I have had such a strong pull to write on this exact very topic. I have written and spoken a lot on this in my recent book, but lately it has been pressed on me further. I KNOW I will receive a LOT of kickback on this, but I’m at the point in my relationship with Christ where He has made me feel so secure and confident in who He is and what He has promised. He has become so tangible in my life lately that anything that tries to come against me can’t take away from that. He’s just so incredible. Anyone who truly feels and experiences who He is and what scripture has confirmed to us, knows how passionate it can make you. The more I pursue Him, the more I want to keep on continuing to pursue Him. That’s why you can learn to make the time to spend getting to know who He is in the midst of a chaotic, distracting life. Because you realize that nothing else takes priority. Who He is is better than anything else, so you MAKE the time.

So with all that said, I want to speak on some things. Recently, more than ever, my spirit has become completely GRIEVED at the amount of judgement and division that has been taking place. Yes, I am grieved by what I have been seeing out in the world in the people who don’t believe in Jesus, but more than anything, my heart has been broken about the amount of judgement that I am seeing coming from people who do love Jesus. I want to be very careful when writing this not to call out any names or accuse any one person or platform. Because if I do that, I will be choosing to battle the people and fall into the exact thing I feel grieved about. Scriptures tell me that the battle is not between “flesh and blood”/people, but what’s in the unseen. That is where I have to keep my focus. I myself am so flawed and as I learn more and more about who God is and what scriptures say, I soon find very quickly how little I do know. That’s the thing, He always reins you back into humility when it comes to pursuing Him. Pride is the VERY thing that separates ourselves from Him. That was the original sin remember? Pride is at the CORE of sin and the fallen world. “Pride comes before the fall.” No one person is above falling into that. We are bound by it as long as we allow it and don’t pursue His Holy Spirit daily to renew us and free us from it. We have to allow Him to “renew our minds daily.” The work on the cross was finished, but that’s why scriptures say that we must “take up our cross daily”. We are no longer bounded by sin and shame as long as we continue to repent, die to our selfish desires and understanding, and take up what He did on the cross daily.

I have been seeing a lot of attack between people in the church amongst each other. Questioning the salvation of others, questioning whether or not they’re fully understanding the gospel, whether they’re leading people “astray”, etc. People have established entire platforms calling out the flaws and sins of other churches. Documentaries are made premised around judging the “fruit” of what other churches have seemed to “produce”. A lot of stories out there aren’t even a quarter true if at all have any truth to it. Many things have been taken out of context by people who don’t even know the heart of the person/people they were judging. I get it, I know what scriptures say and what WE feel we need to do about it. I know at the core of their heart is good and they wholeheartedly love Jesus. However, let me start off with this one question first, was the mission of Jesus to pick apart what was wrong about the people who actively pursued Him? Scriptures state in Romans that He is the only one and true judge, and even though He has the power to condemn, He died for us while we were still sinners. “In Christ there is no condemnation”. Jesus said in John 8:15, “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.” That means He’s not judging us by our fallen selves within the natural. He was actually telling the Pharisees who were trying to condemn others, if you don’t believe that I am from above to make a way for your fallen self to be renewed, then you will remain in your fallen self and die in the sin of it. The very thing Jesus always spoke sternly against was when people were pointing out where others fell short. The Pharisees had a haughty/prideful spirit above others. Luke 12:1 says, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” If I’m searching for perfection and for those who are doing EVERYTHING scriptures tell us to do within churches, I will never find it. It’s because the church isn’t God, they’re people trying to pursue Him. These Youtube channels, documentaries, blog posts who blatantly call out the names of others will have endless material to work with. They will never be satisfied within the community of church if they are judging the people who are in it. We can discern the spirit, and be called to step away and pray, but it doesn’t mean we tear down the people who have been manipulated by it. We are all sinners and the moment we think we’re not, or we judge others for their’s, we’re hypocrites. Matthew 7:16 warns us about false prophets by saying we will “know them by their fruit.” It says we will KNOW them by their fruit, it doesn’t say JUDGE them by their fruit and whether or not they’ll make it to heaven, and it certainly doesn’t say to call them out in public to the masses of social media. Anyone who operates in that way does not seem to be operating out of the fruits of HIS Spirit. It’s under the spirit that influenced the Pharisees. There’s a difference between discernment and judgement. Jeremiah 5:31 says that false prophets are ones who operate by THEIR own means and gain. It’s premised in pride and haughtiness above others and above the will of the Father, which is to save and renew us all. 1 Timothy 2:4, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” The Truth is Jesus and Jesus’ judgment and vengeance was done on the cross. He died for the very people rebuking Him, the very people who killed Him.

The devil, who is behind the spirit of the “antichrist”, the spirit behind the “false prophet”, the spirit behind the judging “pharisees” has used so many different ways to attack and divide God’s kingdom. He’s even used scripture. Meaning, he’s taken the fallen man who reads scripture and manipulated his mind to misinterpret and shame others because of it. The Spirit of the living King Jesus does not bring shame. He takes it away. We have to look at the bigger picture behind all of these spirits instead of trying to nit pick it out in detail through various actions we don’t fully understand the totality of. The CORE of these spirits is PRIDE. In Acts 13:10, Paul (who it says was filled with the Holy Spirit) spoke DIRECTLY (not publicly) to the sorcerer because the sorcerer approached them FIRST (Paul didn’t go seeking him out or trying to publicly tear him down). Paul said he was of a child of the devil because the sorcerer was going around performing signs and wonders using HIS OWN NAME, and not the name of Jesus. His pride was what Paul was calling out. Acts 8:9 was a reference of that sorcerer. It says, he “bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one.” The man never claimed that it was anything to do with Jesus. He was not proclaiming Jesus. The moment we operate out of pride, which is operating out of our own understanding and what we think or want, we can fall into the traps and thinking of the enemy. The same prideful spirit within that sorcerer can also be of the same prideful spirit within Christians judging other Christians. Within the influences of those spirits, pride comes before Jesus. Pride comes before edifying others.

In fact, that’s why in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” “Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.” He says this because He was referencing the judgmental pharisee spirit as stated just prior in verses 2 and 5. “For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged.” Then stated, “thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Just because others may not be at the place where Jesus requires them to be doesn’t mean we tear them down within their identity in Christ. That includes tearing down the leadership of churches as well as the people within the pews. No one is at a place where Jesus requires us to fully be. He’s always growing us. The moment we think otherwise, and believe we are 100% right, we’re operating in pride. That’s also what the scripture in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 could mean when it says, “For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.” Because later in 1 Thessalonians 5:6 it says, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” Those who operate in the Spirit and will of the Father’s heart are considered “awake”. The will is not to prevent people from entering His kingdom, it’s to do everything you can to ADD to it. THAT’S the TRUE definition of being “fruitful”. When we judge and tear people down with our words, we can push them away further. We have to be so careful to be lead and guided by His Spirit in all we say and do. It goes beyond even our own perspective of scripture. It’s studying the totality of it and where else it may have been mentioned throughout scripture. It’s studying the intentions of His Word. It’s allowing His Spirit to move within us to help us decipher what it means. That’s why Jesus spoke in parables. He said for those who have “an ear” will know what they mean. Having “an ear” is having an ear for His spoken Word and discernment from His Holy Spirit within us. We can read scripture cover to cover, but we won’t know how to apply it if we don’t allow His Spirit to dwell within us to change us and renew our perspective. His Spirit will only confirm what Scriptures will say all throughout. Scriptures confirm His Spirit, His Spirit will confirm scripture. They work hand in hand. If we believe that the same God of Abraham is the same God as today, and He doesn’t change, then the same God who spoke to and worked within Abraham is the same Spirit that can do that with us today. God does’t change so why would God stop speaking to people as He did all throughout the Bible?

I’ve been in some of the most Biblically sound churches who are not what most people would consider to be “charismatic” and I’ve been in some of the most “charismatic” churches out there as well. Let me tell you something, sin was rampant in BOTH. No one person was above sin. It’s because the church is HUMAN and we need CONSTANT deliverance. His cross gave us a way of salvation because we can continue to go to the Father full of flaws and He will still continue to renew us and take the sin and shame away. His love doesn’t accept or compromise with sin, it covers it. That’s why He and He alone can only judge the heart. 1 Kings 8:39, “Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men.” So when certain pastors may say they welcome ALL, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they agree and accept the sin that that person is walking in. It just means that they believe what scriptures say, He died for ALL. No one person is exempt to be blocked from that kind of love if they want to pursue it. SOMEONE has got to extend arms to these people. Because if they refuse them, they’re not operating under the will of the Father. Loving them doesn’t mean that they agree with what they do.

Look, I get it, I’ve been in churches and I had become so frustrated with some of the things that were taking place. I noticed hypocrisy. I noticed blurriness in compromising with sin. I’ve also noticed the pride coming from the people who were judging those exact people as well. I’ve left churches because the season that I was in in the Holy Spirit led me elsewhere. Just because I didn’t agree with some of the things that were taking place, doesn’t mean it’s right of me to go off and blast how WRONG they are calling them “false prophets”, or “sons of Satan”, or that they are “influenced by the demonic”. I’ll admit I vented to a few close friends who I trusted about some things, but He would convict me shortly after if my words and actions reflected judgment. He’s always setting me straight lol. What good does blasting churches do in building the kingdom? That only further divides the people inside of the church. That’s exactly what the devil does within us to distract us from adding people to the kingdom of God. He distracts us from coming against him. When we listen to platforms that claim those things, and tear specific people down, we have to be very careful. These same people who quote scripture after scripture and claim they do it “all out of love” drip with judgement and condemnation. Luke 6:36-37, “Be ye merciful as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” So how do we speak to those who are operating in sin and compromise? We speak just like we would want someone else to speak to us. We point them to His Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. We live it out daily. 1 Peter 2:15, “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” Notice it didn’t say, “shout out their sin to silence their foolishness.” His Spirit and only His Spirit will expose the sin, not us. We show them the goodness of God through the fruits of His Spirit, we point them to scripture, and we speak love. We show them how to passionately love and serve Him and focus on what gets us in heaven instead of what takes us out of it. We demonstrate our love to Him by loving them. We can’t expect righteousness to be perfect in others if we ourselves struggle. Only His Spirit is perfect, and when we continue to tune into it and edify ourselves through studying His Word and leaning on His voice, His Spirit slowly renews us. When He does call us to correct, it is done completely out of patience and through scripture. Galatians 6:1, “If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Meaning, through a humbled lens knowing that we ourselves are a person of fault, we speak to them how we would want to be spoken to showing them grace, just as we were shown grace. Otherwise, we’re tempted by the spirit of the Pharisees and driven into sin and judgment. When we keep practicing pursuing the heart of God daily, He will teach us what to say to others and in the right way. Luke 12:12, “For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.”

I use to struggle with this so much. I still sometimes struggle (thank God I’m better than I was before). I was hurt constantly in church. I also couldn’t stand the compromise that I was noticing. I didn’t want others to be hurt or affected, so I wanted to blast it from the rooftops. We have to be so careful though because that’s a slippery slope. I had to keep reminding myself that if I’m getting affected and feeling defeated, then I am not rooted within the love and perspective of Jesus fully, but in the perspective of man. Anytime something bothers me I have to always take it to Him and scripture. I study His characteristics and do the best that I can to pursue His heart. I also approach Him in my worship, just wanting to reverence His awestruck wonder. I do that first by recognizing that I am a sinner myself. It’s not according to how my thoughts operate. I humble myself before Him and I repent and set my heart up to listen to His Spirit in case I have pride somewhere that I can’t recognize. Proverbs 16:2, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives.” Scriptures say that we pursue His presence (courts, throne room) with thanksgiving and praise. Praise is symbolic of our submission, humility, and reverence to the power of His presence. It’s a declaration of faith before it even takes place. Romans 12:6 says, “Prophesy according to the proportion to our faith”. Praise and worship reflects our faith and belief in Him. It’s an outcry of our surrender to Him.

There are many things that the devil is using to come against even the expression of our submission to the Father. Since man judges the outward appearance first (1 Samuel 16:7), Satan uses that to manipulate the minds of others to judge the heart of people trying to actively pursue Jesus. Many people look at the appearance of how people pursue the Father, even in how they worship and express their love. Just because someone does something differently than what you may do in your personal journey, and in the season that you are in currently, doesn’t make it wrong. If a church or one person believes and proclaims that Jesus is the one true God and King that came down in flesh to die for our sins, then their foundation is where it needs to be. God can still use them in building His kingdom. They may not always do things how we feel they need to be doing them, but if we believe that God is a good God, and people continue to pursue Him, we have to trust that they will find Him. “Seek and you shall find.” He knows their heart. They may fall into some fuzzy stuff at times, but so do we and that’s because the devil is doing all he can to bring them down just as he is trying to bring us down when we judge. It’s a matter of the heart and God knows it. If they love Jesus with all their heart, He continues to do a good work in them. That’s what scriptures say.

I recently was called a “false prophet” for defending a church’s music that God has used in my life this year. These people were posting some of the most hateful, judgmental assumptions about this church. Most of it probably was untrue. I don’t attend there nor do they so it wasn’t right, period. I have broken down some serious enemy walls shouting and praising to their songs that have spoken to me. The church that I had defended has been heavily attacked. Because those people didn’t agree with some things that they heard were taking place there, it was wrong of me to “support their music”. I actually had MANY messages about the same thing from so many people. This particular church is very charismatic in their expression of love for the Father. I’ve heard them claim the name of Jesus, and they declare that He is the one that saves and is the one true God. Their mission on their website is soundly aligned according to the scripture. They also seem to walk in Colossians 3:17, so I have a peace about their foundation. Have they said or done some things that I wouldn’t agree with? Possibly. It doesn’t mean God can’t use them. This church is definitely different from most and their expressions of love may look different. Just because people get emotional in church, or dance, shout, run, WHATEVER, doesn’t mean that they are being led along by those feelings alone. It doesn’t mean that they go against the gospel of Christ. How can we go to a concert or a parade and jump ecstatically out of joy and emotion, but when we do that for God it’s “not of God” and goes against doctrine? If being passionate about Jesus is considered a bad thing, man that’s a sad place. Being emotional isn’t about putting ourselves above God. Have people misused their emotions for their own gain? I’m sure, but I sure as heck ain’t gonna be the one to judge their heart about it. I also won’t let that discredit from anyone else’s genuine heart in worship. Just because churches push for full expression of worship doesn’t make it wrong. If it’s something you’re not comfortable with, then that’s where you are in your journey with God. It doesn’t mean those people go against doctrine. If we believe on Him, receive Him, then His Spirit is within us moving in us. “His Spirit dwells in the temple not built by hands.” “Don’t you know that ye are the Temple of the Holy Spirit?” He’s moving and working in us. That DOES affect us emotionally as well as everything we are and were created to be.

Many Christians think that when I say we “experience His Spirit”, and “His presence”, we can tap into a false Christ. His presence is not synonymous with our emotions. Yes we are fallen and flawed, but His presence is indistinguishable I PROMISE YOU. It’s who He is and when He makes Himself known, YOU’LL KNOW WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT IT IS HIM. He changes us. His Spirit and presence within us “renews our minds”. He helps us work within righteousness and steers us away from sin because we crave nothing else. The Bible says how we should test the spirits is if that spirit leads you to believe that Jesus wasn’t the one true God in flesh and that He didn’t die on the cross for us, then it’s not of God. I can’t sit here and believe that in our worship, love, and pursuit of the Father, we’re tapping into anything other than Him. Satan isn’t going to be pointing people to Christ. It’s not about our own understanding of God’s presence. It’s completely getting RID of our own understanding of anything. HE gives us all understanding. You’ll know it when it happens, I promise you. That presence won’t go against the gospel. It will CONFIRM IT. Mark 16:20, “The Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following.”

If we sat here and picked apart every song based on the song writer, then we wouldn’t have much left. Worship isn’t about the song writer, but about who it is written to. If it declares and worships the name of Jesus above every other name, then God hears it and honors it. It’s our love letters to Him, just like how David expressed his love through song. Our worship won’t ever be perfect. We’re not God. But He considers it Holy when He looks at our heart and sees genuine love for Him. I mean we sing songs of David and repeat his verses constantly and he was a broken vessel, had affairs, and even killed a man because of his pride. Do we say he’s demonic and a false prophet? No. David’s songs were his emotional love songs to God because His presence was so tangible in his life. If God can use the psalms of David, he can use the songs of anyone actively pursuing Jesus. Let’s be real, not many people would attend David’s church if he was a pastor today 🤣.

We have to keep ourselves reminded that God is such a good Father and that He makes “all things work together for good to them that love God.” We HAVE GOT TO STOP LETTING THE DEVIL DISTRACT US. I stumbled upon a Facebook thread of a 2 day conversation dedicated to condemning a church. I even got caught up in it myself, trying to defend where I saw fit. That’s what the devil does. He STEALS our time, STEALS our joy, STEALS our love, STEALS our peace, and DESTROYS God’s kingdom. It’s because “a kingdom that is divided cannot stand.” His goal is to divide the church. YALL, DO NOT LET HIM WIN. Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Peace is what overcomes the devises of Satan. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. That’s why Jesus declared over the storm, “Peace, be still”. The Prince of Peace is more powerful than the prince of the air. Peace is a weapon against the enemy. Psalms 37:11, “But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

I don’t claim to have it all figured out. In fact, I’m not sure what I have all figured out lol. What I do know is that I passionately love my Jesus and I’m not where I once was. I believe in that incredible love and presence. I experience who He is body, soul, and spirit daily because that’s what He said to do. David in 2 Samuel 6: 14, “danced with all his might.” HIS WHOLE BODY WAS OVERCOME WITH EMOTION FOR THE LORD. Ha, even in verse 16, Michal despised him for it. Seems pretty relatable to the times right? Don’t let anyone steal your joy and who He says you are in Him. He’s impacted my life so much deeper even within this last year, and I have been a Christian and pursuing Him my whole life. He continues to humble me and change me. Don’t take my word for it. Pursue Him and find out for yourself. And, in all you do remember, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8). I’ll leave you with these beautiful scriptures…

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.⁴ Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,⁵ Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;⁶ Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;⁷ Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.⁸ Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.⁹ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.¹⁰ But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.¹¹ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.¹² For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. ¹³ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is love.