Blessings Instead of Cursing

Wow, heard a great sermon today by Ed McGlasson about the Father's blessing.

One of the things he brought up was how many churches, like the Vineyard, have focused on breaking the curses of fathers which are rooted in what we find in Exodus 20: 4-6 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

What we sometimes do when quoting scripture is to stop before we share the entire scripture. For example in the above verses God says He will curse those who make for themselves idols but we fail to read down to verse 6 where He says He will love for a thousand generation those who love Him and keep His commands.

I am sure someone reading this will say but wait I am not guilty of having idols or making an image I bow down to but see if any of these fit:

Do you put more energy into any of these than you do knowing God? Pornography, greed, money, jealousy, material possessions, love of self over others, drinking, drugs, smoking, gambling, and the list goes on and on. These can be all idols that you have placed before God and result in cursing instead of blessing.

The hope we have is that when we accept Jesus God will exchange the cursing He has placed on us for having those idols in our lives and replace it with blessings found in Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (New American Standard Bible) 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Today's sermon was about the receiving and granting the Father's blessing and this was just a small part of the sermon. Over the next few days I will try to share other points Ed made. I hope that if any of you experienced having a lousy father that you will come back to read the other posts.

I believe God wants to give you a blessing that you can pass on to your children, to others and even to your father if he is still living. He wants you to have this blessing because you are a new creation in Christ and you are one of His adopted children.

He wants only the best for His children.

Whose you are makes who you are

Have you ever thought about who you belong to? Some of us belong to a country club. Some to the YMCA or an athletic club. So of us belong to a bunko group. We might belong to a church, a small group or a civic organization. We often get our identity from the group or groups we belong to. And some of us belong to no group at all and we have gotten our identity from what others have said we were.

For years I allowed what others said or thought about me make me who I was. Then I read this, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a Holy Nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2: 9-10

When I read that I saw myself in a new light. No longer was I that shy, backward, tongue tied guy. No longer was I that guy who would be nothing but average. No longer was I that person who did not deserve anything better than what I had. I was chosen to be God's own possession and He did not make or own junk. I was more valuable than anything in His creation.

I began to learn how to give speeches. I learned how to step out of my shyness and make new friends and even become a leader. I was no longer average but growing into a person seeking God's heart.

I was able to change because first I realized whose I was and after I read 2 Timothy 1: 7, "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." I began to use the Holy Spirit to grow out of who I use to be.

If you find yourself stuck in an identity that you do not want to stay in I encourage you to focus on the two verse I quoted above. Dig deeper and discover whose you are and how much that being loves you. Earnestly seek His Spirit and watch how your life changes day by day as you submit to the one who has called you be His possession.

If you are not yet a follower of Jesus find someone who you can trust to share with you the Good News of the Kingdom of God.