Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 229
Michael’s book is
available through:
Abiding Life Ministries
International
Littleton, Colorado
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In
many places the troubles that Christians are having without getting any help
from their church, their counselor(s), or close Christian friends (having
themselves neglected the reading and meditation of Scripture), they turn to
listening to those who speak often of the devil and his influence in their
life. Michael points us to a few simple
Truths that take us to JESUS, and His Life never fails.
DAY 109
Generational
Curses
Therefore if any man is
in Christ,
{he is} a new creature;
the old things passed
away; behold, new things have come. --II Corinthians
5:17
He predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. --Ephesians 1:5
Often I hear of those
purported to have generational curses. The cause of their present-day calamity is ascribed to
the curse received by an ancestor, whether it came from God, idol worship, or a
witchdoctor; it does not seem to matter. Whole meetings are dedicated to
breaking the curse. Where
is this in the Bible? Oh, yes, there is one passage alluded to in the
Old Testament. Deuteronomy 5:9, “You shall not
worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the
fourth {generations} of those who hate Me.” Adoption in the Old & New Testaments is much
different than today’s concept of adoption, wherein there is an acknowledgement
of both birth and adoptive parents. Adoption in the Bible is understood as a new birth, and
the adoptee is taken out of one family and placed into the genealogy of the new
family. Hence, when we
become children of God by adoption once we are born again, spiritually
speaking, the genealogical curse, if such did exist, would be broken.
Another problem with the false teaching of a genealogical curse for a
born-again believer is that it is oppressive and irrational, because everyone
could trace his lineage back to someone who had not loved God, and again, we have a new root, Jesus the Vine.
This brings up a several points. First, in the New Testament, with all of the idol worship that the
Romans had introduced to the believers, there is not one occasion in the
Epistles where a solution offered to a problem was the breaking of a curse. Second, if it is God Who has
cursed someone, do we really think that a man could break it? Third, as mentioned above, once
born again, a person is in a different lineage, the lineage of Jesus, with God
as the Father. Is He
cursed? No, He is
blessed, Jesus is blessed, and we are blessed because we are in Him.
There is no curse over us. The
only curse, so to speak, is that of unbelief, which allows the elect to be
deceived into such notions as white magic to lift curses.
Many have met these arguments with cries of, “if only you
had seen what I have seen!” I have seen it. If we are to
question our thoughts to examine the source, should we not on occasion also
question our emotions, our experiences, and what we see? Our deceiver is a liar
from the beginning. Anyway, why is it easier to believe that nearly everyone is
influenced by curses when it would make much more sense, seeing that Christ is
infinitely more powerful, to believe that if a person has some Christian
ancestors he would have a special dispensation? And for those who appeal to Deuteronomy? Look at what
happens later in the book, where God is explaining consequences He would
remember “ . . . to the tenth generation” (Deuteronomy 23:2), and then He
parenthetically notes what He does with those who curse His children. Deuteronomy 23:5, “However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam
but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves
you.”
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
I have no difficulty understanding how many have been misled into
thinking the devil is really their problem.
At virtually every prayer meeting I’ve been to, whether in the church
building or in a pasture, many give the devil credit for all their problems and
continue to ask God to forgive them of ALL their sins they can’t name. The focus is on anything and anyone other
than Jesus, and what He has done/will do for them.
I say this because it is sad we are missing out on ALL that God has done
for us, and is doing for us. I see that
many need to find the love of God for them.
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NOTICE: another blog on
Michael Wells’ book, Sidetracked In The Wilderness, called Getting Out of the
Wilderness. You can access by logging onto
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Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
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