This message was shared by Apostle Kathryn Krick, Lead Pastor/Apostle of 5F Church in Los Angeles, on September 4, 2023. To watch the full video, scroll to the bottom of this post. We pray this teaching blesses you and equips you to walk as a powerful vessel of God. 

I have been teaching a series on Freedom From the Spirit of Religion. If you have not heard the previous messages, it’s so important that you listen to them.

I have been teaching in depth on what the spirit of religion is, because many people don’t have revelation of this. The Bible says, My people perish because of lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). When you don’t have knowledge of the spirit of religion and how it tries to influence you, or that it may already be in you, then you can’t be free from it. But you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32).

In this message, you will learn how to minister to others void of religion. This is so important!

You are all called to be vessels of God to minister to others in different capacities. You are not all called to be five-fold ministers and preach on a stage, but you are all called to minister to people throughout your days: to those who need Jesus, who are lost, sick, or oppressed. The Great Commission applies to all of us: to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to raise the dead! So the whole body of Christ must be equipped with how to minister the right way—the Jesus way—which is void of religion.

John 12:46-48, NLT

Jesus says, “I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.”

When Jesus ministers throughout the Gospels, He is always ministering to people with love, compassion, and mercy. One example is the Samaritan woman at the well; she had had many husbands, and when Jesus came to her, He saw this about her prophetically.

John 4:15-19, NLT

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.”

John 4:25-26, NLT

The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”

After this encounter, the Bible says that she runs and tells everyone she knows about Jesus—that the Messiah is here—full of excitement and passion. You can tell that she was deeply touched by God’s love; she was changed forever.

In our times today, it doesn't seem as bad to have had many husbands in the past; but at that time, her situation was extremely scandalous. She would have been looked down upon, judged harshly, and treated poorly. But Jesus knew this about her, and the fact that she was full of so much joy shows us what this interaction was like.

If you read this passage with a religious revelation, you can imagine Jesus speaking with disappointment and judgment, saying, “You’re right, you don’t have a husband. You’ve had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now!” But that interpretation comes from a religious spirit, not from the Holy Spirit. When you know God’s heart, you can read it accurately and see that so much love, compassion, and grace was pouring out of Jesus, not judgment. He was speaking matter-of-factly, but with love: “I know your life. I know everything you’ve been through, and I am not judging you. I love you!” This was prophetic ministry taking place that resulted in the woman’s salvation. She surrendered and immediately began evangelizing—telling others about the great love of Jesus that she had encountered!

Here is another example of Jesus ministering. There was a woman who was committing adultery. In those days, committing adultery was considered extremely evil, far more severe than it is viewed today. The Pharisees wanted to do what the law said, which was to stone her as punishment for this crime, but Jesus came in this new way of compassion, grace, and love, not judgment.

John 8:7-11, NLT

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

With the revelation from the Holy Spirit, you can see Jesus standing as a protector of His daughter, full of so much love, saying, “None of you will be able to stone her. She will not receive judgment. I am protecting her with My love.” And then Jesus speaks to her with eyes full of love, gentleness, and compassion: “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” The woman can see His love for her. She says, “No, Lord,” and Jesus says, “Neither do I,” full of love, grace, and void of judgment. Then He says, “Go and sin no more.”

The spirit of religion could read this differently and imagine Jesus speaking with judgment, “You better go and sin no more. I am only rescuing you this one time. You need to stop sinning!” But the true revelation from the Holy Spirit is: “Go and sin no more, My child. Now that you have encountered My love, you are no longer a slave to sin.” Encountering God’s love is what gives you the ability to live purely, righteously, and surrendered to God.

The Bible says that the kindness of God leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). It does not say that the judgment and wrath of God leads to repentance. The love, kindness, grace, mercy, and compassion of God is what leads a person to repentance; without it, people can’t repent! A person cannot fully surrender to God until they have truly met Him and encountered His love. Surrender cannot be forced. People try to do the right things influenced by the spirit of religion, but without knowing God’s love, they do not have the power to live purely or righteously.

When you simply encounter God’s love, your eyes open to how much He loves you. You fall in love with Him and you want to give your life to Him—it becomes easy for you! This is what happened to me: when I encountered God’s power and saw His love, I surrendered immediately. There was no altar call or guided prayer, but I was desperate to give my life to Jesus. Like in marriage, you want to serve and please your spouse, and you want them to have joy; and if they are sad, it makes you sad. That’s how it is with God when you really love Him; and that can’t happen until you meet Him! But when you meet God, you want to please Him and touch His heart, and surrender becomes easy because it’s your heart’s greatest desire, and all the desires of the world fall away.

People need encounters with God. They need to meet Him and know His love, and that cannot come by words, but only His power. Apostle Paul said, My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:4). If you only talk about God, people will not truly encounter Him; but if you can be a vessel of God’s power and love, people will truly meet Him, fall in love with Him, and surrender from their own hearts. 

I struggled with surrender until I encountered God in power. Before that moment, I went to church service after church service, and I heard similar messages, but the churches I attended carried no power of God. I wasn’t seeing transformation in myself; I felt stuck and I carried the spirit of religion. I wanted to surrender, but I heard the voice of condemnation, and I didn’t understand why it felt so impossible. But after just one encounter with God’s power, my spiritual eyes opened to His love for me, and since that day, my greatest desire has been to please God.

Before you encounter God’s love, full surrender is not possible, and you will keep on sinning. This woman in the Bible encountered Jesus’s amazing love. She was saved, she surrendered her life to God, and she was able to stop sinning. When people meet you, this is how they meet Jesus. God’s main way of touching His people is through us! This is just God’s way. Most of the time, He is not appearing in a physical form and speaking audibly to people. For most people, the greatest and most frequent way they encounter God is through other people. Therefore, as children of God, we carry a great responsibility to represent God rightly.

One of the main things Jesus is doing in the Gospels is modeling how to minister to others—how to speak, pray, and treat people, even how the tone of your voice should be. This is why we need the right revelation from the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that you would do the things He did and even greater (John 14:12). We have to be like Him; and the spirit of religion is far from who Jesus is!

Christians who operate in the spirit of religion minister with judgment and fear. That is not Jesus—it’s the opposite of Jesus! There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Jesus is not judging people. He makes it clear that there will be a day of judgment, but right now He is not judging you. He is here to show His love and give you free will—not to try to manipulate you with fear, condemnation, or judgment; but that is what the spirit of religion does.

It is sadly more common to see Christians ministering with the spirit of religion than to see people representing God accurately. In the same way, it is more common to see dry churches that are void of the Holy Spirit and the anointing than the opposite. When people have the spirit of religion, they think that performance is what brings righteousness. It also causes people to believe that God is constantly condemning them, and as a result, they misrepresent God to others because they don’t know who He truly is. They condemn themselves, live by performance, and then go out and tell others that they also must perform to be righteous. They communicate that salvation and righteousness come from performing, stopping sinning, and following rules. When they minister or evangelize, they speak with so much judgment towards other people. 

This is why the spirit of religion is one of the most poisonous things in the body of Christ. It damages your personal spiritual health by keeping you far from God and even from salvation, because salvation requires entering into His grace. It is also poisonous because it harms other people; you carry the responsibility to represent Christ, and when you represent Him incorrectly, people are hurt. Many Christians believe that evangelism is to warn people: “The end is near. Do you know where you are going to go? Come to Jesus or you will go to hell.” They know so much Scripture, just like the Pharisees, and they can sound impressive, but they carry no spirit of God, and they speak judgment, religion, and fear! But Scripture says that it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). Not fear, doom, or judgment!

When someone says, “Do you know where you are going to go, sinner?” It’s self-righteous! It’s the same attitude seen in the Pharisee who thanked God that he was not like the sinful tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). When people preach in this way, they believe they are so spiritual, but to those who are lost, it sounds arrogant and self-righteous! “Do you know where you’re going to go? I’m a Christian, I gave my life to Jesus. It was the best decision I ever made.” But it’s not coming with love. People are perceptive, and they can tell when words are not coming from love. This is one of the reasons Christians and the church have developed a negative reputation. Many people in the world see Christians as the most judgmental and self-righteous people, because so many have represented Christ in the wrong way and spoken with judgment.

When Christians come full of judgment and speak negatively about “gross sinners,” the truth is that it’s actually their fault that people remain in sin and don’t know Jesus yet. It is our job to represent God rightly, to be the salt and light of the earth, and to be attractive. We are called to show the love of God so that people are drawn to Him. We are called to be fishers of men; when you fish, you use bait, something the fish is attracted to, but what many Christians are offering as bait is repelling people, and it leaves a bad taste and makes people want to run away. People are invited to church, but they don’t go because the church feels unpleasant and uninviting to them based on the representatives of the church they have met.

The spirit of religion is what the Pharisees had, so if you want to understand the spirit of religion; read the Gospels and observe the behavior of the Pharisees—it is the same spirit still active today in many Christians.

Matthew 23:13, TPT 

Jesus says to the Pharisees, “Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and you Pharisees—such frauds and pretenders! You do all you can to keep people from experiencing the reality of heaven’s kingdom realm. Not only do you refuse to enter in, you also forbid anyone else from entering in!”

The action of accepting the spirit of religion is believing lies about God, that righteousness comes through performance, and that God is always condemning and judging you. When you accept these lies, it automatically keeps you far from God. It’s blocking you from having intimacy with Him. The spirit of religion keeps you from knowing God’s heart, being transformed by His love, and being loving toward others!

The spirit of religion repels you from God and His love. When you have that spirit in you and you interact with people, it’s repelling them from God. This is so dangerous; people are being pushed away from God by Christians! Many Christians believe they are leading millions of people to Jesus, but they are not even planting a seed; in reality, harm is being done. It’s so dangerous to say, “Jesus is judgmental, and you have to perform for Him to be pleased!” This is not who Jesus is, and people will walk away thinking, “Well, if this is who Jesus is then I don't want Him.” If that was how we were introduced to Jesus, we wouldn’t want Him either; because it doesn’t show His love!

Yes, the reality of heaven and hell is serious, but it is not fear that brings people to repentance. We don’t want people to be introduced to God based on fear. God does not want fake relationships! He gives people free will and He wants people to come to Him on their own accord. When someone makes a fake relationship with God, for example by praying a sinner’s prayer out of fear that they will go to hell, it will take a lot of undoing to enter into a real relationship with God. And that can take a long time. Some remain stuck, never knowing God’s love, because they are so afraid that one mistake will send them to hell because that was how they were introduced to Jesus.

Christians with the spirit of religion are so angry at sinners. They say, “These sinners make my country so demonic.” But they are the ones repelling people from repentance because they’re doing the opposite of being kind and loving, which actually brings repentance. We could change every sphere of this nation and every area of the whole world if we would actually represent Jesus the right way. When you allow God to move through you with love and power, that’s what will bring repentance and change in this world.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NLT

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

You can preach with passion, recite Scripture powerfully and be so bold, but if it is not done with love, you are just a clanging cymbal. I have driven by people on street corners raising religious signs, but I can see it’s done with the spirit of religion and not with love, and I feel disgusted. It’s like a clanging cymbal hurting my ears, and God’s ears too, because it turns people away from God. You can see that by people’s reactions—some might say it’s demons manifesting in people, but it’s really because you are an annoying, clanging cymbal!

Think about how the Samaritan woman reacted when she encountered Jesus: she was full of joy and passion to share the good news with others! That should be people’s reaction when they meet you and me, not: “Ugh, this person is annoying.”

As an apostle in the Body of Christ, I need to address this spirit of religion: this needs to stop. I have seen these impure motives—just as in the Pharisees’ time—of people evangelizing in a religious way. Their motive is performance: they think it’s making God happy and they’re very zealous to go and preach to people. They feel proud and excited for people to see what an amazing Christian they are and how many people they have led to Jesus, as if it’s notches on a belt.
Some people think this is the way people are led to Jesus: “If you repeat the sinner’s prayer, then you will be saved.” So they make it their mission throughout their days to tell people: “Listen to me right now, I want to tell you the gospel…” And then, “Alright, do you want to give your life to Jesus? Okay, repeat after me!” And they walk away thinking, “I got one person saved!”
But they are not really saved. All they got was religion. If they repeated a sinner’s prayer, it may have been because you intimidated them, manipulated them, or because of fear of going to hell. But people live like this, trying to get notches on their belt, because they think God is happy with them and they want to look impressive to others.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭27‬:‭18‬, ‭TPT‬‬

Now, Pilate was fully aware that the religious leaders had handed Jesus over to him because of their bitter jealousy.

It was clear that the Pharisees handed Jesus over to be crucified because of jealousy. Jesus had a huge thriving ministry. The Pharisees wanted the biggest ministries, but they had their way of doing ministry, and it was like a religious cult. They were preaching passionately about God, but with religion and judgment, and they were actually keeping people from knowing Jesus. That is what happens today: people want big ministries, they want videos to go viral, so they will preach boldly and do impressive things, but with the spirit of religion, and not actually loving the people they are preaching to.

This is one of the impure motives of the spirit of religion in ministry. Many people think this is the right way to evangelize and minister to people, and they even get applause for it. Their boldness is impressive, and people are rejoicing over people being saved, but many times they are not actually being saved. It is time that this stops, because it’s bringing so much harm to people who don’t know God yet. It’s repelling them, bringing fear and judgment, and it’s keeping them from knowing God’s love.

People perceive Christians these days as being judgmental and zealous, but not in a good way. They also perceive God as being unfair, that He sends people to hell easily, with no grace. People think this because of the spirit of religion. But when they meet you and me, their perception of God should be: “Wow! God is full of so much love, compassion, kindness, and patience. I want to know more about Him!” We should attract people to Jesus, rather than repel them. Judgment, fear, and performance repel people.

Now I want to teach you what ministering to others should look like.

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23,‬ ‭NLT‬‬

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Was fear, judgment, or performance mentioned? No. When you talk about God and minister to people, these fruits of the Spirit should come out of you and touch people! This is everything. You don’t need to worry about the specifics when it comes to ministering to someone; you don’t need a checklist. You should be focused on carrying these fruits, which come by getting close to God, and letting those fruits touch the people you minister to!

You should be so intentional as you speak with people: “I’m going to love this person so well. The tone of my voice must come with sweetness, gentleness, and kindness. I must have self-control, compassion, and grace.” Instead of: “I’m going to recite the gospel and lead them through the sinner’s prayer, then my job is done and I can move on to the next person,” without thinking about how you’re representing God and what is actually coming out of you.

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭9‬, ‭NLT‬‬

After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

When it comes to a person being truly saved, it happens through their own free will and in God’s timing. People carrying the spirit of religion that is performance-based think they need to get people saved, that they are the ones who make the seed grow; but it’s God who makes it grow in His timing. But these people think they are on a mission to get people saved, and they count outward responses such as: ten hands were raised, so ten people were saved! But the truth is, there is no way to know if someone is truly saved; only God knows the heart! It’s humorous to think that we can measure and be responsible for someone’s salvation. Salvation is found on the narrow road and in surrendering your life, not in raising your hand and repeating a sinner’s prayer. The sinner’s prayer is not in the Bible, but many assume that it is and they think: “This is the way, and it’s the only way. It’s in the Bible!”  But it’s actually a religious man-made tradition that’s not even in the Bible.

The Bible actually says: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). It is much simpler than a long, scripted sinner’s prayer that must be repeated at a certain time in the service. Salvation is meant to come from the heart. When God has pursued you and made the seeds grow within you, and when the time is ripe—in God’s timing and your free will—then you decide, “I want to give my whole life to Jesus. I want to make Jesus my Lord.” And that’s it: you are saved. It does not have to look the same for every person. You can say, “Jesus, You are my God,” or, “Jesus, You are my Savior,” or if in your heart you believe that Jesus is Lord, and you just say, “Jesus,” that is enough!

Our job is to be vessels of God, and the Holy Spirit does what He wants to do. We can’t control or manipulate anything; it’s God doing the work. And God goes slow with people. He doesn't rush them; He is such a gentleman, so we have to represent Him well in that area. God sees that someone is not ready to be saved immediately because they need time to grow first, and God doesn’t want it to be premature. It’s similar to how it can be dangerous to marry prematurely; marriage should happen when you feel in your heart, “I really want to get married now; I am ready.” Otherwise it could be a disaster and you could end up in a divorce simply because it was too early.

This is how salvation works: there is planting, watering, and God is making the seeds grow (‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭9‬). You have to get this religious doctrine out of your mind, the idea that you plant, water, grow, and bring the harvest in five minutes, every day, several times a day. Calm down. “My yoke is easy. My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Let God do the work; just be a vessel of Him, and plant when He says to plant, water when He says to water, and harvest when He says to harvest.

When you go to the workplace, to your family, or wherever you are interacting with people, it’s time to minister. But that doesn’t mean you preach the gospel and have people recite the sinner’s prayer all the time. No, it’s going to look different. It will be simple, and it will look like LOVING PEOPLE. When you love people, it is not you, but God through you. People encounter God when you love them, and they can tell, “I’ve felt love before, but that was different. What was that?” This is the light of the world shining through you.

The Bible says we are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14). We are not called to be a gross taste, something dark that brings fear and heaviness, or annoyance and distraction, like somebody screaming on the street corner, “You are going to hell; repent!” We are called to be the light, to bring life and love into people’s lives! It’s simple: you are called to love people! God is the One doing the work. All you have to do is love people, and He does the rest. You will just love somebody, not pressuring them, and occasionally you share testimonies from your life, and they will start to get interested in you. Because they are receiving so much love from you, they feel like they can trust you, and they will start opening up and ask you questions, “Why do you have so much joy and peace? I’ve never seen that before.” Or, “Why did you treat me so lovingly when I was mean to you?” When people open up like this, it’s time to water the seed. 

You plant seeds by being intentional to show people the love of God in everything you do. You live your life with this serious intention: “Lord, help me love people the way You love them.” And as you interact with people, showing them this love, you are planting seed after seed. Sometimes you will get to plant and water at the same time; people will instantly open up and ask you questions, and that’s the time to water. Now you can share about Jesus and preach; but not before that, it would have been too early! Sometimes it’s not time to water, so just love people where they are and let them be attracted to you. Give them free will, and don’t force the gospel down their throat, because it pushes them away!

When the moment comes to water, don’t preach religiously, getting too excited and thinking, “This is my opportunity to get someone saved! I’ve never led anyone to the Lord before; this is my day!” Then you start getting nervous, sweating, and sounding strange; and the person you’re talking to suddenly changes their mind and says, “Nevermind, I’m feeling tired” and they walk away. Instead be real with them, and tell them about Jesus from your heart: “I used to be lost, oppressed, and sick, but then I encountered God; He is real! And God literally took all of that away from me. He healed me, and not just that, He gave me supernatural peace and joy. His love is so amazing!”

Speak naturally, calm down, and be real—that’s how you show love! That’s why the Samaritan woman at the well was full of joy after encountering Jesus, and she went and told everybody, “I experienced God’s love, and I want you to experience it too!” It’s not about performance and getting a notch on your belt for leading someone to salvation; people can see right through that! Instead, have love for people and think, “I want them to be saved, so I will speak from my heart, so they know it’s real, so they can be attracted to God in me and want to hear more!” 

At that point, you have watered the seed. Maybe God will call you to bring in the harvest with that same person, which can look like different things, because it’s not about them repeating the sinner’s prayer and then being saved. Sometimes the harvest moment is them coming to church with you, and they encounter God there and give their life to Jesus! You brought in the harvest, but God did the work. Nobody led them through a sinner’s prayer, but when God touched them, they said, “Jesus, I give my life to you!” from their own free will.

This is how it’s supposed to look if God calls you to plant, water, and bring in the harvest with one person. But you will mostly only do one of these things, like Paul teaches: one person plants, one person waters, and another sees the harvest (‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭9‬). So stop being obsessed with seeing the harvest. Wait on God’s timing. Stop trying to bring in the harvest when it's not time and end up doing harm. Instead, be the best planter you can be: love people so well. Years can pass and you still don’t see them come to Jesus, but keep planting seeds! Be gentle, patient, full of love, and trust that God is working; He is making the seeds grow and there will be a harvest someday. Maybe somebody else will bring in that harvest, but you can rest knowing you did your part.

Proverbs 3:12

The Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

There are times for correction, and as an apostle, I may sometimes rebuke you, because part of our calling is to rebuke and to edify. But you are children of God, and you have encountered God’s love. It is possible for you to start becoming complacent, and in that case, I may give a sharp direction: “Why aren’t you taking your surrender seriously?” That correction is okay because you are children of God; you are already disciples. The Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. People who are lost are not children of God yet, though, so stop correcting them. Just love them! It’s not time to correct them and ask, “Why are you sinning?!” Of course they’re sinning; they don’t know God’s love yet! Have compassion for them instead and think, “I want them to know God's love, and the main way God reveals His love is through people, so I will do all that I can for God to use me so they can know His love and can be saved from their sin and from going to hell.” This is how we should see everyone who doesn’t know God! Stop judging them and love them instead, because that’s the only way they will repent! Maybe they did not have the Christian upbringing you did or know a church where the anointing is. You used to be lost and blind too, so have compassion for them; because this is the only way God’s love will move through us.

Acts 1:7, NLT

The disciples wanted to know when Jesus was going to return. He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So Jesus simply replies, “It’s not for you to know.” And He quickly shifts the focus: “But you shall receive power, and you need to be My witnesses and go to the ends of the earth.” In other words, we do not need to constantly talk about the end times: “The end is near! Are you going to heaven or hell?” But we are called to receive the power of God, be His witnesses, be serious about the work of God, and to show His love to people!
When you are surrendered to God, you are prepared for Jesus to return—not by focusing on doom and speaking fear to others, but by living day by day. Each day has enough trouble of its own, as God says (Matthew 6:34). Think to yourself, “Today, I’m going to be a witness of God, flow in His anointing, and show His love to everybody who comes in my path.” This is what God is calling us to do.

I want to encourage you: when you speak with others, don’t be afraid, thinking they might go to hell, because that blocks the love of God flowing through you—since you’re carrying the spirit of fear yourself. Relax; they are in God’s hands. You can do something about it—not by fearing, but by resting in God and being surrendered to Him so you can be transformed into His image and represent Him in the best way: by being full of love, joy, and peace!

When you talk about God, speak of how amazing He is and how He has touched your life. Be full of joy, peace, and gentleness. Let people sense the fruit of the Spirit through you, rather than feeling like you are preaching at them with fear or judgment. Let the fruit of the Spirit flow through you with every post you make on social media. This is how people will be truly saved and the world will be transformed; this is how people will know Jesus’ love and be free from religion!
I want to declare over you:

I see some people who became saved through religious preaching. Some people said the sinner’s prayer because it seemed like the right thing to do rather than surrendering from your heart. Maybe you had an arranged marriage with Jesus rather than coming to Him on your own accord. There are some people who have been saved for a while but you’re not surrendered, and I see right now that God wants to wipe away that wrong start. He wants today to be the real marriage with Him, where you see Him rightly, full of love, and your heart truly desires to be one with Him and give your life to Him—not because anyone forced you, not because of manipulation or fear of hell, but because you truly love Him. 

If that is you, and you want a fresh start after you had a premature and wrong beginning: I declare over you right now that all the spirit of religion that entered you through people and wrong doctrines must go now. I declare that all fear must go; all condemnation and judgment must go.

If you have been worried about the end times or thinking about hell a lot, I speak all of that fear, darkness, and doom to go now, in Jesus’ name. I declare all wrong perceptions of who Jesus is to go from you now.

If this is you, tell God you want to surrender right now. You may have surrendered in the past, but if you want today to be the marriage day, a fresh start, tell God with your own words, “I give my life to You, Lord. I love You. I want to surrender everything, my whole life, to You right now. I’m in love with You. Take my life.” Speak your own covenant to God from your heart.

May God’s love pour over you now; may the Holy Spirit touch you and fill you. From today, may you walk in intimacy with God every day and walk in His love. May your eyes open up more to His love every day, to who He is and what His heart really is for you, in Jesus’ name. Receive His love now. 

In the spiritual realm, God has broken the dams that were enslaving people in religion. Now people are gushing out like water, and the harvest is now! There are many Christians who need ministry right now. Many have been held in religious churches, never knowing God’s love. They haven’t even met God, and they need ministry! They need you to love them with the love of God and introduce them to who Jesus really is.
So you have work to do! The harvest is ripe! Go out and love everyone with the love of Christ, and introduce them to Jesus. God is counting on you to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth!

Let’s attract people to Jesus! Let’s leave a good taste in people’s mouths! Let’s be fishers of men with the good bait of God’s love!