Where is My Bride: Ep 2: Stains and Salvation: Preparing the Bride for Jesus

0:00 Music. Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris, where healing has a voice and truth is no longer silent. Father God, like Jabez, we cry out that thou would bless us indeed. Bless every woman listening beyond trauma, beyond limits, beyond what she thought was possible. Enlarge her territory. Expand her purpose. Let your hand be upon this moment. Saturate every word with oil and truth. break cycles, cancel every curse sent to silence her. This isn't just a podcast.

0:49 This is holy ground. In Jesus' name, amen. Welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast, episode two, aims on the dress and uncovered. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and we're continuing our series, where is my bride wow this series is just melting my heart i don't know about yours but we're not going to spend a lot of time dialoguing i just want to get right into the series so that's how we talked about the cry of the bridegroom the difference between being busy for god and actually being prepared for him i ended it with mary and martha if you get a chance to read that story, go ahead and take time out to read that story.

1:36 I don't have a devotional on that one, but like you saw at the end of that episode, God kind of pricked my heart to talk about performance versus service and how the bride was not ready. I mean, we can't always be last minute. I mean, sometimes I know we always have friends who are last minute, who is always late. I'm the early friend. If you ever get to meet me, I'm the early friend. Like, hey, are you ready? And then I will always be there 15 minutes early. And it's really, if we got to be somewhere, I'm about 30 or 40 minutes early. Cause I, I have this thing about being late to anything. If I'm invited to somewhere, I want to be at least on time.

2:17 And my on time is 15 minutes early. Even if I have to wait in the parking lot to the doors open, that's just, that's just me. I don't like being the second one on the buffet. I like to be the first one on the buffet. So there's different things about me, right? That you don't know, but now you know. And so if Jesus said he is coming and he's looking for his bride, we learned that last episode that even if you have a spot or wrinkle on your dress, he does not see you. Because you have an opportunity right now to prepare for his coming. And so if you're going to be last minute, you might be like the foolish and the wise versions and might get left behind because you're not ready.

3:02 They are wanting so you can get ready, so you can get prepared. You ever had to prepare for a wedding, prepare for an event, a birthday party. I mean, you do not, even the people who make the cakes are not making your, the cake is not coming out the oven when you go pick up the cake. Otherwise, you'll be upset. You want that cake ready with the frosting on it, with the happy birthday or whatever slogan you want on that cake. You want that cake ready. So Jesus has said, I need you to get ready. And so we're going to cover the stains on the dress because I want Jesus to see me. I don't want him to be, I don't want to stand in front of him as his bride and he's still calling out, there is my bride.

3:47 I want him to recognize it's me, honey. It's your bride. I don't have a spot or wrinkle on me. I am ready. I have my oil. I am the wise version. I'm waiting for you. So we want to understand today, how do we get if he stains out of our dress, how do we become prepared brides for Jesus? Amen. And so we talked about the last time that we had the, that the cry of the bridegroom, the difference between being busy for God and actually prepared for him. We know the people who even at our job, even at our church, that they look busy about doing stuff, but nothing seems to get done when they're on the project.

4:30 You know, you ever notice that they're busy about it, but ain't nothing getting done. I'm using eight, but nothing is getting done. So today we're going to look at something that we don't usually talk about. We're talking about the stains. On the bride's dress. Now imagine this. It's your wedding day. You're walking down the aisle. All eyes are on you, but suddenly someone notices the stain. It could be coffee. It could be mud. It can be kind of a red stain from your communion because you might've did communion before you went down the aisle. Or if you want, if you're out there drinking, it could be some wine, but you know, red don't come out of that white right away. It needs to soak.

5:10 And so that kind of throw you off right there. But no matter how beautiful that dress is, everyone sees that spot. If you ever wore white before and you get one little stain on that white, maybe no one sees it, but you know that that's a spot on that pretty white outfit, right? You know it's a spot. So whether everybody see it or nobody sees it, you know that you have sinned. You know what you have done. But you know that either everyone sees it or no one sees it. We already know that God sees it. So what sin does in our life, it leaves marks that can't be hidden. And just like a bride would never ignore the stain of her gown, Christ is not and will not ignore the stains of sin on his church.

5:59 But here's the good news. He's already made a way. He's already made a way for every stain to be washed, cleansed, clean. To be washed white as snow. Go with me to Isaiah chapter one, verse 18. It says, come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they should be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they should be like wool. First John 1, 7 tells us, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.

6:42 We see God has already made a way out so that we can walk in spotless, sinless before our Jesus, before our Yeshua, Jesus. Amen. These verses remind us of two powerful truths. First, sin stains. It marks us. it separates us. And second, the blood of Jesus cleanses us fully, completely, without exception. So here's the problem. Many of us in church don't like to admit that we have a stain. We cover them up with good works. We excuse them with, that's just how I am. We pretend they're not there.

7:22 But the truth is, sin always leaves a mark. The stain of unforgiveness shows up when we can't let go when someone did to us. The stain of gossip shows up when we tear others down instead of building them up. The stain of pride shows up when we resist correction. The stain of hypocrisy shows up when our public life doesn't match our private life. Romans 3.23 says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That means every one of us has stains, But the hope is this. Jesus doesn't just point out the stain.

8:03 He washes it away. His blood is strong enough to remove that shame that says it's permanent. And so we talked about being prepared for Jesus. If we know this, that Jesus has the power to wash away every stain, why haven't we done that? Why are some of us waiting to the last minute, right? So Christ was looking for a bride without spots. These spots are sins we tolerate, the habits we excuse, and the compromises we hide. The counterfeit church often tries to mask these things. We dress them up in good deeds or hide them behind religious activity, but the true bride doesn't cover her spots.

8:50 She brings them into the light of Christ. And here's the difference. It's not about whether we sin because we all have. It's about whether we allow Jesus to cleanse us. The prepared bride says. Lord, here I am. Wash me, purify me, make me new. That's just so powerful. Purify a prepared bride. Remember we talked about being prepared, not a last minute bride. We talk about a wise bride here saying we know Jesus is coming. So let's get this stuff cleansed out. Let's not go back and wallow in it, but let's get cleansed. Let's get purified.

9:30 Let's get made new so that when the groom comes, when the bridegroom, sick groom comes, we are ready. And the Galatians says, when you get ready, stay ready. So don't go back wallowing in what you've been purified from. So let's talk about it. What spots might be hidden in your life that you may need to confess to God? Do that. Do that. Don't wait last minute. Am I trying to cover up my stain with excuses or am I allowing Christ to watch me clean? Excuses is just like rubbing, taking your wedding dress, right? It's got a red stain on it, but now you have a cloth that's red or some other stain and you're rubbing that red stain with a dirty cloth.

10:15 You're just making a mess of it. And you know, when we try to cover it up, excuses are making a mess out of your own sin. Instead of just giving it to God, you layer it with more lies, more excuses, and it's just making it a hot mess. Go ahead and just give it to Jesus, right? Do I truly believe his blood is powerful enough to make me completely clean? Give it a try. Give it a try. You know, I just have kind of a simple example. In Nebraska, we have hard water. And so in hard water places, you have to find different solutions that are from Michigan versus Nebraska. The same cleaning solutions that you had in Michigan will not work in Nebraska.

10:58 So you got an old school way that you did it in Michigan and you try that same school method in Nebraska. It wasn't working for me. And you're buying all these different chemicals and not chemicals, but different products to clean, I will say the toilet. And on one particular day, I was watching a YouTube video about how to clean this ring around my toilet because it was really, you know, bugging me because I like everything like shiny and sparkly. And I found an old school method and I was like, oh my gosh, I've been buying all these products that promises this cleaning that will cure this, this dirty ring, but it did not do it. But this product is just one product and a simple tool, cleanse it. It didn't take all day.

11:43 I didn't have to soak it overnight. It's just a matter of about 15 minutes and I was done. And so that's, that's kind of how we do it. We were trying to use the worldly method. That we used to do to clean out spiritual sin. And all God is saying is like, hey, my son Jesus died for this. My son Jesus will purify you. Can you just give him a try and see if it works? You know, just give it a try. Like I said, I've been scrubbing, buying all this product, wasting a whole lot of money, and then found out one product with a simple tool, bam, it worked. And I'm like, oh my gosh. And I was taking pictures, sending it to my kids. My kids are like, why is my mom making a big deal?

12:26 Because we don't realize how much time and effort we waste trying to do things the old way. We have to go to Jesus. We must go to Jesus. We must go to Jesus. There's no shortcut. People are coming on with all these different shortcuts about how you can get to, you don't need to do this. You don't need to do that. Yes, you do. You need to go to Jesus for purification. Remember I told you, Jesus coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle. When you have a spot or wrinkle on you, and I had this vision, he was still calling out, where's my bride? And the bride was standing there with her spot or wrinkle on. Because she did not confess her sins, Jesus couldn't see her. She couldn't see him.

13:08 And so we don't want that to happen. We want you to be seen by God. And so just remind yourself that don't try to shortcut way. Go straight to Jesus. It works every single time. Let's close out and pray. Father, I come to you. We come to you honestly. We confess that we have stains we cannot remove on our own. Wash us with your blood. Wash us with the blood of Jesus. Purify our thoughts, our words, our actions, and make us white as snow and teach us to walk in the light. Free from shame, guilt, and hypocrisy. And we thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

13:48 Let's decree. We decree that every stain of sin is washed by the blood of Jesus. We will not live in shame or hide behind excuses. Our life is being made clean, right, and ready for our bridegroom. And we will not miss him. We are the wise versions. Amen. So we thank you. I thank you for joining me on the Diary of Black Women podcast. This was episode two of our series, Where Is My Bride? Next time, we will talk about the wrinkles in the garment, the subtle compromises and neglect that weakens our walk with Christ. Remember, stains can be washed, wrinkles can be pressed out, and shame can be lifted.

14:34 Until then, stay washed, stay ready, always stay ready, and keep your eyes on the bridegroom because he is coming soon. And I'll see you on the next episode. Thank you for listening to this episode. And before we close out, I want to speak a word of promise over you from Jeremiah 29, 11 through 14. Father God, you declared, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. So today, we receive that truth. You said when we call on you, you will listen. So we pray.

15:16 You said that when we seek you with our hearts, you will be found. So we pursue. You said you will restore us from captivity. So we declare freedom over every place where our listeners feel stuck, silenced, or small. Thank you for always drawing near when we show up and faith. In Jesus' name, amen. Music.