The Counterfeit Bride: Ep 6: The Hands that Exploiting Labor — When Service Becomes Slavery

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Music.

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Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host,

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Connie Morris, where healing has a voice and truth is no longer silent.

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Father God, like Jabez, we cry out that thou would bless us indeed.

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Bless every woman listening beyond trauma, beyond limits, beyond what she thought

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was possible. Enlarge her territory.

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Expand her purpose. Let your hand be upon this moment.

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Saturate every word with oil and truth. break cycles, cancel every curse sent

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to silence her. This isn't just a podcast.

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This is holy ground. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Welcome back, family, to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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Church Chronicles, episode six, The Hands Exploiting Labor.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, And today we will continue the series,

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removing the cover, exposing the counterfeit bride.

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So far, we've uncovered the head replaced by man, the eyes blinded,

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the ears itching for lives, the mouth preaching another gospel.

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And now the spirit of the Lord is pulling back the veil on the hands of the bride.

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Hands were created to serve, to lift, to heal, to give, to build.

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They were designed to demonstrate love through action.

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But in counterfeit churches, the hands of the bride have been exploited.

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Service has been twisted into slavery. Love has been manipulated into labor.

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The word of the God speaks to this in Colossians 3, 23 and 24.

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It says, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the

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Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance

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from the Lord as a reward.

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It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

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Isaiah 48, 6-7 reads.

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Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen, to loose the chains of injustice

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and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

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Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter?

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And in Matthew 20, verses 26-28, Whoever wants to become great among you must

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be your servant. Whoever wants to be first must be your slave.

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Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his

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life as a ransom for many.

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Family, the true bride serves in love as Christ did.

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But the counterfeit bride enslaves people in the name of her honor,

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turning holy hands into tools of exploitation.

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And the Lord is asking, who hands are you working for, minds or men's?

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The hands exploiting labor.

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The bride's hands were never meant to be shackled.

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They were meant to serve in freedom, to bless, to heal, to give,

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to reflect the love of the Lord.

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But in counterfeit churches, hands have been turned into instruments of exploitation.

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Well, how does this look? People are told that endless labor or serving equals holiness.

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Members are manipulated into giving their time, their strength,

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their money, their health, and their wealth, not as a worship to God, but as a service to man.

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What should be an act of love is twisted into forced obligation.

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We've seen it played out.

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Armor bearers treated like slaves. Volunteers pressured into exhaustion.

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And congregants told that their loyalty to leaders is proof of their loyalty to Christ.

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This is not the bride. This is bondage. Isaiah 58 tells us,

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The true fast is to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the

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yoke, to set the oppressed free and to break every yoke.

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But the counterfeit bride binds the hands of her people tighter. And here's a tragedy.

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Many give their all in sincerity, believing they are serving God,

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when in reality they are fueling the pride and power of man.

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That's not honor, that's exploitation.

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The bridegroom never asked his bride to be enslaved.

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Or to be a slave to him. He said in Matthew 20, 28, the son of the man did not

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come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

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If Jesus himself served freely, then his bride must serve freely too,

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out of love, not out of manipulation. Where is my bride? Cried the bridegroom.

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Where is my bride who hands serves me out of love, not out of fear?

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Where is my bride who hands are lifted in worship, not shackled in slavery?

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Where is my bride who washes feet like I did instead of building thrones for

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men? Psalms 24 verses 3 to 4 asks, Who ascends to the mountain of the Lord?

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Who may stand in his holy place?

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The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.

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My bride's hands are not chained by manipulation. My bride's hands are not drained by exploitation.

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My bride's hands are clean, holy, and free, stretched out to the poor,

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the broken, the wounded.

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Where is my bride? not the one whose strength is consumed by serving egos,

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not the one who is told her exhaustion proves her devotion,

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not the one who's manipulated into labor in the name of honor,

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but the bride who serves in freedom, the bride whose hands are open to me,

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not clenched by man, The bride who labors in love, who works flows from worship,

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whose service reflects her Savior.

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Where is my bride?

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Discernment in service. The hands of the bride were created to serve, but not to enslave.

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True service flows from love, not counterfeit service flows from manipulation.

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That means we must learn to discern the difference.

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Here's how we guard our hands in this hour. Number one, check the motive.

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Colossians 3.23 says, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working

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for the Lord, not for human masters.

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Ask yourself, am I serving to glorify Christ or to please man?

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If the focus is on man, then the service has already been corrupted.

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Number two, check the freedom. True service is voluntary.

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If you've been pressured, shamed, or threatened into serving, that's not God.

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Jesus said, freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10.8.

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If it's not free, it's not love.

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Number three, check the fruit. Is your service producing joy, humility, and love?

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Or is it producing burnout, resentment, and fear?

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The fruit reveals the root. The fruit reveals the root.

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God's yoke is easy and his burden is light. Matthew 11 30.

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Exportation always feels heavy. Love always bring life.

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And four, check the direction. Are your hands building the kingdom of God or the empire of man?

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If all your labor only glorifies a personality, brand, or building,

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then your hands are being misused.

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Family, here's the truth. God does not need slaves.

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He desires servants who serve from love. The counterfeit bride enslaves her people's hands.

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The true bride lifts her hands in freedom, giving to Christ and to others as an act of worship.

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This week, ask the Lord, are my hands working for you?

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Or are they bound by man? Let's pray. Father, we come before you with our hands lifted high.

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Forgive us for the times we've allowed ourselves to be enslaved by man instead of serving you freely.

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Forgive us for confusing manipulation with ministry and bondage with honor.

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Lord, cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. We ask you to break every chain

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of exportation in your church.

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Expose leaders who enslave your people in the name of service.

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Deliver those who are weary, burnt out, and used.

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Restore joy to serving, freedom to giving, and love to laboring in your kingdom.

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And now I speak this decree. We decree our hands are free to serve Christ and Christ alone.

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We decree no man or system will enslave what God has anointed to serve and love.

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We decree that our hands will be clean, holy, and lifted in worship.

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And we decree the bride of Christ will rise with hands that heal,

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hands that build, and hands that bless, not hands that are bound in slavery.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Family, today we expose the hands of the counterfeit bride, hands that are shackled,

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manipulated, and exhausted in the name of honor.

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But the bridegroom is crying, where is my bride? The one whose hands serve in

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freedom, whose labor flows from love, whose worship is not bound by men,

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but surrendered in Christ.

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This week, I challenge you. Look at your own hands. Are you serving freely or

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are you bound by obligation?

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Are your hands building the kingdom of God or the empire of men?

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The bridegroom is looking for clean hands and a pure heart.

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Thank you for joining me on the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. Church Chronicles.

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In this message, if this message resonated with you, share it with someone who

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needs to know that true service is never slavery. It's love.

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You can always connect with me at the website. Find a copy of this devotional there.

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Website is diaryofablackwomanlsc.com or email me at diaryofablackwomenpodcast at gmail.com.

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And don't miss the next episode in this series.

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It's the feat, Walking in Worldly Ways. We'll uncover how the counterfeit bride

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walks according to the world's agenda instead of God's path and why the bridegroom

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is calling his people to walk in holiness once again.

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Until next time, remember healing, truth, and faith are found in Christ alone.

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This is your host, Connie Morris, signing off with love, strength, and a touch of class.

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And I'll see you on the next episode. Thank you for listening to this episode.

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And before we close out, I want to speak a word of promise over you from Jeremiah 29, 11 through 14.

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Father God, you declared, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper

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you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

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So today we receive that truth.

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You said when we call on you, you will listen. So we pray.

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You said that when we seek you with our hearts, you will be found. So we pursue.

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You said you will restore us from captivity.

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So we declare freedom over every place where our listeners feel stuck, silenced, or small.

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Thank you for always drawing near when we show up in faith. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Music.