Good morning my warrior sisters-
I was watching a reel with Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll a few days ago and I
have to say it broke my heart. They are releasing Brandon's song as a duet
together and it's mighty. I was listening and all of the sudden Jelly Roll
said, "This is hard." And I thought, what is bringing him to tears?
It's us! Those of us that call ourselves Christians and then he said, people
have stated he isn't a Christian because he cusses and doesn't look like
someone who would be, that is so WRONG!
I feel as though we as Christians need to get in the Bible
more if we are persecuting God's anointed. Who then is fit to be a Christian if
not Jelly Roll and many more like who he was, like who I was. If you can say
Jelly isn't a Christian, then you have to say David, Moses, Peter, and Paul
were all not Christians. Would you say that? Of course you wouldn't, but who of
them was perfect? NONE!
I ask you my sisters to consider praying for each other and
to pray against the spirit of judgement on others. I pray that we send millions
of prayers to the Heavens proclaiming that God's redemption of the sinner is
mighty, all sinners. If you condemn or judge Jelly, then you must look at
yourselves. This is not to say women have condemned him, but someone has.
Most of the time I'm proud to be a Christian but as I heard
him say, "God has my heart." I thought what are we doing people! God
has called us to spread the good news and by the way, he definitely is. We are
not to judge or be judged by man, but rather God.
If we really believe in the Bible, then we must step out of our holier than thou attitude and receive those Jesus is receiving. I can guarantee as I sit here writing Jelly's platform is reaching more than the perfect person sitting in church. And God will continue to use him mightily, that's a fact. But if those of us that say we are Christians don't welcome them to the Bride, how many will fall away disillusioned and angry.
Jelly looks different than most. He did say he was a bad
human and his testimony is full of hard stuff like prison and using women. He's
real and his story is exactly what our time needs because he was a person
needing a savior and God did just that. He did it for the prostitute, for the
demon possessed, for the blind and lastly, his last act on earth was to take
his brother on the cross, the murderer. We do not and never will understand God
if we are judging others. We must look at the beauty of taking a prisoner and
setting him free. We must embrace the differences and say, welcome. Why?
Because if we don't then we don't deserve to say we are followers of Christ. We
become Pharisees and I don't want to join that crowd, do you?
I hope today this blog makes you think about how you were
redeemed. To ask yourself, where was I in life when God said come? You may not
have gone to prison, but you were in some very dark place I am sure of that.
And then hope beyond your wildest imagination came to save you. Your level of
bad human might differ from Jelly’s, but we were all bad humans and are being
perfected through the Holy Spirit. I welcome Jelly and men and women like him
because like Paul he knows what it means to be saved by Jesus, maybe more than
those of us that have walked the path.
Jelly or Bunny if you see this, I'm so glad you are part of the Bride! Thank you for embodying Christ and showing all of us that it's a journey with Christ. I pray that both of you are blessed beyond belief and that God uses Jelly's platform to bring the prisoner to Jesus. Thank you for being real, vulnerable, and representing Jesus in that you know God has your heart. True redemption begins with knowing you are a sinner and receiving the hope of Jesus Christ!
Here's a Scripture we should all consider today:
John 8:7 NIV
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."
Let's not throw stones but instead shine light into the dark. And please remember that if you were perfect, you wouldn't need a Savior.
Be well my sisters and may many more come to know the name of Jesus!
