This morning reading Judges 9, the story of Abimelek. The power hungry half son of Gideon.
Such hunger for power is never satisfied, it only becomes more intense. Manipulation led him to hire “scoundrels” the Bible calls them, to murder his family and the attempted conquering of the city. The story goes on to say as Abimeleks soldiers got closer, the people Shechem ran to THE STRONG TOWER and climbed to the top. There a “woman” dropped a millstone and killed Abimelek.
Don’t underestimate Gods ability to use you in anyway in this hour… you may be the very person he needs to save a people. Run to the strong tower that is Jesus and the enemy will flee. Some around you may say your not able…But Gods plan says you are capable through Him…Run to His tower and be an overcomer.

 

 

The word “curse” is found throughout the Old and New Testament. In general, it involves a “wish” in thought, word or action, that evil would come on another.

In the OT, the Israelites understood the meaning of the word Curse. Coming from God, it was meant to protect the terms of the covenant by expressing the penalties for those who did not respect and obey His Laws. Ex. (Leviticus 10:1-7“Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers (fire pan for offerings made of brass), put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord”)

• A curse was meant to “protect the terms” of the covenant with Gods people

• A curse is the penalty to be paid for breaking the Law given by God to Moses.

• A “consequence” will occur because of disobedience and rebellion.

• Curses are words spoken, coming from some sort of spiritual authority, (either good or evil), when set-in motion, it can go on generation after generation if not stopped. Behind words is a spiritual power: God or satan. –Derek Prince

 Generally, curses come from 3 places.

• God

• Others

• Self

God- First Biblical “curse,” while not labeled as a curse, was Adam and Eve in the Garden. “The choice” of disobedience, resulted in a curse and banning from the garden. We see the same in the flood and the plagues in Egypt. 

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (NIV)

²⁶ See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— ²⁷ the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

While it is clear that these examples are specifically for the Israelites, God is serious about obedience and the breaking of His laws. It is clear that all peoplecan be under a curse because of disobedience. His desire is that we follow HisWord and apply it to our lives in EVERY situation. He wants us to be in relationship with Him. He wants us to WANT Him as a Loving Father. Our Abba Father.

Proverbs 3:33 (NIV) ³³ The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,but He blesses the home of the righteous.

Others-The curse that comes from others should NOT have much power behind it. But, when it comes from spiritual or relational authority, Mother Father, sibling, friend, Pastor leader or anyone we care about, it wounds deeply in our soul. Unfortunately, even simple sayings like, “if you go out in the rain, you’ll catch a cold,’ “you’ll never amount to anything,” “your so dumb” “why can’t you be like your brother/sister,” “what’s wrong with you?” Words spoken in anger or any slander or putdown in a negative fashion are called “word curses” and they will result in negative behaviors, reactions, responses and wounds. It then becomes who or how we see ourselves. It is only by Gods Grace that some of us have survived the growing up process. The scars and resulted brokenness along with unhealed wounds in our souls (mind, will and emotions) are what we see all around us today. To make things worse, we have the media filling our minds with worry and fear. They make it their full-time job to bring the worlds worries and fears right into our homes. Negative information through TV and social media can act as a curse especially if you have no other positive information coming into your soul.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2, NKJV).

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake (Psalm 23:3, NKJV).

I said, “Lord, be merciful to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You” (Psalm 41:4, NKJV).

Our journey with the Lord, is one of constant healing in our souls.

Self – Even more distressing than “others” and I believe this breaks the Fathers heart greatly, is when we curse ourselves. We learn this from our parents, family, friends and the culture we grow up in, and now media.

Here are some examples. “Can’t start my day without coffee, can’t remember names, I will always have money problems, I will always be overweight, I can’t read the Bible, I don’t understand it, I will never have friends…” These statements are open doors to more repetitive statements that form beliefs and become our character and possibly our destiny. It also opens the doors to demonic oppression. (anger, anxiety, depression, frustration.) Paul’s writings in 1 Corinthians (6:12; 10:23) tell us NOT to be underthe bondages of anything or anyone’s opinions, other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He teaches us in Philippians 4:11-13to be CONTENT in every situation, even in a morning without coffee!!

Paul never says “I can’t.”

” Jesus said in Mathew 22:37“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your SOULand with all your MIND.‘ And in Luke10:27‘Love the Lord your God with all your HEARTand with all your SOULand with all your STRENGTHand with all your MIND’and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”  

Colossians 3:2 Amplified Bible (AMP)

² Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].

James 3:9-10 (TPT)

⁹ We use our tongue to praise God our Father and then turn around and curse a person who was made in his very image! ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth we pour out words of praise one minute and curses the next. My brothers and sister, this should never be!

Unlike the worlds governments that uses currency or money as repayment of broken law, Gods penalties for sin and disobedience can only be paid by the shedding of blood. Hebrews 9:22 (NIV)²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

A curse empowers us to fail, while a blessing empowers us to succeed. You WILL REAP what you sow into others and into yourself.

Galatians 6:7 (TPT)

⁷ Make no mistake about it, God will never be mocked! For what you plant will always be the very thing you harvest.

The answer is simple…JESUS. But not just a knowing, It’s a BELIEVING AND TRUSTING. ITS FAITH, REPENTANCE AND FAITH, REPENTANCE AND FAITH…. OVER AND OVER. Its His presence (anointing)that breaks the yoke. Isaiah 10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. (KJV)

Galatians 3:13 (TPT)

¹³ Yet, Christ paid the full price to set us free from the curse of the law. He absorbed it completely as he became a curse in our place. For it is written: “Everyone who is hung upon a tree is doubly cursed.

PRAYER

 In the name of Jesus, I break all access points, ill effects, pain and trauma to all events.  I break ungodly soul ties to all people involved with the traumas and I break the ungodly soul ties to all events where there was a wounding of my soul.   I break all enemy assignments operating against me and my family. I break all entry points of death, destruction, fear, rejection, torment, grief, shock and trauma, including that which entered in the womb.  I bind and break all accident, misadventure and curses and command all demons I received from all wounds, traumas and soul ties to leave in the name of Jesus Christ.  I speak to all demonic spirits entrenched within false protection including multiple me, artificial me, false me, hurt and abused me, man/woman me, senior me, adult me, teenage me, little girl/boy me, toddler me, baby me, in utero me, preconception me, protection of self and every other demon of false protection, insecurity and not trusting in the Lord, as well as all spirits of mental illness and break your power and command you to leave in the name of Jesus Christ.   I ask you Lord Jesus to remove the pain from the memories, and to remove all residual effects.   I pray for the anointing of Christ to repair all wounds and for all fragmented pieces within my soul to be restored and placed back into their rightful place in Jesus name. I pray that the real adult whom God made will come up in me and stay.”

Last night I had a vivid dream. Two young girls danced in shimmery dresses covered in coins. They were full of joy, excitement and GREAT expectation as though they knew exactly what was coming. When I woke, I too had that feeling of joy and expectation hearing immediately the song “Goodness of God” played over and over in my mind. Change is not only coming I thought to myself, its here.

I was reminded of the children of Israel as they responded in fear and unbelief, standing at the edge of the Red Sea, they were in a moment of CHANGE!  They had already forgotten all that God has done, pillar of a cloud at day and fire at night…How could they forget? Exodus 14:10 says “Pharaoh approached.” Sometimes that’s all it takes….FEAR. Even with repeated mercy from their Holy God, they  completely forgot and moved right into complaining, whining and despair. The Bible has preserved this story and many others, to continually remind us to TRUST HIM in the midst of change.

And so here we find ourselves in the very same place.. Maybe we don’t have a king with  armies from a country that previously enslaved us breathing down our necks, like the children of Israel, but each one of us have situations where we can either trust Jesus in greater measure in an instant, or once again, go around the mountain.

CHANGE IS HERE….Its a NEW place and its time to throw care to the wind and trust Him in new ways as we are lead by obedience to God, submission to His Word and being quick to repent in our responses as we face uncertain circumstances.

Exodus 14:1-14

v 14 The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still.

The Greek word for offence is the word Skandalon…It is a picture of a trap….and deep inside the trap, is the mechanism that HOLDS the bait….that’s OFFENCE. The enemy of your soul LOVES for you to get offended. Offence has the ability to wrap you so tight, that unless someone comes and helps you get “unwrapped” you can stay stuck for a VERY long time. Offence is a sin, and its not a question of if you will be offended…Its a WHEN…. Luke 17:1. We set ourselves up for offence, when people fail to do what “we” think is best or right. That is sinful behavior…We then build walls of protection….That’s even more sin and PRIDE….So what seems or feels like self preservation, actually keeps God out of our situation.

All sin has the ability to open doors to continued or MORE sin. Some sin comes slowly and quietly. It creeps up on you when your not paying attention…It comes when we are self focused and not Christ centered… Eve experienced this creeping sin…Genesis 3:6 says she was believing she would become “wiser” if she ate the fruit…then they hid…do you think offence had a part to play in their sin?

2 Timothy 2 23-26 TPT

²³ Stay away from all the foolish arguments of the immature, for these disputes will only generate more conflict. ²⁴ For a true servant of our Lord Jesus will not be argumentative  but gentle toward all and skilled in helping others see the truth, having great patience toward the immature. ²⁵ Then with meekness you’ll be able to carefully enlighten those who argue with you so they can see God’s gracious gift of repentance and be brought to the truth. ²⁶ This will cause them to rediscover themselves and escape from the snare of Satan who caught them in his trap so that they would carry out his purposes.

As I rode my bike this morning, I actually felt a relief that the human side of Christmas is over and we can now look ahead to the deep work of the Gospel. Now dont get me wrong, I love Christmas with all its lights, pomp and circumstance, and of course most importantly the birth of our savior, but, there is as with anything, a spirit of competition which can strangle the true meaning of the season. If that spirit gets a hold of us than debt and depression is surely not far behind.

So as the New Year comes to a rapid close, instead of a “resolution” in the body, lets be steadfast and make a resolution in the spirit. Not a resolution, but a re-dedication, or even better a reconciliation in your heart to The Lord that affects your will, emotions and your mind to DO and BE more like Jesus in 2019. This means, more study, more WAITING ON HIS ANSWER before you respond, more worship more praise and more service without grumbling. It will also mean stepping out of your places of comfort to get involved with the lost and dying to speak boldly of Christs love…No more feel good safe places in this NEW position.

Christmas should create in us humility and a grateful heart with an even greater understanding that God CHOSE to send His son to save us from our sinful behaviors and to forgive us repeatedly. Christmas should give us “pause” to then hit the ground running to help others.

It is by the Grace and Mercy of our Father that we have life…..ABUNDANTLY.

Its not about us.

Happy New Year!

Romans 8:9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.

1 Corinthians 3:21-23    So don’t be proud of your allegiance to any human leader. For actually, you already have everything! It has all been given for your benefit, ²² whether it is Paul or Apollos or Peter the Rock, or whether it’s the world^[q] or life or death, or whether it’s the present or the future—everything belongs to you! ²³ And now you are joined to the Messiah, who is joined to God.

“When we belong to Jesus, we’re finally able to make God look glorious in our lives.”                 John Piper