Do you like who you are, friend?

In a way, I feel like the pandemic caused me to become more relaxed for a while, more easy-going. I felt like I could just "be" rather than "do." I wasn't on tour, performing, in the studio as much, etc. I just "was."

I read the Bible. I wrote the daily "miracles." I prayed. Everything felt safe.

But when the normal busyness of life began to return, I started leaving the house more frequently for performances or interviews. In the process, I found that this ease of simply being "me" turned into something else. Gossip reared its ugly head in my life, and I caught myself saying things like, "Have you heard what so-and-so is like?" I was making comments about others that I never should've made.

I saw this side of myself that I didn't like at all. I'd felt safe at home, but then when I left the confines of my four walls, I felt like certain things in my life started spinning out of my control.

Even worse, there was this voice in my mind questioning me, trying to convince me to believe lies: "You really think you can go on stage now, even though you're having all these thoughts?"

friend, I want to tell you something very, very important today: God will not withdraw His love from you because you haven't managed yet to flee from sin. He will continue to love you! And as you walk with Him, you WILL manage to be victorious over sin!

friend, any other thought is a lie: "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1, NLT). A few verses later tell us that the Father "...sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man as an offering for sin. And He condemned sin in the flesh [subdued it and overcame it in the person of His own Son]" (Romans 8:3, AMP). 

This passage in Romans doesn't mean that you should just keep doing what you're doing. But it also doesn't mean that God rejects you because of it. That's why it's so important to allow God's truth to wipe out any thoughts of condemnation you may be having! 

friend, if you're feeling distant from God today, check to see if it's because of lies and accusations from the enemy. Choose to strip these thoughts of the power they want to steal from you. Yes, be comforted today—Jesus forgave you the moment you repented. He still loves you!

You are a miracle!