Tag: Faith

Weekly Soap

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Hey Everyone! How are y’all feeling? Let me know how you feel in the comments below!

This past week for me was ROUGH. In all caps! At times, my efforts to do anything were minimal and my head was not in the zone. I couldn’t seem to shake this funk at all.

It not only affected me naturally, but spiritually too. When I tried to pray, I felt such a mental blockage. When I tried to praise, I couldn’t get into it.

WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME?

Yet, God always has a way of snapping me out of it. Amid my turmoil, God called me to fast. It seems like every time there’s good eating or a show on TV I want to watch God gives a fast, but I know it is so necessary. These distractions keep us from seeking Him. Once removed, we can hear and see what God wants for us.

So now, after my week of surprises, I have a Weekly Soap for you:

Scripture:

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

(Psalm 27:7-8)

Observation: In this Psalm of David, titled in the Holman KJV Study Bible as “My Heart Shall Not Fear”. I am not sure what part of David’s life this was, but this was certainly a time that he was seeking God heavily. Starting off strong in beginning with his psalm, verse 7 was a plea to God from David. He wanted God to hear his prayer, his song, so that God may have not just mercy, but to give an answer. He was desperate to hear from God, he needed him because life possibly had shifted. And by verse 8, he had it. God told him to seek his face. To chase after God passionately! But it wasn’t out of David’s mouth that his answered flowed, but his heart. His core, his mind, his character, his entire being would seek God.

Application: From my short narrative above, this is exactly what happened to me. Life was going great, just like the first half of Psalm 27, but everything slowly dwindled down. I felt like I couldn’t pray or do anything to get my connection to God where I wanted it. But just as the frustation overwhelmed me, God spoke, just as He did with David and gave instruction. “Seek ye my face.” He made it personal for each and every single one of us. Meaning, it’s our responsibility to go to the Father. In Matthew 11:28-29, it says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” You can’t want help and expect it, if you do not voice it. God knows what you need, but you have to come to Him. To lay out the issues you have before Him.

But this all starts with the matters of your heart. Without hesitation, David’s heart responded to God’s instruction. Our heart’s desire should be to stay in the will of God, and at that moment, this was the answer. We should do whatever it takes to please God.

I will never forget my mother’s story of tendinitis in her arm. For a while, her arm was in so much pain until God spoke to her. He told her to wear one of my old soccer socks around the arm until it healed. Now, how absurd does that sound? But because she was so desperate to escape the pain and she was obedient to God, she did it. I can’t even remember how long she wore those makeshift armbands, but what I do know is that her pain is gone.

And that’s what it takes for us a Christians. To seek God’s face with our whole hearts. To chase after him shows that we love him. How could we not serve him? In Matthew 8:27, which is after Jesus calmed the storm, the disciples said, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

I urge you all, even in the midst of turmoil, to push forward and seek God’s face. I know it gets hard to pray, I know it gets hard to praise and God sees that. But PUSH THROUGH! Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Prayer: Father God, I come to you today as humbly as I can, to seek your face. God reveal to me your will and your ways so that I may follow after you. Please Lord, remove any distractions in my way that are preventing me from seeing you. Remove any impurities from my heart so that I may be obedient to you always. Thank you God for seeing me as I am and changing me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Song of the Week

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Hey good folks! I hope all is well with everyone of you. I know during these perilous times sometimes we can feel ourselves diving into a black pit. However, what does the word say?

“Why my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:5,11; 43:5)

So, for this song of the week, I wanted to go backwards in time to one of my favorite songs as a kid (you will see how young I am now). Not only is it catchy, but the message was uplifting then and still is now.

Hold On (Change is Coming) by Sounds Of Blackness

This hit, released in 1997, brought optimism, positivity, and overall message of knowing that everything will be alright. Though very contemporary with its roots, this song always played on our local Gospel radio station.

However, I cling to this song more than ever because of this stanza:

When the troubles of life weigh you down
Just lift your head up, yeah, yeah
When the love you seek is hard to find
Don’t give up, just keep strong, keep the faith

The first two lines remind of the scripture, Psalm 121:1 (KJV), “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help“. I firmly latch onto this verse just because it puts life into perspective. When it feels like you’re in a hole surrounded of darkness on every side, you can always look up to see the light. That light for me is Christ Jesus.

In John 8:12 it says, ” ‘When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.‘ ” The path of righteousness is illuminated because of Jesus, but when we turn from the son, we cannot see it. However, that doesn’t stop God from loving us.

We know that God’s love for us goes above and beyond what any man, woman, or child can give in this world. It is unconditional. Although Sounds of Blackness talked about the difficulty of finding the love we seek, and to persevere, we don’t have to go very far to know that God loves us. He wouldn’t have sacrificed His Son, if He didn’t (John 3:16).

As a reminder to myself, I think on these things when I feel down or unwanted in the world. Especially right now as many are fighting for change, through protests, hard conversations, and petitions of justice. I hope that as you listen to this song, that they encourage you.

Hold on and know that change is coming!

Matthew 7:7 it reads, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Deny Him Access!

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As I prayed the other day, I heard this title loud and clear. Now at first I was perplexed where God was going with this, but it had everything to do with how I was living. I will start this off with a brief story.

In November 2019, I had backslid into sin for a moment. I understand that we are not perfect by design, but we can fully understand what is right and wrong. However, I had chosen a path of unrighteousness at the moment that led to a consequence that I was not prepared for after repentance.

I had unintentionally invited torment into my life that manifested physically and mentally. The devil was literally playing mind games with me in negative self-talk, insomnia, and making me believe that I would die. I had forgotten the scripture, John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, to kill, and destroy…”. I felt that I could not escape this until December.

As I cried out to God to take this burden away from me, He exposed the truth behind this madness and how my deliverance would come. If I had looked at the second half of John 10:10, I would have known what God was about to tell me: “…I am come that they might have life, and they might have it more abundantly.” The only thing that wanted to take me out was the enemy, not God. He brings life, not death. However, I was missing out on what I possessed inside of me, the power of the Holy Spirit. Just like the disciples in Luke 9:1, we have “the power and authority over all devils…”. So, how was I going to proceed in doing all this? I did not understand the supernatural battleground, nor did I have a strategy. All I knew was that I would win because of Christ and that I had to keep fighting.

Just like any battle, you can’t use the same tactics from previous battles. My communion with God would have to be more frequent, my prayer life would have to deepen, and my knowledge of the word would have to increase. When everything came together, then was I given a plan.

What kind of plan was this? This is the plan that God made for me. It was what He wanted out of me at the time for my deliverance. And this is what I want to share with you.

  • To focus solely on God (to keep the enemy away):
    • Realize that you will go through some things in Christ (Luke 9:23).
    • It’s important to make a daily sacrifice/offering to God. What does that look like? That in whatever we do that it is “it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord” and done DAILY! (Lev. 3:5)
      • Reading the Word
      • Worship
      • Praying
      • Fasting
    • When delivered from ailments or sin, do not go back to the very things that caused you to do it before “lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14)
    • Always repent! About all sin, not just the sins you know about consciously, but those that are secret or you have no knowledge (Psalms 19:12-13)
    • Let your speech and thinking reflect what is acceptable to God. (Psalms 19:14)

So what does this have to do with my title? Absolutely everything.

James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Do you realize the strength in this verse? We can say NO to the devil! Not only that, but when we do it, he’s got to go! Just as Jesus said, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me…” so can you. (Matthew 16:23).

Don’t let the enemy rob you of something that he can’t take. You would have to give him access to entry to take it, but we won’t do that. Today, DENY HIM ACCESS! Tell him he cannot come in. Tell him that his card declined and he cannot buy you. Tell him he doesn’t have enough flier miles to fly on your plane. Tell him he cannot have you!

Song of the Week

theheartofapreacherskid2 Comments

Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! Truly this month has been full of revelation and chasing after God’s heart!

This is exactly why I wanted to share the Song of the Week with you.

Waterfall by Jonathan Ogden

With his chill vibe and mellow voice, Jonathan Ogden describes the love of God and the reaction we should have towards Him.

Everlasting One
Nothing else compares
To knowing You
To knowing You
You’re the living God
And my soul it longs
To be with You
To be with You

In the opening verse, I couldn’t help but reflect on the last part. Our soul longs to be with God. When we develop a relationship with anyone, we feel such a connection that it’s hard not to think of them or want to be in their presence as much as we can. The same goes for when we form a relationship with God.

As our relationship with God flourishes, we long to be in His presence. For some, their spirit sings from joy or even erupts in laughter. But to know Him is to love Him. Nothing will ever compare to that which He gives to us.

Oh Lord Your love is like a waterfall
Your love is like a flowing stream
And whenever I’m feeling dry
I come to the river, I come to the river of life

His love is everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3) and it never runs out. His love is not conditional, and it never fails. Can any man on earth say the same? The love of God is so great that the comparison to a waterfall truly explains two things: it is continuous and it is refreshing. However, it didn’t stop there. Because of His love, we were given His Son Jesus, who brought us eternal life when we believe in Him (John 3:16).

As the song comes to a close, Lucy Grimble says:

As the deer pants for the waters
So my soul longs after You

In quoting Psalm 42:1, our attitude and action towards God should shift. Willingly we should bring ourselves to God with so much passion that we truly cannot get enough of Him. Like the deer who depends on the water to continue to live, we should depend on the Father to live.

Waterfall by Jonathan Ogden ft. Lucy Grimble

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Be Blessed!

–Chan

The Mouth

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How many of us have run into trouble because of our mouths? Be honest.

Credit: Giphy.com

This week, I definitely fell into my old ways of being quick-witted, sarcastic, and talking slick to… wait for it…

my family

Now I could say that it wasn’t completely my fault or any other excuse for my actions, but I knew I’d have to answer the Most High. I previously read, “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” (James 2:5 KJV).

However, I had forgotten all of it last week. In a trial of taming my tongue, I had completely failed. It seemed like everyday I was going back and forth with my parents over the smallest things. Very meaningless things.

However, God always knows how to get our attention (especially mine) and cause us to change our ways. So how did God call me out on my mess? In my sleep through a dream.

It mirrored one of our previous arguments about pet peeves. I was relentless the entire time; I couldn’t find it within myself to stop talking. As the conversation peaked, my mother said to me, “I cannot protect you anymore. You brought this to yourself.” In an instant, my family fell apart. I had never felt so distant from my family at that moment.

I would like to say I woke up at that moment, but I didn’t. My mind was awake, but my body wasn’t. Clearly, God had much more to say to me before I fully was awake.

Even now, I find it uncanny the parallels of life to spirit. When we step out from under the protection that God gives us, we can be susceptible to anything including our lives falling apart, but thank God for repentance.

As I laid there, He spoke to me about myself and what I needed to do to right my wrongs. As He finished speaking, it felt like someone was rubbing their hands across my eyes to clear dirt away.

I can’t help but think that was God’s way of revealing to me my own actions. From that moment forward, I had to dig deep inside of myself and thoroughly process what to do next.

Going back to James 3, verse 8 says, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” Here dear folks is where I made my first mistake.

Only with the help of God can we truly fully control our mouth!

No wonder I couldn’t find it in myself to be quiet in my dream, I had left God out of it and forgot one fruit of the spirit: self-control. “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (Proverbs 25:28).

Next, I realized that I went against one commandment I heard my entire life: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12). As much as our society pushes independence and speaking your own mind, the gospel still holds precedence over my life. Sass ain’t holy and I still have to respect my parent. If my mortality being on the line wasn’t enough to convict me, I read John 14:15 this same week:

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

I know I love God, so I had to follow through. Yet there was still one more piece missing: Forgiveness.

Colossians 3:13 says, “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do.” Not only did I have to apologize to my family but pray that they forgave me.

How easy it could be if we put God first in our conversations! However, I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect, but God always shows us how to go about life in the right way.

As each day brings new mercies, remind yourself to have God at the forefront of your conversations. To think before you speak, to let the Holy Spirit move through you and use you. I have on my bathroom mirror Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Every morning I read this to remind me of the life I’m supposed to be living.

I hope this PKE helps you to find your scripture to tame your tongue and speak life to not only yourself, but to others.

“Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”

Proverbs 16:24

Song of the Week

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Greetings righteous people! It overjoys my soul, the song I’m about to talk about!

If you didn’t read my previous Weekly Soap, go read it now! It explains how Jesus is the well of living water, full of everlasting life.

Now, I will preface that this Song of the Week is no ordinary song. It will have you jumping, shouting, and overwhelmed with the love of God! So listen at your own risk because I could not sit down after listening!

Holy Water by We The Kingdom

Holy Water is the upbeat song I needed to hear about forgiveness and the grace of God, but mostly about how much we need it.

Starting at the beginning.

God, I’m on my knees again
God, I’m begging please again
I need You
Oh, I need You

Walking down this desert road
Water for my thirsty soul
I need You
Oh, I need You

This verse reminded me of so many moments where I felt far away from God. It was kneeling on my floor in my living room crying out to God that became the epitome of this verse. Sometimes we come to a crossroads where we feel no peace or have fallen back into sin, yet the only one we know to call on is God. If He doesn’t step in, we would continue down a path of desolation. I need Him. You need Him. We all need Him.

But what follows our plea is what we shouldn’t take for granted: God’s mercy and grace; forgiveness.

Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey
On my lips
Like the sound of a symphony
To my ears
Like holy water on my skin
On my skin

There is nothing like forgiveness. That it is sweeter than anything. It sounds better than anything. It feels like refreshing water! In Psalms 130:3-4 NLT, it says, “Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you”. God is gracious that even for the sins we have committed, with repentance, they are washed away. We have a clean slate. Who wouldn’t revere a God like that?

Sometimes we get caught up. I’ve heard the saying, “But God knows my heart” multiple times because of forgiveness right. Well, of course, God knows our heart, but let’s look at scripture.

Romans 6:1-2 NLT says, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that GOd can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”

We shouldn’t abuse God’s grace knowing that He forgives us! When we accepted Christ in our lives, we were no longer slaves to sin. We are freed by Him, so since we know better, we have to do better (vs 17-18)!

Just like We The Kingdom sang,

I don’t wanna abuse Your grace
God, I need it every day
It’s the only thing that ever really
Makes me wanna change

AMEN!

Also Enjoy the rendition of this song with We The Kingdom, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, and Maverick City Music.

“Holy Water” by We The Kingdom, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Maverick City Music

Don’t forget to like, subscribe with your email, or comment on this blog! I would love to hear your feedback!

Be Blessed!

–Chan

Weekly Soap

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Welcome back wonderful people! It is a new month with new promises; We’re in the month of May!

Now I don’t know about you guys, but I’m focusing on knowing more about God. Starting with Jesus’s life and the miracles done by Him, I am super excited to dig deeper than just from what I heard as a kid.

Of course, I had to bring what I read to you, so here’s …

JOHN 4

Scripture:

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Observation: This passage from vs 1-26 is the story of the woman at Jacob’s well. While traveling, Jesus and his disciples had stopped in that area. Though they were gone, he knew that this Samaritan woman would draw at the well in the day’s heat. He asks her to give her a drink, but she couldn’t wrap her head around who she was talking to or what Jesus was offering her. She was skeptical, questioning if He was greater than Jacob. But Jesus spoke vs 13-14. The natural water that we drink will never be enough to satisfy our thirst. When we drink from the well of living water, we will always be satisfied. We will thirst no longer. In Isaiah 12:3, it says, “Therefore with joy shall we draw water out of the wells of salvation“. Through Christ Jesus, we have salvation and eternal life. That is the well we must drink from!

Application: It’s uncanny to me how the thought process of the Samaritan woman is like that of those who don’t know Jesus. In the very beginning, skepticism and unbelief runs how we feel about faith. We question, make excuses, or say it’s just coincidence. But God is so personal with everything for us. He knows our lives, our fears, our character, our hearts. When the Word confronts us with a promise of a gift, that no man can take away, and a life of eternity, it is impossible to not want to get something so amazing.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for being the well of living water. Thank you for the gift of salvation and Holy Spirit. I pray that we continue to chase after your Word and that we choose to life every day. Let us never your love for granted. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Song of the Week

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Hey Folks! I hope y’all are having an amazing week so far!

This week I hope the Song of the Week is not just encouraging but a reminder of about who God is and what He does!

In the great collective of worship music pumped out by Maverick City Music, I was drawn especially to this song. At the opening of their videos, it always reminds of how diverse the people of God are but that we all remain on one accord.

As the music begins, automatically you can feel yourself go into a sway of joy! I knew right then that this song was about to be a bop, in my opinion. I was in for a treat once the lyrics followed.

Parallel to Mark 9:23, the opening verse is a verse to remind us that through faith we can do all things. Not only that, but God is a covenant keeper and whatever he says to us is the truth. The songwriters of Maverick City Music knew exactly what they were doing in the chorus:

If You said it, we believe it
If You said it, we believe it
‘Cause You’re a man of Your word

If that doesn’t minister to your soul, I don’t know what will! To know that God keeps his word no matter what is such a comforting piece to me. At the close of the song, KJ Scriven ushers in a new phrase in the song that says:

I am what I am
‘Cause the Great I Am said He speaks over me

Two things here that I gathered just from this simple phrase:

  1. Jeremiah 1:5 highlights that God knew me before I was even formed in my mother’s womb. Just as He spoke a word of Jeremiah’s life, He has spoke a word over me.
  2. God is great and greatly to be praised. He told Moses right before going to the Israelite people to tell them that “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Even in verse 15 NLT, God said that “This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations“.

With that, go listen to “Man of Your Word” by Maverick City Music ft. Chandler Moore and KJ Scriven in the link below.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe with your email, or comment on this blog! I would love to hear your feedback!

Be Blessed!

–Chan

Q & A with a Pastor

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Back by popular demand is Q & A With a Pastor! There was so much wonderful feedback on the previous one and now we have another. If you didn’t read it, go check it out! This time the same questions appear, but with a slight twist! So sit back, relax, and read this very thorough interview with my featured guests:

Pastor Manuel Washington III and Lady Cassandra Washington

[HOAPK/ME]: How did you know your purpose? Not just as a pastor starting out, but as a Christian.

[Pastor Manuel/PM]: My purpose was always spoken to me, growing up. My grandfather was a pastor. My grandfather pastored over 40 years in Beaumont, Texas. He would always tell me, “Boy, you’re gonna preach one day. Boy, you’re gonna preach one day.” So, at an early age, I knew that one day I would preach the gospel. I guess he planted the seed from what God showed him in the Spirit. And that seed in my life just guided me, now that I really think about it, it guided a lot of decisions I made, things that I did, and the way that I thought about myself.

Growing up, through junior high, is when I really became conscious of what he was saying. Through high school, college, even after we got married, we went right into ministry.

My purpose was a seed planted in my heart from my grandfather.

[ME]: Since you said it was a seed planted in your heart, how far back was that, like about what age?

[PM]: I would have to say as far back as 8 or 9.

[ME]: Wow, that early?

[PM]: Yes. It was like I was born for what I was doing. The Bible says that, 2 Timothy 1:12, my favorite scripture, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,“. He enabled me before I got here, because he counted me faithful. He knew that I would be faithful to the purpose and the call that he had placed inside me. He anointed me and I was anointed and full of the Holy Ghost as a little kid. I had no idea!

[ME]: Wow! Well since it started from you being a little kid all the way until now, what would you say was the toughest part about being saved at first?

[PM]: The toughest part for me was the Spirit of God was raising me up too fast. That’s something you probably won’t hear a lot of people say. The Bible opened up to me so clearly and so easily that I became arrogant. I got puffed up.

I had a guy tell me I’ll never forget. In 1986, I was working at Compaq Computer and I was just sharing with this guy about some things that the Lord was sharing with me. I got saved in January of ’86, and I met this guy 3 months later. And he said, “Man, I’ve never met anybody who could break down the scripture as well as you can at such a young spiritual age.” Which is when I realized, hey, I’ve got something here.

But God just opened his word up to me and because of that I began to take it for granted. I took for granted the wisdom and the revelation that God was pouring into me. I felt like I could step out and still stay saved. Step outside of the parameters of how God instructed us to live because I’m cool, because I know. When I got out there, my latter end was worse than my former. I backslid in all October of that same year. From that episode in my life, I had a 2 year drug addiction.

I went into that speaking in tongues, Holy Ghost filled, baptised with fire, full the Word of God. But because of the fact that God was raising me up so fast, I became arrogant and puffed up and I slid right back into a worse state than I was before I even accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

Can I tell my testimony?

[ME]: Yeah!

[PM]: I knew and I would tell her, because we were dating at the time, that you’re looking at a miracle and then would leave her and run and do drugs. But I would tell her, “You’re looking at a miracle” because God’s going to bring me off of this. It was during the crack era, when crack had first hit the scene. I would watch people, I went to Lakewood Church and my pastor at that time was John Osteen, come up and talk about how God had delivered them and set them free. They were on heroin, they were on different hard drugs, and I was like “God I ain’t on nothing, or shooting up, why don’t you deliver me like you’re delivering them?” Because I would cry out daily for deliverance, and God never answered my prayer. I could not understand why He would not deliver me.

Years later, mid-’90s, after I had gotten my life together, we had been married, and I was driving down the street. I’ll never forget it, I heard a Helen Baylor song, and in that song she was telling her testimony about her drug addiction. She hit the wall, slid down the wall, she was done. She said in that moment, God delivered her, she was completely set free from drugs. I’m listening to this song, and he answered my prayer in that moment. He [God] said, “Son, you know why I didn’t deliver you instantly?” I’m driving in the car and it seems like I’m experiencing it now. And I said, no Father, I don’t know why you did it. He said,” Because with you, I had time. Helen was behind my schedule, so when I had finally an opportunity to arrest her life, I had to deliver her right away because she was behind schedule.”

But He said, “With you, you weren’t. So I used the opportunity to teach you how to stand on my word and trust me. And by faith, step-by-step, day-by-day walk out of that addiction.” And that’s exactly what I did. I am so grateful to God that I was not delivered instantly. Because I can deal with some things that many people can’t deal with. God taught me how to stand on the Word, trust Him, and walk out of any situation. Amen.

[ME]: *Laughing and wiping tears away* Amen to that!

[PM]: That may be too much for the blog. *chuckles*

[HOAPK/ME]: No, that might be just what somebody needs. But besides your amazing testimony. I like to ask people, what is the easiest part about being saved?

[PM]: For me? The easiest part was living the faith life. That’s so easy. I don’t struggle with my faith. I don’t struggle to trust God and believe God. God has brought us out of some very hard places and it didn’t shake me. The easiest thing for us both is to trust God through any situation.

Another testimony!

We got in some financial trouble years ago and our house was in foreclosure. They sent me a letter and said we’re going to foreclose on your house in 30 days. I held that letter to her, and I said, “You see this letter? We’ve got to hold on to this because nobody is going to believe that God did what he did in this timeframe.” And we stood on the word of God, we prayed, we heard from the Holy Ghost who gave us the plan of action. We followed it out and walked out the plan of action the Spirit of God gave us. In 30 days, God brought us out of a $30,000 deficit. Turned it around with no money. AND THEN gave us a check for $25,000.

[ME]: WHAT?!

[PM]: So, trust in God! That’s the easiest thing for me in my Christian walk. I’ve seen Him do too many things for me. Nobody can tell me any different.

[Lady Cassandra/LC]: That’s the same for me. During that time when we were going through, he came to me with the letter and he was like, ” Baby, you with me?” And I said, “Yeah, I’m with you.” He said, “Even if we have to go live under the Pierce Elevated?” I said, “Yeah! And we’ll still be praising God, we’ll still be tithing, and we’ll still love God. ” So he was like, “Okay, let’s do this!”

I think we even prepared. We started getting boxes to say “okay, if He don’t do it, we still love Him, but we need to prepare to go somewhere else.” But we were still trusting Him to stay in our home. That’s what we wanted, but we were using wisdom, you know. God turned it around.

[PM]: We were even looking for rent houses. The Pierce Elevated here in Houston is a place where all the homeless people gather. It’s downtown on Pierce Street. Highway 45 is elevated above Pierce Street. All the homeless people live right under there, right next to the Greyhound bus station.

So I said, “Hey, if we have to live under the Pierce Elevated, we’re going to keep tithing, we’re going to keep trusting God, believing God, nothing is going to change. Are you with me?” And she said, “Yeah, let’s do it!” And I thank God for this woman because she said, “Yes, I’m with you! If we have to live under there, nobody will know we’re under there. We won’t go to no man for anything. We’re going to trust God.“

[LC]: And I trust the God in him. God sees us through.

[ME]: For people who are struggling in faith right now, specifically a dry season, like a wall in faith, how do they rekindle that? What do you do first, then what should others do?

[PM]: When you hit a wall of resistance, the first thing I will fall on is the Spirit of God, praying in the Holy Spirit. Jesus said I’m going away but I’m sending you another comforter, a helper (John 14:17, 16:7). So the job of Holy Spirit is to help us.

I believe in baptism of Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. With that said, I live with the reliance of Holy Spirit, but I put a heavier reliance when I hit a hard place and I pray in the Spirit. That testimony we just shared was a hard place.

But that’s not what you’re asking, you’re asking what do I do when my faith is not working and I feel like I want to give up. You have to do like David and the Bible says, “He encouraged himself” (1 Samuel 30:6). Because a lot of times when you hit that place, nobody knows you hit it. Nobody sees you or the hurt you’re really experiencing. So in those moments, you have to rely on the God that you know. Man… not the God you heard other people tell you about.

A lot of times, the God you know is different from the God people tell you about. People will tell you about the God that they have experienced. So, when you hit a hard place, you have to rely on the God that YOU know.

With that said, steps to come out, because I’m that kind of guy:

  • Praying in the Holy Spirit.
  • Youtube is our best friend in our day and age. Find ministers on Youtube who are preaching faith or preaching on the subject that you are dealing with and plug yourself with the word of God. Anybody dealing with any situation can find somebody on Youtube that is preaching about that situation. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word” (Romans 10:17). You need to hear the word as it relates to that specific situation.

Back in my day, we didn’t have that privilege or avenue. If we didn’t have it on the cassette or already have access to it, you had to get on your knees and open your Bible. No smart nothing! You had to find the concordance, go through the Bible, and you write out those scriptures and stand on the word of God.

[LC]: And surround yourself with like precious faith.

[PM]: Amen! Who you hang around is extremely important.

[LC]: And don’t isolate yourself. The devil will try to destroy you in isolation.

[ME]: So, since you said to be with people of like faith. Who do you normally turn to?

[PM & LC]: Each other! *laughs*

[PM]: I have pastor friends who I turn to, but mostly it’s just us.

[ME]: So that’s why it’s important to marry somebody who’s of like faith.

[PM & LC]: Yes!

[PM]: That’s why the Bible tells you, “Be not unequally yoked” (2 Corinthians 6:14). Because when I’m down, I’ve got someone that can pull me up. Who believes what I believe, who stands for God the way I stand for God. That’s very important.

They can be as cute and fine as they want to be. That’s gravy, but that’s not the meat of what you need in a relationship. You know what I mean?

First Lady just got blessed!

[ME]: *laughs* So, just to wrap it up, since this is the end. If you could, both of you, give just one snippet of wisdom to a younger Christian, not in age but faith.

[PM]: The one snippet of wisdom I would give is to read the book of John, three times. The entire gospel of John, three times. That’s the first thing I tell everyone when they get saved. All 4 Gospels are similar except the gospel of John because John had a different relationship with Jesus than all the other disciples. He had a more intimate love connection with Jesus that the other ones did not have.

When you are newly born again, you need to connect to the heart of God. The book of John connects you to the heart of God in the way that none of the other epistles or gospels does. John calls himself the one that Jesus loves. How are you going to say that? But that’s how he felt. That’s the heart, with just getting saved, that you need to adopt to fall in love with God and to hold on to that love. God is love, and you need to connect to the love and heart of God.

[LC]: That’s pretty much what I would say.

[PM]: And stay in the Word. Devour the word.

Pastor Manuel Washington III and Lady Cassandra Washington are the pastors at Rhema Word of Life Church. They are located at 16730 Hedgecroft Dr #306, Houston, TX 77060 and you can visit their website at https://www.1rhemaword.org/ .

The Eyes

theheartofapreacherskid4 Comments

When I think about Sunday service now, there are many words I associate it with: virtual, Facebook, drive thru, zoom meetings, etc. Definitely not the same way I would describe Sunday service about 2 months ago, but this is our reality.

However, that’s not what I’m getting at here.

As my family held service in our home, I recall hearing the dream my dad (who’s a pastor) had. He had a dream of entering a hotel he had no access to at first, then seeing Christians partying and drinking in disguise from the rest of the world. Now I really pondered this thing.

Why would our fellow brothers and sisters go down a path knowing that the end only breeds destruction?

Then I thought about the dream I had:

It started out as with my cousins and I being on a road next to a church that I knew. I saw many of my family members headed down this long wide road. We asked what was going, but they said they would see what was going on. Instead of entering the church, we walked down the road and eventually we came to an impasse where the road met water.

We stood back to watch how others were navigating this route to go down. They would stick one foot into the muddy, rushing water. A huge step into the muddy water would cause them to fully submerge, then pop back up to rush down where the others were. They coaxed me to do the same, but I claimed, “I don’t want to get my feet to get dirty.” The road had now become flooded with muddy water. I turned away and began to head back to the church.

I felt anxious about the water coming up to my leg until I looked up for strength to run. I ran past other family members headed the same way until I bumped into a familiar man. He was not kin to me, but I embraced him from the side like I would my dad. Then I cried. The man said nothing to me as I sobbed, he only embraced me, to comfort me.

As I finally entered the church, I came in to see one of my aunts smiling and fanning, like she was dancing. I asked her had my cousins I came with made it; she answered and told me to find a seat. Going through the crowd, I noticed the other half of the church (where my aunt wasn’t) was weeping. They were mourning for people, but I didn’t know who. In contrast, my aunt and eventually my cousins were sitting with high energy waiting for a concert to come forth.

Dream only last two seconds, but this felt like an hour. I was so confused about what it all meant, so I looked up what certain images mean using Understanding the Dreams You Dream by Ira and Judy Milligan. After I searched, I still needed more explanation for what it meant. Then God spoke.

His explanation: Think of your family as the church. Some of you will go down the wide road of evil/destruction because of the unwillingness to change. Even now, after falling deep and popping back up in faith, they will still choose the same destructive path. Others of you will turn back and follow me. That’s why the church split emotionally. You will mourn for those who have fell to the ways of the wicked, but you will rejoice in worship of the coming of Jesus.

Although I had this dream March 29th, it made little sense to me until I came across Romans 11, specifically verse 7-8:

7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

I know Paul was talking about the Jewish nation here, but I couldn’t help but wonder how true this is for us now. This crisis right now feels like a wake up call, but I am concerned for those who have not yet answered. Like my dad’s dream, I pray that none of us are trying to hide behind the facade of a pandemic to live in sin.

But we serve a gracious God who has forgiven us of our sins if we only choose salvation and to serve him. In Romans 11:23 :

23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.

So I urge you, anyone who is reading, to not fall into the spiral of sin, but to follow Christ this day. While you yet have breath in your lungs, thank God for saving power and His grace on your life. Turn your life fully over to him and choose the path of righteousness.

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Be Blessed!

–Chan