living.  (Psalm 85:8 ERV)

All Pictures are taken by, belong to and are  edited by Lesli Allyn Blog unless otherwise stated.

 Our peace is connected to   consistently   following  Christ and   depending on  Him for  every area of  our lives.  The Lord wants all of  us,  not  just the  areas that  we   feel  comfortable with.  He   also   wants  the  areas of  our lives   that   are  messy , painful,  as  well  the  things we are  still holding onto in attempt  to fix  them  ourselves.

Old habits die hard  especially  without   the  Lords help in  sorting through our  mess;  We  fall short and  become  comfortable  with the sin  God  wants to free us  from.  Sometimes   as  believers we put  God into this neat little  Sunday  box   but  the Lord has  given us   open access to  His presence  through  prayer so that  we  can  draw  from  Him  daily. 

 When we  begin to  come  to God  consistently we  are   more  equipped and  less  likely  to fall into the traps of  old bad habits.  When  you   find  that  God is  tugging on your  heart  to walk away from something or  someone that   you feel you "need" it's  not   in  a effort  to punish you but  to build  you stronger so He can  push you  towards your  purpose.  In  these cases  those  old relationships or habits are  a hindrance to where He  wants to take you.

 You have to  make a decision on  what's  more  important,  the  peace that  is  attached to  following  Christ, trusting His plan  and pushing  past   old  habits  or remaining  stagnant  and  being  self  led?  Your  response is directly  connected  to how much you trust  God.  If you find yourself wrestling  with your  answer, then  I want to encourage  you ask  the Lord to  begin shifting  your perspective and  to  teach you how  to  let  go of   the  dead  areas of your life  and to breath new  life into your faith.

Love,

Beauty for Ashes

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3 (KJ21)

All pictures are taken, belong to  and are  edited by Lesli Allyn Blogs

We have  all at some point  experienced  an significant  point in our lives where  life has dealt you some  significant  blows; From  a loss of a  loved one,  financial issues or  the ending  of a  relationship. In these instances  it can feel like you're  just  standing there with your pieces wondering if you'll ever be whole again.

While you are  still hurting it can be hard to imagine  that things will get better  BUT they do  in fact get  better.  But there  is something you must do  to get this  point,  you must  trust  God with your  pain.  Often times  we  are carrying around the pain of our situations  that we can't see past it.  What we  need to understand is  that  God is ready and willing to   take on  all that is consuming us.  You don't have to solve every problem on your own , you don't have  live with that pain day in and  day out. 

Know that  for everything that you've  loss, every  tear you've  cried  , for  all the sleepless nights  you've experienced  God is  there to restore  all that  was  broken in  you and renew you  again.  Think  of    how much  of  a  relief it is  to turn  over all you're pain to  God and  in exchange  He gives  you His  peace  and healing.

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)You make known to me (A)the path of life in your presence there is (B)fullness of joy at your right hand are (C)pleasures forevermore.

What  a  wonderful gift  we have in Christ Jesus!  He  carries  us from our pain into his presence  and in His presence  is the FULLNESS of  joy!  Not  circumstantial   happiness that is   dependent on a person or thing but a  joy that is  everlasting.    God wants  you to have  joy but you must  surrender  all that  you've been carrying to Him.   Trust  Him . He will give you beauty for ashes. 

Love, 

Prayer Series pt.1 Pray More. Worry less.

Psalm 61:2(CEB)When my heart is weak,  I cry out to you from the very ends of the earth. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I am

Dear  God

I come to you with my  troubled heart and  overwhelming thoughts.  I've tried to handle things on my own, in my  way and I've come up short and more stressed.  So  Father I give  all that is causing me anxiety,  all that  is  causing sleepless nights and all the things that  cause me to doubt your  grace and lay  it at your  feet. 

Please renew my heart  and  pour  peace into my  situation, help me to  keep my eyes focused on you and  not my circumstances. When I am overwhelmed remind me that I can trust that your love and  presence has never left me and  that you are  actively  working things out on my behalf. 

In these moments of  weakness Lord I pray your strength  fills me; Breath new life into me dear God and remove anything that  causes me to stumble and revert back to fear. My desire is to trust you fully , with all of me not  just a  portion of my life so when I try to handle things on my own and way I'll quickly remember  that my life is taken care of  and handled better when I put things in your hands.  These things I pray in Jesus' name . Amen

If you're wrestling with fear and anxiety  I want to encourage you  to place it at the feet of God.  Know that nothing takes God by surprise  and He is  present in your situation. You do not have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders; Give  all that  is weighing you  down  to God and he will give you rest!  You will get through this,  God is with you  and He will never leave you. 

Love,

Overwhelmed?

Picture taken and Edited by  Lesli Allyn

Even strong lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. -Pslams 34:10 (CEB)

Life throws a lot of  curve balls and  it can be hard to sort things out in your mind. What's my  next step, am I making the right  decisions?   It's easy  to find yourself in a vicious  cycle of  self doubt  wondering if what you thought  you heard God  speak to you  was  really  him.   Many times as I  write these post  I wonder if what I am doing is pleasing God and if I'm on the  right  course.  I don't want to  ever  give off the impression that  I have everything together  because I definitely  do NOT.  The truth is every piece of  wisdom  that I have comes  from God and I am  just  a vessel. 

So what do I do when I'm overwhelmed? 

1. I remind myself that I don't have it  altogether  right now.
2. Over thinking  the situation  will not  help,  it will increase my stress.
3. God never intended for me to carry  my  burdens  alone.

When we  try to fight  our own battles  we end up exhausted  and  empty. This is  why it's so import  to develop  a habit  setting  aside some quiet time with God.  We need this  time  to  listen ,pour out our hearts  and to allow  God renew us each day.  I believe that if we  take  a step  back and allow God to set the  pace in our lives that He  will   lift  every burden off our shoulder and  guide us to  each step that we need to take.  Remember that God doesn't need our help  or  job is to trust,  listen,  obey and  receive.  That's it!

So whatever you're wrestling with today let it  go!  God has you in the  palm of His  hands and there is no better  place to be. 

Dear Lesli: Life is Happening DON'T FREAK OUT!

 

picture via Jason Van Dyk  Flicker

James 1:12(CEB)

12 Those who stand firm during testing are blessed. They are tried and true. They will receive the life God has promised to those who love him as their reward.

Yesterday  all of my  worries  unfolded and  exploded all over  yesterdays  post. (lol)  I fought with the thoughts of :  Am I doing the right thing, Should I even be  doing this?  There  is  nothing like a  upcoming birthday  to  get you caught up in your  feelings  and  second guessing EVERY decision   you've every made in life. In my heart I know that I  must  remember  to  base my life  on  what God says  not   "feelings" .  Emotions are  fleeting  and can  have your mind  spinning in a  whirlwind. 

This morning I resolved to  declutter  my mind and the   space around me . I    cleaned by room  lite a candle and began to  sort through my thoughts.  I found this lingering  question floating around my  head.  "Where is your  FAITH?"         Monday I  gave  all  of my  fears , insecurities anxiety a  platform  and placed  all of my  focus on those them but  what happen to my  faith? In my heart I know God hasn't forgotten about me and to effectivly  get through this season in my life I must   focus on  Christ.  It's  time  that I shift  my thinking  instead of  giving  my  fears a  spotlight  I will  meditate on the promises of  God.  So  below  are a few that I'd like to share that you may reference  back on  in your quiet times and we'll  get through  these hurdles in life  with the assurance of  the  Christ Jesus who intercedes on our  behalf.

“The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” —Deuteronomy 31:8

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” —Isaiah 41:10  

25 “So I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothes?26 “Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they?27 “Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying? Matthew 6:25

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” —Philippians 4:6-7

I hope that  this helps in fact I know that  it will,  you just  have to enter into his  promises with an  open heart. We were not meant to   carry all of burdens  on our  own and  to be quite  honest I don't want to . I know with  whats going on in our world  and what we have to  deal with in our  personal lives    it's hard to find  balance.  More than ever we  need to rely on God and give Him each  and every worry, fear and  anxiety.  Ask that  God would  fill you with  the  joy only He can  give and  don't give in  to  fleeting  emotions.  God has us in the palm of His  hands.

Connect with me online!  I'm @lesliallynblogs  everywhere also  feel free to  email me at  thelesliallynblog@yahoo.com  

Love,

Our Youth: You Life Matters.

Leviticus 19:15 (NCV)

15 “‘Be fair in your judging. You must not show special favor to poor people or great people, but be fair when you judge your neighbor.

It has been a  difficult week to say the least. The  story of  Micheal Brown has exploded all over social media and  in the press.  It's heartbreaking to see  the practice of unnecessary force  being used in the  Ferguson  community as well and violence that is taking place each day there.  It's very  disheartening to  witness how  some  abuse the  platform they've been given. We live in a  society where the  guilty are being  protected for their evil and the  innocent are fighting for their  right to exist.

Over the years I've daydreamed about having a son of my own and  how  I'd teach him about God and  nurture his dreams.   But today I am legitimately concerned about even having children; I don't want to  worry about them becoming another  walking target.  In light of all that is taking  place how do we  explain this to our  sons?  Why do we have to explain to our  young black youth  that due  to  the  hate  garnered in the  hearts  of  those abuse their platform  you  will have to be careful in  simply walking down the street? The  inherent  right  to feel free and protected is something that is  slowly being erased.

In spite of all that has happened  we must teach our  son about God and what He says about them. We  must let our sons know that they have value and that their  lives matter, that they are  loved! We cannot  always  protect them from bad things but we can equip them with the tools to  push through by letting them know that   God will never leave or forsake them and in times of  trouble  we must  rely on him only.

Dear  God,

I pray that your hand  would be on our son and the youth in the upcoming  generation. Help those who  find themselves trying to process what's taking place in this world and bring them peace in knowing that you prepare the path ahead of them and that you will cover them.  We pray that  you would bring peace and justice to the community of  Ferguson,Missouri and that the  violence  will stop.  These things we pray in Jesus's name. -Amen

Micheal Brown: A Prayer for Justice.

In light of  this  past weekends events in St.Louis  where  18 year old   Micheal Brown  (unarmed)  was killed by a   local  police officer- I  would like  to take a moment to lift  Micheal's  parents, their family and the  Ferguson community up in prayer.


Dear  Lord,

I submit this  prayer  along with many around the world  who's heart break for  the  brown family.  The  pain of losing  a child is  unimaginable so  Lord  I pray that the peace that only you  can  bring will comfort , only  you can  bring light into this dark situation.  I lift up  Micheal's  parent in prayer and ask that you would   mend their broken hearts, place your arms  around them  and help them to  stand firm as  they  seek justice  for  their son.  Lord I pray that you   would orchestrate  positive change for within  the   Ferguson community; Please  grace  them with the  wisdom to cry out to you for change  and  peacefully  seek   justice   through you  and  not take things into  their own hands. We need an outpouring of your spirit and your  love to  restore the peace, safety and justice to the Ferguson  community.  I pray that your  hands would be  in every effort to bring positive  change.    In Jesus's name  -Amen


Love,

Let's Talk : Why you Should FORGIVE.

Forgiveness is  a  sore spot for   a lot  of people including myself. I've wasted   years of my  life   walking around with this cloud of  unforgiveness floating above my head with no resolution.  But  I've  learned  over the years that  when  you hold on to  grudges you lock yourself into a  prison along with your pain. You may also find that you lock others out of your life who could potentially  add value to your life. .  So today I'll share with you what changed my perspective.

What Changed My  Heart? : Three things.

• The pain that I was  clutching onto served no purpose other than to  keep me stuck in time  storing the   offense in my heart.
• The other party was either unaware of the offense or simply didn't care.
• I realized  keeping  a rolodex of the event punishes me  more than  one that  caused the hurt.

Now what  actually solidified my need to  change my heart  was this  verse:

Matthew 6:14The Message (MSG)14-15 “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.

Intense  right? We all want God to  forgive us right? I don't know about you but I've have not lived a pristine life  and there are things I need to be forgiven for. So how can  I receive forgiveness  if  I  don't do my  part  in letting go of  resentment? By holding on to  a grudge we  are  essentially cutting ourselves out of forgiveness . "if you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part".  Ever read the Lord's Prayer? I've said it, you may have said it;  Remember this  part?  "Forgive us our debts as  we  forgive our debtors".   What that statement means is, God  forgive me only  to the extent that I forgive  others.

How does Forgiveness Work? :

Forgiving someone doesn't dilute the  pain that was  caused or  excuse  the one who hurt you; Forgiveness pin points the issue and actively  peruses peace with the issue instead of holding on to  it.  There is such freedom in letting go and allowing God to heal that area of your life. 

Here's  a  quote from  blog entitled Forgiveness vs. Restoration by  Rick Warren  that  helped me put things into perspective.

Let me explain what forgiveness is not. Forgiveness does not mean the instant restoration of trust. Forgiveness is instant. Trust must be rebuilt over time. Forgiveness is based on grace. Trust is built on works. You earn trust. You don’t earn forgiveness

Lastly  for those who are  still  dealing with  painful events in your life I want to encourage you to live  a free and full life. Throw  down your  burdens at the feet of the master and ask that God  fill those  gaps in your life and  and restore your broken  heart so that you may  really  LIVE  to the full without dragging  any chains from the  past. In Jesus's name -Amen


God bless you!

Love, Lesli.