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

Several people I’ve spoken to over the last month are all chasing after the same thing…Peace! The bible does tell us to seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34:14) BUT the problem is we are seeking it in all the wrong places. In him, her, that drink, those cigarettes, those drugs or pills, that group of people, that club, food…the list goes on. We will only find pseudo-peace there beautiful people! Pseudo meaning, false peace. That means when it fades, we are back to square one. We need to seek peace by seeking God.

Although at times it is far easier said than done, it’s not impossible if we focus our eyes on the God who promises to give us surpassing peace. Matter of fact the bible says if we come to him he will give us a peace that surpasses all understanding, meaning this peace will excel above and beyond what we can even imagine, comprehend, or explain.

This struggle for peace is never ending for me as well! A couple of weeks ago I thought I was about to lose my mind! I prayed before I walked into a certain location asking God to help me to just feel better. I knew I needed him but wasn’t really able to pinpoint what it was. My request was just for him to “make it better”. I was anxious, feeling convicted, I was sad, and angry all at once and the poor person that was in my presence was about to catch all of it. All of a sudden this inexplicable calm came over me. I guess I can explain it as an empty feeling. Like all the things that were going on with me just disappeared.

In this moment the second portion of Phil 4:7 began to make sense to me. It says this peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ. When I wanted to recall what had upset me, what was causing me to be anxious, what was making me sad and convicted, I couldn’t. The thoughts wouldn’t come. And for some reason I was trying to force them back as if I wanted to feel those ways. The pain that my heart was feeling was eradicated. Even when I tried to pull the thoughts back God blocked it. Not only did he take away all the yuck I was feeling but he guarded me from going back to what was causing me to feel that way.

When I got in my car I just said, “thanks God, thanks for freeing me from myself”. God has asked us not to worry about anything and earnestly make our requests known to him (v6). We might not immediately feel the total relief of the prayer but believe that once you hand it over he is already working. Then it’s time to do your part. Are you going to invite the thoughts and people that are causing you to lose your peace back in? Are you going to basically fight God so that they remain? Don’t allow chaos to be your equilibrium! Go to God for a total peace that is “of” him and will exceed anything you can understand or explain. And let him guard your heart and mind!

You can have peace! Receive it and keep it!

Don’t forget:

1.     Don’t worry about anything
2.     Prayer and supplication (plea, earnest petition) still works even if you don’t totally feel it immediately
3.     Let your requests be made known to God: Be real, be open, get it all out
4.     Then receive his peace
5.     In order to keep the peace please refer to Philippians 4:8 ;)

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 
- James 4:7 NIV

Seems easy right?! Lol, the further we go in this walk the harder it gets! Oh but with God =)

This post is to encourage someone who is saying:
"I'm tired of resisting because he hasn't fled" or 

"I'm tired of the repetition, I resist he walks to the corner taunting me then comes right back" 

Truth is, the devil is repetitive! And his repetitive self will manifest himself in whatever way he needs to, to throw you off your game, get you distracted, and derail you from your journey of purpose. It could be through that coworker who is two deep breaths and an eye roll away from receiving the smoothest cuss out ever (Hold your tongue). Or that ex [or new guy with similar characteristics] that comes into the picture to game you up and throw you off right when you were getting it together (Run!)

There are times when a simple "get behind me satan" will work. But there are some days that you might have to resist him more often than you feel you have the energy for. [Remember nothing is without purpose. There's something to be learned in every one of these attempts]

Last week I had a few things bombarding my mind causing stress to the highest power. It felt horrible so I knew I had to deal with the negative thoughts the enemy had planted...so I used the only word I could think of to help me at the time..."Jesus"! Do you know I probably said Jesus 1,000,000 times that night before my mind was at ease and I was able to fall asleep? 

One who doubts might say, "Where was your God? A million times? Does it take all that?" 

And I'd say, "Yes sometimes it does but he was right there with me telling me don't give up."

You see normally I would have let those thoughts kick into overdrive and next thing you know I'd be crying myself to sleep only to wake up with a headache and then cry my morning away. Jesus re-taught me something that day…resisting the devil (even with something like a thought pattern) will often consist of a serious PRESS. The devil is not a punk and we can't be either! Through the press we gain endurance, an increased hope in what God can do, victory, and validation that you must be pretty awesome for the enemy to come after you the way that he does. 

When you're in a situation where you can see the enemy working freely (at home, your job, your child's school, your spouse/boo thang’s ways, church, and even in your own mind) it can become very annoying, taxing, and heavy. Most times we give in and reject God and entertain the devil! We got it backwards!!!! Resist the devil until he flees! Don't give up or in to his tactics. Continue to press towards the mark. If he comes back press to resist yet again and watch God lift you! ( James 4:10 NIV)

The point, yea it gets rough but that's no excuse to give in! Press and resist that fool! You have work to do!!!

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 
- Philippians 3:14 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 
- James 1:2-4 NIV

Over the last few weeks I have been thinking more about depression and how my private practice can address the matter in a more effective way. With attention drawn to suicide and depression because of the recent passing of Robin Williams I thought it would be wise to address a few things you can do to restore or keep joy if you feel yourself sliding into a bout of depression.

1. Know the symptoms
If you know what to look for it’s easier to:

• Catch it before you slip all the way in
• Call it out and deal with it

Here are some of the main ones in brief:

2. Reach out
Let someone know how you’re feeling. (Don’t know who to talk to, pray for God to bring someone in your path who can help you…he will) If you don’t know the cause that’s ok! If you don’t know how to fix it that’s okay too! Just talk about what you’re feeling and see if you can brainstorm practical ways to get back to an equilibrium! Whatever you do…don’t remain silent!

3. Don’t be afraid of therapy!
Even as a licensed therapist I have a therapist and it’s one of the best gifts I could ever give myself. Everyone needs a place they can release the tensions of everyday life especially when it gets overwhelming. Sometimes you just need that space with someone who desires to see you better without judgment or bias. 

If you are feeling that you are slipping and don’t know how to pull yourself back I may have something for you! For one week only, if you are feeling depressed, I am offering 1 free consult and 1 free session to the 1st five people to sign up. There is no commitment 

One of my favorite scriptures comes from the book of Romans. In chapter 8 verses 38-39 we are informed that there is NOthing that can separate us from God’s love. Often times I am faced with having to apply this scripture to my own life. Many times I am successful and sometimes I’m not.

In those unsuccessful times I feel:

• I am not good enough for God
• I know he loves me but there are many more works that I must do to get back on his good side, or 
• I need to work hard and focus on being better so that God will be pleased with me and able to use me. 

I know I’m not the only one to have ever felt this way and I want to let you know that while you may truly feel like this, these feelings are in complete conflict with the word of God. If you are feeling unusable, unworthy, or unable and you are a believer of Jesus Christ and sure of your salvation then remember this…Because of Christ you ARE usable, worthy, and able right here, right now! I don’t care what you did last night, 5 mins ago, or what you are planning to do 3 hours from now, God loves you, has redeemed you, and set you apart for holy use…HIS holy use. If you want to be used then he will use you! Repent, turn to him, and let him work! It’s really that simple.

All of July I felt unworthy of my call, purpose, and interactions with others. Not only did God use his word to tell me that it’s not through my own strength and power but through his spirit that things are done but he proved it to me by using me in ways that I cannot take credit for (Zechariah 4:6). This was a blessing! It re-taught me something valuable, this whole ministry thing, Christian lifestyle, and walk with God is way bigger than me.

I fell deeper in love with my Heavenly Father because even though I did not feel like I should be used or could be used, he chose to use me regardless! Regardless of my mistakes, my hurt, my confusion, my discontent etc. And because of this it moved me out of the realm of condemnation and into the safe space of his grace and mercy! I was beating up on myself and all God wanted me to see was that Christ’s sacrifice was enough and it was time to move forward.

As I wrote in the post “It was enough”