182. How I Distracted Myself from Worldly Pleasures, Part 2

you grow daily in your relationship with the Lord. It is a personal thing, it is an intimate thing. It's once and for me and I could say this my dear sister and I, as we were talking and we were sharing with each other, and it's like God had to reveal to me that my love for him needed to grow and in growing, that broke my heart because I thought I loved Jesus and when he said, no, baby, you don't love me enough, I had to understand that I needed to shift my mindset and have focused more on him.

Welcome to the Call by God podcast with Adne Godin and myself, nixon Sylvain. This show is about dialogues of biblical characters and testimonies of Christians who submitted to the will of God. Each week, we bring on one guest so that they can share their story of how they were called by God. I hope this show inspires you. Enjoy. Thank you for joining us. Welcome to part two of Yolande's powerful, god-given testimony. Enjoy and be blessed.

I know it's not easy, especially nowadays, because girls are flaunting their bodies and you want to be able to be weed out. You want to weed out. You don't want to mix with the grass and the weeds, you want to stand out. You want to be a flower in the garden, just stand out. And I've heard the saying you're not meant to fit in, you're meant to stand out. That's what we're born to stand out. And it would be best to stand out for Christ, to show that he's real and that it's possible. But you got to be determined. You got to, like I said, be stubborn, just like they're stubborn on their end. We got to try to do the same for our Christ. We got to try to do the same. We got to do the same. And that's what I meant, like as a youth. Yes, my mom was strict, but I could have rebelled too because of her strictness. Being the oldest, I had all the excuses to be like. I don't have to stay here. I'm past 18, I'm 30. Sadly, at 30, I had to bury my mom. But that's these life challenges, that's what's important. Family love, take care of your family love. Learn something. If you know Creole, are you good and fluent, try to learn Chinese, keep yourself busy. Or, if you're already an engineer and you're born to be an engineer, go to an other culture, find something to do, find something else to do. I mean, especially now, technology is awesome. You don't have to do nothing, you make money, tiktok and all this. But I would use that to my advantage to spread the word. If it's like through TikTok, spread the word or share your talent. Try to put light on your talent that God gave you, your gift. I would say. I would like to say Focus more on these things. That will help someone else, not just for yourself. Don't think only for yourself. Think of how you will impact others. I mean, that's what helped me.

I would say At any point did it get discouraging? Because I know Haitian parents sometimes see, when it comes to parents especially, that has some kind of spiritual background they want you to do things right. They have good intentions, but sometimes they do it the wrong way, and I know that's not the case with your mom, but I know, at least from my upbringing. They was like saying yeah, nick, I want you to be to love God, I want you to wait until you get married. In other words, they didn't want me to fornicate. We can't be talking about birds and bees in this generation, in this culture. They didn't want me to fornicate. They didn't want me going out there having a lot of baby mothers. They didn't want that for me. So they would tell me like hey, nick, we want you to keep yourself, find a good, godly woman, a woman rather, and just wait and just have a family that way. So for you to take that stance and to have that stance of look, I'm gonna keep myself, I'm gonna be different from the crowd. But at any point did it get discouraging? Because you gotta imagine everybody's doing it, everybody's like saying and there's nothing new under the sun, it's just worse now Because there's more exposure. You got the social media world, but at the I mean because we're human too. We're human, you know, god holds a level degree of standard. But at the same time our flesh is like, you know, the devil. Sometimes he sees our way and we, like we said, I said, like man, you know, I know I'm not supposed to do this, I know I gotta wait till I get married, I know I gotta keep myself pure, but at the same time our flesh, and then the enemy, throw seeds at us and sometimes it could be discouraging for the person that's trying to keep themselves pure. So did it get discouraging to you? And if it did, how did you end up overcoming that, those times of discouragements? I?

would say I can say one time I felt bad because my mom died in bed. She said are you sure you don't have somebody you like or somebody don't like you? I said, mommy, I'm positive, it's not because of you why I don't have anybody. And I would do that over and over again Because I was caring for her. I was being selfless. Basically I put my soul on hold and I think God took that to account. Like you know, obviously it wasn't my time because I had to take care of business first, like when it comes to mom's burial, like I said, I'd say I tried not to set myself up in because, yes, if you have people telling you you're beautiful, then you can be like, what's wrong with me? And I want to tell you, young people, there's nothing wrong with you. I have to tell myself that too. I just had to learn to say and repeat to myself it's not my time, it's not my time, it's not my season, and just stay distracted and stick to my stubbornness, stubbornness. So, because another thing that helped me is the fact that I didn't dress in a way to have them come to me Sometime. My face, my face looks, my face don't look to, I would say approachable. Until you start talking to me, you'd be like, oh, she's cool. My language always changed. If you would talk something that is inappropriate, I would change it up to sarcasm towards the word. So once I changed it, then there's no going back. That means stick to being cool, being a cool gal, you would say. I would say homies, in high school I had more male associates than females. I dress baggy. In high school I knew someone that was pregnant in high school because she was the it girl. So I told myself I got to disguise myself. That's protecting me, because, yes, I have the body, but you won't know, because I cover it, because if I uncover, there's no mystery. And then I'm setting myself up to get to be used. And I didn't want to have a broken heart early. I did not. Sometimes you got to learn from other people's experience. That's intelligence Learn from other people's experience, don't try to fall into the same ditch, like it's like sheep's right. And that's what helped me. Of course, when prom day came, it'd be like you had all of that under that. You understand, you keep them, keep them thinking, imagining. So, like I said, what helped me was my personality, my cool personality, marysack sarcasm and I didn't have favorites. I had people tell me you hang with him or you hang with her because they don't look like me. So I probably hang with nurse, I probably hang with Stumpy or it don't matter who it was. So all that helped me throughout high school and, of course, sports. And of course, after college I stayed busy with work, employment, start up your money if you have to, or try to come up with a business. There's too much to do, too much, so that's what helped me. Number one my attire. I still had posture, but my attire was not enticing. That's what saved me.

I'm loving this because the household I grew up in it wasn't like that. So I'm appreciative that you're sharing this with some young woman who is probably struggling with being noticed and trying to figure out do I, do I not? And it's like no. When this young lady gives this, she's like oh, I don't have to. I can value myself enough to say no, I can wait, it's nothing serious out there. But I do want us to press on to the next question. The question is how long did it take you to obey the gospel of Christ and I know you grew up in the Baptist faith but, first and foremost, who introduced you to the body of Christ? And, number two, how long did it take you to obey the gospel?

So when you say body of Christ, what do you mean? Church of Christ?

The church, the body of belief, is called the church of Christ.

Yes, Okay, the one and only Nick. We were in the same laboratory falling asleep, z's on my computer screen and I always had my at the time iPod Nano Listen to gospel, as usual. I hope, I'm hoping that I'll stay up and, you know, respectfully came to me and say you know, I can't remember details, but I just know that I'm glad that he was bold enough to say let me talk to this young lady. Sure enough, I gave him my iPad Nano, ipod Nano I still have it, I just don't know if it works and he put Brother Daniel's sermon on there. So not only I was listening to music, but I was listening to I don't know how he did it, but the Daniel's sermon. I said I like this, I got it. I got to tell hubby we got to go to Brother Daniel's church because the way he's speaking the word is like back in the days. You know, you felt the meat, you felt like it sizzles in your spirit, like dissecting the word, and it's like in layman terms, and I say I got to go and of course, after a couple of, I mean I was stubborn. That's another thing I was stubborn about Because I told Brother Daniel's, I said I've been baptized before In the word says there's only one baptism. I told Brother Daniel, I was like I know this, I know this. But I was like that don't make sense Jesus. This is the goal. Is Jesus, you know, to take him in, to walk with him, to have a relationship with him. So what's the big fuss If I dunk again? So what? You know, you love Christ that much. What's the problem? And I knew, because of that, I began to learn that you know, the body of Christ is different. You know you didn't have to go to class for baptism to get baptized. It was exactly how John did it, you know the angels came down, you know the doves, and I was like, why not, let me do this? And I'm happy because I made that decision, because then my husband, you know, did the same and was listening to the same sermon and he loved it too. You know a little humor in there, but the love of Christ is different and you felt it in the congregation too. You felt it in the singing. You know you're not hearing like loud instruments. You know making noise gun, gun, gun. It was all the. It's like having the voices on earth. And I said you know, this is the place to be.

Yeah, yalani, I thank you for sharing that, because what you just laid out, that's pretty much found in the Bible. If you love God that much, I mean you know here's water. What hinders you from obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? Because I think sometimes what people try to do, they try to complicate things. Something that is so simple. You know 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, the death, the burial, the resurrection. We too have to go through that same thing death, burial and the resurrection, and as to believing and even hearing, believing, confessing and repentant and being baptized for the mission of our sins. So again, I thank you for sharing that. Because people that don't know Christ, because we live in a world where there's a lot of people that's hopeless and there's also there's a lot of people that's seeking too. So we don't want to overcomplicate the gospel for those that are seeking something that is so simple. So even just the way you laid it out, it's so simple. But people just I don't understand people. They're just trying to complicate things.

I really, truly appreciate how she laid it out, because, of course, the hardest thing is to come from one faith and to realize there's truly only one faith. Right, because Scripture says this is what it is, this is how it's done, and I think that's the hardest thing for a lot of people in Christendom. I learned that from a sister in Christ Christendom but to know that, like in Christendom, they have their ways of doing things. But scripturally, god has a plan and it's all for everyone to follow the plan. And the hardest thing is when you realize the Scripture that says broad is the way, but narrow is the gate. That narrow gate is what leads you to life, but that broadway leads you because you want to do things your way. So thank you so much for sharing the transparency of how, like yeah, I was already baptized. I don't know what I need to do this for, but when you realize, oh, jesus did it. So what's the problem? My second well, I don't even know if I need to ask you this question because you honestly answered it. Even before coming into the body of believers, call the church of Christ, you already had a level of love and honor and reverence for Jesus Christ, so you already had him at a certain level in your life. So what I will ask is because you said you're married and being married, did that kind of represent of affect your level of love and reverence and submission and what's the word I'm looking for? Reverence, submission to your relationship with the Lord? But the question I want to add is when you got married because you shared that you and your husband are married when you got married, did that affect your walk with the Lord in any way? Because a lot of us Christians, single Christians, want to get married and we sometimes have to know what we're getting ourselves into right. So how best to learn from someone who, number one, grew up in a faith and, number two, became, taught the gospel, obeyed the gospel, but now you are married and it's like how did that affect your relationship with Christ?

Being transparent, told a different ball game. This is what makes me miss my prayer partner, my fasting partner, which was my mom. Like I said, I had ashy needs because that's how I learned. That's what I learned to overcome a lot of struggles and demon chasers Because I had demon chasers in my dream and other things that try to take my soul, and my mom taught me to fast and pray and to read my Psalms. This is the second thing. This is the second thing. This is the second thing. This is the second thing. So that was drilled. She was like a drill sergeant. I said you know what? That it helped me and I was so used to it. But after being married, the language was I pray in my heart, supposed to pray as a family. We pray as a family, but then sometimes it fades or sometimes it doesn't happen and I know myself to blame because I feel like the drive that I had, it was like it was tripping away slowly. It's like along the lines I would say I got tired, maybe, or the drive was not the same. It's like no encouragement, no pushing. So I have to be self-motivated and to push myself and try to remember how I used to be before marriage. Sometimes you can think the person coming to your life to help you spiritually and obviously salvation is personal. You can't go to heaven with your partner and I know that your partner can affect your spirituality if you allow them to. So I would have to blame myself. I cannot blame my partner. I would have to blame myself because I know what my background is and was. But, yeah, there's been a change. It's not as passionate, I would say, or as connected as I was before, when I was single.

Well, let me help you with that. So the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 7 that the person that's single focus on things of the Lord. And we know that the ones that are married, like the husband, will care for the things of the wife and the wife will care for the things of the husband. And so those biblical principles around that, that the person, that individual that is single, there's going to be a level, degree, a drive when it comes to well, at least they're supposed to Like this will be all in for Christ. But there's a different set of responsibilities when it comes to an individual that's married. So not only you got to focus on Christ, but also you got to focus on the household husband, your spouse, whatever your family dynamics. So of course there's going to be a shift. So it's like as though it becomes its own ministry. So your household now becomes your own personal ministry. Because I was that way. I was out on the streets doing evangelism that was my thing in front of Walmart, going out with my friend, going to the beaches and preaching the gospel, going in the front of the nightclubs preaching the gospels. And then, when I got married, it was like wait a minute, it was your horses. You got a family you got. Your first ministry is your household. Your first ministry is your wife. Your first ministry is your children. So I couldn't have had that mindset Let me go try to save the whole world. And my whole household was falling apart. So it's not as though you love God less, it's just like it's just been a shift in the ministry and even with your walk with God. And then the saying is true Everybody do got to work out their own soul salvation with fear and trembling. And I like the question that Adne asks, because sometimes individuals that single they so quick to get married Like I want to get married, I want to get married, but they just don't understand being married is a ministry. So when it comes to forgiveness cause your spouse will cross you. You have to forgive them. You have to be patient, you got to go on suffering. So all those spiritual attributes that we read about in Galatians, chapter five, verse 22, those are the things that we have to practice within our marriage Cause. Easily, when you're single, you're practicing with strangers at the job. You're like, hey, yeah, I'm going to forgive you, but imagine if your spouse? You have to do that. That's a command of the word of God. You have to do that and I think a lot of people don't understand that, especially the single people, the ones that's so antsy to get married, because marriage it is a blessing Marriage. I would always promote marriage but at the same time, marriage is a ministry and I would always encourage somebody to make sure that they have Christ as their foundation, because God has put in two imperfect people together. But when you have Christ as the foundation, the name all works out yeah. So I like that question that Adne asks, because I know we do go from one degree of faith to another. And again, I want you to hope somebody, because I know you've been running this race and I could tell that you really love Jesus. I could tell you really, really love the Lord. But also I know loving the Lord, those type of things, it's the sense of building a rapport, building a relationship, and I know when pre-people build relationships, those things, it's a process, it's an ongoing process. So are there any specific Bible verses or teachings or Christian figures that has played a role in building your relationship with Christ? Because it just don't happen overnight. You just can't meet them one day and be like, yeah, I love the Lord. Now, those are the things that's ongoing. So there's any Bible verses or teachings or Christian figures in the Bible, and I know you mentioned your mom. Outside of your mom, what other things would you say that played a crucial role in your relationship?

Yeah, it would be other ministers that I listed before. Could I use to listen to them a lot, but I would say more Psalms. I don't have it on the top of my head, but Psalms 139, matthew 22, psalms 27. I can't recall the details. I would have to look it up.

No, no, no, that's fine Because, who knows, there might be someone that's listening to this episode. They might be like, okay, you might say Psalms. They say you know what? I'm going to read the Psalms, because I don't know the season where anybody, the sort of person that's listening to this episode, I don't know where they're at in their season, so they may say you know what she says, psalms. So I'm going to go with the Psalms. So, but I think in the top of the episode you did laid out a plain foundation. I guess my thought of action is question for you to go more in a little detail, but I think you initially answered most of the questions in terms of praying consistently with Ashenes, how you had mentioned it being with your mom, and I know your mom played a crucial role. But I'm thinking in the sense that what about if that person don't have that mom?

Yeah, and that's what I have. That too, I didn't have the mom, so now it's on me.

Yeah.

So what now? That means I have to keep what she taught me and do it for myself Because, like we said, salvation is personal and you know it worked before. It's going to still work once you continue to believe and stay plugged in.

I love it. I love it. Let me tell you something, you hoping somebody, not only that, what you're saying is a blessing, I'm sure, to you, but it's a blessing to me, but I'm also a short-sum blessing to others, because people have to realize that in this Christian walk, god is expecting more out of us. The danger become is when we become complacent, and that's why I could tell that you have a degree of love for Christ. So I always think about Peter. Right, peter denied Jesus Christ three times. Just because he denied Jesus Christ, that did not mean that Peter didn't like Jesus, he loved Jesus. It's just that that was his flaw, that was his error. He said he was supposed to be the ride or die for Christ. You know there are people like I'm going to ride or die for Christ. But when certain things, challenges, come in our life, we'd be like oh so it's not that you don't love Christ, it's just that maybe that's the season that you're in. And that's when God Jesus told Peter Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Go feed my people, go feed my brethren, go feed the Lamb, go feed them. So it happens, and that's what I want people to understand. As Christians, we're not perfect. We're going to have our highs and we're going to have our lows, but there's always something or someone that God could use to strengthen our faith and to help shape our beliefs Because, again, like I was alluded to, we go from faith to faith. You know, I'm a totally different person than I am today, than I was yesterday, a month ago, a year ago, five years ago, because God has put people in my life, utilizing people in Scripture, his Word, his teachings, pastors, to help me with the faith that I have today.

Oh, I'm just loving Yolande's transparency Because, of course, when you've had someone so close to you as a parent, who guided your steps, who helped you on this journey, and the Lord calls them home now, it's like you're left with a sense of OK, where's my identity now? And this is where God is saying now you have to find it for yourself, because it's between you and I. So I'm grateful and thankful that you shared that with our audience, that they understand and know. And then Brethren Nick said it you grow from faith to faith. The faith that you have today is not going to be the faith you have tomorrow. The faith you have tomorrow is not going to be the faith that you have a year from now. It's going to grow. So just stay encouraged. And I'm speaking to that person that feels like you know what I've, just God I don't know. Listen, you grow daily in your relationship with the Lord. It is a personal thing, it is an intimate thing. It's once and for me and I could say this, my dear sister and I, as we were talking and we were sharing with each other, and it's like God had to reveal to me that my love for him needed to grow and in growing that. It broke my heart because I thought I love Jesus and when he said, no, baby, you don't love me enough, I had to understand that I needed to shift my mindset and focus more on him. So that's the beauty of growing in our faith. So my question now is how do you maintain your faith in Jesus in times of uncertainty and challenge? How do you stay rooted in him when those moments come where you just feel like I don't know how I'm going to make it through?

That's a good question. It goes back to the simple things that helped me before. But I probably have to put myself in turbo mode because I'm supposed to be growing from what I've learned before. My language has to change. When I speak to God, you know not. You know more humble. I would say more humble and I would say reading the word more or trying to seek help from the minister where I feel like you know I'm not, where I feel like I'm not getting it, because obviously I don't know all the answers, so I would have to seek help to those that know more than me. You know, at a different level, at a different stage, there's always room, you know, for growth Spiritually, but it goes back to, like I said, what I've always used that helped me. You know audios. You know the audios, the sermons, the audios, and this is a good thing about technology because, even though I would not read, but I can put on my headset and say you know, let me, let me listen to the audio and songs, or let me listen to other Danians, of course, youtube channels, because there's going to be a word in there for me. Absolutely, I know, there's no doubt about that. But the main thing I know I have to do for myself is to stay plugged in, because if I'm not plugged in there's not going to be no power, and I know that you know. Like Brethrennick said, you know there's no need to complicate things, you know it's laid out for us. We just got to take the initiative of, you know, open in the word. You know, taking that step to do that, to read, to meditate. But you got to want to do it, you know. You got to want to. Nobody's going to push you anymore nowadays because we all have problems. You just got to want to do it for yourself. You get. You know the healing process, you know, and all that you find in the word. You don't have to pay anybody, but you should pay yourself because the word is right there.

Oh, thank you so much. Thank you so much for sharing that, because in times of uncertainty, it is the word. It is the word of God that feeds us, it's the word of God that comforts us. It tells us in Scripture that you know, jesus said to the disciples I will send the apostles, I will send a comforter, and when we obey the gospel, that comforted us with us. But we have to stay in the word and allow the word to feed us to the point where we feel the comforting of the Holy Spirit. So my last question, before Brother Nick takes the last one, is this how do you find the balance between being in this world and not being in the world? And you really sort of kind of answered it for your younger self. But we need you to talk about your own self now, right, and then the part two is as a Christian, will Satan go to God and ask to try you, or will he have access to try you already? Which means, are you in such a relationship with God, with Satan? It's Roman, it's Roman, it's Roman, it's Roman, it's Roman In such a relationship with God, with Satan? It's Roman, it's earthen. God says have you tried my servant Yolande, or will Satan be like? Well, I could already try her now. So it's a two-part question. How do you maintain the balance between being in this world and not being in the world, and will Satan go to God and ask for you, or will he already have access to try you?

I have a routine. I think routine would be one of the things that helped me to not blend in or conform to what's going out there. Whatever's out there, it's too fast for me. Call me boring is okay. I just know my focus is what I have in front of me, so it doesn't give me a chance to see what's out there or to get involved more. I mean to get involved on what's out there and I would say my support system, which is my family, my immediate family. I'm sitting with that. And for the enemy, he did knock on my door a few times, I think in my dreams, but I rebuked it, you know, with the word. And it's always through my dreams where I get attacked. I start writing my dreams down and some of them are positive, you know, but more of the enemy trying to like seep into my household or my relationship with God. And this is why I ask the Lord for a spirit of discernment, because then I'll be able to see, you know, not the horns per se, but at least the flames. And that's how I know that he's trying to mess me up, because that's one thing I felt to mention that I get dreams. They always have meaning. I'm always looking, trying to look them up to know what they mean. And if you can't get me on the, let's say you were trying to get me unconsciously, basically the enemy, and obviously you have to use the word to fight back. You know, and to do that, no other than you know praying, praying in the word, because I know that I have to use that to my advantage to say you know, I can see that he's trying to get to me. You know, because I'm, like I call it, the column that holds the building up, trying to tear me down. So I have to, you know, obviously, use the word and prayer to fight back.

Amen. I like how you pointed out that you got to pray for discernment. I think every child of God should ask God for discernment so they could decipher and see when the enemy is coming their way and also, when he do come, that we got to utilize the word, Because the word is a sword. The word is a spiritual sword and I don't think a lot of believers understand that. I remember a good friend of mine told me that years ago when I was a new convert. He said Nick, I know how we could defeat the enemy. And I'm like how he said we got to use the word. He said you remember when Jesus Christ was in the wilderness? The enemy knows the word too, but God's word work against him. You know what I used to do. I don't know, I don't know I'm going to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway when I was single, when the enemy used to come at me. He used to come at me relentlessly. So what I used to do, I bought an audio Bible I think it was on a CD or a disc or something like that and what I would do at the time, I would play that audio Bible throughout the whole night and then I used to tell the enemy your time is running up, so I play revelations. I play revelations like you're the coming at me, the way you coming at me, Like I'm saved already, I'm good, but I'm going to have you listen to revelations because your time is running up, Like, yeah, the victors already won. But anyways, I don't know why I brought that up. I guess it's just a nice little segue to the next question. So this is the final question. Sister Yolanda, we made it through to our episode. So, speaking of life and death, I know that we only hear for a season, when I mean here we're only on Earth for a season. God called us. First, God already predestined us, we already got, already foreknew us before we were in our mother's womb. And then, when we're on Earth, we're called. And then we're called according to Brother Willie. Then God give us an assignment. So when your assignment is complete, what do you want to be remembered for spiritually?

I would say I would want to be remembered as a peacemaker and a spreader of positive vibes. I think it's a lifelong journey, obviously, but it starts with my daily actions and interactions. So I know I have little ones, so I have to set the tone, be a role model. Of course I have to do that, so I believe, over time, my influence can leave a long-lasting positive, I would say impact around the people I surround myself with, trying to help to be, to create a peace and harmony around those around me.

Amen, amen. So if the Lord does not return anytime soon, and then your kids, kids, kids have kids they could be like. I remember our great, great, great, great, great, great, great great grandmother, sister Yolande. She was a woman that loved the Lord and she showed up as a peacemaker. That's what you want to remember for her. I love it. And look, adi, I enjoyed this episode with Sister Batista. She's laid back, cool, calm, collect IEC and sister. So anything you want to say before we close?

Thank you so much, Yolande, for coming on and sharing your story, Because one thing you know many people don't realize and understand is that when we walk this journey with Christ, it's a forever journey, and your example, your accountability for yourself, is just so impactful. Sometimes we don't know how to say. You know what it is my responsibility to stay on track with the Lord. So thank you. Thank you for saying yes to the call.

All right world. Yolande testimony will remind us that, no matter our past, god's love and grace are available to all who seek Him. It will also serve as a reminder that salvation is not just about getting into heaven y'all, but also about the transformation that occurs in our hearts and our lives when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior through water and grave of baptism. So, world, sadly we gotta let you guys go. That's it. Be blessed. That's it for now. But before we go, please continue to listen, subscribe, share our podcast. Also, if you want to support our show, please scroll down to the bottom of the show notes and click on the link that says buy me a coffee. We were greatly appreciated. Thank you for listening and remember God is good all the time and all the time God is good and also Jesus Christ loves you. Thank you, 可是 my person is the Lord. The Lord is God.