While You're Waiting

I am waiting for the Lord to help me. My soul waits for him. I trust what he says. Psalm 130:5 (ERV)

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Have you heard the  saying if you want to make  God laugh tell Him about your plans. I believe that God has  put a dream in  all of hearts but  sometimes  our timing  doesn't line up with Gods, In these instances we have to develop  patience and  faith. Often we are so consumed with chasing  down one  plan  after the next that we  neglect to  ask God   what  His plans are. What we have to remember  is that  our life isn't just about us, it's about  our service and living out  Gods plan for us.  You may  feel  a bit  frustrated or even  overlooked but I want to  encourage you to wait on God, trust His plan and believe that  He still has a plan for your life.

Love,

Change Is Good Pt.2

Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature. Romans 12:2(CEB)

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Sometimes we resist  change  because it's uncomfortable but  often times the change we are running from is  the very thing we  need to become the best  version of ourselves.  That  gentle nudge  of the holy spirit is  an indication that  where you are  currently has served it's purpose and  you need to moved forward towards Gods next step for you. Choosing to stay where you are  seems like safest place to be  because you've  become accustomed to your routine and  you feel like you're  in control. The truth is  that remaining the  same is the equivalent  of   living life at a  standstill. If you  find yourself noticing the  nudge of  the holy spirit  to move forward but you  don't  how  to move forward or even  how to develop  the desire to want to move forward then ask God to renew your  mind and change your heart and if you trust Him He  will begin to change your perspective.



Love,

Pray.Trust.Let Go!

 Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.Philippians 4:6 (GW)

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Sometimes we  have the  tendency to  pray about our circumstances  and  put our  focus on the  issue   instead of   praying and putting our focusing on God.  Trust me I get it,  you may have been believing and praying for  something for  a long  time  and nothing has happened yet. What  I have learned from my personal experience is that I must trust  Gods timing over my own.  Believe me  I know how hard it  is to let go but what  I've realized over the years is  that  it's even more  burdensome to continue to carry  around  the  anxiety  attached to my  problems.  

God  never  intended  us to  weighed  down by the circumstances of  life. He ask that we  come to Him with our  request and  trust Him.  So don't be  discouraged by the  process, there are things along the way that you need to learn in order to arrive at your  breakthrough fully equipped.  So in the meantime Take this time  to  ask  God what  it is that  you need to  learn  while your going through this  transition period and ask that He  fill your life  with His  purpose for your life so  that your  focus won't  be on your own timetable. 

Love,

Where Does Your Hope Lie?

31  but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength;they will fly up on wings like eagles; they will run and not be tired;they will walk and not be weary. Isaiah 40:31(CEB)

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When you read over today's  reference  verses  Isaiah 40:31 and  Lamentations 3:22-23 (CEB)  you'll   notice that   God  guarantees  us that  if we   put our  hope in  Him:


1.  He  Will Renew  your Strength: 

We don't have to rely on our  own strength  or  abilities to get through the seasons in our lives.  As we  begin to  be totally  dependent on  God we  can  trust that  the Lord will  fix all that  is  broken  within us and  set  us back  on our  feet again.


2.They  Will Fly on Wings Like Eagles:  

We  are  never  below  Gods  grace  we are right in the center of  His  mercy.  Every  morning   we  receive  new mercies.  So we  don't have to  carry the  burdens of  yesterday into today. There  is  no  circumstance that  God cannot   carry us  through because  He consistently meets our  needs.


3. They Will Run and Not  Be  Tired;  They Will  Walk and  Not Be Weary: 

No matter where you are ,  no  matter   if you  feel  like   you have nothing  more to offer, the  Lord will give you  just  what you need to   take  the  next  steps you need to  get through to the other side of  each difficult  circumstance.

 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)

So you have  to ask yourself,  Where does my   hope  lie when I reach the end  of  my rope? Will I continue to seek my own  way or   will  I   finally  lay down  all that I have before  God and allow Him to fill me  with  his everlasting love and  wisdom? Trust me I know life happens and there  are  so  many  things that compete  for  our  attention  but  we  have to purposely choose  to  put  our  hope in God and not  what  we  see or  feel is going on  around us. Remember,  you are never  beyond  God's  reach.


The way that we can begin to shift  our  focus  is  through quality time spent  with God. Reading  His word and meditating on His promises  instead of   the things  that  leave of  anxious and cloud our judgement. The  bible is  our  life  manual  and our  best  tool to navigate through life. Friends are great,  a supportive  family  is amazing but  no one can restore you like  God.  So  today make sure that you  intentionally  give  God  your time  so that  He  can fill you up.  


Love,

Trusting God with Our Pain

 2 Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help, and you healed me.Psalm 30:2 (CEB)

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

So  many of  us are  walking around with so much anxiety   in our  heart .  We  walk around  day in and day out  carrying the burdens and all of our concerns  to the  point of exhaustion  and    depression. Even when we  pray our  mind tends to  wonder into  doubt.   We worry through  every request  made to God and instead of  cultivating a  atmosphere to  hear  from God and receive  peace  we  turn it into   a session of double minded prayer and   doubting  Gods abilities.



There  is  no faith in worry; With every  concern that we  have  we  must  submit it  to  God,  leave it there with Him and  wait to  hear  His  instructions  for  our  next steps. Often times we grow  impatient and  we want to  take things into our own hands because we  have  not yet  begun to  trust  Gods  timing.  One thing we have to  keep in mind is that  within our own power we would only exhaust ourselves.  But when we  give everything to  God , He  will ease our anxiety and  guide  us through every season of  our lives.  


With God we can  begin  to see the light at the end of the tunnel because through  His  peace  we  begin to see things  more clearly.  God is  able to reach our  hearts in ways that no  one else  can. He  knows  exactly  what  to  say, what  and who to remove from our lives that is distracting  us.  By His  hands we were  crafted and by those  same hands  He is  able to heal us from the inside out and restore us as we  cry out to Him.



There is  nothing more humbling than  when we  have truly  given our  worries to God and  He  not only  responds to our faith but  He   exceeds our  expectations.  It is  amazing how  the Lord can  use the very thing that  we  have been carrying around so  long  to  renew our  faith . Today I  encourage you to  give  God  access to  every  area  of your life and all the  things that  are keeping you anxious.  Continue to  pray  and  cast  down every  doubt with  the promises of  God.  If you cry  out to  God  He hears your prayers and He will Heal you! 





Love,

You are A Walking Miracle

 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart.I will tell all the miracles you have done. Psalm 9:1 (NCV)

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Your life  is  a miracle, you may  not  have  ever  thought of your  life as a  miracle  but it is. Every day that  we wake up,   every breath  that  we    take  even  when  we  take His provision  for granted, the Lord remains the  same  and  never changes  who He is.  It is   a  testament to  his   goodness   and  the depth of his  love for us.  It is  a blessing to be  called his. God  looks at  us  and  see's  our purpose and we  are  valuable in His  eye's.

Think about it  this way,  without  the Lords  hand on our  lives  where would we  be , how  would  we  even  begin to survive the  storms in our lives?  I'm  sure if you took  a  moment  to  look over events in your life   you will   find   that  there where times  where  you were  unsure of how   things would  come together but  God  opened a  door,  set up  the right meetings  and  things worked out.  

We all have  story to tell  and our  story is  worth sharing  with others.    It  vital to the growth of the  body  of Christ to  be transparent  and share  our  testimonies. Your  testimony  can  give hope to someone  who  is  going through something that you've  experienced or  it  could be  the  nudge  that  someone needs to   accept  Christ. 



God  has  been  more than   amazing to me  and I know that   many  can  say the  same thing about  God in their  lives.  If  you haven't  already today, take the  time to   thank  God  for   loving you as  you are  and  for  never  leaving  you  to sort  through your  own issues and   hangup's   alone.   God has  been  so faithful even  as  we  fall short  the  Lord hasn't  lost  sight of  us for one moment.  We  are  all walking miracles.  Share your  story with someone today,  in  person or  over social  media.  It  doesn't matter how you do it just  take  advantage of  the moment  and  share  the  goodness of  God today.

Love,

Pre- Holiday Survival Kit

 6 (A)do not be anxious about anything, (B)but in everything by prayer and supplication(C)with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6(ESV)

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The Holidays are here!  For some  this  time of  year  can  be very hectic  with  all the  planning  and  family   gatherings.   For others  it can be  a difficult   time  of year  due to  the loss  of a  loved one or  not having   family  nearby.  So today I want to encourage you briefly  as we  officially  head into the  holiday season.

Relax! Don't  over extend  yourself.  If you find that  there  are request that you simply  can't fit into your  schedule  then you need to  be  ok with saying  no.   And that's ok ,  you  cannot  be  everywhere  at once  and you cannot  be  apart of  every event  or  project.  Pace  each project out  in a  time frame that is  realistically  manageable   for you and  don't  take on so much that it takes the  fun of the experience.  The last  thing that you want  is to look back and realize that you were so anxious to make things  "perfect" that you  forgot to enjoy yourself and be  present in the moment. 

I know   that  this  time of  year can also  be  bittersweet  for  some  because  of  a loved one passing or  not  being  able to   be  with family  for the holidays.   I am  familiar with  both scenarios  and I've talked about my story  a bit more in-depth  in  a previous  blog post  called   Grieving: My  Story .    As much as we  may  look forward to the holidays  it is  also  a reminder that things are "different".  This can  be hard to  adjust to   at  first.   I want to encourage you ,  it  does  get better!  If you  give your pain over to  God he will  mend your heart and renew your broken spirit. I am living  proof of this.

My  advice  would  be to be intentional about   celebrating the   lives of the  loved one's  that  have passed; Focus  more  on the  moments that  you shared that made you happy  or  laugh and cling to that.  If you are  unable  to be  with  a  loved one this year try sending them  a small thinking of  your package, skype ,  or  write  letters to keep the flow of  communication  going so that  distance won't interfere  with creating new memories and traditions until your  circumstances change.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

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)

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 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,