Obedience brings the blessing to your life. Deuteronomy 28:15 says: But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee....
Obedience opens the door to the blessings. Disobedience blocks the blessings and opens the door to a curse. I want to share with you four possible areas where you might have been disobedient, or four ways to get out of this rut.
1. Put God's Word First
Ask yourself, "Am I putting God first place in my life or have I let things become more important to me?" Jesus said in Matthew 6:33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
God is not against us having things; He is against things having us. God wants to bless you beyond your wildest imaginations. But is your primary pursuit to know Him, to be more like Him? If God plays a secondary role in your life, then a door has been opened for Satan to come in and block God's blessings. If you are putting God first, then the door has been shut. Satan does not have the right to block your blessings.
2. Live a Godly Lifestyle
Are you living a godly lifestyle or have you accepted the world's standards for moral conduct? The Bible says, "...be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 11:45). How is your lifestyle? Is it pleasing to God? Is the Holy Spirit comfortable in your home, in your car, among your friends?
Our disregard for God's standards for moral behavior has everything to do with our blessings being blocked. You can't compromise God's standards and expect the blessings to flow. We must examine the shows we watch, the words of our mouth, the influences around us if we want to get out of the rut we're in. God will bless those who respect His guidelines for moral living.
3. Walk in Love
Are you walking in love or is there strife and unforgiveness in your heart? Jesus said in John 13:34:A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Blessings are blocked when we refuse to walk in love. No matter how difficult it might seem, no matter how many layers of flesh it may peel off of you: forgive. Stay out of strife. Get rid of bitterness. It is a blessing blocker. It will keep your life in a deep rut if you don't dig it out by faith and daily choose to forgive. It's never too late to begin the process of walking in love.
4. Honor God With Your Tithes
Are you honoring God with your tithes and your offerings, or are you robbing Him? Malachi 3:8,9 says: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse...
In other words, because you don't honor God with your tithes and offerings, your blessings have been blocked.
Are you in a financial rut? If so, then let's look at your giving. Are you giving God what belongs to Him? The proper attitude for tithing is to set it aside first. Don't pay everybody else and then if there is anything left over, bring it to God. Your money will go a lot further on ninety percent and giving God His ten percent than you keeping 100 percent for yourself. Trust me.
If you've discovered your life is in a rut, it's time to make the changes to get out. We have to take an inventory of our lives. Is God still first place in your life? Are you pursuing God with your whole heart, your whole strength, your whole being or have things and people become more important to you?
Are you walking in love or are you harboring strife and unforgiveness and bitterness? Are you living a lifestyle pleasing to God? Are you honoring God with your tithes and offerings? Go through the checklist of these four different things and be honest with yourself. It could be where disobedience lies. It could be the cause of the rut you've found yourself in.
Make whatever corrections you need to make. Ask God to forgive you. Say what David said in Psalm 67:1: "God be merciful unto us, and bless us...." We can ask God for forgiveness in these areas of disobedience and He will forgive us. The barriers will be removed. The cause for the curse will be removed and the blessings will flow. But we have to be consistent. You can do it.
Showing posts with label Blessing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blessing. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
The Blessing vs. The Curse
One of the myths floating around the body of Christ is the myth concerning curses. There are those who believe that curses are so powerful that they can destroy the life of the believer; however one must remember that the devil uses fear to manipulate and control the life of anyone who will give place to it. How does a curse affect a believer? Should we be afraid of curses? What about generational curses?
When we are born again we are translated out of the kingdom of darkness and translated into the kingdom of light. When we are in the kingdom of light, the devil has no more authority over us other than the authority that we give him.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Col. 1:13)
We have been bought with a price and redeemed and no longer belong to the power of darkness; we belong to the kingdom of God. We are children of the living God. We are children of the light. There is not enough darkness to put out the smallest light.
Some might argue, "Well, the devil this and the devil that." However, the devil cannot touch us when we are walking in the light. The only time that he can touch us is when we open the door to him by not walking according to the Word of God.
The fact of the matter is that when God blessed you nothing can be done to reverse it.
In Christ we have these blessings and the curse cannot touch us. We have been blessed with all of heaven's blessings. This is not something that needs to happen, this is something that has already taken place. We need to walk as believers in the finished work of the cross.
When we as believers believe that the curse is powerful, we underestimate the power of the cross, the power of the Blood and the power of the resurrection, thus making weak the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Jesus defeated the devil at Calvary and broke the power of the curse. (Col. 2:15)
The reasons why many believers are affected by curses I believe is:
1. Fear
2. The lack of knowledge of the Word of God
3. Not understanding the Father's love in relationship to the new covenant.
Fear is a terrible thing, gripping at the minds and hearts of anyone who will open the door. It is so in Africa and other parts of the world where people practice witchcraft and fear is a common factor that gives the witch doctor the power over them.
In Africa and Australia for example, if the witch doctor arrives in a village and sings and chants and throws bones, then everyone knows in that village that someone is going to die. The next morning...sure enough someone will have died. This is common. What killed those people? Simply this—Fear.
The reason that I say this is because if you are a child of God Almighty, then you have to realize that the devil has very limited power over you. The only power that he has over you is the power you give him.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6 KJV)
The reason they are destroyed is because of their lack of knowledge of the Word of God.
We must find out what God's Word says and then appropriate the promises in our lives. Remember this, the devil knows the scripture because he quoted it to Eve as well as Jesus.
He loves to twist the scripture and to get you as the believer to think that God is not for you and that He is against you. As a new believer, we must realize that we are new creations in Christ Jesus—old things have past away, all things are new.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15 KJV)
The reason why this verse is so important is because the scripture says to rightly divide the Word. That happen can only as we study God's Word. Rightly divide—what does that mean? You will be amazed how many of God's children don't know the difference between the Old and the New Testaments (covenants).
What happens is that they take a little of the old and mix it with the new and come up with their own covenant. One minute they are under the law, the next they are under grace and they become double-minded and have no clue—they remind me of a Canadian goose lost in a thunderstorm trying to find its way.
They end up going from bondage back to freedom and then back to bondage. They don't understand the heart of the Father God and His great Love for His children. Jesus came to pay the price for our complete redemption.
God loves us so much and wants to bless us more than we want to be blessed. He has made every provision for our blessing. This was made manifest at the cross of Calvary.
As children of the living God, we have absolutely nothing to fear from the curse because Jesus has come to bring us into the blessing.
The Curse is not Greater than the Blessing!
The choice is ours—what will it be? Blessing or cursing, it's up to you.
Things that you need to do to walk in God's blessings daily:
1. Realize that God is for you and not against you.
2. Walk in His Word and obey Him completely.
3. The choice is yours; blessing or cursing...it's up to you.
4. The curse will be far from you, because Christ hath redeemed you from the curse of the law. He has paid it in full.
5. The blessings are to a thousand generations of them who fear God.
6. The curse is to the third and forth generation of them who hate God.
When we are born again we are translated out of the kingdom of darkness and translated into the kingdom of light. When we are in the kingdom of light, the devil has no more authority over us other than the authority that we give him.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Col. 1:13)
We have been bought with a price and redeemed and no longer belong to the power of darkness; we belong to the kingdom of God. We are children of the living God. We are children of the light. There is not enough darkness to put out the smallest light.
Some might argue, "Well, the devil this and the devil that." However, the devil cannot touch us when we are walking in the light. The only time that he can touch us is when we open the door to him by not walking according to the Word of God.
The fact of the matter is that when God blessed you nothing can be done to reverse it.
In Christ we have these blessings and the curse cannot touch us. We have been blessed with all of heaven's blessings. This is not something that needs to happen, this is something that has already taken place. We need to walk as believers in the finished work of the cross.
When we as believers believe that the curse is powerful, we underestimate the power of the cross, the power of the Blood and the power of the resurrection, thus making weak the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Jesus defeated the devil at Calvary and broke the power of the curse. (Col. 2:15)
The reasons why many believers are affected by curses I believe is:
1. Fear
2. The lack of knowledge of the Word of God
3. Not understanding the Father's love in relationship to the new covenant.
Fear is a terrible thing, gripping at the minds and hearts of anyone who will open the door. It is so in Africa and other parts of the world where people practice witchcraft and fear is a common factor that gives the witch doctor the power over them.
In Africa and Australia for example, if the witch doctor arrives in a village and sings and chants and throws bones, then everyone knows in that village that someone is going to die. The next morning...sure enough someone will have died. This is common. What killed those people? Simply this—Fear.
The reason that I say this is because if you are a child of God Almighty, then you have to realize that the devil has very limited power over you. The only power that he has over you is the power you give him.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6 KJV)
The reason they are destroyed is because of their lack of knowledge of the Word of God.
We must find out what God's Word says and then appropriate the promises in our lives. Remember this, the devil knows the scripture because he quoted it to Eve as well as Jesus.
He loves to twist the scripture and to get you as the believer to think that God is not for you and that He is against you. As a new believer, we must realize that we are new creations in Christ Jesus—old things have past away, all things are new.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15 KJV)
The reason why this verse is so important is because the scripture says to rightly divide the Word. That happen can only as we study God's Word. Rightly divide—what does that mean? You will be amazed how many of God's children don't know the difference between the Old and the New Testaments (covenants).
What happens is that they take a little of the old and mix it with the new and come up with their own covenant. One minute they are under the law, the next they are under grace and they become double-minded and have no clue—they remind me of a Canadian goose lost in a thunderstorm trying to find its way.
They end up going from bondage back to freedom and then back to bondage. They don't understand the heart of the Father God and His great Love for His children. Jesus came to pay the price for our complete redemption.
God loves us so much and wants to bless us more than we want to be blessed. He has made every provision for our blessing. This was made manifest at the cross of Calvary.
As children of the living God, we have absolutely nothing to fear from the curse because Jesus has come to bring us into the blessing.
The Curse is not Greater than the Blessing!
The choice is ours—what will it be? Blessing or cursing, it's up to you.
Things that you need to do to walk in God's blessings daily:
1. Realize that God is for you and not against you.
2. Walk in His Word and obey Him completely.
3. The choice is yours; blessing or cursing...it's up to you.
4. The curse will be far from you, because Christ hath redeemed you from the curse of the law. He has paid it in full.
5. The blessings are to a thousand generations of them who fear God.
6. The curse is to the third and forth generation of them who hate God.
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