Thursday, February 23

My real continuation to MY TESTIMONY, SORRY for delay!!

I have to apologize for delaying My Testimony, however, I will continue and attempt to finish today!!First, I want to say that I miss you guys, and I really want your feedback, so please comment by saying anything, even saying "I read your blog, BYE!"Let me tell you guys that I have been ok, trying to overcome daily struggles and temptations. I need to seek His Face more! I need to be constantly in his presence, whether at work, or anywhere!Ok Im gonna finish my Testimony here it goesLast time I left off here:...After living with these dudes for 4 or so months, I decided that I couldn't live in this state (literal, in both ways) any longer and so I moved to Florida...Ok. I moved to Miami, Florida, Kendall to be exact, My dad, sister and brother were all living there at that time, I stayed with my sister and brother for about three weeks, My dad lived elsewhere. You know that coming from NY, I had no need for a license, so I had to get a license if I wanted to get around in Miami. At this point I had decided that I was no longer going to smoke, and drink, yeah right that lasted for about a week. And that only occurred in that manner because I didn't have friends, or a car to get around. But after like a week or so, Alice, company, and I were out getting ripped (Drunk, High). Look at me now, getting high and drunk with my sister, no shame huh. Now this is the same sister who had become a Born Again Christian a few years back in Guatemala. She had her own struggles and her own story. This experience Im going to share, by no means is it to bring glory to actions and practices we partook in. But, I want you to understand that the powers of evil are real, and things do happen for a reason. Anyhow, one night, while I was still staying with my sis' crib, we decided to go to South Beach, Miami Beach area, and we bought some fruity alcoholic drinks, ghetto stuff, and went down to the beach to get twisted, I wanted to drink and smoke, but I didnt know where to get smoke from, so I settled for some alcohol instead, hey we did our thing, it was like four of us, and we met up with some dude on the beach that had smoke, so we got to puff some too, anyhow, my sister got real sick that night, after like just smelling the stuff (J/K) when we were done, we thought that the beach was just too boring so we decided to go to Ft. Lauderdale to the beach down there, and we headed over there. We got there and it was way more pumping than Miami Beach, normally it takes like 20-30 minutes to get to the Ft. but it seemed like it only took 5 minutes, guess who was driving? Yours truly, twisted, high and all. So we get to the beach out in Ft. Lauderdale, and we decide to park in a garage cause there was no parking anywhere, so we go into the garage and as Im parking the car I decide to hit the gas instead of the brakes and smash the front end into a wall, well once we get out of the car, Alice is like ahhh, its nothing, I was surprised, but she was also twisted. I was shook, cause It wasnt my car, it was my sister's car, and I also thought that her mom and my dad were going to be upset. But my sister was so carefree (in those days) she didnt care about her car being banged up. So we left the car parked and went to the beach to walk around, this guys named Frantz was with us, and he wasnt drunk or anything, he didnt really do those things, even though he said he did, he babysat a beer for a long minute, and didnt even finish it. We bought more beer there, and I was guzzling them joints down like water, I wanted to escape the reality and pain of life. So as we were walking around and fooling around, having fun, this lady approached us, and she seemed like a baglady, but there was something about this lady.
This is how it went she approached us as we were stumbling along the boardwalk, and I really can't recall word for word what she told us but she started to quote scripture and make mention of Getting out of Egypt, Moses or abraham, Im not too sure. But whatever she was saying brought us back to reality, and we stopped to listen to her, and she was truly speaking into our lives, my sister and I at least, we were convicted by what she was saying and shortly after that we bounced back to Miami on home. If I recall correctly the lady was saying something about God using me, keep in mind that at this point I had been going through alot of encounters, but yet I have not made the decision to follow Jesus, I was still skeptical about the whole God thing! I know that what this lady was saying I see it as prophetic, out of all the people on that beach she came to us, and had specifics for us?? As I think back, I remember her saying things like you will be used mightily of God, and that I was going to be a powerful instrument! (Alicia if you recall anything else, please interject, OK?) What I do know is that she was really talking to me personally, and singled me out.

That spooked me in those days, and really caused me to think about my life even more. It also made me think about how real God was, The Bible says that He can take the foolish things of this world to confine the wise. That baglady seems as a foolish thing to many, I was a fool, yet He chose me to be set apart. To bring even those who proclaim to be wise, and know great things, that they truly don't know the basics of this world, that there truly is a Creator who cares about you!

Im sorry, once again I will have to leave you there... Coming soon, The Adventures of Lester, and see Lester come face to face with CRAZY ROB! Who will prevail, who will overcome, watch on the next episode of "My Testimony."

Familia, I love ya, and bare with me, I am at work and I try to make these entries as my day strolls on by. I hope all of you guys are doing good.

I want to ask any and every single one of you guys to make a prayer request, post it on the comments for this posting, and we as a community will lift up these requests, and believe God for whatever it is that we ask.

I will start with my requests:

1. I need wisdom on how to raise my kids! We live in perilous times, and the competition is appealing visually, physically. I want to raise children in the ways of the Lord, yet I dont want to be irrelevant, and I dont want to shelter them to the point of causing them damage, rather than good, feel me. I need wisdom!

2. I want to be a better husband, I want to put my wife's needs before mine, and I want to be selfless when it comes to my treatment to her. The Bible says I ought to love my wife like Christ loves the Church, I want you to understand that If Christ died for the Church, He loved the Church greatly, right! I want to die to myself in demonstration of my love for my wife!! I need help, and God can only do this, I want to put my wife before me, and I want to cultivate her to her fullest potential, Im not doing a good job at this right now my friends, so I ask that you lift this request!!

3. I need wisdom when it comes to financial matters! We are in such a debt, school loans, and credit debts, we need to overcome these obstacles, its hard to progress in these areas!

Thank you, and Im trusting that you will lift these up, The Bible says the prayers of a righteous man accomplishes alot.

Please post your comments, prayer requests, and stay tuned for more!

One, Les!!

HOLLA!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Les,

Just want to comment on some of the critical points in your life, i.e. kids, wife, financial.

Yo, check it, you should instill your beliefs to your children but don't keep them in a bubble where they don't know about worldly things. Teach them right from wrong as you see fit and use your judgment, past experiences and struggles, if any, to lead your kids in the right direction. You mentioned this in today’s blog so you need to put words to action. As far as your relationship with your wife, you have identified the problem and have the solution to make things better, so stop being self-centered and attend to your wife's needs. And finally financial this is the biggest problem amongst couples and families. When the times are tough it just brings lots of arguments and stress, which sometimes leads to divorce. There has to be discipline with financial. That is one of the biggest problems in the minority community. Whenever someone starts making more money instead of being content with what they have and save that extra money, people start to get the latest gadgets, a nicer car, plasma TV's, and other needless things. Shok, says it the best in the song ‘Hollywood’. (By the way, anyone reading this comment if you haven’t gotten Shok’s album make sure you cop it, the joint is hot and I’m not a Christian.) Hey, I'm not innocent of this but I know from past experiences that I need to look ahead and plan for the future. Its not easy but there are other avenues that you can take to help your financial situation. Try speaking with a Non-profit Debt Consolidation Organization to see if they can work with the financial institutions and credit card companies to lower your interest rate. I know you can call the student loans and ask for forbearance on your loan because of financial hardships. This doesn't clear your loan but it stops the obligation to send a payment every month for a time period. At this point you should use the extra money to pay off the high interest debts. Also, take the smaller bills and try sending as much as you can to get rid of them while only sending the minimum on other debts. Slowly but surely you will start to knock out one debt after the other. And the last resort that people hate to do is, file for bankruptcy and start from scratch. I know of people that have done this and things are much better now. Sometimes people put pride in the way but forget what people might say, do was best for you and your family.

One thing you mentioned earlier in your testimony and this is just what I think you should have done in that situation is when you decided to give the $500 dollars to the church and a day later you received a $500 dollar bonus, instead of donating to the church you should have used that towards your financial situation. I believe that even if you decided not to donate the money you would have still received the bonus. This would have put you in a better situation. I don’t believe God would have seen you differently or not forgive you for not paying your tithe. I’m pretty sure he understands your troubles. You might argue that I don’t understand and you are right I don’t but probably as a Christian you see things differently than I do, but I am just giving you my perspective/opinion based on my assessment of the situation.

Holla,
Alex

The Real Pae said...

Thanks alot Alex, I appreciate and will take all that you commented on to mind.
The only point I agree to disagree with you about is the tithing issue, I understand your point of view and even respect the fact that you mentioning that you may not understand my perspective, and that is a good insight on your part. When it comes to faith and doing things that may seem foolish, like that $500 dollar tithe, let me say that it's a matter of faith and not so much an issue of where is the best place to send this and that. It is a commandment (tithing) and obedience is better than sacrifice. I dont expect anyone to understand that decision, but as long as I know that what I did is pleasing to God, it is well worth the sacrifice, because obedience took precedence.
Don't get me wrong Alex, we aren't suffering financially, we just need to get things in order, like you said "Get Disciplined!" And Brother I agree with every point and will definitely take heed to every advice you through my way, I appreciate it greatly, Thank YOU!!

Like I said before just the tithing issue, is where we can agree to disagree? Agreed?
It wasnt a donation, it was the least I can do at that time. Believe me fam!!

Anonymous said...

Agreed. That's an area I'm not familiar and don't understand but if you say its a sacrifice that needed to be taken then I respect that fully. Hey, there wouldn't be debates if everyone agreed on everything. Anyway, I won't take to much of your time so you can dedicate it to the Crazy Rob sequel.

The Real Pae said...

Good stuff guys, I appreciate all your advice! Alex, thank you! Alicia, thank you too!

A famous dude who got beat up for all the wrong reasons once said
"Why can't we all just get along."

Thanks guys!

One, Les!

Anonymous said...

Hey Les,

One thing i can say thank you for sharing and asking us for advise. But i tell you Solomon had all the wisdom in the world. he prayed and received. My advise is get on your face and start praying ask God to bless you with heavenly language. The Holy Spirit prays for those things that we have no idea to pray for. The blessing of heavenly language its just the Holy Spirit at that time no human connection is included. As for a father one thing i love is that you show my nephew and niece love be there for them and leave them in Gods hands. I agree with Alex allowing them to understand wordly things. I know this must be difficult i know it will be for me. Especially when your spiritual eyes are open, but i also pray for Gods wisdom at that time. Its not good to raise kids without them having there own choices to make. Thats how we all learned. I thank God for my mother because what she did was pray for me and put me in Gods hands and she sees the results now not in the past. She was a women of faith believing God was going to take control in my life. Always look at the beauty your children are being raised in a God fearing home that means alot and many of us understand that. They will understand the dark world as well as the light. As for the finance i am proud of you guys decision with giving God whats God. God doesn't need anything from us. Even if you would've put the 500 in bills you still would of had debt. But by giving God whats God shows God you love him and he is so important to you. Ultimately God is the one that allows us to have money anyway, he opens and closes the doors we just need the wisdom. Anyway, I am more than sure if someone owed President Bush some money our priorities would be to pay him back so he can trust us and our reputation with the world doesn't look wrong. If not president Bush hey pick your favorite guy we are people pleaser. Not God pleasers. The human mind can not understand the fear of God but the spiritual mind can. As for my sister, I tell you Les fall in love with all the gifts of the HOly Spirit, become a prayer warrior. You want to know how to please my sister. Touch her love langauge. If you are not taping into her love language then there is a problem. Thats in all relationships we must understand eachother love language. You know what they are quality time, words of affirmation, etc. and in the spirtual realm a God fearing man. One who is a prayer warrior and brings her closer to God. Don't try to figure it all out and fall in love more and more with God. And be real. You might say i am being real but what i notice about some people they talk to much about being real and there actions are all jacked up. Fall in love fully with our Lord and Savior rebuke yourself when you complain and fall in love with the Lord of Lords and Kings of Kings. Your past is powerful only because you were once in the path of hell and now the Lord has directed your footsteps to alife that acknowledges him and will be eternally in peace. A life full of hope and a future. The creator of this universe is not only your God but he calls you his friend. John 15:15. Your spiritual eyes have been open to love of God. Les, Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33. What things all the things the Lord has for you. Like you said die to self. This world has nothing to offer.
The bible says What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Mathew 16:26.

Sorry this is so long. I am going to stop now. I love you man. Keep on seeking, seek with hope knowing that God has the plan. Let him truly be the Potter and you the clay. Be set free. Love lives inside of you. God Bless

The Real Pae said...

Thanks for the encouragement and God fearing advice, well said and put. I am proud of your diligence, and perserverance, because you know how we do, and I know where you came from!

One

The Real Pae said...

To clarify, they are my "Prayer Requests"!

Anonymous said...

Prayer request are important. And we all in this blog will be witnesses of all that God has done. Just by reading the testimony or by experiencing along with you guys. Keep on keeping on. see ya, at the next blog (the continuation of your testimony) Love ya

Anonymous said...

Hey man... I been real busy.. but I had some time today :)

I think your on the right track bro... God is going to give you all the wisdom you seek (ask and it shall be givem). Seek wisdom before any money matters... Remember Solomen God said "Whatever you ask I will give you" and Solomen said give me wisdom, understanding... God said NO DOUBT plus I got you on some nice earthly stuuf too! Because "Seek ye first the kingdom & all its righteousnesss......"

KIDS! I feel ya on that... Chin was right on tho-- Like for instance I dont hide Holloween from my son (he is 3) I use it as an opportunity to spread Christ Love, We stay home, set up candy with tracts about God and he can dress as something positive... We see it as an opportunity to spread Gods Love rather than a time to teach our son to hide from the world... I think its an opportunty to show God is not a Spirit of fear, and The Lord is my Light and my salvation , Whom Shall I Fear! NO ONE... So raise em in boldness & Love for they are down withthe KING!

Far as wifey... AGAPE --- When that heavy Love of Christ that guards our hearts and minds in all situations is in full effect, things look different... Focus on the Love of Christ to the FULLEST, I know he lives in you, I know your a kingdom rep to death... but Im saying Put on Christ Love heavy and it will transform things... dwell in his Love, and he will do the rest...

Far as Finances.... Really we should not even use credit.. We become a slave to the lender (proverbs) .. So less is more as far as spending, less you spend the more you have, the more u appreciate , and so on... Credit cards have not even been around that long, maybe close to 50 yrs... or less... they are still an experiment and so far they only reinforce Gods word by showing us how harmful credit can be... I dont know anyone who didnt regret overspending--- the instant gratification is followed by a long overpayment for something we usually dont need.....

ok ok ok I STOP --- LOL

God Bless
In His Love,
SHOK

PS-- THANKS FOR THE SHOUT OUT CHIN!

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