YOU ARE NOT A PUPPET.

I have a prophetic word for you this week - The Lord is cutting the strings that have been around you for a long period of time.

I feel like all the warfare that you and I have been facing, all of the swirl, the witchcraft, the slander, the betrayals, and the spiritual dynamics you have been trying to navigate and discern and understand, it’s COMING TO A HEAD right now!

You see, in the end, it always backfires on the enemy and causes those who have been afflicted by these assignments to see clearly what has been at play, and then they open the eyes of those who are blind around them.

I believe that’s what is happening right now.

We are right at that point where the warfare has hit such a critical moment that it’s actually cleared the air and brought about such a deep level of revealing of spiritual realms, dynamics, and mechanics, and the things that have been happening around you that maybe you haven’t understood.

I also know that you’re weary from it, and I know that it’s been confusing and derailing. But what you don’t understand is that there has been a multifaceted attack that’s come against you, your home, your marriage, your family, and your destiny for such a long period of time, so it’s almost desensitized you to the severity of what has been robbing you.

This assignment has hit a point where God is saying, “I’m now going to unlock every single lock. I’m going to shut every single door. I’m now going to reveal what’s been at play.”

Over the weekend, I had a very specific dream where the Lord was speaking to me about a very specific deliverance that is taking place right now.

In the dream, there was a church service happening. Worship began, and I saw a lady at the altar. The Holy Spirit said to me in the dream, “Pray for her for deliverance.”

As I went to pray for her, I saw that there were all these strings, ropes, and chains around her. It was like she was unable to move in any direction. I was trying to discern what was going on, and I began to see that each of these chains looked harmless, and she was trying to rationalize them, so I said, “Be quiet for a moment. Demon, who are you and where did you come from?”

And suddenly the demonic spirit began to speak, and it said, “She loves to play by the rules, which is great for us.”

And I instantly saw that these “rules” were allegiance to religious values that brought her into agreement with control and manipulation that was straight up demonic, but because it came through a person or figure (familiar spirit) that they trusted, they bought the lie/bondage as well.

It had put her in such a deep state of being chained and yoked that she was unable to move, and this grieved me.

But what grieved me more was that the church service went on, and I was frustrated that they weren’t stopping for this moment because this felt like it was meant to be the main thing, and this really speaks to the fact that right now the Church needs to stop for what God is doing. We’re going about “church as usual,” but we need freedom from the bondage of the institution.

This specific type of deliverance is the Lord setting us, the Church, free from being puppets to the enemy in areas where it’s been acceptable bondage, because it’s come in the form of religion.

It’s come in the form of “service.” It’s come in the form of things that look right, like loyalty and submission, but many of them have been twisted and have become bondage.

And how does it come in? In pivotal moments where you need direction and a VOICE or WORD. That’s when the swirl begins, so you are not as discerning and you don’t see the wolves surrounding you. The “almost-right” words of advice, the surveillers, and the informants descending, and so you OPEN YOUR HEART AND THE FRONT DOOR..

So, if you’re reading this and you’ve been saying to yourself, “Why am I not moving forward? Why am I not moving ahead? Why am I not able to see clearly my direction, my future? Why am I constantly facing this same situation over and over?”

You keep hitting the same point where you’re stuck and frustrated. I want to propose to you that the enemy’s been trying to make you a puppet. But the Lord says over you this week, “I am breaking your strings!”

I’ll never forget, many years ago, Christy and I were coming out of a very religious, bondage-filled season, and I went into a vision during worship.

I saw myself as Pinocchio when he was a marionette, and the Lord said to me, “It’s time to cut your strings.”

What were the strings in my life at the time? Strings where I felt like I was being disobedient to God if I didn’t do what my pastor told me to do, or if I didn’t do what that person told me to do. There were so many layers of religion that had made me a slave to everything but the very thing I was called to do.

Let me be even more specific about some of the strings that need to be cut this week. Firstly, imagine right now that you’re like I was, Pinocchio with strings around you, or imagine yourself in a tug-of-war contest:

One of the assignments of the enemy is to pull you in the wrong direction to lead you off track. It’s to lead you into an Ishmael, something that has the appearance of the right place, leading you to your assignment, but is actually leading you off course.

The next is where he pulls you away from your mission and your message into deception. It feels like righteousness; it feels like the right thing, but you’ve been led off track and you’re speaking something you weren’t meant to speak.

And the third is where you’re pulled in your mind, manipulated in your emotions, your desires, and your wants, to lead you out of peace and clarity and into confusion and lack of revelation. That’s where many people suddenly feel like, “God, why are You not speaking to me? Why are You not showing me what to do? Why are You not leading me?”

This week, God is exposing the strings through dreams and removing the veil that’s been hidden for months and even years, through familiar spirits, and through situations that have surrounded you on all sides.

Maybe it’s come through familiar relationships, family, or people around you that you’ve trusted.

The problem is this: the very root and core of why we become puppets goes back to Pinocchio - we don’t feel real.

We don’t feel legitimate.

It’s often an orphan spirit that leads us into needing other people to tell us where to go, what to do, how to act, and what to say.

But what it does is it removes the voice of God from our lives, and that’s the deception that leads us astray and puts us in bondage.

So this week, God is exposing all of those things.

Isaiah 58:6 says that - God will loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke.

Psalm 124:7 says, “We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.”

Nahum 1:13 says, “Now I will break their yoke from your neck and tear your shackles away.”

Isaiah 10:27 says, “The yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing.”

Right now, in the name of Jesus, I decree over you that the yoke is broken. Every string is being broken off you in the name of Jesus, and I pray that every string that’s been around you for months or even years be cut. That this very week, God would give you dreams to show you where you’ve been held back, where you’ve been like a puppet on a string to someone else’s devices or to the enemy’s plans.

That every assignment of delay, distraction, or detour would be exposed and ended. I decree over you in Jesus’ name - the strings are broken, the cords are cut, and you are free. Come out of every false allegiance and hidden bondage, and step into the pure call of God on your life, in the mighty name of Jesus.