We’re all on a journey. Let me be clear with you, this resolution will not currently apply to everyone reading this post. This resolution only applies to a select few who have hit a roadblock in the journey. Nevertheless, I would like to ask each of you to read this article carefully to the very end. Please do not skim this post. If this message doesn’t apply to you now, it may eventually.
For those to whom this message applies now, you will know it.
When I say ‘you’, I mean your spirit, not your natural soul life (mind, will, emotions). Your spirit will ‘know’ this message is specifically for you, but your mind, will, and emotions may be offended. Your mind, will, & emotions, may even come up with well reasoned arguments about why this resolution is wrong or does not apply. Nevertheless, you still will *KNOW* that this resolution absolutely applies to you. If this resolution does not apply to you, you can simply ‘file’ it away for later. You never know just when you may hit a roadblock in your journey.
The Prostitute
The journey we are on is leading us out of an illicit and immoral affair we have all been involved in. We are now engaged to someone new, but our relationship with our new fiancé can only progress to the degree that we have cut ties with the prostitute we have been sleeping with.
Don’t be upset that I have said this. This prostitute shares a lot of the blame for luring us into her bed. Many of us thought the prostitute was a legitimate relationship. She promised us love and intimacy. She was dressed to the nines and drove a nice car. Her makeup made her look beautiful, and she was involved in many philanthropic endeavors. She was a great orator, and was also a great musician. Her voice lured us into her house and into her bed.
The reality is, her nice clothes are an illusion. She is naked. Underneath her makeup, she is ugly. Her ‘car’ was loaned to her by her ‘pimp’. Her possessions and philanthropic endeavors are an elaborate scam to lure you into a relationship with her. She has no love and life to offer you. Instead, she has attempted to take the best years of your life from you. She has left you broke and empty. For this crime, she will dearly pay. As a matter of fact, judgement has already come to her house.
Get Out Of Her Bed!
Our Father is severely just. He is also a tremendously good Father. With a vengeance, He is laying the axe at the root of the Babylonian prostitute that has seduced the saints of the most High. He is truly waging the only ‘just’ war that exists. Because He desires to spare His children from needless suffering & judgement, He is calling His children out of her condemned house.
This prostitute has many rooms in her house. One room in her house is devoted specifically to religion. After spending many years in the religious system of mankind, I can tell you that many precious saints remain deeply imbedded in that portion of her house. Obviously, intimacy with this prostitute means sharing in her diseases and judgement. This breaks the heart of our Father. This is why He is calling us out. Listen to His heart in this passage of scripture:
…”Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”
I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:2-5, NASB)
Although the Lord has completely covered over and forgotten our sins, He will not forget the sins of this prostitute (system). Actually, He is destroying her (system) for your sake and for my sake. Out of His passionate love for us, He is killing her. We should rejoice over her death!
Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgement for you against her. (Revelation 18:20, NASB)
Are You Sick? Is Your Immune System In Disrepair?
This is where you may misunderstand me. Some of you will probably read these words and will twist them to imply something that I am not intending to communicate. Please hear the heart behind what I am about to say.
Many of us have received a revelation of Jesus Christ. Whenever He is illuminated, that which is counterfeit is also illuminated. When this occurs, we have a choice to make. We can either stay with what we have always known, or we can move away from it.
After our eyes are opened to reality, if we continue to live like we did before, problems will arise. We will quickly find that life and strength for the old way of living has dried up. Unfortunately, the combination of spiritual dullness and fleshly stubbornness, keeps many of us living in needless bondage and physical suffering.
I have personally noticed a disturbing trend among those who have been deeply committed to, and affected by, the religious system. They are sick.
Physically sick.
Please understand that I am not saying all illness and disease that a person may have is rooted in this. I do not believe that, and I do not want anyone who is dealing with an illness to feel condemned. I understand that we have mortal bodies that are aging and breaking down. These mortal bodies will eventually pass away.
What I am saying, however, is there seems to be an undue amount of physical sickness and unhealth among the deeply religious that defies logic. Many of these maladies that people face cannot be fully explained medically. From my personal observation, religion is hazardous to immune systems, and is a haven for disease.
This is not a new realization for many of us. Although many correctly look for physical solutions to sicknesses (medication, better diets, etc…) the roots to chronic illness and weak immune systems may actually reside a bit deeper in us. The heart of the Lord, however, is that we would be in good health. Consider these words from John the apostle as he wrote to a saint in Christ:
(John) The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:1-2, NASB)
The heart of what John is saying in this passage in quite profound. In the same way that the life of Jesus Christ causes Gaius’ soul (mind, will, emotions) to be renewed and prosper, so also does John desire the life of Jesus Christ to cause his physical health to prosper. John is not the only one to say this. Consider what Paul said to the church community in Rome:
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:11, NASB)
Did you catch that? How incredible! He said that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will actually give life to our *MORTAL* bodies. The word ‘mortal’ lets us know that he is talking about the bodies we currently have, not our future immortal bodies. Isn’t that encouraging?
In the last couple of years, I have literally seen this passage of scripture become reality. I have seen many people leave the religious system and become much more physically healthy by default. I have seen immune systems improve. I have seen energy increase. Life long diseases have disappeared, or have gradually become less severe. I have seen the aging process reverse in many ways. I could go on and on. While diet and exercise play an important role in this, the root is actually spiritual.
The healing life of Jesus Christ begins inward in our spirit, and works its way outward. Jesus Christ is truly our living bread. While the Lord desires that we eat heavenly bread and live, the enemy desires that we eat the bread of the flesh and die. The scriptures tell us that the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, but the mind set on the flesh is death.
In my opinion, the religious system (prostitute) is the greatest tool of Satan that he has at his disposal. The religious system attempts to create an unholy mixture, so to speak. It mixes the good bread (Christ) with mankind’s systems rooted in the flesh. This causes us to receive the Lord in an unworthy manner.
As you may know, the churches described in the New Testament are communities of people who were called out of the world’s system to live by the indwelling life of Jesus Christ. He was their head, and He was their food. The gatherings of these church communities reflected this as they regularly participated in ‘love feasts’.
These lavish feasts in which the death and resurrection of Christ were remembered were more than a ritual involving a cracker & spot of grape juice. These feasts were a picture of a way of life in which they, as a community, feasted on the very life of Jesus Christ. When these churches fell back into fleshly living and attempted to mix Christ with the flesh, they suffered physically with sickness and death. Consider these sobering words from Paul to the Corinthian community of saints who had fallen into fleshly living:
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But a person must examine themselves, and in so doing they are to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgement to themselves if they do not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. (1 Cor. 11:27-30)
Self Examination
Like the Corinthian believers, because there are so many of us who are also weak & sick, I’d like to conclude this post by doing what this passage of scripture says. Let’s examine ourselves. Although many of us have been on a journey out of the religious system, strong ‘soul’ ties still remain. These soul ties to this ‘prostitute’ are poisoning our wells and are literally making us sick.
The religious system seduces the saints away from Jesus Christ in three areas. Many various ‘soul’ ties remain in these three areas:
1. Self-righteousness & Law….
A focus on the flesh through self improvement and a return to Old Covenant / law based thinking.
2. Leadership & Performance…
A false hierarchy of ‘leaders & non-leaders’. In the name of influencing the masses, the performance ‘stage’ is used to tempt those who have been labeled as ‘leaders’. It is an appeal to fleshly ambition. This unbiblical hierarchy between ‘leaders’ and ‘non-leaders’ divides the body of Christ and assaults the authority and priesthood of all believers.
3. Mission & Money…
A focus on various external missions of ‘doing’ with the goal of some external result. Although these pursuits are not bad themselves, they are used as a substitute for a focus on the person & life of Jesus Christ. These various ‘missions’ always require significant funding, so an inordinate amount of time is spent dwelling on the acquisition of money to continue the various projects and missions. Money is also used as a tool to keep some of these saints trapped in unbiblical clerical positions.
So, do you still have intimate soul ‘ties’ with this prostitute that are literally poisoning your body? Here are some questions that may be revealing:
Do you struggle with negativity?
Are you more focused on problems?
Do you continually see areas of your own life in which you feel the need to improve?
Do you easily find fault with others?
Do you regularly feel the need to ‘correct’ those around you?
Does the flesh of others seem to overshadow the light of Jesus Christ within them?
Does your work or performance give you a sense of identity?
Would the loss of your work or performance affect your identity?
Does your religious work or performance reinforce the unbiblical ‘stage’ / ‘leadership’ divide within the body of Christ?
Do you feel the need to acquire more money to accomplish God’s work?
Is money keeping you in a career that a revelation of Jesus Christ is leading you out of?
Are you more focused on accomplishing a noble task for Jesus Christ than you are at communing with Jesus Christ?
If you know (in your spirit) that the answer to any of these questions are ‘yes’, then you most likely are still suffering from an intimate soul ‘tie’ with this prostitute.
Are you ready to be set free from her? Are you ready to finally get out of her bed? If the answer is yes, be encouraged. I am convinced the Lord will radically cut these illicit soul ties this year and free you from her sicknesses that you have been receiving. Warning, this will affect our lives and disturb our comfort zones. Our freedom, however, will be more profound than we can imagine. Not only will our souls prosper and be renewed, I believe this year will be a year that many of our physical bodies will also be strengthened and renewed.
Happy New Year!
Jamal Jivanjee
Jamal,
I have read and taken this to heart. It is true, everything you said is true. My question is, what do you do when you live in a small community? Churches here are all religious based. Even the one I attend. When Jesus healed me of liver cancer 10 years ago, much of what you say was made clear to me. Although I gave my life to Jesus back in 1975, I had a lot of head knowledge but, very little in my heart. Over a 4 month period after being healed, God gave me so many revelations, that I could hardly take it. At the end of it all, I came to the same conclusion you have.
Blessings!!!
Dear Robin, may I submit in response to your comment a post of my own? http://esztertun.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/the-gospel-for-the-middle/
I often find myself encouraging others asking the same question as you, why not just jump right in to Jesus as the living water right where your life is happening? In your own living space, with your own family, friends and neighbors? What prevents any of us from living out His life in us together both as physical and spiritual family, worshipping together, getting to know Jesus better together?
Weekly, bi-weekly, daily–however often we believe God is directing us–we can teach “one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in [our] hearts to God.”
Esther, your comments have validity, thanks for the insight!
Robin,
Sister, thanks for sharing. I cannot imagine what you have went through. I rejoice about how good our Father is to give you a deeper revelation of Himself. I also understand what you are asking regarding community.
Just curious, have you ever read ‘Reimagining Church’ or ‘Finding Organic Church’ by Frank Viola?
If you haven’t, I’d strongly suggest you give these two books a read. They will be very helpful in your journey.
I was not only staying in her house, in my spare time I was yelling at people passing by to come on in.
In and only through the grace of God I woke up one day, and walked out of her house, and into true liberty, ‘in’ Christ.
Today I have a deep passion to help others to see this whore for who she is, a system for enslavement.
Thanks Jamal for your insightful posting.
I completely understand Jim. That’s my heart exactly. Love you bro:)
Wow what a stunning post! I feel good! So refreshing to read the truth…so refreshing to not have a ‘to do’ list to follow in order to improve oneself
Your inspired blog has been a blessing in my life for about one month! Thank you/Merci. I would like to share with you more about Jesus next time you’ll come to Paris…if you’re up for it!ahah
Bonne année mon frère!
Merci mon frere. Je voudrais ca! Bon annee a vous aussi!
To respond to this, “sandblasting” comes to mind, like Paul to the Galatians. I perceive that it needs — no it requires — “cud” chewing. I have had very shallow soil of my heart from years in a religious cult, literally worshiping “her” and very “in bed” so I am going to need to meditate. The perfect metaphor IMO is that you have pitched a grenade right into the core of the matter. Thank you, Jamal.
a ‘grenade’ indeed:) Thx for reading!
Jamal I love your writing. I agree with so much that I read here but there is one thing that doesn’t resound with me. You almost seem to discourage missional thinking or a desire to obey the gospel (it does mean doing something…what if the Apostles didn’t act on what they knew about Christ?). If I only read your writing and leaned on your words I would see some things better regarding the institutional church but I think it does bring a bit of complacency also about the lost world. You know that Jesus said “Go and make disciples of all nations”. Jesus made it clear what we are to do. To ignore the Great Commission is not being more spiritual it is being disobedient. We do not have to be a slave to the religious system to still be passionate about those who haven’t heard and have the burning desire to do something about it. I would be careful in that area…so much complacency and unconcern exists already in the western church. I don’t think we should condone or encourage that. I don’t think that scripture does.
Holly,
Thanks for your comment. First, let me say that I completely understand where you are coming from. I can see how what I have said may lead one to think that I am advocating a complacent attitude toward others. That is not my heart at all.
Most of what people mean when they say things like ‘being obedient to the great commission’ or ‘making disciples’ is actually coming from an institutional and unbiblical paradigm. I have actually written about the very concerns you have mentioned in your comment here. Please take some time to read and think about these two articles Holly. Here are the titles and links:
Unlearning Discipleship (why we should forget what we’ve heard): http://jamaljivanjee.com/?p=50
The Clock & The Bathing Of Dirty People (a ‘game changing’ discovery): http://jamaljivanjee.com/?p=1674
Holly, I hear your heart about missional thinking, which is God’s heart. The projects Jamal describes fall far short because they are based on the same religious model with all the same problems FORCED on cultures that are often based on kinship (and not American “performance”.) I highly recommend the book “When Helping Hurts.” It’s the “Pagan Christianity” currently shaking up medical missions and relief organizations to rethink missions.
Lynda,
Thx for your comment, but I am not sure what you are talking about. I have not recommended any ‘projects’ that I know of. What ‘projects’ are you talking about? Did you carefully read the articles that I posted links to in my response to Holly?
Jamal, I was referring to “3. A focus on various external missions of ‘doing’ with the goal of some external result.” … Sorry to confuse by calling them “projects” but that has been my experience i.e. “Short term missions projects” where teams fly to remote cultures to “help” and “make disciples” of American religion and not of Jesus, imparting not the gospel but the false religious system you describe so well in this post.
I did read your links also, and you do touch on the problem by saying “In conclusion, let me say that it is time to stop allowing our Western individualistic religious culture to dictate to us what Jesus meant by ‘making disciples.’ Since the New Testament was written to communities of believers existing in corporate community, we must re-learn discipleship from a corporate perspective, not simply an individualistic one.”
… which scratches the surface of our mistaken ethnocentrism: eg. the rugged American individual on a productivity schedule dropping into a culture that is wired more for relationship building, for one.
I highly recommend “When Helping Hurts” for any one who desires to dig deeper. It views current western missions practices through the lenses of those cultures we are trying to “help” and reveals how deep the damage goes. It is “missional thinking” 101, in my book!
Lynda,
I see. That makes sense, although I was referring to more than Short term missions projects. I am speaking more about a mindset that is focused on the wrong ‘mission’, so to speak.
Lynda, I wrote an article a while ago that I would love for you to read when you get a few minutes. Let me know your thoughts on that blog post when you can. Here is the title and link:
Legitimate Burdens & Romance: http://jamaljivanjee.com/?p=1399
Some of the confusion is the result of how wordpress placed my original response. I clicked “reply” under Holly’s comment, not yours. It initially showed up above your comment, so please understand none of my original comment was in response to your own.
My attempt was to put all the issues you write about in the context of “go to the ends of the earth and make disciples” — what Holly was addressing.
When we are planting churches, what are we planting? The religious apple isn’t falling far from the tree, I’m afraid.
Will read your Legit Burdens post this evening and respond. Love what you are doing, my friend!
Thanks brother! I think that the possible offenses of this post are very “scrawny” compared to the building up of Christ in it!
No Christian will ever find true rest inside a system. A system breaks down if you don’t work for it. But not the Lord! He doesn’t need our work. In Him ALL things hold together. This can NEVER be said about a system. It especially cannot be said about the religious system.
“Arbeit macht frei” (Labour Makes You Free). The lie posted on the gates of Auschwitz is posted on the gates of the prostitute’s house. I love to see our mighty Lord storming those gates!
Wow brother, that’s incredible. I never realized that lie was posted at Auschwitz. There are a lot of implications in what you have said. Thanks for sharing this bro. This needs to be understood.
Amazing comment! Love that because Jesus said, “Come to me and you will find rest for your souls”
that’s awesome!
Eye-opening and accurate comparison to the “other woman”. Having left “her” a while back, it is still common to hear her calling out,enticing me to return. If the unconditional, never-failing, never-ending, undeserved love of Christ were not enough to keep me “at home” and faithful then the fear of disease and judgement from a holy God certainly would keep me in check. So glad I don’t have to live in fear of that judgement any longer. Thank you, Jamal, for another timely, honest and spot-on message!
Thx for reading brother. Glad this was a timely message for you. Blessings!
oh me…
Reminds me of Pharoah putting more work on the children of Israel so they wouldn’t have time to think about worshipping God. The world we live in is comprised of many systems. They all compel us to labor more- physically, mentally,and emotionally with the underlying motivation to keep us from resting in Him. The challenge is to remain in that place of rest regardless of the world’s (Pharoah) attempt to keep us busy.
Amen Mitzi… remaining in that place of rest In Christ is a supernatural work that He must do in us. It is truly the best place to live and dwell. Thanks for reading.
Jamal and Everyone-I have to share this testimony:
It has been 6 years since I felt the call of God to leave the institutional religious system (although I didn’t recognize it as such at first; and it has been about 2 and 1/2 years since I obeyed that call. And believe it or not, I am still not completely delivered from the “prostitute”. It truly has taken the love of Christ and the fellowship of the Saints, who are on this journey with me, to constantly remind me that we have exited “Babylon”, and we can rest in Christ.
Often I find myself wrestling with “Martha” within me; Often I give in to my need to “do” or “perform” (I am a singer/songwriter and ex-worship leader); Often I find myself trying to reason with my past or vindicate the system because of the people I love who remain in the system, who I know love Christ deeply.
Sometimes I attend services and programs in the system because I want to fellowship with these love ones (often when I do, I leave the program or service with a sick feeling inside-the toxicity overwhelms me). I have associates and friends who are successful musical artists in the religious system (the christian music industry is totally dependent upon the “prostitute”). I have tried to support them, I want them to do well. Sometimes I go to their events, and sing with them. But EVERY TIME (with the exeption of one event last year), I left with a sick, disgusted feeling- because the corruption, the pastor worship, the manipulation of the masses, and the focus on man instead of Christ- is blatant and outright.
I cannot overly stress the importance of the Life of Christ as expressed in my brothers and sisters in helping me experience true life in Christ and escape the sickness and toxicity of the institutional religious system.
One more thing Family. My spirit vigorously testifies to the reality of the sickness, including mental, emotional and physical, that is caused by living in the religious system. I no longer believe that there are some healthy systems and some toxic systems. I believe the christian based religious system is intrinsically toxic. I have seen it with my eyes and heard it with my ears. I have a loved one who can trace her struggle with depression directly to an upbringing in the religious system. I have an in-law who, from the stress of “church politics” and family power struggles within a system, actually died in a church meeting during a conflict. These stories and my own personal experiences testify to the toxicity of the institution.
People try to say, “well, you’re just hurt”. But everyone is hurt in this system! Even those who don’t know it.
I will never say the true life in Christ is without problems, conflicts, difficulties and struggles. I think we all know that is not the truth. The truth is, having Life in Christ outside of the religious system is the difference between Life and death. Yes, we have to die (embrace our cross) if we want life in Christ-this type of death yields His Life. But if I would have stayed in the system, I would have died a spiritual and permenant death (one that doesn’t yield the resurrection power of Christ), and I almost did.
I pray this year that we all continue the journey away from the prostitute and her “STD’s” (spiritually transmitted diseases), and that as we gather in pursuit of Christ in His Community, that the ways of the prostitute will be completely purged out of us. May the Glory of Christ fill His True Temple!
AnDraea,
Sister, I always look forward to hearing from you. I hear the cry of your heart. It is the Lord. May He rescue all those whom your heart breaks for. Thank you for sharing this powerful testimony.
Dear Jamal – this is truth!! and yes – sometimes truth is offensive to some – to others truth leads into freedom – you are a vessel for His truth and have no control or influence over how it is received – thanks for being a willing vessel for His truth!
This post hits me hard personally. Our Lord called me and my family out of Babylon 4 years ago as He revealed to me her sin and destruction… I despise her and have not returned physically and swore I would never have anything to do with her again…
This journey has been painful – the journey of learning freedom has caused a lot of personal suffering.
We were part of a group for a couple of years that was trying to meet outside of the “religious system” – I hate to admit that those 2 years were a terrible experience for me – the environment more religious than anything I ever experienced in the system of Babylon.
Over the last couple of years the Lord has been literally “stripping” me to the point where I find myself naked and alone (spiritually mainly…)
Just yesterday I was expressing to my husband some of the deep grief over things lost in Babylon – looking back as if “she” has anything to offer – being fully aware that all she is needs to be thrown into the depths of the deepest ocean never to be found again and yet part of me grieving for her and I was shocked – how can I grieve for what she had to offer me at some point and completely be repulsed all at the same time?
Today I am broken and weak… I read your post – agreeing with all of it – then I came to your questions and I’m horrified to admit that I answered “yes” to 8 of your 12 questions and I’m left asking “how can this be Lord?? How can I still have soul ties to her?”
Yes Jamal – I yearn for freedom more than anything and this morning I realize that I am sick still.
There is not much left in me that can be disturbed – not many comfort zones left and all I want is to be free finally – set me free Lord Jesus!!!
Gioia,
Your comment touched me deeply. I understand completely. Thank you for openly & honestly sharing your heart. I know our Father hears your heart’s cry, and He will answer your prayer. I’m thankful for your heart & courage.
Wow, thanks Jamal, another timely message. Funny how I was just reading Hosea this a.m. and how Israel played the whore- but God in His love and grace woos us back to Him. A true love story. May we all find comfort and true love in the one true marriage bed.
I am glad you wrote this. I haven’t been able to bring myself to attend any institutional meetings lately for a variety of reasons, namely feelings of rejection and condemnation. The most difficult thing for me is that I’m not fellowshipping with other believers enough, so I get pretty lonely and I’m pretty vulnerable spiritually, but I don’t really know how to find other believers here without putting my foot in the institutional water.
This also reminded me of a time when a pastor scolded a few of us for “double dipping” or “bible study hopping”… now I can look back and realize that I was just not content with fellowship being a twice-a-week event. It seems kind of funny now, but imagine if I had taken it to heart. I want to live in a community where believers share their day to day lives together, and have the freedom to invite lost people in, too.
I have also been thinking a lot about the fact that, despite the fact that God was their leader and that He supplied them with judges, Israel demanded a king. We human beings always seem resistant to God’s kingship, wanting to put intermediaries between ourselves and Him. As a royal priesthood and as redeemed saints, we require no intermediary other than Christ– yet it is the nature of the flesh to subject itself to the rule of others. I think that we had better rebel against spiritual principalities of darkness, and obey the Heavenly One. We cannot have two masters.
Brother,
as always you have illuminated a cry within myself and in the collective body….
I want to share this with my own body here in OKC but I, myself, am worried about offense being taken.
How difficult it is for us to change our habits and reactions to things we find familiar. Thanks, as always, for your fearless transparency.
Your post came just in time for me. My husband and I recently moved to WB, India from the US and the disease of the christian institutional church is very aggressive here. I would guess, largely do to the fact that their culture is the perfect breeding ground. In the spirit of “do not offend” we have comprimised our beliefs at times resulting in a lot of the symptoms you mentioned above. Thank you Jesus for opening my eyes.
Woa bro, what a read! Fantastic unveiling here and enormous concern shed for this whole situation.
Lord deliver us your people!!!
Love you brother
Thanks brother. We’ve been out for over 4 years now. The “soul ties” section really struck home. Especially, the leadership and performance part. When reading this the Spirit reminded me of these words, “Can you be small so that I may become Great?”..a phrase He used often when he was drawing our family out. The small do not exalt themselves nor even desire to be exalted, but desire only that He be exalted. “Blessed are the ‘poor in spirit’ for they shall see the Kingdom of God”.