Bible Reading: Joshua 24; Acts 4; Jeremiah 13; Matthew 27
Joshua 24:9-10 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
When Joshua gave all the Israelites their inheritance in the land of Canaan, he gathered all Israel together at Shechem and reminded them of how they got to where they were. Have you ever just set back and looked back on your life to see how God brought you to where you are today? If you see a turtle sitting on top of a fence post, you can be sure he did not get there by himself! Where you are today has come about with God at work in your life! Joshua reminded the children of Israel that he had delivered them out of the hand of the king of Moab who would have had Balaam curse them.
You remember the story – Balak offered a large sum of money to Balaam to curse the Israelites. Every time he prayed about it, God told him they were a blessed people and he could not curse them. So Balaam would pronounce a blessing on the Israelites and Balak would get upset. Finally, Balaam found the weakness of the children of Israel and instructed Balak on how he could put a stumbling block before them. They disobeyed God and suffered the consequences for it.
Do you know that no one can curse those whom God has blessed? Some people live in fear of someone cursing them, but if you are a follower of Christ that is nothing you should fear. No one can touch you without God permitting it. The notion of a curse that someone puts on you is not Biblical for a follower of Jesus. The Bible says:
Proverbs 26:2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
The curse causeless shall not come. The curse that is simply pronounced by the will of man will not come to the follower of Jesus. There is only one way a follower of Jesus can be cursed.
Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Some people live in fear of 'generational curses'. The only way you can be cursed is to turn back to the Old Covenant and try to earn your salvation by law-keeping. Any curse that has affected you is broken when you trust in Christ.
Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
You can't break curses! You must be delivered through the blood of Jesus Christ. It was God who delivered the Israelites of old. It is Christ who will deliver you!
In Christ,
Rody
