Soul Ties in the Church

When I write, I prefer to focus on writing all day. Many times before composing I take some time to worship and set my mind on Almighty Yahweh.

This morning as I worshipped, I began praying about holy connections within the Body of Christ. As I did, the Spirit of the Lord began to download something into my spirit about 'soul ties'. Although I had not planned on blogging today (I have another project on my mind), I knew I was to share this.

What is a 'soul tie'? My understanding of this phrase is that it is referring to a relationship with another person or group that is of an intimate nature. If you were to look up the exact phrase, 'soul tie', in the Bible, you will not find it. What you will find, however, are examples of holy and unholy soul ties.

David and Jonathan had a holy soul tie.

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit [qashar--to bind, tie, bind together, league together, conspire] with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. - 1 Samuel 18:1 KJV

The Book of Ephesians shows that marriage ties two souls--they become 'one flesh'.

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined [proskollaō--from kolla ("glue")] unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. - Ephesians 5:31 KJV

 

This union is not only through a sexual relationship, but also through vows spoken to one another. I Corinthians gives an example of an unholy soul tie via sexual union:

What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. - 1 Corinthians 6:16 KJV

So you can see that soul ties can be made in a number of ways. What hit my spirit this morning, however, was how we can actually have unholy soul ties within the Church. Because we fellowship with other believers in the Lord, we can innocently or perhaps more accurately, naively, form a union that is not Godly.  Sometimes we might have ulterior motives to connect with someone in a leadership position in the church body.

Our Heavenly Father created our physical bodies to be made up of interdependent parts or members. When even an individual cell within a part operates outside of its purpose towards another part, the brain is alerted. So it is with the Body of Christ. Just as human body parts were made to be interdependent, members in Christ's Body are to be mutually supportive of one another. BUT when an individual operates outside of how Christ the Head has ordained, they are in danger. This includes relationships we have with other members of the Body of Christ!

Do not confuse this with church leadership. What I mean is, just because your church is set up where a pastor or bishop is the overseer, does not mean he is the head of the church! Yes, an overseer has responsibilities towards the church body, but it is not to be a dictatorship.

Neither as being lords over [katakyrieuō--1) to bring under one's power, to subject one's self, to subdue, master; 2) to hold in subjection, to be master of, exercise lordship over] God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. - 1 Peter 5:3 KJV

Whenever we allow a church member--whether in leadership or not--to manipulate or control what we do or not do, this is an unholy soul tie.

It is only through an intimate relationship with the Head, Jesus our Yahshua, that we will know who we are to be in relationship with and how intimately we are to be connected, for He alone is the true lover of our souls.

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love [chashaq--' to love, be attached to, long for']to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. - Isaiah 38:17 KJV

 

Genuine unity can only be accomplished through the Spirit of the Lord.

But he that is joined [kollaō--glued]

unto the Lord is one spirit. - 1 Corinthians 6:17 KJV

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:31-32 KJV 

 

To Eat or NOT to Eat

Have you ever done a fast? I know it is tempting at this point to ask me, "Ever done a fast what? A fast walk? A fast drive to the store?" But I am talking about not eating anything for a period of time with the purpose being to seek God's face.

First, let me explain that I like to eat. I don't particularly like to cook, although I have been told I am a good cook. I do enjoy baking, especially when the peach trees and later the apple trees begin providing fresh fruit for pies. At my last physical I asked the doctor if I was overweight. "You're borderline," was her reply. That answer was given to me a year and several baking episodes ago!

I believe we are to be good stewards and that includes our physical health. I had to re-learn this the hard way, however, the year I turned 41. I awoke in the middle of the night because electrical charges were surging through my entire body. I was paralyzed and could hardly speak as I struggled to get my husband's attention. "Tom, pray for me!" I managed to eke out. I was feeling better after he prayed but felt claustrophobic under the heavy blankets, so I slept in my winter bathrobe the rest of the night.

In the morning I was still so shaken that I crawled--not walked--but crawled my way into the bathroom. As I slowly made my way along the carpet, I cried out to the Lord to help me. He spoke so clearly to me that even today I remember what He said. "Daughter, I will carry you through this phase of your life to the other side. Read Leviticus 17:11. Remember to eat a green salad every day and call Becky.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood...the first part of Leviticus 17:11 read. I was homeschooling my daughter at this time and had studied and learned much about the human body. We are only as healthy as our blood is and what we eat greatly affects our blood. When I contacted my friend Becky, a nutritionist, I learned that almost all diseases (something like 98%) stem from poor nutrition. I reached out to other brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for me and I realized a couple of things--1) We are called the Body because we need every member; and 2) My body was entering what is called 'peri-menopause' (the bumpy ride before you hit menopause).

It was during this period of concentrating on my health that I decided to give fasting a whirl. I had heard that fasting helped believers strip away the physical realm so that they can experience the spiritual realm more deeply. I already had known times of wonderful intimacy while communing with the Lord, but I felt the tug of the Holy Spirit to go deeper through fasting. So I told the Lord that I would do it for Him. After going without food and allowing myself to drink only water for a day, I arose early the next morning to seek His face. As I entered the small library room I used as my prayer closet, I saw the Lord. It was not that He had physically manifested, but I saw Him with my spiritual eyes as He stood there apparently waiting for me. It is difficult to put into words that type of encounter. I believe He always is ready to meet with us. Somehow fasting stripped away the veil of the flesh so that I could see Him more clearly.

It has been many years since that euphoric experience and I have not ever fasted (from food that is) since then. Well, there was a couple of times I had to refrain from food because of some blood work, but that doesn't count. Anyway, you can see that I mean what I say (er, write). I do enjoy discussing many subjects and have gone from early marriage and parenting to the other end of the spectrum with peri-menopause in just two postings--HA! So do feel free to jump in and drop me a line.