Time Well Spent

 Jesus left and made his way to the Mount of Olives, as was his custom, and the disciples followed him. Luke 22:39 (CEB)

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

We are  all so busy with  life, family , and  our personal interest that  sometimes  we  neglect to carve  out enough  time for  God.  We all  have activities and interest  that we  love and  that's great but  nothing brings our life  full circle more than  absorbing  Gods  word and spending time in His presence.  So let's begin to balance the scales in our lives and shift our  focus towards  things that  feed our spirit and equips  us for our  purpose.   Be  intentional about   shutting down the things that distract you and   carve out  a portion of your  day  for  God. Here's  a  good   way to kick things off: In the morning  before you reach for you  phone to check your social feeds find a scripture or  devotional to read first  and pray.  At the end of the day chose a book in the bible to study and take note of things that pop out to you.  Each day make sure that your time was well spent and that  God isn't simply a  option but a priority.

Open Communication

In my trouble I called to the Lord.I cried out to my God for help.From his temple he heard my voice; my call for help reached his ears.                               Psalm  18:6 (NCV) 

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

I  don't  believe in luck or   happenstance;  But   I do firmly  believe  in sincerely  seeking  God through  prayer  and  the Lords  ability to meet me  at the point  of  my needs.  We are   blessed beyond measure   because the Lord has opened a  line of  communication  with us through  prayer.  We  can confide in Him with our  deepest  concerns; we can  trust Him with our heart, our   pain as well as  our weaknesses  and His love remains the same.  



He  never views  us  any differently  because of the areas we fall short in. His  compassion  is simply amazing. When  we come before the  Lord and  pour  our  heart  out  there is  no  need  to  clean things  up and    project ourselves in  a certain light  because  we are  concerned about   how  God  will react  to our pain.    The  Lord  accepts us  just  as  a loving  and  kind Father  would and He  cares about the things are on our hearts.


One of the  great things  about  the Lord is  His  ability   to completely  turn things around  in our life: There are no   big  jobs in His eye's, the question  we should ask ourselves is   if  our  faith is too small?  Do we   trust  the  Lord  enough to  be really  honest about  where we are and admit  that  we  need   His help?  There is  no  weakness in  admitting  that   you need help so don't  allow your  pride to keep you stuck in one place when God is  more than willing to take on your issues and  move you forward.



Why  spend so much  time trying to sort through your own issues  when you could  be  spending that  time   at the  feet of  the Lord.  Give your worries to  the  God and leave them there in His capable hands.  Today I encourage you  to  receive   His  peace and His  joy which  will sustain you.  Remember  that  his  peace and his joy are  things that will never diminish and  you can   rest  knowing that He has everything   thing handled.


Love,

Dealing with Difficult People

17 You won’t even have to fight. Just take your positions and watch the Lord rescue you from your enemy. Don’t be afraid. Just do as you’re told. And as you march out tomorrow, the Lord will be there with you. 2 Chronicles 20:17(CEV)

All pictures belong to and are edited by Lesli Allyn Blogs unless otherwise stated

Have you  ever   encountered  someone who  is  just plain difficult  to be around, nothing you do  seems to be  right and they seem to find  fault in  everything you do?   Of course, we all have had to deal with someone like this at some point.  It can prove to be very difficult in these instances to keep your  cool .

 In my  personal  experience  of  dealing with  a   difficult  person  there  have been times when I just wanted to snap and  treat them  the way they were treating me and then some!  The truth is it might have  made me  feel better  in the moment  but in the  long run what  would I have  really gained   by  mirroring their sour  attitude? Nothing. 


What I had to  realize is that   their  perception of me  had nothing to do  with  me.  It was pointless to allow them to  offend me  especially when  their opinion of me was based off of  an assumption. I've learned when  people can't seem to figure you out they begin to formulate opinions and scenarios that  simply don't exist instead of  just taking the time to get to know you. 

So  I had to shift my focus from taking  their  words personally to  trusting God  to fight my battles for me.  2 Chronicles 20:17a  says   "You won't even have to  fight. Just take your positions and watch the Lord rescue you from your enemy".   What I had to realize is that  it  wasn't  my job  to  win them  over or  convince them  of anything.  It is  more important to   continue to be true to who I am and who God says  I am.  

I'm sure  you've heard the  the saying misery loves company.  Well it's  true,  people  who  are unhappy with themselves tend to  seek  other people to  take their  insecurity out on. If you find yourself dealing with  this   kind of person right now I want to encourage you  to pray for  them   and     ask  God to  grant you discernment in this situation  and  follow His lead.   Don't  get caught up in your emotions instead position yourself to  trust God  he  will  meet you at the point of your need. 



Love, 

What Are you Holding to ?

Psalm 18:31-32 (CEB)31 Now really, who is divine except the Lord?  And who is a rock but our God?32 Only God! The God who equips me with strength and makes my way perfect,

All pictures taken , edited and belong to Lesli Allyn Blogs unless otherwise stated

Sometimes  you have to ask yourself  a few  question to  reevaluate where you are.   For example,  What  are some areas of your  life that you are  holding onto that you haven't fully surrendered  to God? (i,e money relationships, money, or bad habits) 

 A  method of  determining  what those things are  is  to  begin paying attention to   some of   the things you talk about  the most  and the  things that consume your thoughts.  Have you made these things bigger in your life than the power of  God to  conquer  them?  These  questions  can be  very  sobering  especially  when  you begin to recognize a pattern.

Sometimes we are  pick and choose  the things  we  keep and the things we are  willing  to  give over to  God   based on what  is  comfortable.  The  truth is  our  comfort zone does more harm than  good and  keeps us stale in  our walk  with God.  Holding onto  dead relationships, poor habits   will  never  fulfill your  life the way   Christ will.  There is absolutely  no  comparison and yet  many of  us will  hold on to these things that keep us  broken hoping somehow  for a  different outcome.  

Think honestly,  where would we  be without God, who is  like  our  God?  Sometimes we  become so distracted by ourselves that we  forget  how much   of life  depends on every word from God!   Through  our own  abilities  we  cannot  maintain   air in our  lungs  or our  hearts  beating in our  chest .  So It  seems   foolish   to give ourselves partially  to God when you  put things into perspective of  how our very being  depends on Him.

God  wants all of you  as  you are  right where you are.   You don't have to fix anything or  arrive at  a certain point in your life or talk to anyone else before talking to Him.  There is  no time like the  present  whatever it is , whatever you are  holding onto  that is  blocking you from trusting  God  fully  take  those things to  Him in prayer, ask for the courage to let  go and to reset your  focus on Him.

Love,