One-day my mom was telling me when I was around 2-3 years old and they had taken me and my sister to the pool. The next thing they knew they heard this big splash and they saw me trying to fight my way back up. Of course my mother started panicking because she didn’t know how to swim and had to yell for help. The last time she saw me I was at the top of the steps. She had no idea why I would just jump off into the deep part of the water knowing I didn’t know how to swim. From that point on I’ve always been a little fish. Even to this day any type of water is like serenity to me and I can go there and find refuge, strength and peace. When God bided Peter to come to him he began to walk out on the water, but suddenly Peter began to sink. It wasn’t because the storm that surrounded him was so great, but it was because he took his eyes of Jesus. There are situations and circumstances that will occur in your life that will come out of no where. There will be no point of reference on why or even how, but no matter how unstable your surroundings faith never takes its eyes off the one it seeks. If you feel like your sinking then who is it that you seek? Even if you have lost your focus and you began to sink you still have time to cry out HELP! #CLEANTHISHOUSE
Category Archives: Inspirational
Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
Have you ever gone out to eat or maybe at home that you were so hungry or maybe in a rush that you just started consuming your food to the point that you could hardly chew your food or you almost choked yourself to death because you had a mouth full of food. Sometimes this will cause us not to even chew our food properly and just inhale it which isn’t good for our digestive system and could cause problems in the long run. How many times in life have we taken in more than we can chew? Was it to prove that we could or to please some one else? Even if we are capable of doing it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are supposed to be. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the “work” that we become so far removed from what God has called us to do. When was the last time we consulted God about what we are supposed to be doing. There were many times I would find myself right in the middle of a task(s) and realized it was too much, why am I doing this or should I really be. After a period of time I felt overwhelmed, frustrated or burnt out to the point that when it came time for me to do the thing(s) that I was called to do I had no strength. If you take on more than you are able to handle something is bound to be overlooked, missed or neglected. Perfect that one thing with diligence and with excellence until you are able to manage more. Finish and complete the task at hand.
Colossians 3:23-24 #CLEANTHISHOUSE
Can’t Touch This
Yesterday I was half way through getting my root canal done and I could start feeling some of the pain and the pressure of them working on my tooth. At this point my mouth had already been open for an hour. I could feel the numbing wearing off and some tingling through my face. I raised my hand so they would know I could feel the pain and they would need to apply more numbing medication. I have always considered myself to have a low tolerance of pain, but you never know how much pain you can endure until the pressure has been applied. It will really show you what you are made off. They would always ask how I was doing as pressure was being applied and encouraged me along the way to let me know how good I was doing. I had already formed a false perception on this visit due to my prior experience with having a root canal. Though the procedure was the same the technique was different. When they pulled out the nerve and the pulp they stood in amazement because it was very rare that they would see a nerve in one piece. Normally they come out in many pieces. They even took a picture of it because they just couldn’t believe what they saw. I am reminded of the passage in the bible Daniel 3 where Nebuchadnezer threw Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace because they refused to serve their God or bow down to the golden images. No matter how much they increased the fire they were untouched and when they came out the fourth person that was walking with them was the Son of God. God reminded me at that moment that no matter how hot the fire, how much it intensifies or how great the pain that He can and will bring you out unharmed. They say if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything. No matter what you are facing if you continue to trust God and not bow down He will bring you out alright. Though you’ve been through the fire thank God you don’t look like what you’ve been through. #CLEANTHISHOUSE
Get To The Root Of It
In November 2013 I was scheduled for a root canal. My tooth was becoming sensitive to things that were cold and then it broke off in between two of my teeth which added a great deal of pain. So I went to the dentist and they did an X-Ray on my tooth which showed that I had an infection that went all the way down to the root. They then told me that I would have to have a root canal. In doing so they would have to open the center of my tooth and pull out the nerve that would cause the pain to go away and stop any further damage. This would take up to 3 visits and 2 hours per visit. They wanted to 1st give me an antibiotic that would stop the infection. That in itself was going to be a challenge being that I don’t like to take medicine and will seldom finish it, but take it enough to where I thought it had cleared up. When they told me that I was going to have a root canal I immediately started to cringe because I reflected back to my last experience of having a root canal. Needless to say I reschedule it to the beginning of the year. I wished later that I would have went ahead and gone through with it because things didn’t get better they in fact became worst. I was hurting so bad that some days I would have pain that would radiate to my head that would cause me to have a headache. Until I dealt with the root of my problem I would continue to struggle with the pain. A lot of things that we are dealing with now were passed down through generation and until we are willing to trace it back to it’s root, where it began we will continue to struggle in that area of our lives. We can’t just cut it off at the stem because it will have tendency to grow back, but we must pull it up from the root. We have to 1. Recognize there is a problem 2. Where did it come from 3. Deal with it The more that you mask or cover up the symptom (s) the more imbedded they become. The longer and harder it sometimes becomes to be healed and delivered from it. Wilt thou be made whole? Pull it up from the root and walk in total victory. #CLEANTHISHOUSE
I’m In Recovery
In 2004 at the age of 29 I had to to have a laparoscopic surgery because they thought that I might have endometriosis. For several yrs I dealt with abdominal pain, bursting cyst to where I couldn’t walk and the loss of a child. The doctors told me the end result which is that I may not ever be able to have anymore kids. Who’s report will you believe? I still was trusting in God in spite of the report. I had never had surgery before so I was a little afraid of being put to sleep and the flooding thoughts of what if’s begin to bombard my mind. As I was praying before surgery God told me to just say “yes”. At the time God was calling me into ministry to preach the Gospel and I was running from the call. I said, “yes” and He said, “It is well”. The surgery would consist of 4 incisions that would allow them take cameras inside to explore. The recovery time would take about 2-3 weeks and I would experience some minor pain. It was an outpatient procedure, so when I came to I was in a recovery room or holding area. They wanted to make sure that I was ok and that there where no complications after surgery. I vaguely could remember who I saw, but I could hear and recognize their voices. The thing I remembered the most was the amount of pain that I was in. It wasn’t minor at all. Before they released me they told me that everything went well, they went ahead and took out my appendix and that they found no trace of endometriosis. They went on to say that although they didn’t find anything doesn’t mean it’s not there. I knew that it was God that healed me. I am one who doesn’t tolerate pain very well, but I knew it was part of my recovery process due to the extent of my surgery. I think about the process and the time it make take for one to recover. Sometimes it can be very extensive and though the doctors give you a time frame it sometimes depends on the person. Though the beginning stages of recovery maybe painful it is not only necessary but there are great things birthed through pain. Despite their negative report of me not being able have anymore kids that following year the Lord blessed us to have 2. Joel 2:25 “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent before you” You may have lost a lot in times past, but the things that God is going to recover and restore in your life is greater than the things that you have lost. And we shall recover all. #CLEANTHISHOUSE
Lord Make Me Over
Make Me Over By Tonex
I think that the Transformers is probably one of my best Action movies. I am fascinated with their whole transformation from a vehicle or air craft into these unbelievable creations. You would have never thought all of that was built inside of one. It all came out when they were ignited by a greater force than themselves. I think about the process that it had to take to even create something so great and for every thing to function properly. I am sure there were a lot of mistakes made and retakes. They had a vision of the final process and though it took a lot of energy, time, investment and sacrifices they did what was necessary to complete the task and reach their goal. Nothing is given without sacrifice. In order for God to save the world He had to sacrifice His only Son. If you aren’t willing to make the sacrifice for “IT” 9 times out of 10 it want come to pass. I will have to admit I am not one who has the best vocabulary, may not use the best pronunciation or even the best diction, but I am at this point in life that I am willing to do whatever it takes to better myself for where God is taking me to. I sometimes more than not find myself getting tripped up on words that are similar in appearance but their meanings are different, like won’t and want. I know what I want to say at the time, but then when I’m getting it out it may come out the wrong way. Now I’m trying to go through the process of transformation. Transforming and undoing years of wrong learning, teaching and bad habits that I’ve picked up along the way. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve been doing wrong until The Lord sends you someone along your path to not only tell you, but also showing you and helping you through the process. A lot of people want to tell you your wrong doings, but never show you or help you through the process. In this process we have to be willing to accept corrective criticism and be open to change. Not everyone is out to hurt you or hope that you will fail. I hadn’t always been in that place to accept or receive that. It would actually make me cringe. The problem wasn’t so much other people as I thought, but it was what I thought and how I viewed myself. I walked around with a wall up, guarded and on the defense feeling the need to protect myself because of things I experienced all the way down to my childhood. I thought that it was helping me, but it was only hurting me and left me broken and damaged goods. When I finally made the choice to forgive the process of my thinking began to change which changed my life. Though this process hasn’t been easy and it is a day by day sometimes minute by minute step I can not only see but feel the change in my life. Sometimes you have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired not so much of other people I was sick of ME. The transformation ALWAYS begins with the individual. The day I began to sacrifice myself up to God was the day my life changed forever. #CLEANTHISHOUSE
Cut The Cord
New Thing by Joshua Cole
“Behold, I will do a new thing! Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” Isaiah 43:19
Sometimes the biggest fight in your life is when you have to cut the umbilical cord. The thing that once gave you life has died and if you don’t cut the cord you could die too.
As I bring a close to this year I have found it to be such a struggle with trying to push forward. God is changing my whole face of ministry for me and how I thought it was going to be and the channel or vehicle in which it was going to go through. Today I was feeling some kind of way as I was having to go back to my home church that I haven’t been to in almost 5 yrs and now someone else resides there. Even though I was going there to support someone else it was more about me. Before going into the new year God said that I was going to have to physically go back to the place that once gave me life and cut the cord. I didn’t realize that some part of me was still holding on as I would try to search for something that somewhat resembled what was not knowing it was hindering my growth because I was not accepting fully where and what God had for me now. I was physically moving forward, but subconsciously I still had one hand holding on. When a baby is born one of the 1st things they do is cut the cord. Now that the baby is outside of the womb it no longer will be able to feed or exist off of what it use to because it is in a new environment. When something is out of its element it eventually dies unless it reconnects and adapts to the new environment that it is in. Like a new-born baby it now has to adapt and live outside the womb. You can’t move forward if you are still connected to a dead thing, your past or looking back. It is now just a building but every experience, everything I learned lives within me and it is for me to carry on by moving forward and using that which is within me. #CLEANTHISHOUSE
Be Aware of the Silent Killers
A Heart That Forgives by Kevin Levar
At the end of my marriage as it started to spiral down hill I began to really seek the Lord with how we got here. The questions I asked him was 1. Where did we go wrong? 2. Where did I go wrong? His response to the 2nd question was that not only did you have unforgiveness against your husband but you had unforgiveness against your father which went all the way back to your childhood. Over a period of time because I never dealt with it when other things happened in my life and I didn’t know how to properly deal with them it only supressed them and began to poison me on the inside. My anger turned into resentment, into bitterness, into unforgiveness which began to manifest on the outside. I didn’t even like myself at times, but I didn’t know how to fix it, how do I fix me. Saved, sanctified, sho nuff filled with the Holy Ghost, but I was a mess hiding behind the masks that I had picked up over the years. We mirror what we see, not knowing it is killing us. So because of the unresolved issues with my dad I saw my husband as my daddy in some areas and I treated him how I treated my daddy added on top of things we were already dealing with. When God revealed to me of my unforgiveness it was like a light bulb went off in my head. Why didn’t I think of this before now. Though it wasn’t enough to save my marriage it was enough to save me. So I started working on getting myself together and getting healed. I repented and forgave of all. There was such a feeling of freedom and peace that came over me that I had never felt before. When I forgave my daddy not only did it began to heal our relationship, but the relationship of our family and me. It was like a trickle down effect. That unforgiveness held up a lot of areas in my life. Now I do whatever it takes to maintain it. It takes more energy to hold onto negativity than to just let it go. The reward in doing so is life changing. Sometimes it’s not the things that happen to us in life or the people in it that will kill us, but the things that we inhale, digest and allow to sit in our system. If we don’t continually clean out our system over a period of time it will become as a poison that will slowly work its way through our body system. Heaven forbid if it gets in our blood stream that will eventually break down the body system. You can go for years without any symptoms at all until what’s in you begans to manifest on the outside. Be careful of the silent killers: unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness, depression, anger, etc. Kill IT before IT kills you.
#CLEANTHISHOUSE
Going Back IS NOT An Option
I Won’t Go Back by William McDowell
I was standing in the kitchen having a conversation with my girls and my youngest daughter made the statement that she wanted to go back. Puzzled I’m like you won’t to go back where, to the apartment? With excitement she said yes! As I was turning away from her I asked why would you won’t to go back there? I’m thinking in my mind how the Lord has blessed us with a home, you have your own room, more room to play, etc. Back there we were in a 2 bedroom apartment, with 1 bathroom and hardly any extra room to move. I didn’t hear her give a response so as I turned around I looked at her face and she began to cry. I embraced her and asked her what’s wrong and again why would you won’t to go back THERE? She said I don’t know. Then the Lord brought it to my remembrance that back there her parents were together, but now we are divorced. Her sister would be at home, but she is now in College in L.A. I acknowledged how she felt by letting her know that it was ok for her to feel the way she was feeling and that I understood, but we want to be able to go back. She began to cry even more and I explained to her say if me and your daddy got back together and your sister came home and we went back to the apartment it would not make things return back to the way it used to be. So much has happened up until this point and we are not the same. I know it is hard right now, but it will get better. I do believe God can redeem the time that has been lost but it is never back to its former state. A lot of times we revert back to the familiar, what is comfortable because we think it’s easier just to turn around and go back. In actuality in most cases things become worse. Have you ever found yourself saying if I could go back there knowing what I know now? It is the experiences of life good and bad that has caused us to be who we are today. In life we will face many challenges, but if we continue to trust God and follow His lead He promised to never leave us nor forsake us.I know that back there seemed good, but what God has for us now is so much better. No turning back moving forward. #CLEANTHISHOUSE
When Your In One Place But Your Heart Is Some Where Else
My Life, My Love, My All by Kirk Franklin
Where your treasure is therefore your heart is also Matt 6:21
For sometime now I feel like I have been in this struggle of where I belong since the closing of my former church home. I have been in this place of searching or more like transition for what I felt was “home” For 37 years of my life I was in 1 place. Never went from church to church, because I was always taught to be committed where you are. Then God decided to disrupt my life in every way manageable with what felt like a stripping away, cutting back, pruning or surgery which all doesn’t feel good. Over the years I haven’t gotten comfortable with where I was whether it was my job, place to live, etc. because the moment I became comfortable here comes God shaking stuff up. Transition is always continual in life as we go from Glory to Glory. But what happens when you find yourself in a compromising state where you are in one place but your heart is somewhere else.You love where you are to some degree, but yet your unsettled, you haven’t found at one point you thought was “There”. You are still unfilled in the purpose of God for your life. When what’s in you has grown outside of where you are. It leaves you in an uneasy position or feeling like ok God what do I do now, do I leave or do I stay, but where shall I go. It’s like when you’re in a torn relationship. You know the time has come to end it, but instead of letting go you hang on. You become comfortable and settle. You become distant, on edge, irritable and you have no peace. You care about them, you even love them, but you’re not in love with them. Then there’s someone else who has peaked your interest. When you see them you get these butterflies in your stomach. There is this peace you feel when your around them. Your compatible in every way. Everything flows as if a perfect fit when sticking your hand into a glove that is the right size, your hands feel warm, secure and protected. Your desire to be with them becomes stronger the more you are around them or communicating with them. You get that gut feeling and the sense of yeah!this is the one, this is where I belong. Even in that you still have to use caution because everything that “feels” right doesn’t mean it is right. In all things we still have to consult the council of the most high God. In spite of what we feel we don’t want to make a hasty decision without the direction of God. It’s all in God’s timing and we must trust Him still. #CLEANTHISHOUSE
trevawilliams.org 