Winning The Battle Against Family Curses

WINNING THE BATTLE AGAINST FAMILY CURSES

Num 14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’

Iniquity- avon- Bent- turned toward a direction. A natural deviation from the right path. It has more to do with character of the action. When a sin is practiced for so long that it is in that person’s nature.

Not Clear the guilty- Is God saying that He will punish the children for the sins of the parent?

Ezek 18:20 The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity,

So, NO, God is not punishing the child. All people answer to God for their own sins, not someone else’s.

What does it mean??

* Iniquity is infectious. It can be a learned behavior. When children grow up in an environment of iniquity, they are “bent” in the direction of that sinful lifestyle. They are more likely to continue that lifestyle because they are taught to live this way.

* Children of divorced parents are more likely to get divorced.

* Smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual immorality, shacking up, unwed motherhood.....all these are more likely in children whose parents lived in those sinful behaviors!

Curse- to predispose someone to a failure of some kind.

So... Iniquity is a natural likelihood to a particular sinful behavior and a curse predisposes you to that iniquity.

Parents, do you want to curse your children? Then......

* Commit adultery, shack up- you increase the odds that your children will grow up to be sexually immoral just like you are.

* Stay drunk all weekend- your kids more likely to become alcoholics.

* Abuse drugs- your kids will be more likely to become dopeheads.

* No Fault Divorce- teach your kids to be quitters/covenant breakers

* Sin creates a stronghold in a family and generation suffer because of it. If you are suffering and want to break free, if you want your children to be free of it, then you must win this battle over sin.

HOW TO WIN THE BATTLE AGAINST FAMILY CURSES!

A. RECOGNIZE THE CURSE.

1. Realize there is a Problem.

Mt 9:12 Jesus said "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.”

* When my Dad was about 50, he was knocked off a ladder by a falling pipe at work and was injured. That fall saved his life. His BP was found to be 210/140. His heart was a ticking time bomb. He had never went to the doctor because he didn’t know he had a problem. HBP is called the silent killer.... you don’t know you have it.

It is hard to fix a problem that you don’t realize you have. BUT:

* Many people live in denial.... I don’t have a problem!

* Many people play the blame game... It’s not my fault!

2. Realize the Battle is Spiritual.

Eph 6:12 our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

* Curses manifest in the physical realm, but their source is from the spiritual realm. If you are going to break free, you must not only address the physical problems but also the spiritual stronghold.

B. BREAK THE CURSE.

1. Full Surrender to Jesus Christ.

When an army is defeated, it must choose annihilation or surrender.

To surrender means you give yourself to another and submit yourself to His complete authority.

People have “salvation” all wrong today. They get the emphasis backwards. They think they are receiving Christ, but to be saved they must actually completely give themselves to Him!

Lk 9:23 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

The Way of Salvation has never been inviting Christ to join us, but for us to join Him in humility and submission to Christ as Lord.

But why must we surrender to Him?

1 Cor 6:19-20 do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

We must surrender because we are His. We are bought with a price. His blood. His death. His sacrifice. If we are to come to Him at all, we can only come in total surrender of our self and our will to Him.

2. Repent of Sin/Iniquity.

Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that he will forgive your sins.