June 6, 2025 • 37 mins
What if your greatest disqualification is your greatest qualification in God's eyes? This soul-stirring episode challenges everything we've been taught about who deserves to be used by God.
Bishops Joshua and David Higginbotham reveal how God consistently chooses. The episode takes a profound turn when we meet Erica. If you've ever felt too damaged, too broken, or too far gone for God to use, this message is for you.
Ready to discover how your greatest weakness might become your greatest strength? Listen now and share this message with someone who needs to know their purpose.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Now streaming on all major podcast platforms, edifying your
mind, body and soul. We welcome you to listen now to
Soul Food with your main host, Bishop Joshua.
Here. We are always ready to share a
(00:23):
Word of Faith, unpack powerful testimonies, divinely inspired
music to enhance your faith. Walk, feed your faith wherever
you go, Quench your spiritual hunger.
(00:48):
Give the food that lasts foreverhere on the Soul Food Podcast.
(01:16):
One more episode of Naked Truth,nothing to hide, but all to
review together with me, Bishop David Higginbotham and we are
going to show today. Bishop David who God chooses.
(01:37):
Sometimes a person says I cannotgo to church because of my past,
because what I have done. But before God there is no
distinct. Actually God always chooses
people like that. Those who are broken, those who
are neglected by the society, nobody wants.
(01:58):
These are the ones they lost, the sheep of Israel that God
wants. Absolutely.
All through the Bible the the great men and women of God were
people who the world had rejected.
For example, King David. Everyone's heard of King David,
this great king, this great warrior, but his father didn't
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believe in him. When the prophet came to anoint
one of Jesse's sons as king, hisfather didn't even.
He called all the brothers, but he he didn't call David because
his own father didn't believe inhim.
And there are many, many examples of people.
Rahab was a prostitute. There were people who were poor,
(02:42):
who were miserable, who were sick, and God called them when
they were weak and broken, and God remade them.
Jeff was the son of a prostitute, so was Gideon the
least and the last one in his family.
His family was the weakest, the poorest one, but they were the
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ones that God called and they became heroes.
So we have a good news. You are the one.
Yes, you are the if. If your life is messed up, if
you feel that you're nobody, you're the perfect candidate for
God to use. Because if you think that you're
something, it's it's going to behard for God to use you.
(03:27):
But if you're convinced that that by yourself you can't make
it and you need the power of God, so then God can work in
you. Yes, definitely He can.
He can work, work in you and transform your life.
It is good that you come like that, because when He transforms
your life, everybody you see that is none but God.
(03:51):
Right. The scripture says God has
chosen the foolish things of theworld to put to shame the wise.
As you said, if you come think that you are wise, you always
will be put to shame. And God has chosen the weak
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things of the world to put to shame the things which are
might. So if a person thinks that he's
the wiser one, that he's the strongest one, that he's the
might ones dispersed will never come to God, and God does not
have space to use this person. Because God's wisdom is
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different than the world's wisdom.
God's power is different than the world's power.
God does things differently. And So what the world considers
considers good and wise and strong.
For example, Bishop Joshua, sometimes you can see a man
who's been lifting weights, you know, he has muscles, he's tan,
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he looks strong, but he has addictions.
He's addicted to pornography. He has other addictions.
He, he, he can't be faithful to his wife.
He's sleeping with all kinds of women.
So in the Kingdom of God, that man is not strong, even though
he has muscles, he's. Weak and before his friends, his
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relatives, family members. He's a strong his muscle, but
behind closed doors, when he's alone by himself, he cries.
Just a crying baby. He's depressed.
He he, he doesn't know how to overcome the problems in life.
So God came for you, for people like you in a few.
(05:42):
We are going to speak to Erica. She's here with us.
And Erica had these problems in life.
She was in a broken home. She grew up with this terrible
life and she suffered a lot. Can I connect with her?
(06:04):
Hello, Erica. How are you?
Hi, I'm blessed. Blessed So am I right to say
that you came from dysfunctionalbroken home family?
Yes, so put it lightly. So in a few we are going to hear
(06:26):
from you, your story to understand more from you.
Because of depression, many are killing themselves.
When we hear that somebody committed suicide, somebody
killed himself, we hear from thefamily.
He was always depressed. He was always by himself, not
talking to nobody. He was always in a dark room.
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Yes, you know when the signs were already there, when someone
ends up killing themselves for many months, weeks, years, they
have been already suffering. They've been they've been
depressed, they've been had thoughts of suicide many, many
times. They feel alone.
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They feel like there is no hope for their future.
And so when a person ends up killing themselves, that has
been a spiritual disease for a long time.
And there is always a voice whenever you hear that somebody
commits suicide, killed himself,there was always a voice telling
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that person there is no more wayout, life is not worth living,
Kill yourself. This voice is day and night.
If you are listening to a voice like that, stop it.
If you hear a voice telling you you are good for nothing, kill
yourself. This is the end.
Stop it. And then you are going to come
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to us and we are going to help you understand now what is
behind depression. Pay very close attention. 10
signs to identify depression. You have no goals for life.
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You feel numb. Life has no color nor meaning
due to the numbness you have inside.
Change in appetite and energy level.
Change in concentration. You can't focus on anything you
do Anxiety. You worry and fear about
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everyday situations. Excessive anger and mood swings.
Suicidal thoughts and attempts, sleepless nights, sadness and
loss of interest. You are constantly feeling
lonely and severe sadness. Can you relate?
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And we know that the pressure isalso a silent disease.
Silent disease. Sometimes a person doesn't know
he has it, but it escalates, increase.
A person start feeling sad and start separates, isolate
himself. It is depression.
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It is just peel depression. If a person does not do anything
now, it will get worse and worseday by day.
Yeah, many times we even hear people talk about how they
didn't know that they were depressed.
They they were sad. They thought everyone was sad.
They thought it was normal to feel this way.
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They grew up and everyone in their family was this way.
So some people have depression. They don't even know that
they're depressed. They think it's normal.
And so if you think that something is normal, you're
normal. You're not going to fight
against it. And that's the problem.
Depression is something that we have to reject, we have to fight
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against. And when a person does not fight
against it, what he does taking pills go to the doctor and then
the doctor diagnose him her withdepression.
And says you you have to take these pills for the rest of
your. Life for the rest of your life.
Just as somebody says I am diabetic, I have diabetes.
Now people go around and say I have depression.
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OK, Any other disease in the body the doctors can help us
with, but the disease of the soul that is called depression.
Only the word of God, the power of God.
You know, Bishop Joshua, if we could draw the picture, the face
of an evil spirit or Satan, it would be depression.
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It would be the face of depression, because depression
is exactly everything that that evil spirits want.
Right. Let me speak to Erica right now.
Erica, tell us, how did your suffering begin?
I was 6 and my stepfather started to touch me in places he
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shouldn't and he was threateningme and but I finally told my
mother I didn't get the help that I needed.
He would tell her that I was disobedient.
I was a bad child and I was lying on him because he punished
me and she will believe him. And it went on for years and it
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caused me to have behavior issues, trust issues.
I was very depressed. I didn't realize I had low self
esteem until I got older. And I, you know, I reflected
back on my life. It affected every area of my
life on A and even as an adult. So you grew up with this inside
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of you, You solve this abuse youattacked.
And Bishop David, I think that for a child, what hurts more,
it's when an adult does not believe.
Because your, your parents, yourmother, your father is there to
protect you, to help you, to take care of you.
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And when you, you talk about something like this to your
mother and she doesn't believe you and she just says you are a
bad child and you're making it up.
A young child isn't going to make something like this up
normally. And so it just, it makes the the
wound much bigger. It makes the pain much greater
because not only are you being abused now you you're being
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rejected by your mother and not protected.
Yes, in her case, she was even punished for something that she
did not do. As you said, she was supposed to
be protected by the mother, but she was punished.
Now, Erica, growing up with thistrauma inside of your brain,
your mind, your heart, what happened to you?
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How did it affect your school, your like, love life?
Did you ever try to escape or gointo the streets in the world?
Well, it happened for eight years.
So during the 8 years, I went through a lot of changes.
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I don't even feel like I had a childhood.
Remember going to the store withmy mom and she will buy
groceries and I would always carry the bags with the canned
goods because I wanted to be strong enough to defend myself.
Since I had nobody to defend me,I fought a lot.
They used to call me pop off because anything would set me
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off. I didn't know how to control my
emotions. And I did really good in school
and I began to live a life that was depending on other people's
validation because I never felt validated.
I never felt good enough. So at school and at work, I've
(14:16):
always been overachiever. But in my love life is always
been pretty bad. Bad.
Sorry, sorry to cut you off. So what could we expect out of
her life? She was abused and all the
relationships also she had this abuse.
(14:37):
Anger, because she, she became very angry.
She became a very explosive person.
She did well in school because you know, when you have
problems, you don't have problems in every area.
She did well in school, but she was known as a fighter, a person
that couldn't control her temper.
And of course, like you said, you know, all she knew was
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problems in, in that area of herlife.
And so her love life is going tobe full of of confusion.
We are going to watch now, Eric,I'll be back talking to you.
But let me watch now. Let me show to everybody what
abuses are all about. If yourself are abused or you
have been an abuser, you have tounderstand that it is not from
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God at all. God is a fad, is not a monster.
He does not abuse anybody. And if you are the abuser, the
evil spirit has taken advantage of you, using you to abuse
somebody, and perhaps because you too were abused.
Don't stop listening. Soul food has more to feed you.
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You are listening to soul food with Bishop Joshua.
We'll be right back. I got a fire inside.
In some words I know I can't keep in.
I see faith turning into a show of Sundays and sermons and words
(16:13):
getting caught in the flow. Oh, but we've got real pain and
real fear Is thirsting for the drying of unreal tears, and it's
not satisfying anymore. Ain't the truth I thought there
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was torn I do me no stingless tobe washed in his blood.
I do me no perfect put together free words to be in love.
No, I want Jesus and his real love, something that I crave
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deep inside of my bones. You can leave your religion at
home. Spend my life trying to keep all
the rules. No.
(17:24):
I know. It's about what he's already
done, not about what I think that I've gotta do.
I do need no stingless you be washed in his brain.
I do need no perfect put together pretty words.
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You be in love. No, because I want Jesus and his
real love, something that I crave deep inside of my bones so
you can leave your religion at home.
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I want real, real love because I've got real pain and real,
real fear is thirsting for the drying of real tears.
It's not satisfying anymore. Ain't the truth out of Elma's
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toy? I do need no singers to be
washed in his blood. I do need no perfect put
together pretty words be in love.
No, I want Jesus and his real love, something that I craved
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deep inside on my bones so you can leave your religion at home
'cause I want real, real love. I want real.
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Parents should care for their children, giving them love,
care, food, shelter and a good education.
But when children are abused in ways such as being violently
beaten, verbally abused, neglected by their guardians,
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deprived the medical assistance or raped by a family member, it
becomes too much to bear. The majority of these children
become runaways and seek a family in gangs, the streets and
drugs. The rate of suicide among these
children and teens are two to three times higher than average.
(20:25):
So Erica, when you see videos like these children be abused,
women be abused, it's about yourpast, your past life were like
that, right? Yes, yes, I, I have to admit
that it wasn't just a physical abuse.
(20:46):
It, it tainted my character. I dealt with a lot of emotional
abuse, and the emotional and themental abuse was so much more
damaging than the physical abuse.
I learned that the physical abuse, the scars that go away a
few days, but the scars to my heart, the scars to my spirit,
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they stay for a long time. Yeah, that's a it's a point that
everybody should understand. The scars in the heart, in the
spirit. He stood there for a long time.
Tell me now, Erica, how did you overcome it?
Because they are, I hear from old ladies, elderly, that they
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never forget, they never forgaveand they grow old.
Some people take it to the tomb.How did you overcome it?
It wasn't easy. I had hate in my heart.
I was a very hateful individual and I knew that God didn't want
(21:53):
me to feel that way. Although I was hurting, I knew
that it was something better forme and in order for me to get
it, I had to overcome this. I didn't have the tools to
overcome. I didn't even know what to do to
overcome. So I would read my Bible.
That's all I had for a long time.
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And the more I would read the word of God, the more the Word
of God became real in my heart. It spoke against the voices that
were already in my head. It's yeah.
I'm laughing here because it's so powerful.
Medications are devices, friends.
(22:37):
Nobody could heal your soul, your heart, but you just said it
all, the word of God, this word here, this word was able to
change you inside. And this is the word that we are
reading. This is the word that we are
(23:00):
reading. Let me show here Jack, verse 27
here on this Bible. This is the word that we are
reading when it says read them. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world. Go ahead, Erica.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to
(23:22):
shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the
world to put the shame the things which.
So this, this is the world that you are talk talking about that
healed your soul. This is the world that came to
you because I'm sorry. You were the foolish things, you
were the weak thing, you were the despised one.
(23:46):
But God chose you. Yes, and it's it's so funny
because the men that out date, Imade the mistake so many times
to tell them about my pain in mypast thinking that they could
help me, but they would normallyuse it against me.
So I learned to make sure that Igive my heart and my pain to
(24:11):
someone who can heal me, to someone who loves me and will
protect me. And I never found it in a man or
a woman, a doctor. It came from God.
Before I even made it to the church, I was reading the word
of God. And the word of God was, was
filling me up and reminding me that I was chosen by God and I
(24:34):
was sealed and, and, and he had purpose for my life before I
even got here. So that word, it reassured me
that no matter what I was going through right now, if it did not
reflect what God said about me, then I haven't reached what God
had for me. So I kept fighting for it.
I messed up so many times because I dealt with sexual
(24:58):
abuse. I began to abuse my body
sexually. I would sleep with people that
were not in love with me. I wasn't in love with them.
It was just a way to express my pain.
I would. You're a kind of person.
You're a kind of person that youall over the place, searching,
(25:18):
pursuing happiness in people, inthings, things that you did not
have from home, from your childhood, which made your
things even worse. Yes.
OK, So what has God done for you, Erica?
The whole America, everybody wants to know the
(25:39):
transformation, the change. What is it?
Well, God, it's here, my heart. He gave me keys and I never
understood. I never understood the passage,
the scripture that says that theLord will give us peace that
surpasses all understanding. In the midst of my heart, in the
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midst of my pain, I didn't have a way out.
That was I would go from 1 abusive relationship to the next
abusive relationship, but I would continue to read the word
and the word of God gave me peace in those circumstances,
knowing that no matter what I'm going through right now, if
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God's word has not revealed itself to me, then I haven't
seen the best that God has me. So I didn't give up.
I kept fighting and the more I fought the stronger I became.
And I didn't fight with my body.If when I was young I learned
how to fight with my hands, thenthe Lord sent me to school so I
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can learn how to fight with my mind.
And as I continued on the journey, He sent me to church.
You mean I'm sorry, you, you learn to fight with your head,
You said you learn to fight withyour head.
Yes, with my hands. Hands OK, now in the church you
learn to fight the good fight offaith using the brain, not the
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heart. Yes, yes.
And that gives you peace when you know you don't have to
fight. God fights for you.
And he fixed the relationship with me and my mom.
I hated her because I couldn't understand why she would let
this happen to me. But when I realized that she had
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been raped every summer when shewas a girl, it it allowed me to
have compassion for her because I saw her as a hurt woman like I
was, and I began to break her. Hold on, hold on for a second.
I want to talk to you and you feel like a grain of scent.
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You are so small. Your problem is a giant.
You feel like a grain of scent. You feel like you are no one
among the crown. You do not feel in.
You feel like a lost sheep, black sheep.
I'm going to pray for you. Erica's going to tell us what
God did in her life. As for you over there, prepare
one glass of water and I am going to pray for you.
(28:12):
So Erica, tell me, how is your life now?
I'm happy. I know right now I'm not sure
about what tomorrow holds and I'm OK with that because I know
that the Lord holds my life in His hands.
I know I serve a good God and He's taking all the grudges out
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of my heart. I even forgave the person that
hurt me. I forgave the people who hurt me
and I make sure that I hold no grudges in my heart because it
caused me to have heart issues. My heart would hurt, my body was
tired, my brain would hurt, the would recycle that garbage.
What happened to me, I decided to get it out.
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I didn't want it inside of me anymore.
So I gave my life to Christ and through that I have love and joy
in my heart. My mom is my best friend, she
loves me and I love her. And my father wasn't there for
me, but he didn't have a father for him, so he couldn't.
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He couldn't be what he didn't have.
But he loves me the best. Wedded so going through this, it
helped me not to pass judgment on people because you don't know
what caused them to react and move the way they do.
I've learned to pray for people,pray at all times, pray for
myself and pray for my enemies and I used to pray Lord, cut the
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head out the snake, get them Godand and he said, no, that's not
how you pray. You pray in love, you pray with
love and and you love your neighbor look like you love
yourself because the world judges me or they used to.
Sometimes they look at me and they see my arms.
They may say God she looks different or they may look at my
(30:04):
face and say, man, she looks like God has really blessed her
life and like she hasn't had anyproblems.
This is this is the Holy Spirit,the shine display the of the
Holy Spirit. Erica, thank you for joining us.
Tell me, do know the address of the church you attended to the
in Dallas? Yes, it's 325 W Saner Ave.,
(30:30):
Dallas, TX 75224 and it's behindthe Beckley Recreation Center on
Saner. Thank you very much for joining
us and for your story. Congratulations for your faith.
All the best. Thank you, Bishop, thank you for
everything that the church is doing.
And I want to just iterate this church.
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It accepted me as I am. I came in a church broken in
pieces and I've been in this church for 10 years.
Sometimes I would have strayed, but the bishops, the pastors,
they never gave up on me. They called me and they didn't.
They didn't wag their fingers. They called me in love and
concern. And that's what continued to
draw me to God in it continued to give me the edification that
(31:14):
I needed to know that God was with me.
So thank you for this church. Right.
Thank you very much. God bless you, Erica.
Bye bye. Amen.
We are going to pray right now. I have my glass of water here.
I want you to prepare us. This is now the moment of
prayer. Let us now together talk to God.
(31:35):
It's. Now the moment of prayer.
Let us talk to God. Here I am in this moment of
prayer, so despised, without love.
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Need to talk with my Lord. Oh my Lord, come quickly and
help me. So much pain inside my soul.
(32:34):
You have so much pain inside of your soul just like Erica had.
I have two things here, my water, if you have yours, and I
have the Bible, I am going to invite you in a few to come
closer to your TV and you are going to place your hands upon
these words. See what it says.
(33:00):
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to
shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak
things of the world to put to shame the things which I might.
So he chose Erica, He's calling you.
Place your hand right now upon these words.
(33:21):
The word is here. Place your hand right now.
'Cause I found refuting you. O my Lord and my Father, there
are many people out there just like Erica or she was unwanted,
(33:52):
she was molested, abused Satan, treated her like a trash.
Nothing but you, my Lord, You gave hope.
You transformed her life. You changed her life, Spirit of
God, and I am asking you right now, in this very moment, come
(34:18):
my Lord, my Savior, to transformher life, to change his life.
As they place their hands upon the Bible, my Bible, Lord, place
your hand upon them to change, to transform, to give you hope
and dispose for you. Be the next story here on the
(34:42):
Naked Truth. My Lord Jesus, I ask you that
you may bless this cup of water that disperser, drink and
receive peace as you have workedin Erica's life, work and
transform their lives as well. In the name of the Father, the
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Son, the Holy Spirit, Amen. Praise God, Amen.
The water is blessed with all your faith.
Drink right now your water. I'm the one in the ground.
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I need to find a way. Out you have found the way out
you are looking for it. Praise God you have found the
way out. 7075 SW Freeway just between ballet and the Huecroft.
(36:08):
This is where the Universal Church is in Houston, TX.
You can come as you are. God has chosen you also in we
have a church in Detroit, IL, Nevada, Louisiana, South
Carolina, Florida, NY, New Jersey, Philadelphia, we are all
(36:29):
over. Reach out and find help the help
that you want, just as Erica found help.
May the God of the Bible bless all of you.
We are now in many platforms. Share the news and help others
to know more about Naked truth. May the God of the Bible bless
(36:49):
all of you. You may have a good one.
Thank you for listening to Soul Food Podcast.
(37:11):
Make sure your notification button is on.
Stay tuned to the next episode coming up.
Don't forget to share the food that will last forever.
Now streaming on all major podcast platforms, edifying your
mind, body and soul. We welcome you to listen now to
Soul Food with your main host, Bishop Joshua.
Here. We are always ready to share a
(00:23):
Word of Faith, unpack powerful testimonies, divinely inspired
music to enhance your faith. Walk, feed your faith wherever
you go, Quench your spiritual hunger.
(00:48):
Give the food that lasts foreverhere on the Soul Food Podcast.
(01:16):
One more episode of Naked Truth,nothing to hide, but all to
review together with me, Bishop David Higginbotham and we are
going to show today. Bishop David who God chooses.
(01:37):
Sometimes a person says I cannotgo to church because of my past,
because what I have done. But before God there is no
distinct. Actually God always chooses
people like that. Those who are broken, those who
are neglected by the society, nobody wants.
(01:58):
These are the ones they lost, the sheep of Israel that God
wants. Absolutely.
All through the Bible the the great men and women of God were
people who the world had rejected.
For example, King David. Everyone's heard of King David,
this great king, this great warrior, but his father didn't
(02:18):
believe in him. When the prophet came to anoint
one of Jesse's sons as king, hisfather didn't even.
He called all the brothers, but he he didn't call David because
his own father didn't believe inhim.
And there are many, many examples of people.
Rahab was a prostitute. There were people who were poor,
(02:42):
who were miserable, who were sick, and God called them when
they were weak and broken, and God remade them.
Jeff was the son of a prostitute, so was Gideon the
least and the last one in his family.
His family was the weakest, the poorest one, but they were the
(03:05):
ones that God called and they became heroes.
So we have a good news. You are the one.
Yes, you are the if. If your life is messed up, if
you feel that you're nobody, you're the perfect candidate for
God to use. Because if you think that you're
something, it's it's going to behard for God to use you.
(03:27):
But if you're convinced that that by yourself you can't make
it and you need the power of God, so then God can work in
you. Yes, definitely He can.
He can work, work in you and transform your life.
It is good that you come like that, because when He transforms
your life, everybody you see that is none but God.
(03:51):
Right. The scripture says God has
chosen the foolish things of theworld to put to shame the wise.
As you said, if you come think that you are wise, you always
will be put to shame. And God has chosen the weak
(04:12):
things of the world to put to shame the things which are
might. So if a person thinks that he's
the wiser one, that he's the strongest one, that he's the
might ones dispersed will never come to God, and God does not
have space to use this person. Because God's wisdom is
(04:35):
different than the world's wisdom.
God's power is different than the world's power.
God does things differently. And So what the world considers
considers good and wise and strong.
For example, Bishop Joshua, sometimes you can see a man
who's been lifting weights, you know, he has muscles, he's tan,
(04:58):
he looks strong, but he has addictions.
He's addicted to pornography. He has other addictions.
He, he, he can't be faithful to his wife.
He's sleeping with all kinds of women.
So in the Kingdom of God, that man is not strong, even though
he has muscles, he's. Weak and before his friends, his
(05:20):
relatives, family members. He's a strong his muscle, but
behind closed doors, when he's alone by himself, he cries.
Just a crying baby. He's depressed.
He he, he doesn't know how to overcome the problems in life.
So God came for you, for people like you in a few.
(05:42):
We are going to speak to Erica. She's here with us.
And Erica had these problems in life.
She was in a broken home. She grew up with this terrible
life and she suffered a lot. Can I connect with her?
(06:04):
Hello, Erica. How are you?
Hi, I'm blessed. Blessed So am I right to say
that you came from dysfunctionalbroken home family?
Yes, so put it lightly. So in a few we are going to hear
(06:26):
from you, your story to understand more from you.
Because of depression, many are killing themselves.
When we hear that somebody committed suicide, somebody
killed himself, we hear from thefamily.
He was always depressed. He was always by himself, not
talking to nobody. He was always in a dark room.
(06:49):
Yes, you know when the signs were already there, when someone
ends up killing themselves for many months, weeks, years, they
have been already suffering. They've been they've been
depressed, they've been had thoughts of suicide many, many
times. They feel alone.
(07:10):
They feel like there is no hope for their future.
And so when a person ends up killing themselves, that has
been a spiritual disease for a long time.
And there is always a voice whenever you hear that somebody
commits suicide, killed himself,there was always a voice telling
(07:31):
that person there is no more wayout, life is not worth living,
Kill yourself. This voice is day and night.
If you are listening to a voice like that, stop it.
If you hear a voice telling you you are good for nothing, kill
yourself. This is the end.
Stop it. And then you are going to come
(07:52):
to us and we are going to help you understand now what is
behind depression. Pay very close attention. 10
signs to identify depression. You have no goals for life.
(08:14):
You feel numb. Life has no color nor meaning
due to the numbness you have inside.
Change in appetite and energy level.
Change in concentration. You can't focus on anything you
do Anxiety. You worry and fear about
(08:35):
everyday situations. Excessive anger and mood swings.
Suicidal thoughts and attempts, sleepless nights, sadness and
loss of interest. You are constantly feeling
lonely and severe sadness. Can you relate?
(08:56):
And we know that the pressure isalso a silent disease.
Silent disease. Sometimes a person doesn't know
he has it, but it escalates, increase.
A person start feeling sad and start separates, isolate
himself. It is depression.
(09:18):
It is just peel depression. If a person does not do anything
now, it will get worse and worseday by day.
Yeah, many times we even hear people talk about how they
didn't know that they were depressed.
They they were sad. They thought everyone was sad.
They thought it was normal to feel this way.
(09:40):
They grew up and everyone in their family was this way.
So some people have depression. They don't even know that
they're depressed. They think it's normal.
And so if you think that something is normal, you're
normal. You're not going to fight
against it. And that's the problem.
Depression is something that we have to reject, we have to fight
(10:02):
against. And when a person does not fight
against it, what he does taking pills go to the doctor and then
the doctor diagnose him her withdepression.
And says you you have to take these pills for the rest of
your. Life for the rest of your life.
Just as somebody says I am diabetic, I have diabetes.
Now people go around and say I have depression.
(10:24):
OK, Any other disease in the body the doctors can help us
with, but the disease of the soul that is called depression.
Only the word of God, the power of God.
You know, Bishop Joshua, if we could draw the picture, the face
of an evil spirit or Satan, it would be depression.
(10:45):
It would be the face of depression, because depression
is exactly everything that that evil spirits want.
Right. Let me speak to Erica right now.
Erica, tell us, how did your suffering begin?
I was 6 and my stepfather started to touch me in places he
(11:09):
shouldn't and he was threateningme and but I finally told my
mother I didn't get the help that I needed.
He would tell her that I was disobedient.
I was a bad child and I was lying on him because he punished
me and she will believe him. And it went on for years and it
(11:32):
caused me to have behavior issues, trust issues.
I was very depressed. I didn't realize I had low self
esteem until I got older. And I, you know, I reflected
back on my life. It affected every area of my
life on A and even as an adult. So you grew up with this inside
(11:57):
of you, You solve this abuse youattacked.
And Bishop David, I think that for a child, what hurts more,
it's when an adult does not believe.
Because your, your parents, yourmother, your father is there to
protect you, to help you, to take care of you.
(12:19):
And when you, you talk about something like this to your
mother and she doesn't believe you and she just says you are a
bad child and you're making it up.
A young child isn't going to make something like this up
normally. And so it just, it makes the the
wound much bigger. It makes the pain much greater
because not only are you being abused now you you're being
(12:46):
rejected by your mother and not protected.
Yes, in her case, she was even punished for something that she
did not do. As you said, she was supposed to
be protected by the mother, but she was punished.
Now, Erica, growing up with thistrauma inside of your brain,
your mind, your heart, what happened to you?
(13:08):
How did it affect your school, your like, love life?
Did you ever try to escape or gointo the streets in the world?
Well, it happened for eight years.
So during the 8 years, I went through a lot of changes.
(13:29):
I don't even feel like I had a childhood.
Remember going to the store withmy mom and she will buy
groceries and I would always carry the bags with the canned
goods because I wanted to be strong enough to defend myself.
Since I had nobody to defend me,I fought a lot.
They used to call me pop off because anything would set me
(13:53):
off. I didn't know how to control my
emotions. And I did really good in school
and I began to live a life that was depending on other people's
validation because I never felt validated.
I never felt good enough. So at school and at work, I've
(14:16):
always been overachiever. But in my love life is always
been pretty bad. Bad.
Sorry, sorry to cut you off. So what could we expect out of
her life? She was abused and all the
relationships also she had this abuse.
(14:37):
Anger, because she, she became very angry.
She became a very explosive person.
She did well in school because you know, when you have
problems, you don't have problems in every area.
She did well in school, but she was known as a fighter, a person
that couldn't control her temper.
And of course, like you said, you know, all she knew was
(14:59):
problems in, in that area of herlife.
And so her love life is going tobe full of of confusion.
We are going to watch now, Eric,I'll be back talking to you.
But let me watch now. Let me show to everybody what
abuses are all about. If yourself are abused or you
have been an abuser, you have tounderstand that it is not from
(15:22):
God at all. God is a fad, is not a monster.
He does not abuse anybody. And if you are the abuser, the
evil spirit has taken advantage of you, using you to abuse
somebody, and perhaps because you too were abused.
Don't stop listening. Soul food has more to feed you.
(15:45):
You are listening to soul food with Bishop Joshua.
We'll be right back. I got a fire inside.
In some words I know I can't keep in.
I see faith turning into a show of Sundays and sermons and words
(16:13):
getting caught in the flow. Oh, but we've got real pain and
real fear Is thirsting for the drying of unreal tears, and it's
not satisfying anymore. Ain't the truth I thought there
(16:35):
was torn I do me no stingless tobe washed in his blood.
I do me no perfect put together free words to be in love.
No, I want Jesus and his real love, something that I crave
(17:02):
deep inside of my bones. You can leave your religion at
home. Spend my life trying to keep all
the rules. No.
(17:24):
I know. It's about what he's already
done, not about what I think that I've gotta do.
I do need no stingless you be washed in his brain.
I do need no perfect put together pretty words.
(17:48):
You be in love. No, because I want Jesus and his
real love, something that I crave deep inside of my bones so
you can leave your religion at home.
(18:10):
I want real, real love because I've got real pain and real,
real fear is thirsting for the drying of real tears.
It's not satisfying anymore. Ain't the truth out of Elma's
(18:34):
toy? I do need no singers to be
washed in his blood. I do need no perfect put
together pretty words be in love.
No, I want Jesus and his real love, something that I craved
(19:01):
deep inside on my bones so you can leave your religion at home
'cause I want real, real love. I want real.
(19:30):
Parents should care for their children, giving them love,
care, food, shelter and a good education.
But when children are abused in ways such as being violently
beaten, verbally abused, neglected by their guardians,
(19:55):
deprived the medical assistance or raped by a family member, it
becomes too much to bear. The majority of these children
become runaways and seek a family in gangs, the streets and
drugs. The rate of suicide among these
children and teens are two to three times higher than average.
(20:25):
So Erica, when you see videos like these children be abused,
women be abused, it's about yourpast, your past life were like
that, right? Yes, yes, I, I have to admit
that it wasn't just a physical abuse.
(20:46):
It, it tainted my character. I dealt with a lot of emotional
abuse, and the emotional and themental abuse was so much more
damaging than the physical abuse.
I learned that the physical abuse, the scars that go away a
few days, but the scars to my heart, the scars to my spirit,
(21:10):
they stay for a long time. Yeah, that's a it's a point that
everybody should understand. The scars in the heart, in the
spirit. He stood there for a long time.
Tell me now, Erica, how did you overcome it?
Because they are, I hear from old ladies, elderly, that they
(21:32):
never forget, they never forgaveand they grow old.
Some people take it to the tomb.How did you overcome it?
It wasn't easy. I had hate in my heart.
I was a very hateful individual and I knew that God didn't want
(21:53):
me to feel that way. Although I was hurting, I knew
that it was something better forme and in order for me to get
it, I had to overcome this. I didn't have the tools to
overcome. I didn't even know what to do to
overcome. So I would read my Bible.
That's all I had for a long time.
(22:14):
And the more I would read the word of God, the more the Word
of God became real in my heart. It spoke against the voices that
were already in my head. It's yeah.
I'm laughing here because it's so powerful.
Medications are devices, friends.
(22:37):
Nobody could heal your soul, your heart, but you just said it
all, the word of God, this word here, this word was able to
change you inside. And this is the word that we are
reading. This is the word that we are
(23:00):
reading. Let me show here Jack, verse 27
here on this Bible. This is the word that we are
reading when it says read them. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world. Go ahead, Erica.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to
(23:22):
shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the
world to put the shame the things which.
So this, this is the world that you are talk talking about that
healed your soul. This is the world that came to
you because I'm sorry. You were the foolish things, you
were the weak thing, you were the despised one.
(23:46):
But God chose you. Yes, and it's it's so funny
because the men that out date, Imade the mistake so many times
to tell them about my pain in mypast thinking that they could
help me, but they would normallyuse it against me.
So I learned to make sure that Igive my heart and my pain to
(24:11):
someone who can heal me, to someone who loves me and will
protect me. And I never found it in a man or
a woman, a doctor. It came from God.
Before I even made it to the church, I was reading the word
of God. And the word of God was, was
filling me up and reminding me that I was chosen by God and I
(24:34):
was sealed and, and, and he had purpose for my life before I
even got here. So that word, it reassured me
that no matter what I was going through right now, if it did not
reflect what God said about me, then I haven't reached what God
had for me. So I kept fighting for it.
I messed up so many times because I dealt with sexual
(24:58):
abuse. I began to abuse my body
sexually. I would sleep with people that
were not in love with me. I wasn't in love with them.
It was just a way to express my pain.
I would. You're a kind of person.
You're a kind of person that youall over the place, searching,
(25:18):
pursuing happiness in people, inthings, things that you did not
have from home, from your childhood, which made your
things even worse. Yes.
OK, So what has God done for you, Erica?
The whole America, everybody wants to know the
(25:39):
transformation, the change. What is it?
Well, God, it's here, my heart. He gave me keys and I never
understood. I never understood the passage,
the scripture that says that theLord will give us peace that
surpasses all understanding. In the midst of my heart, in the
(26:01):
midst of my pain, I didn't have a way out.
That was I would go from 1 abusive relationship to the next
abusive relationship, but I would continue to read the word
and the word of God gave me peace in those circumstances,
knowing that no matter what I'm going through right now, if
(26:22):
God's word has not revealed itself to me, then I haven't
seen the best that God has me. So I didn't give up.
I kept fighting and the more I fought the stronger I became.
And I didn't fight with my body.If when I was young I learned
how to fight with my hands, thenthe Lord sent me to school so I
(26:44):
can learn how to fight with my mind.
And as I continued on the journey, He sent me to church.
You mean I'm sorry, you, you learn to fight with your head,
You said you learn to fight withyour head.
Yes, with my hands. Hands OK, now in the church you
learn to fight the good fight offaith using the brain, not the
(27:06):
heart. Yes, yes.
And that gives you peace when you know you don't have to
fight. God fights for you.
And he fixed the relationship with me and my mom.
I hated her because I couldn't understand why she would let
this happen to me. But when I realized that she had
(27:29):
been raped every summer when shewas a girl, it it allowed me to
have compassion for her because I saw her as a hurt woman like I
was, and I began to break her. Hold on, hold on for a second.
I want to talk to you and you feel like a grain of scent.
(27:49):
You are so small. Your problem is a giant.
You feel like a grain of scent. You feel like you are no one
among the crown. You do not feel in.
You feel like a lost sheep, black sheep.
I'm going to pray for you. Erica's going to tell us what
God did in her life. As for you over there, prepare
one glass of water and I am going to pray for you.
(28:12):
So Erica, tell me, how is your life now?
I'm happy. I know right now I'm not sure
about what tomorrow holds and I'm OK with that because I know
that the Lord holds my life in His hands.
I know I serve a good God and He's taking all the grudges out
(28:34):
of my heart. I even forgave the person that
hurt me. I forgave the people who hurt me
and I make sure that I hold no grudges in my heart because it
caused me to have heart issues. My heart would hurt, my body was
tired, my brain would hurt, the would recycle that garbage.
What happened to me, I decided to get it out.
(28:57):
I didn't want it inside of me anymore.
So I gave my life to Christ and through that I have love and joy
in my heart. My mom is my best friend, she
loves me and I love her. And my father wasn't there for
me, but he didn't have a father for him, so he couldn't.
(29:17):
He couldn't be what he didn't have.
But he loves me the best. Wedded so going through this, it
helped me not to pass judgment on people because you don't know
what caused them to react and move the way they do.
I've learned to pray for people,pray at all times, pray for
myself and pray for my enemies and I used to pray Lord, cut the
(29:41):
head out the snake, get them Godand and he said, no, that's not
how you pray. You pray in love, you pray with
love and and you love your neighbor look like you love
yourself because the world judges me or they used to.
Sometimes they look at me and they see my arms.
They may say God she looks different or they may look at my
(30:04):
face and say, man, she looks like God has really blessed her
life and like she hasn't had anyproblems.
This is this is the Holy Spirit,the shine display the of the
Holy Spirit. Erica, thank you for joining us.
Tell me, do know the address of the church you attended to the
in Dallas? Yes, it's 325 W Saner Ave.,
(30:30):
Dallas, TX 75224 and it's behindthe Beckley Recreation Center on
Saner. Thank you very much for joining
us and for your story. Congratulations for your faith.
All the best. Thank you, Bishop, thank you for
everything that the church is doing.
And I want to just iterate this church.
(30:50):
It accepted me as I am. I came in a church broken in
pieces and I've been in this church for 10 years.
Sometimes I would have strayed, but the bishops, the pastors,
they never gave up on me. They called me and they didn't.
They didn't wag their fingers. They called me in love and
concern. And that's what continued to
draw me to God in it continued to give me the edification that
(31:14):
I needed to know that God was with me.
So thank you for this church. Right.
Thank you very much. God bless you, Erica.
Bye bye. Amen.
We are going to pray right now. I have my glass of water here.
I want you to prepare us. This is now the moment of
prayer. Let us now together talk to God.
(31:35):
It's. Now the moment of prayer.
Let us talk to God. Here I am in this moment of
prayer, so despised, without love.
(32:05):
Need to talk with my Lord. Oh my Lord, come quickly and
help me. So much pain inside my soul.
(32:34):
You have so much pain inside of your soul just like Erica had.
I have two things here, my water, if you have yours, and I
have the Bible, I am going to invite you in a few to come
closer to your TV and you are going to place your hands upon
these words. See what it says.
(33:00):
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to
shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak
things of the world to put to shame the things which I might.
So he chose Erica, He's calling you.
Place your hand right now upon these words.
(33:21):
The word is here. Place your hand right now.
'Cause I found refuting you. O my Lord and my Father, there
are many people out there just like Erica or she was unwanted,
(33:52):
she was molested, abused Satan, treated her like a trash.
Nothing but you, my Lord, You gave hope.
You transformed her life. You changed her life, Spirit of
God, and I am asking you right now, in this very moment, come
(34:18):
my Lord, my Savior, to transformher life, to change his life.
As they place their hands upon the Bible, my Bible, Lord, place
your hand upon them to change, to transform, to give you hope
and dispose for you. Be the next story here on the
(34:42):
Naked Truth. My Lord Jesus, I ask you that
you may bless this cup of water that disperser, drink and
receive peace as you have workedin Erica's life, work and
transform their lives as well. In the name of the Father, the
(35:05):
Son, the Holy Spirit, Amen. Praise God, Amen.
The water is blessed with all your faith.
Drink right now your water. I'm the one in the ground.
(35:46):
I need to find a way. Out you have found the way out
you are looking for it. Praise God you have found the
way out. 7075 SW Freeway just between ballet and the Huecroft.
(36:08):
This is where the Universal Church is in Houston, TX.
You can come as you are. God has chosen you also in we
have a church in Detroit, IL, Nevada, Louisiana, South
Carolina, Florida, NY, New Jersey, Philadelphia, we are all
(36:29):
over. Reach out and find help the help
that you want, just as Erica found help.
May the God of the Bible bless all of you.
We are now in many platforms. Share the news and help others
to know more about Naked truth. May the God of the Bible bless
(36:49):
all of you. You may have a good one.
Thank you for listening to Soul Food Podcast.
(37:11):
Make sure your notification button is on.
Stay tuned to the next episode coming up.
Don't forget to share the food that will last forever.
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