APPLYING AND LIVING IN THE WORD
STOP FRETTING OVER THE PAST
Some people talk about ‘generational curses’. They have the idea that sins of people in their past have let the enemy afflict THEM. It’s TRUE. There WAS ONE ancestor who turned the enemy loose on ALL of us.
Genesis 3:1-25 NKJV
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
God had created a man and woman. He had put them in an environment to complete and total safety, good health, and provision for all of their needs. All they had to do was live their lives and obey ONE very small rule. “Don’t eat the fruit off of that ONE tree.”
Then the devil, the deceiver, came along. He told Eve that if she ate that fruit she’d know the difference between good and evil and therefore she’d be as powerful as GOD Himself. The truth was that in knowing that difference, man would become accountable for the wrongs they did. Once we are CONSCIOUS of sin, COMMITTING sin makes us vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. When the disobedience came in, the war between Satan and man began in earnest and it will not stop until Satan is cast into the pit.
The GOOD news is that God gave the woman power to defeat the enemy. She would bruise his head in giving birth to God’s Own Son. In giving man the sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God, the way was made for ALL evil stunts of the enemy to be overcome. JESUS won the victory, all we have to do is to really UNDERSTAND that. The battle with Satan is no longer OURS, it belongs to Jesus. WE have already WON. JESUS WAS PUNISHED FOR EVERY TRANSGRESSION WE OR ANY OF OUR ANCESTORS EVER COMMITTED. WE ARE NO LONGER BEING PUNISHED FOR MISDEEDS.
1 Thessalonians 3:1-3 NKJV
3 Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone,
2 and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith,
3 that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.
Afflictions are plain and simply part of the lives of Christians. Jesus suffered them and HE WAS PERFECT. HE committed NO sin, yet He suffered afflictions more than ANY of us. That kind of knocks the theory that afflictions are the fault of our pasts into a cocked hat, doesn’t it???
2 Timothy 4:1-8 NKJV
4 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
This pretty much makes it clear where the lives of Christians lead. The more we KNOW, the more we understand of the Word and of what God did for us, the easier our path will be. Many people suffer simply because they don’t know how to FIGHT. Spiritual battles are won through faith and trust and what we declare with our mouths. If Donald Trump has ONE super power, it’s THIS. His POSITIVE confession. He continually speaks victory and triumph. We should do the same. His ego is his biggest asset! Glorify God, not the affliction. Lift up God, not the problem. We do that by declaring that He CAN and WILL meet every need we have and that HIS power is FAR greater than that of our enemy. Speak the WORD…WIN your wars.