Separated, the cost of your surrender.

In this episode we explore what it means to be separated on your journey in Jesus, and look at some of the reasons God calls us to be separated. 

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Happy Monday, everyone. Welcome to the I'm Saved Now What podcast. I'm your host, Jaavonne Taylor. Thank you so very much for joining me today. If I tell you the truth, guys, this has probably been the hardest episode for me to record to date. And it's not because of the content, but wow, when I tell you, sometimes we just encounter some things and we just know that when we encounter certain things, we know that we have to push. And this was one of those episodes that I had to push to put forward. So we we I am calling on the name of Jesus today as I push in faith. Welcome to those of you who are here for the very first time. And for those of you who have been here before, welcome back. I'm so grateful that you've decided to give this podcast or listen and to join me. Today, we are going to look at a topic that may be a little hard for some of us to deal with. I know certainly for me, when I was dealing with it initially, especially the first time I encountered it, it was it was very heavy for me to deal with. But bear with me, it's something that I we have to unpack. And today's topic is called separated, the cost of your surrender. I find that this is a place where so many of us get lost on our journey. There is a period where the Lord causes us to be separated, where he calls us to move away from what is familiar, from who is familiar. And sometimes, or many times actually, we stumble in this part. We get afraid in this part, we fail at this part because it's hard. Many of us do not like it at all. And if you if you want to tell me that you you liked it, then fine. But I can say from personal experience, I did not like it initially, but I have come to appreciate why separation was important in my journey. There were some parts of the separation process that were easier than others. There were some parts I welcomed, like, oh yes, new life, new creation in Christ. So, okay, fine. You know, all of that new job, new country, new there were certain things I welcomed with open arms. But there are other parts of the journey where the Lord told me to separate from people. And I was like, uh, what? Yeah. But this episode, I'm gonna, I am going to focus on how we navigate what it means to be separated and why God does this, why it is necessary on our journey. So the title, as I said, is separated, the cost of your surrender. And when I'm referring to surrender, I know you would figure out a meaning, your surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. Right? So you're releasing control into the hands of the master. And in the process of releasing control of the of your life to the master, you are releasing everything to him. So you're saying, God, nothing is off limits. Everything you have full access and free reign. You're free to touch, you're free to tell me what to do, how to do it, where to go. The truth is, I don't think many of us actually contemplated that at the point of salvation. We just knew that we wanted something bigger. We we knew we were missing a piece of our of our lives. We knew that we were disconnected from something. We knew that we wanted more. And we we felt the talk, we felt the pull, and we said yes to Jesus and cost us something. And while it's not a financial cost, the cost is our daily lives, the cost is our lives, and so today we're going to unpack what it means to be separated. I recognize that being separated is an essential part of the walk for every believer, it is essential, and so if you are not prepared to embark on the journey of separation or to embark on the experience of separation, your infarude awakening, to actually be a believer of Christ, it means that you are separated, you are set apart. You see, when the light comes on in you, you have now been separated from the from the world. So, in essence, that your very being is different. And so if you do not want to, if you do not want to partake in the process of separation, you're going to have a problem. To be separated means to be divided, disconnected, or to be apart from something or someone. When we go a little bit deeper, we realize that the definition expands to include the creation of distance, the termination of a bond, the end of a season, it may sometimes even mean isolation, the release of something, letting go. And this what this is so fundamentally important why your identity in Christ must be rooted and grounded. Because when it comes to this season of stripping, as some people call it, or or pruning, or that season where the Lord is cleaning you off. It's really called the sanctification season, where the Lord is you know setting you apart. But many of us struggle here because you literally feel like you're you know you're becoming naked, like the Lord is taking everything off of you. And it's hard because usually what you are called to let go of holds value. And these are usually things that things or people or connections or attachments that you've had, behaviors, habits that you have had for your entire life. And remember, separation is not just from things. Separation can be physical, it can be emotional, it can be mental. God can literally separate you from anything. So don't just think about it in the context of physical things, although the physical separation might be easier for you to think about. Many of us get to a place where we say, Why would God need me to be, why would God want me to be separated from things? Why would God want me to leave? But the simple answer, the starting place for me is this. And I touched on it earlier, but I'm going to go a little further now. At the end of the day, as Christians in this world, we are called to be set apart. So if we are called to be set apart, then clearly, why wouldn't God go allow me to go through a process of separation? Right? Why wouldn't He allow me to go through a process of separation for me to understand, therefore, what it means to be set apart, for me to be detached from things that no longer walk, you know, that no longer serve the purpose in this new identity that He's called me into. If I am to understand what it means to be set apart, then the Lord will illustrate that through my life what being set apart means. And this is exactly why we're going on this journey to understand what being separated is. Separation is necessary for your journey with Jesus because we are designed for a specific purpose. But many of us pre-salvation don't know that. Some of us do. Some of us, the truth is that we've been walking in our callings even before the Lord, you know, we answered the call of the Lord. Some of us had that, but some of us were not walking in our calling. We were not walking in our identity. And even if you were walking in your calling before you came to Christ, there is there are new dimensions that you are going to go to now having connected to Christ. So when God reveals to us these new identities, he reveals to us our new calling. It does not automatically mean that we are equipped and ready to step into the fullness of that person. And it doesn't automatically mean that we have released the things that we formally identified with. And so the process of separation is important to help us release the things that no longer serve us in our new identity. This is helping us, this process of separation, I believe, is helping us to protect our spiritual growth and to prepare us for the purpose ahead. It's removing the distractions from our lives, removing the things that no longer serve us. I'm learning in my walk more and more that, you know, especially when it comes to people, that there's seasons for people and reasons for people. And it may sound bad, but it's not. Sometimes people, you you encounter people in your life for a specific reason. You know, the reason that there's an encounter because God wanted them to do something for you. There are people who have done incredible things for me that I've never seen again. Maybe it was an angelic encounter. I don't know. But there are people who come into your life for a reason, and people who come into your life for a season. And some of us don't know when it's time to let them go. But God being, God will say to you, okay, time to walk away, time to let go, time to release. The Lord is the Lord doesn't want anything holding us back in this season. And from us, He wants us not necessarily to understand, but to obey. The truth is, it's it's hard to obey what you can't understand. But remember, one of the main currencies in our walk with God is faith. As a matter of fact, without faith, it is impossible to please God. That's what the scripture says. So we need to trust God. So when he says, let go of something, move away from this location, stop talking to this person, when he starts to pull things away from you, when he starts to shift your entire environment, when people stop talking to you, when people literally look at you and say, Oh, you switch up, you change, and you feel bad about it, don't feel bad. And it's easier said than done because of course we don't want people to say that we've switched up. And we don't want to, we don't want to be the odd one out. But God had told me something once. He said, Why are you trying to fit in when you were created to stand out? And and I think we need to understand that in this walk. We are going to look different, we are going to be different, we're going to sound differently, and that is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable. And because of that, separation will start to happen automatically. God will separate you from friends, from jobs. He will ask you to release possessions, give away money, clothes, heirlooms, anything you can think of. He will tell you to move. He will say, change your behavior, get rid of these habits. He will tell you to get off social media. He might tell you to change your name. Nothing at all is off limits. He may tell you to cut your hair. I remember watching a video once, and this girl said the Lord told her to cut her hair. This is here that she was growing for over 20 plus years, and the Lord told her to cut it off. God will do those things. Because He is it's not because He's vindictive, it's not because He's wicked, but there is a greater purpose in store for that. He's not a narcissist, he's not a manipulator. And there are some persons who may try to convince you of this. Even you may say, no, this don't sound right. God, why are you trying to control my life? But He is Lord of your life. And if He's Lord of your life, then He has full access and free reign to tell you to do something. But it's not about the instruction. God loves you, and everything that the Lord says to you, every direction that the Lord gives you is out of love. The foundation of God's directions and his instructions are always coming from a place of love. God also wants us to get to know ourselves outside of these additional appendages and attachments. He wants us to get to know who we are. You see, a lot there one of the one one of the commandments says we must love our neighbors as ourselves, right? Jesus said that we must love our neighbors as ourselves. But many of us know how to love our neighbors, but we don't know how to love ourselves. And those are some of the things God is trying to work through. God wants us to get to the root of some of our issues in this time. And that's why He's calling us to be separated. He's separating us. He wants us to say, Come man, come on, come, learn to love you. Come and look at yourself. Look how beautiful you are. What are your talents? He wants you to spend some time to get to know you. I've heard of people say they've lost jobs. They gave their life to God and then they lost their job. And of course, initially you think about, oh my gosh, it's the devil. Blah, blah, blah. Some instances it is. But but there is beauty even in that. Because some of our jobs were consuming our lives so much that we didn't even get a chance to discover that we are actually artists and we we are writers and we are talented. We are, you know, we are bloggers. We can do we're photographers because we were consumed by things. But when we are going through separation, when we are going through the shifting and the shaking, we cannot understand. We cannot understand any of this. Especially when God is saying, let these things go. These are things that you've built your life around. It's hard. It's extremely hard, guys. I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you. I'm not going to pretend that it's easy. It is hard. The Christian walk. If anybody told you it was easy, they lied to you. What makes the Christian walk an amazing walk is that one, you know you're connected to the source of life. And you know that you're never alone because the Holy Spirit is with you. But don't think for one minute it means that you're immune from pain and immune from suffering. Because that, my friend, is a lie. And especially in this season, in this space when you are becoming this new person, I find it very hard. You see, you're you're in a struggle, you're in this middle ground, this battle where God is asking you to release everything that you've ever known about yourself. So we looked at that way. We looked at identity in Christ last week. But then in this season of separation, he's also causing you to release things, material things. He's telling you to let go of friendships. He's, you know, and sometimes, as I said before, sometimes he just cut them off. Sometimes he just set the scissors and cut them off for you. So you don't even actually have to do anything. Sometimes he just cuts them because he knows that if it were up to you, you wouldn't do it. So he just snippets. So people don't talk to you. Right? So when I was preparing for this episode, the Lord the Lord gave me some illustrations. And I think God is so amazing because God is the best teacher, you know. Let me tell you. And God gave me some illustrations to help me to explain to you why he does what he does in this season of separation, why separation is important. And he brought me back to a memory of mine when I was in school. And I think it really assists. Right? So I was in prep school. That's the equivalent of what some of you would call elementary school or primary school. And I was a chatterbox, right? I used to chat a lot. Well, I'm still a bit of a chatter box, but guess what? I get paid to do that now. So it literally paid off, right? But that's not the point. I used to speak to my friend a lot. I sat beside her every day throughout class, and we would just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Day in, day out. We would talk. And we were disruptive. And I wasn't focused on my classwork. A lot of the time my classwork was incomplete. I wouldn't hear what the teacher was saying. And it was really distracting me. One day my teacher got frustrated and she got up and she said to me, Come, you're switching seats. And she switched me. And she moved me from beside my friend and she put me to sit with someone who was not my friend. I didn't like it. I was very uncomfortable. To be honest, I was very annoyed. And I resisted it for some time. But because I wasn't beside my friend, I was forced to become more focused on the teacher and forced to become more focused on the lessons that were being taught. And I was able to complete my assignments and my grades began improving. And I was left and I was less disruptive in class because of the move. Right? The results that I got at the end were worth the move. My teacher saw what I could not see. My teacher realized that I had potential. I was smart, but I was distracted. So my teacher moved me, and the move was worth the results. I hope you see where I'm going with this. The move was worth the results. The teacher didn't tell me why she was moving me. She never, she just said move. She just moved me. That was it. That was the thing. And I thought she was being mean. I thought she was being wicked. I thought she just never liked me talking to my friend. But it was more than that. She saw something in me that I didn't see because she knew that I was smart. I was just distracted. Right? And I was also becoming a distraction to the class, let's be real. But the main point of it was that the results were worth the move. The other example I have too is that so I have a Z Z plant. So I'm a plant mom. I have a Z Z plant, and I love that plant so much. I love it for multiple reasons. One, it's not very needy. It's not very needy. It's not one of those plants I have to water every day. I think I water it like every two weeks or so. So it's thriving, it's doing good, it's lovely. And the other day I looked at it and it is so huge. It is so big. And I'm realizing now that the pot that it is in is actually not big enough for it. The pot that it is in, it's not big enough for it. It's not going to be able to sustain it for much longer. Because that plant, because it is thriving, it is about to burst through that pot. So if I want that plant to continue to thrive and to develop and to grow, I have to move it into a new pot, a bigger pot, right? I have to put it in a different place. Because if I don't, I'm either gonna one stunt the growth of that plant, or two, the plant is going to die. Because when I look at it, they have so many new shoots. What do you call those things? Sorry, guys, I'm I'm not really into the plant language. So so bear with me, right? So I yeah, I see so many new, new, new, new, new shoots coming up in that plant, new leaves coming up, right? And as I said to you, if I don't move that plant from that pot, I am going to start the growth of that plant. It cannot thrive in for much longer in that confined environment. Sometimes God separating us is because he's saying there is more for you. Most times when he's separating you, he's saying there is more for you. He's saying there is so much more. He has so much more than you could even imagine. But you wouldn't even have a clue because you have had a limited perspective of who you are, where you can go, and what you can achieve. He's showing you that there is. More, but you have to let go of some things. Many of us want to see what he has in his hand for us before we release. But if he did that, is that really faith? Sometimes he does that, you know. But is that really faith? Like if God is saying, get up and go, why can't you trust him? He's showing you that you need to trust him. And so he's bringing you from familiar places, from familiar people, from habits and behaviors, and he's bringing you into a different dimension. He's carrying you into a different place because where you were or where you currently are can no longer sustain the person you are or the person that you are becoming. And I can speak from that place. I can speak to that because I had to move from my home in 2024 to come to a new country. Right? And guys, I am from the greatest country on the earth. So you know, I am from Jamaica. Let's just call it out. I love where I live now. I love it. I absolutely love it. But as the songwriter said, when I check it out, nuh weh nuh better than yaad. I love Jamaica. The 876 runs through my veins, but God was saying, What I have for you, you cannot do here. You have to go. I needed to be put in a different environment. The person God was calling me to be had to go into a different environment. And some people were like, How you end up there? That place is smaller than Jamaica. I remember somebody said, Oh, you're not going to big foreign, it's little foreign. It don't matter. God could have told me to go to Nigeria, He could have told me to go anywhere. To be honest, I would have gone because God is saying I need to get up and go. So I did that. Remember, if you if you listen to the prelude of this series, I would have told you that when I was in Jamaica, when I was home, there was a part of me and I was saying, God, there has to be more for my life. I knew there was more for my life. I just didn't know what the more was. And I said, God, there had to be more for my life. This cannot be the extent of my life. There was something in me that knew there was more. I just didn't know what the more was. And God said, move. He gave me a job offer, you know, and I moved into a new space, into a new territory. And he allowed the people in this territory to receive me. He allowed them to receive me, right? I could have held on to the familiar, you know, I could have held on to what I knew. Because where I was working in Jamaica, I was in that firm for over six years and two months. I had a good boss. I had a work family. I had friends. I had all of that. Everything was familiar. I had clients that I loved to do work with, and I had relationships with the court, and I was in court four to five days a week. I was advocating in the courtroom. I was living my dream in that part of my life. Because I tell you, the other part of my life wasn't so great. But the point was there were things in that space that I could have used to try and justify staying in Jamaica. I could have used that to try and justify not maybe God know. I could have used that to justify not moving. But if I had not moved, I would not be where I am today. I could not walk with my job into this new place. I couldn't walk with my firm into that new place. I had to release it. I had to let it go. I had to be separated from it. And there were certain friendships that when I moved here, they just fell off. They dwindled away. I didn't have to do anything. They just they just dwindled, they fell off because of the distance, the literal physical distance. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. But I mean it just happened. I'm not telling you losing things is going to be easy. Losing is very painful. And a lot of us try to avoid the pain by not letting go. But you're causing yourself more damage when you don't release, especially when the Lord has commanded you to release something. But God is saying to separate from it, He said, Let them go, release them. There is a reason for it. Separation is also important because God is trying to cleanse and consecrate you. He is renewing your mind, He's shifting your perspective and your appetite. He's turning your focus to Him and not to yourself or to the attachments that once had you bound. So many of us identified by our positions, by our titles, by our ranking. You know, even by who you were, by our image. So many of us identified by those things, by the connections. Let me tell you where I am from, you know, your network is extremely important. Who you know running them. Talk about the links. You have no links, your connections are extremely important. And God is trying to say, let go of that, release that. You don't need if if I am telling you to release it, if there's a reason I am God, I am the sustainer. I got you. You don't if I say cut them off, you cut them off. But the truth is many of us find it difficult, and this is not a judgment call on anybody because of course it's difficult. It is difficult. It is difficult. God knows it's hard. But what can you really think of something in your life that is worth fighting that didn't come with a difficult decision? That is worth anything that didn't come with difficulty attached to it. What in your life, what can you think of in your life that is so valuable, that you love so much, that did not come from a place of sacrifice, that did not come with some challenge attached to it. It is a difficult decision, but it is one that you can make. I moved here, and when I moved here, yes, I was still a lawyer, yes, I was a litigator, but guess what? You see this me being in court 4 to 5 days a week? Not my reality. You see me being lead counsel on matters, like how was it? Not my reality. I took a back seat. As a matter of fact, it was so hard and it was so frustrating. Oftentimes I was like, What is this? What are you calling me into? What is this? And I was getting very frustrated. But you know what that did? Let me tell you what that did. This this me not being in court four to five days a week created an availability that I didn't have before to commune with God. It created an availability that I did not have before to commune with the Lord. So instead of rushing to go between the the parish court and the and the Supreme Court and jumping between Linstead and Kingston and all over the place and reading submissions and preparing this and all that, I didn't really have that heaviness like I once did. And so it I was more available to God. I was able to get to learn God's voice. I was able to read my scriptures even more. I was able to watch sermons more. I was able to get into my word more and spend more time with the Lord because of this availability that was created. Because I moved, because I moved into this environment. The Lord was able to give me more of him. I got more of him, and because I got more of him, I grew. I grew. I grew. So my it was more than just devotions in the morning. I was able to spend time with him in my office. Lock my door, sit down, listen to my worship music, listen to my sermons, listen to my scriptures, right? They would play in the background sometimes, and I would just be able to listen and to take in the word. I'd be able to take in the word. I'd be able to get up and journal. And there were things I was able to do that if I had not taken that move, I would not have done it. If I didn't separate from that other job, I would not have been able to do this. Listen. Every time I think about separation, every time I get to a point in this walk where separation, I'm met with separation. Because let me tell you, separation is not a one-off thing. It will happen, especially as seasons change. God will cause you to separate from things, to separate from people, to separate from how you once operated. You know, I was listening to someone the other day, and he said he was a singer, and the Lord said, Okay, no more singing, it's time to preach. God will shift your season, right? Ecclesiastes 3, 1 to 11 speaks about there's a time for everything under the sun. Seasons change, right? So separation is something that is going to continuously happen throughout your walk. Get used to it, get used to releasing things, get used to being pulled apart from things, get used to moving away from things. But there's a scripture that every time I think about separation, I go back to and I remember. I remember the scripture in Matthew 16, 24 to 25. And some of you may wonder why I'm mentioning this scripture, but please bear with me. I'm going somewhere. It says that if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Every single time I think about separation and releasing, my mind goes to this scripture. Because I guess it's a reminder of what I signed up for. This is what I said yes to. When I said yes to Jesus, this is what I said yes to. Right? But I have to make decisions, and my decisions have a weight. The concept of being separated, I equate it to dying to yourself. And the reason I do that is because when God tells you to release something, it is usually something that holds significant value to you, whether it's sentimental value, emotional value, financial value. It is of value, and very often it is something you do not want to let go of. You don't want to release, you don't want to separate from. So when God is saying to you, separate from a place, separate from a person, separate from something, separate, you know, these behaviors, the social media account. When he said shift from this, move from that, be apart, when he's creating distance between something, stop going back to it, there is a reason. Why is it that we can't do that? Why can't we let go of some of these things? Why, guys, we are called to be different. And if you don't, if if what I'm saying to you really doesn't make any sense, if if you still need more convincing, then I will encourage you to go and study the lives of the disciples. Go and read the gospels, go and read the New Testament, go and look at the lives of the disciples. Each and every one of them had to give up their lives to follow Jesus. They let go of their homes, of their occupations, their families, some of them, their names, their reputations. We know their reputations got solid, a lot of them. They let all of that go. They were separated from those things in order to pursue Christ. And guess what? I'm happy they did because if they did not do that, would we have a New Testament today to be reading? Would we be able to be looking into the life of Jesus if they decided not to be separated? Remember, initially there were so many followers of Jesus, you know. There were so many of them that came along the way. But after a while, some of them dwindled that way because the cost was it was a high price for them to pay. Many of us don't want to release our things when God is saying, No, He's calling us to be separate. He said, separate from them. Separate from them. God is not trying to destroy your life, I promise you. God is actually trying to give you a much better life. He's trying to give you a much better life. He's trying to tell you there is much more. He's calling you to separate because he is telling you that there is something bigger that you cannot see. He's telling you to let go of something because God sees what is on the other side. He's telling you, yo, stop talking to that girl, stop talking to that boy. Uh-uh. Those are not your people. Separate from them, cut them off, just walk away. It's not have to be bad blood, don't have to be no malice. You don't have to cuss. We ain't tracing nobody. We ain't cussing nobody. He's just saying, move. Like, come on. This is not your season. The season has expired. Let's go. Move on. Move into the next. There was one point I had a friend, right? I had a friend or a person in my life that I considered a friend. Let's put it that way. And I remember the Lord said to me once, open my eyes. He said, Open your eyes. And I and I heeded the warning. And I heeded the warning because in my life I've had so many experiences with people who I thought were my friends that turned out to not be friends. So when the Lord said it to me, I said, you know what? I don't want to learn this lesson again. So let me be obedient. And I listened. And when I listened, when I listened to what the Lord said, little things that I probably would not have picked up on, I started to see. I started to see little behaviors, little habits, little subtle things that I would have probably pushed under the rug. But I began to see them. And they started to come up. And God said, Open my eyes. But when he also said, open my eyes, I started to pull away. I started to separate. I started to pull back. I just started to move. And guess what? That instruction from the Lord to open my eyes was a warning. Because God saw that this girl was not my friend, but my enemy. She was not my friend. She came under the guise, under the illusion of a friend. But she was never a friend. She was my enemy. And of course, when I realized it, it was painful, it was hurtful. But God telling me to open my eyes, but God telling me to open my eyes allowed me to separate myself from her and to disconnect myself from her. Right? And it prevented what could have been even worse. God is not trying to spoil your fun. No, he knows exactly why he's doing it. He is telling us guys that. Remember, he sees and knows all things. He is letting us, he's telling us to let go. He's saying, open your eyes, pay attention, release this. Now man, don't don't go there. I've heard people tell me that sometimes the Lord said, don't do that. Right? Stop talking, stop talking to this person. And they insist, and that person turns out to be an enemy. Like my situation. Sometimes God is calling us to release things too, and people and and and careers and titles because He's testing our heart posture. He's testing your loyal your loyalty to him. Because anything you cannot let go of. I think it was Travis Green who I heard this from. He said, anything that you cannot let go. It's either Travis Green or Philip Anthony Mitchell, one of them. But they said either of them said, anything that you cannot let go of, you don't own it, it owns you. And that was when I said that was kind of a clutch pearl kind of moment for me. I was like, whoa. Like, yeah. Sometimes God is telling you to separate from something because it is an idol in your life. It is an idol in your life. You are putting it before God. You are worshiping it. You are worshiping it even more than God. And idols are not. When some of us think of idols, we think about golden calves and those things. We think about Old Testament idols. But anything can be an idol. Your career can be an idol. Your family can be an idol. Grief, I learned, can be an idol. Pain can be an idol. These are things I'm learning. Your image can be an idol. And God had to check me on image too. That image was an idol because I wanted to portray a certain thing and a certain way of how I appeared and how I did things. And the Lord had to cut it, separate that. There is a reason for it. It is an essential part of our walk with the Lord. It's not a one-off thing, as I said before. And it comes at different levels. One of my favorite, favorite, favorite stories is the story of Abraham. When Abraham, when we meet him in Genesis 12, as a matter of fact, he's not called Abraham. He's called Abram. And God says to him, Go from your country, your people, and your father's household to the land I will show you. God called him to leave what was familiar, what was known to him, and to move into the unknown. And he did that. And he moved. And God did that because there was a greater purpose on Abraham's life. He was called to be the father of nations. But he couldn't be the father of nations where he was living. So God called him to move. He called him to leave. Remember, he was not just physically leaving his father, he was leaving the household. He was separating from an entire system, an entire culture, an entire way of life. Because God was calling him to some him into something new. God was setting him apart. And remember, guys, this is way before FaceTime and WhatsApp and all these technologies that we have. So when God is saying to you, leave, remember, he ain't going back. It's not like he can WhatsApp them and say, Hey, hi, hi, hi mom, hi dad. No, he is moving away, never to return, never to see them again. There is no return. God had a purpose for Abraham and the purpose that the Lord had for Could not be fulfilled where he lived. And Abram obeyed. Abram moved into the unknown. Do you know what that is? At least when I was moving, God gave me a destination that I was going to, but Abram did not know where he was going. He just knew that the Lord said to move into a place that he will show him. And Abram ends up in Egypt. Abram ends up all over the place before he ends up in the place that the Lord had for him. He starts off as Abram and then he becomes Abraham. So even the very name that the father gave to him, God separated him from that identity as well. He gave him the name Abraham. His wife, we knew initially she was Sarai and she became Sarah. God was changing things, he was separating them from what the name meant. He was separating them. And he was compliant. Abraham complied. Abraham complied. We know him as a father of faith. And you know, we know him as the father of nations. Now, because he complied, because he did what the Lord called him to do. We look at separation in a very bad light sometimes. But separation is good. In the hands of God, separation is amazing. In the hands of God, separation is the best thing that could happen in your life. In the hands of God. In the hands of God, separation is an amazing thing. I'm not trying to butter this up. I'm not trying to make it sound like, oh, it's a bed of roses and it's great and it's fun. I'm not trying to say that, but I'm telling you that there is a purpose connected to this. There is a purpose. There is a purpose, guys. And even though it's painful, even though it is hurting you, even though you may feel like you want to tear down your hair, even though you're crying and screaming and you're feeling alone and you would like to call somebody to help you, but the person that you want to call, God is saying you cannot talk to them. Cry out to Jesus. He got you. There is a reason for this separation. There is a reason he is moving you. There is a reason for it. And he's not doing it to hurt you, he is doing it to promote you. He is doing it to increase you. He's doing it to establish you. He is doing it so that you can arise and be exactly who he's called you to be. He is preparing you for purpose. Don't miss it. Don't miss it. Don't miss it. The scripture says, for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his soul? Guys, we can have all the things. If we don't separate, if we don't give it up, we are going to risk losing our souls to hold on to intangible things that we cannot carry when we leave this life. God is saying, separate from them. When he says to separate, when he says to release, release it, let go. Because you have a choice, guys. Release it. God is not gonna force you to do anything, but just know that the decision that you make, any decision that you make, there is a reaction that will take place. When God calls you to release something, he's not going to force you. But don't think you're going to get all of the blessings that he has for you. Where if you're standing where you are, if God is saying to you, move into another space, the blessing that he has for you is in another space, and God is not going to compromise for you. God is not a God of compromise, He's not going to compromise for you. By still walking in your old ways and your old habits and your old behaviors. You think that you're going to experience the fullness of God. Yes, you will see some things. You will see some miracles. You will see some, you will experience some things, but the fullness of what God has is on the other side of what you release. Many of us convince ourselves that, oh well, you know, I'm blessed because God's still blessing me, so I can continue. God is God is merciful. God is merciful and God is just. But remember, God is also a God of vengeance. So stop playing with him. And there are things that you have to do. The clock is ticking. There are people that their lives are waiting on you to be separated from the things that God is calling you to be separate from. You remember the story in Matthew 19 about the rich young ruler? The rich young ruler, he comes to Jesus. He comes to Jesus. He approaches Jesus and he was asking him, you know, how does he get eternal life? Like that's I think that's what he was saying. How does he get eternal life? Like he wants to know more. And Jesus was telling him, Follow the commandments that you should do this. And he says, I'm doing all of that. Is there anything more I can do? And Jesus told him, Go and sell all your possessions, what you possess, give it to the poor, and you will have treasures stored up in heaven and come and follow me. And when the young man heard this, he went away. He went away sorrowful because he had very great possessions. He had great possessions. And remember after that, Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to go to heaven. But it is not impossible with God because Jesus goes further to say that it is not impossible. It is not impossible. But I use all of these illustrations in this episode for a reason, guys. There is a reason. The Lord has given me each and every illustration today. There is a reason for it. There is a reason for your separation. There is a reason for that release. There is a reason for that detachment. There is a reason that God is pulling you apart. There is a reason that God is saying, do not look back. There is a reason. Stop getting calcified. We do not want to become calcified as pillars of salt, like Locke's wives, looking back, wronging. What God is saying, move forward. He is saying to move. Some of us, God is saying to you today, God is saying, get up. It's time to go. God is saying to you, it is time to move. Some of you on listening to me today, the Lord is saying that it's time to leave that job. Some of you, the Lord is saying, leave that relationship. Some of you, the Lord is saying today, stop holding on to what is to that season that has expired and that has ended. The Lord is saying to you, Yes, there's one of you on this thing where you have built something, you've built a dream, and you think it's your empire, and the Lord is telling you to walk away from it. And you're convincing yourself it's the devil, but it's not the devil, it is God. Listen to the voice of the Lord in this season. There are different dimensions of you that you don't know, but you will never know those dimensions of you if you do not obey the voice of God and be separated from the things, from the people, from the behaviors, from the habits, and walk in the fullness of who God says you are. Walk in what God says it, guys. Yes, it's gonna be lonely. Yes, there's gonna become a part in you when you are so reliant on God, but that is the point. That is the point. God does not want anything to compromise you, He doesn't want anything to get in the way of you fulfilling your prophetic destiny on this earth. You are called to locations. Some of us we are called to different locations across the globe, and we are not moving, and those locations are waiting for you. You are the missing piece of the puzzle, and you're not moving, you're not moving because you don't want to move because you're comfortable. But get up out of your comfort zone, get up out of your comfort zone. Success does not happen in comfort zones. You need to go. There is an assignment connected to the separation that God has called you to, you know, that has called you to move into, and you need to move in it. You need to walk, you need to stop these habits and behaviors that you think nobody is seeing. Stop it, guys. Stop it. Before I go, I'm going to pray. I'm gonna pray because I know this was a heavy episode. It's even a long episode, it's longer than usual, but I allowed the Holy Spirit to flow through me more like never before. And I'm grateful to the Holy Spirit for doing this. I'm so grateful. Most righteous and heavenly Father, God, we come before you today. God, we are humbled. We are humbled, Lord, to be in your presence. We are thankful, we are grateful, Lord. As we close this episode, God, I pray for every son and daughter that has joined us on this journey, that has joined me. Well, us, because it's you and I, God. It's not me alone that has joined us on this journey, that has joined us on this episode. I pray for every son and daughter who is in their season of separation right now, Lord. Whether it be physical separation, emotional separation, whatever kind of separation that they're going through, I pray for them in this season and I pray that they would make the right decision. I pray that they will not question your voice, but God, they will trust in you with their whole heart and lean not onto their own understanding, Lord. But in all thy ways, they will acknowledge you and you shall direct their path just like what you said, just like what the scripture said in the name of Jesus. God, I pray, oh Lord mighty God, over their families, over their children, over their businesses, over the decisions they have to make. God, I pray that even the ones right now who have obeyed and are and are now feeling isolated and rejected and by themselves. God, I pray that you comfort them and give them peace in the middle of this situation. Give them peace in the middle of this place. Oh Lord, mighty God, in their valley moment, in their desert moment, in our will, in the wilderness season. That's what many of us call it, in the wilderness season when we are being separate. But God help us to call on you in this season, Lord, in the name of Jesus. God, I pray, oh Lord, mighty God, for every son, every daughter, mighty God, you know what it is that they're dealing with. And the ones that are fearful, remember this. The Lord did not give you a spirit of fear, but of love, of power, and a sound mind. And if God called you to it, that means you can do it. If God says move, it means that there's something connected to for you on the other side. It means you can move. It means that there is something on the other side waiting for you. Obey, walk in, compliance, separate, move, allow the distance to be created. There is a reason. As I said before, there are things, there are people, there are situations, there are circumstances that are for reasons and seasons. Don't make, don't get bogged down to them. Hold on to your identity in Christ. Hold on to Jesus. God got you through everything. Mighty God, I pray, oh Lord, mighty God, that you will awaken something inside of them. And God, they will just, they will just move. They will just move. God, they will have radical faith. They will move. Mighty God. And for the ones that you're calling to be still in this moment, you're calling them to be still for you to tell them exactly how to move. I pray they will be still. But God, I thank you for all you've done, all you are doing, and all you will continue to do in their lives. I cover them now, God. I cover this day, I cover their entire week. And I thank you, Father, both now and forevermore. Amen. We have come to the end of episode three. Thank you so much for joining me this week. And until next week, I'm Jaavonne and this is I'm Saved Now Watch. Bye.