Sermon Saturday's w/ Ash Cash

You know, you know Drake, Drake has this. I think, I think, I think, I think it's with with with Nicki Minaj, right? There's there's a Nick on you know this this song that he has with Nicki Minaj called Moment of Life, and one of the things he says is that I'm trying to make it more than what it is because everybody dies, right? But not everybody lives, and and and I think I. I think that that's the that's the basis, if you will, of this message, right? Is like everybody dies, but not everybody lives. And let me just make sure I am spotlighting for everyone. So yeah, so welcome to you know Abundance Church, aka Saturday Sermon. And today we're talking about the gift of now. Tomorrow is not promised. And so, you know, again, you know, the famous, you know, the famous verse, one of the famous songs, you know, Drake featuring Nicki Minaj. Well, I think it's Nicki Minaj featuring Drake, whoever it is. You know, he talks about, you know, having a moment for life, right? Having a moment for life. And again, it's like, yo, you know, I'm trying to make it more than what it is. You know, everybody dies, but not everybody lives. And today I want to explore the truth, right? The power that lies not in, you know, not in title, not in like, you know, worldly acclaim, but really like our alignment, you know, our alignment with God. And, you know, I think, I think that, you know, a lot of us are, and, and including myself at one point, you know, a lot of us are, you know, chasing, uh, chasing a lot of stuff, right? We're chasing money, we're chasing fame, we're chase— chasing acknowledgement, we're chasing, uh, I said money already, right? But money again, right? We're chasing these things, um, and we're like prolonging, right? We're like prolonging.

Mm-hmm. Um, enjoyment.

And, and honestly, it's not even like enjoyment only, right? It's like we're prolonging our ability to do and be who God put us on this earth to be, right? Um, you know, to, to, to wait until a later that we don't even know is real. Like, we don't even know For sure, um, if, if tomorrow is gonna be here, right? And, you know, really it's, it's God who, um, you know, gives us, uh, permission, if you will, right? Or gives us the, the next day. And so I don't know, every time that you keep, you know, you know, every time that you keep saying to yourself that you'll do something tomorrow or, um, you're, you're gonna wait, or even when you procrastinate. Um, you know, around doing something, um, how is that not, um, you know, you know, how, how are you procrastinating? How do you, how are you waiting for things as if, um, you know, as, as if, uh, tomorrow is, is promised, right? So I want to, uh, you know, you know, in, in Abundance Church, we, uh, you know, use ancient, um, scriptures. So we use the Quran, the Bible, We use the Torah. We use, you know, law of attraction. And in the Quran, Surah Al-Hashar, 59, ayat 18 says, oh, you who have believed, fear God, and let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow and fear God. Indeed, God is acquainted with what you do. Um, this verse reminds believers to be mindful of their actions and intentions each day, right? Emphasizing the importance of living consciously in the present, right? Um, but, but also when, when you look at this Bible verse, right? Uh, James 4:14 says, um, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. Uh, what is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Right?

Um, and this passage highlights the, uh, you know, the, the really the nature of life, right? Urging us to cherish the present moment without being overly consumed by uncertainties of the future, right? And so it's like, um, you know, um, if, if you're working hard, right? Let's just say you're working hard and, you know, you, you wake up every day, you're going to your job, And for whatever reasons, right, as you're going to your job, you are just working, working, working. You're like prolonging, you're like, you know what, later, right? Uh, when I retire, I'm gonna go, you know, I'm gonna go on vacation when I retire, right? And like, how do you know retirement is gonna get here for you, right? And, and, and, you know, the funny thing about it is that it's not, it's not even only, um, people who work a 9 to 5, right? Um, yo, a lot of my entrepreneur friends are in prison, yo. Um, and I don't, you know, and I, I don't, you know, I don't mean to, you know, belabor this or, um, you know, I mean, you know, I'm not judging nobody, right? But what I, I see it though, right? I see people who are not really happy in their real life. Um, but they got, you know, but they got the followers, but they got the fame, but they got the acclaim, right? Like, and, and they really can't take no days off. Like, they really just kind of like going, going, going, going, um, and they've created a prison for themselves because, you know, what happens is when you are so focused or when you are so inundated or when you are so, um, Uh, you know, focus on everything else except living, right? When you're focused on everything else except living, you get to that space where, um, you know, you create this, this thing where, where, where, all right, if, if, if, if recognition is what's feeding you, then you got to keep doing things over and over and over for that recognition, um, unless you'll lose it. You know what I'm saying? Um, the Torah says Psalms 90, verse 12 says, um, so, so, so teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Um, this wisdom from the Psalms encourages us to live each day with awareness and gratitude, recognizing the precious moment. And I'll give you, um, you know, you know, a parable, um, you know, from the, you know, a parable. But also the law of attraction says Um, the, you know, uh, it emphasizes the power of now, right? Teaching that joy and fulfillment are achieved not by constant yearning for future victories, all right? I'm gonna tell— I'm gonna say that again. Joy and fulfillment are achieved not by constantly yearning for future victories or external validation, but by appreciating and fully experiencing the present moment. It reminds us that our thoughts and feelings today shape our tomorrow, making it essential to cultivate positivity and presence. Now, this is really huge, right? This is huge because that's why a lot of people who teach the law of attraction always say never be in a state of want, right? Because if you're always— if you're in a state of want, you'll always be in a state of want, right? So, it's like, It's like, it's like if you're in a state of want, you're like, man, I want to be happy, right? Like, you know, I want to be happy. I want to be rich. I want, I want, I want. And because you're in a state of want, everything that you desire, right? What you're, what you're essentially signaling to the universe, to God, that your current, where you are right now, right? Mm-hmm. Is is is is is sufficient for you, and so you have a desire to stay there, right? You have so so so you're not going to be given what you what you're desiring because you're you're signaling to the universe, to God, that you want to be rich. Not that I am rich, right? Not that I am healthy, right? What what what what what what the verse say? Let the weak say I am strong.

Why?

Because, um, the truth is you, you, you are strong, right? Even if sickness has visited you for a second doesn't mean you are sick. It just means that you are, right, you are temporarily, right, you're gaining your health back or whatever the case may be, right? So, so you can't be in a state of want. So it's the same, right? It's the same as the future. Is that if you keep saying, you know, like, God works in the now, right? God works in the now. And so if you keep saying that, you know, that you're gonna do something later, right, or you're gonna have this later, or you're, you know, you're, you're, you're postponing, um, what could be, uh, in, in, you know, in exchange for the way you think things should be Um, you are literally, literally pushing, pushing back your, your blessings. Um, and so, so I want to read you a parable. It's called The Farmer, uh, and the Emerald Field. Um, and it says, once in a village, uh, there lived a farmer named Eli. Eli owned a vast field, rich and fertile, known across the land, uh, for its emerald beauty. Uh, yet Eli was never seen enjoying the fruits of his land and resting in its shade. He was always looking beyond, uh, beyond, consumed with acquiring more fields, more wealth, and more recognition. One evening, a traveler passed through Eli's field and found him toiling under the setting sun. Why do you labor so without pause in such a paradise? the traveler asked. Eli, with eyes that had long stopped seeing the beauty around him, replied, I must ensure my future is secure and my name is remembered. The traveler, wise and seasoned from his journey, shared a tale of a distant land where a mighty king had everything but lived nothing. The king's relentless pursuit of more left him with a hollow heart, and when the end came, he realized he had never truly lived at all. Your field is your kingdom, Eli. The traveler said as he departed. But remember, the true kingdom is lived in moments, not, not in the monuments for tomorrow. And so the conclusion is, is pretty much this, right? Eli's story served as a powerful reminder of the importance of living in the now. And while aspirations and achievements have their place, um, they should not deter us, deter us from the joy and beauty present, uh, you know, uh, the beauty present in, in every moment. See, our lives are accumulation of nows, and to live fully is to engage deeply with the present beyond the shadows of tomorrow's, uh, chase. And so, um, if I could leave anything to y'all tonight or today, you know, I would say, uh, let's embrace today, right, with an open heart and minds. Let's be mindful of uh, the wisdom, right, from the Quran, from the Bible, from the Torah, and law of attraction. And I want us to, to, to, to, to find courage, um, in living fully, living richly, living authentically in the beautiful fleeting now that we are given. And, and that's the thing, right? Um, I feel like, I feel like, um, to live now, it, it takes courage. Right? It takes courage for somebody to decide to live their life right now, right? Because even in that parable I talked about, um, um, you know, Eli saying, man, I wanna— like, I'm not gonna enjoy the fruits of my labor because I, I need security, right? And while, again, I'm not telling nobody to, like, you know, frivolously spend your money and you know, don't do the responsible thing with your money. But at the end of the day, right, if you're looking— if you're looking for, uh, security, like, what good is security when you're dead, right? What good is that? Like, what, what good is— like, you know, you know, you know, God, God rest his soul, right? God rest his soul. But think about somebody like Kobe Bryant, right? You know, Kobe Bryant Um, is, you know, is, is going down as one of the greatest of all times, you know, as it relates to basketball. But even in the business world, he started to make some, some major strides. I don't think nowhere in— he could have ever fathomed, right? He could have ever fathomed that he wouldn't be here in his 40s, right? He didn't— he, you know, he didn't— that wasn't something in the cards. That wasn't something he he thought about, right? And so at the end of the day, you know, it's great, man, that he, he left his legacy. He put it all on the table. But I wonder, right? I wonder, I wonder if as hard as he went, right? And, and when I say that, I'm, you know, just all of the major stories out here about how hard he went. Um, you know, how, you know, he was the first one in the gym, last one to leave, like how hard he went. Um, Would he have, right? If he knew, right? If he knew the date of the dash, that's what we gonna call it—the date of the dash, right? Because we all know the date that we get here, right? We know the beginning date. We know what that date is, but we don't know the date of the dash, right? We don't know. We don't know the date of the dash. We don't know when you know it's the—it's your birth year, right? It's your birth date. It's the dash. And then there's the— then that's that other date, that date of death, right? We don't know the date of the dash, but I wonder if he knew, right? If he knew the date of the dash, how would his life be different, right?

Yeah.

Would he be— would he be spending more time with his family? Like, what, what would have changed, you know? And so yes, be successful. Yes, be the best that you could be. Yes, uh, maximize your full potential.

Right.

But I, I dare to say that you gotta be able to do, do, do it. You all, you gotta be able to live at the same time, right? You gotta be able to live at the same time. You can't just be in a space where you're only, um, looking at, um, you know, you're only looking at, um, you know, the wins. And the notoriety and the money that you're gonna make, um, you have to be, uh, you have to be conscious of now. You have to just, uh, enjoy it, you know what I mean? Enjoy life. You know, tragedies happen every single day. 150,000 people die every single day. That's a fact. That's not, you know, and so when you think about that, when you think about that, you know, just being alive is a blessing. Right? Being alive is a blessing. Be— having the, having the ability to do all these wonderful things that we could do, that's the bonus. But the, but the, but the main course is just being alive, um, and having an opportunity. So I'll leave you with this, you know, um, you know, make sure that you are not postponing living, uh, that every single day of your life you are setting an intention Um, to, to actually, you know, you know, be, do, and have everything you've ever imagined now, right now, right? No opportunity wasted. If you have breath in your body, then you have the opportunity to max out your income, max out your influence, max out everything that you've ever desired. You have the ability to do that. Um, and so I, I am now, um, giving you permission, right? I'm giving you, uh, permission, um, to, to, to be your best self, right? I'm giving you permission, um, to not hold back. I'm giving you permission, um, to, to speak life over you, right? To speak, to speak life, to speak abundance, to speak Prosperity, right? I'm giving you permission, right? It's okay. There's there's no such thing as too good to be true, right? Everything that you've ever desired and all of your all of your needs, all and what and your wants, right? All of your needs, all of your wants are yours right now. You deserve to have them now. You you you you you've put in the work already. Right? You've put in the work already. You deserve to have it now. Believe that you deserve it. Um, be ready, put, you know, put yourself in position so you can receive it, right? You got to collect it, right? You got, you got to be in that position to do that. And I think that when you start to move in this world like today's your last and that you're just gonna live it up, um, I think that you're gonna, you're gonna notice that what you're able to attract and the life that you're, that you're able to live, um, you know, becomes that much more enjoyable. Um, because, because, because ultimately, uh, it, it also allows you, uh, to be a good steward, right? It all— it also, you know, allows you to, um, be obedient to God and, and, and showing gratitude to God for making who you are. So Um, I'll leave that there. Uh, YouTube, uh, Instagram, I appreciate y'all for tapping in. Um, we are live inside of the Abundance Community, so I'm gonna open it up for the Abundance Community. Um, you know, um, anybody want to talk about your, um, you know, thoughts of— on today's message? Uh, anything stick out for you? And, um, yeah, just, just, you know, just where you are with it. Anybody? I see everybody got the cameras off though too, so I don't know if y'all gonna— Jay, what up?

Peace, Ash.

What's going on, family? Peace, brother.

Nah, I, I— that was, um, that was a, that was a really strong word. It's just, um, for me it's about, about balance, you know, because I don't, you know I know that. I know the message could be— it could be taken the wrong way. And because, you know, as, as the collective, my people are really caught up in like partying and enjoyment and all this, you know, we party so much that, you know, we act like we really accomplished something, like we got something to celebrate.

Yeah.

So, you know, for me, it's about balance. But I need that too, because I go hard in figuring it out. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's rough to figure it out because I come from the whole, the whole, the whole entrepreneurial space is, is, is relatively new for me in terms of how long I've been living. You know what I'm saying? Because, you know, a lot, a large part of my life was spent in the streets. You know, So, you know, like I told you, I did 15 years in prison. You know, I changed my life around when I, you know, when I got locked up. You know, not because they broke my spirit and I was so scared to ever go back to jail. You know, I was just, when I sat down and thought about how I've been living, I was thoroughly ashamed of myself. You know what I'm saying? You know, I ran around, I act like my mother ain't teach me nothing.

Mm-hmm.

So, you you know, figuring it out is, is, is really— I'm consumed by it a lot of times. A lot of times I have to, um, I have to force myself to take a, you know, to fall back. And I feel guilty, you know what I'm saying? When I take a day and I'm not like on it, I feel guilty, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm like, damn. I don't like— I don't party, I don't go to clubs, I don't, you know, I don't do none of that because I can't enjoy it. Like, yeah, like, what am I doing? Like, I know I know, saying I don't have time for this nonsense. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, the message is um, the message is strong and and and by it's about balance. So that's what I got from that. My takeaway is that is is balance. Like you know, you you you you go hard for for for what you prioritize, but you don't forget what's really most important in life, and that's just, just being grateful and, and living the life that God has blessed you with.

Yeah, yeah, no, 100%. And that's the thing though too, and I love that you said that because, you know, when I, when I talk about, um, you know, you know, living, I think for me, and, and it's unfortunate that Um, our people, you know, you know, specifically, you know, us who grew up in the hood, um, we look at partying and clubs and all that stuff as living, you know what I'm saying? Like, like, that's not living, especially like when you, when you get to a space, bro, where, um, you know, it, you know, when you, when you traveled, when you've experienced other cultures, other people. Like, there's just so much more to life, you know what I'm saying? There's just so much more to life. And I think the beauty of entrepreneurship, to be honest with you, um, and not no knock to anybody who has a job or anything like that, because there's, there's beauty in that as well. Um, but, but, but one of the things about entrepreneurship is the beauty to be able to craft your what you do on a daily basis to coincide with your life. You get what I'm saying? Like, like, like, like, like living now becomes your job. Like, yo, what do you do for a living? I live. I live for a living, right? Like that. Like, to me, I think that's the ultimate space, right? That's the ultimate space that, that, that we need to get to. Where we are living for a living, right? That means when, like, like, I lit— like, literally, bro, I, like, I wake up and I motivate and inspire people, right? And, and I get paid to do that. Like, I get— I'm getting paid to talk to you, right? Like, pe— like, I get paid to talk to you. I get paid to write my thoughts and people get those thoughts. I get paid to, to tell people what I think. Yo, bro, I do that. I could do that all day for free. Yo, catch— yo, catch me on the basketball court, right? Catch me on the basketball court. Guess what I'm doing? I'm giving business advice. Yeah, I'll be on the court. I ain't gonna— I ain't gonna shout nobody out, but I'll be on the court and dudes be like— first, first, they be shocked. Like, yo, Ash is, is in here balling with us, right? So I'll be in— I'll be in— I'll be in an LA Fitness like, like a regular person. I'm a regular person. I'm in LA Fitness hooping and dudes be like asking me advice and I'll be giving them business advice in between games, bro. Right? Like I live for a living. You, you get what I'm saying?

Uh-huh.

And so, and so, and so I think that, and, and honestly, that's why I show a lot of that side too. Right? Like I, like I'm, I'm, yo, like basketball, I love basketball. Like as long as God give me, give me feet, like give me the ability, like I, I'm gonna ball. I'm gonna ball. Like I love basketball. Right? And we don't have to be just so caught up, you know what I'm saying? And even— and I'll give this to you as well— but even in the planning of it, you know what I'm saying? Like, we need to— you know what I'm saying? Like, like, like, like, you love to talk, bro. Like, you need to be out here. Like, I need— you know what I'm trying to say? Like, I need to be seeing you, bro. Like, I need to be seeing you at events. I need you— I need to be seeing you talking. I need you to be— you know what I'm saying? Like, your presence— you got a big presence. Your presence Need to be felt, and so a lot of times even in the the the the the preparation even you know what I'm saying like even in the preparation we could get caught up you know what I'm saying and so and and and I love I don't think balance exists though you know what I'm saying like I think that um like that's a that's a fantasy you know what I'm saying I think that balance is a fantasy and I think at any given moment. We just have to create what we desire, right? There's gonna be times that I desire, like, I gotta go hard, right? And I desire to go hard and get, get stuff done, then I'm gonna take that time. And at the moment that I realize, like, yo, you know what, you going too hard, you need to pull back a little bit, and that desire is there, we pull back, you know what I'm saying? So, like, really listen to your body, listen to your you know, to, to what you're, you know, what you're doing. Create that rhythm, if you will, so that way you could, you, you could live for a living, you know what I'm saying? But I appreciate you, brother.

No doubt, no doubt.

Lola, Lola, talk to us, Lola.

Happy Blacktastic Saturday, y'all. Um, I want to piggyback off of what Jay said, like the part about feeling guilty. Like, oh, that, that'd be so deep. That guilty spirit be on me so bad. Like, if I go out— and I typically don't— but if I go out, even if I'm just going to my girlfriend house or something like that, it's like, you taking away from what you need to be working on. Why is you doing this? You know what I'm saying? And I feel so bad afterwards. But last