By Eric Jinkwen

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Indicators That One is Operating Under a Curse

Deuteronomy 28:15
"But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you."

A curse is a negative force most often transmitted through negative words that predisposes its victim to unfortunate circumstances or results. When you observe one of these in your life or in your family, it can be an indication of a curse. Please, read the verses in Deuteronomy 28.

1. Humiliation V30-34, 37.
   It could also be the breakdown of marriage and family alienation. The solution is not divorce. You must treat the causes and not the effects. Cut the roots and not the fruits. Sometimes, males or females in the family do not get married at all or you see many in the family who are drunker.
   Also, some people who can help only outsiders, but cannot give at all to their relatives.
   
2. Unfruitfulness in any area of life; bareness and business breakdown, V16-18. This could also be limitations, repeated miscarriages and related female problems.
   
3. Sicknesses of every kind, mental and physical sickness V22, 27-28, 35, 59-61. It could be mental and/or constant emotional breakdown, depressiveness…
   Repeated or chronic sicknesses without cause and cure. It could also be hereditary sickness.
   
4. Constant poverty or failure; it is a curse and not a blessing V29, V47-48. It manifests in continuing financial insufficiency especially when incomes are enough. Sometimes, one is highly educated but no job. Poverty for a short period may be a test, but continuing poverty even when you earn money is a curse.
   
5. Defeat, oppression, failure and God’s disfavor that leads to family breakdown, divorce.
   
6. Helplessness, being the tail and not the head. Everybody can be helped except you. V65-68
   
7. Beneath and not above, that means weakness.
   
8. Accident-prone and misfortunes. History of suicide or unnatural death in the family.
   A curse is like a long evil and invisible arm that pulls you backward and downward. A curse is like a dark shadow blocking God’s sunlight to shine in your life. You need strategic prayers to break it. Psalm 50:14-15, Isaiah 62:1-3, James 5:13. We shall see tomorrow how to move from curse to blessings.
   Examine your life and family to see if there is one. Pray to God to help experience your freedom in Christ.
   
   Read also: Operating in the blessings

How to Move from Curses to Blessings?

Colossians 1:13: "For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son"

A curse is like a long evil and invisible arm that pulls its victim backward, downward. A curse is a dark shadow blocking the God’s sunlight in the victim’s life. The good news is that in Christ Jesus, God has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.
Take note of the two verbs in the sentence above.

They are all in the past tense and they described the spiritual event that takes place in a person’s life when he hears the Gospel and decides to believe it and to receive it. The problem sometimes is when this is not well explained to the new converts, they continue in ignorance. Then, Hosea 4:6 becomes true of them. When properly explained, John 8: 31-32 becomes true.

In this world, freedom comes through our access and exposure to spiritual truths. There is a spiritual change of position or domain with our new birth. Other versions explain it as, “Rescued… and transferred” or “delivered and conveyed” or “delivered and translated.”

So, there are two main steps to our freedom from curses. The first is to understand that full provisions have been made for our total liberty through the death of Jesus on the cross, (Galatians 3:13-14). The second is to appropriate what God has already provided through the sacrifice of Christ.

This is how to appropriate it:
1) Establish a clear scriptural basis for your deliverance and claim. What passages of the Scripture do you stand on to claim your freedom from the curse?
2) Confess your belief in the finished work and person of Christ.
3) Commit yourself to total obedience to God.
4) Confess and Repent from any known sins in your life or from your ancestors that may be responsible for the curses.
5) Forgive any person who has wronged you to clear your heart.
6) Renounce all contacts with occult objects and get rid of contact objects.
7) By faith, release yourself in the name of Jesus Christ through a sincere declaration.
You can do this in a prayer time during a time of fasting. May God bless you.
Read also: You are blessed to be a blessing

Free Yourself from causes of curses in your life

Deuteronomy 28:15: “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

Just as the main channel of blessings is obedience to the voice of God, the main cause of curses in people’s life is disobedience to God’s voice. A person cannot be victim of a curse without a direct or indirect cause. Proverbs 26:2 is clear on that, Curses cannot hurt you unless you deserve them. They are like birds that fly by and never light. The New King James Version says, “… So a curse without cause shall not alight.”
What therefore are some fundamental causes of curses in people’s life?

1. *Involvement in idolatry or the worship of false gods. This is can also be involvement in the occult and all related activities such as freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and the like. Deuteronomy 27:15 says “Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.”
   
   We are not to bow down or worship before an image. It is further confirmed and explained in Exodus 20: 1-4. “And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.”
   
   ‬‬‬‬An idol can be anything that we pay allegiance too, we worship or trust more than God Almighty. It can be anything that we believe and pay attention to, more than God: our work, spouse, car, material possessions, and even self can become an idol. When we deviate our attention from the true God to revere any other thing, it becomes idolatry. Worst again when we literally bow down before an image, be it of a person of any created thing, that becomes idol worship.
   
   What we also need to know is that our parents or ancestors may have been idol worshipers, and we are suffering the consequences of their sins. In the light of yesterday’s devotion, we need to confess those sins and repent on their behalf because their practices exposed us to curses.
   
   We read this in Exodus 20: 5, For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,”
   If you or your ancestors have been involved in idol worship, confess and repent and let God release you from the curse of idol worship. Claim your freedom through the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood of the New Covenant, Amen !

Deuteronomy 27:16
"'Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.' And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’"

The second cause of curses in the Bible is Disobedience to and Dishonoring of Parents. The Lord says in our passage, “Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.”
That means who dishonors, disobeys, insults or despises. The opposite is, what se see in Exodus 20: 12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” Ephesians 6:1-3 that repeats the same thing says, that it may be well with you.

This verse helps us to see that after reverence due to God as the first level of authority over our lives, the second level is honoring of our parents. Bishop David Oyedepo wrote a book on it and calls it “Hidden Blessing.” Look for the book and read it.
Let me ask you, how do you treat your parents?
How do you respond to them when they speak to you?
Do you speak with your friends against your parents?
Even if you are born again, you are called to be a prophets, and you are speaking in tongues, you cannot bypass this commandment of honoring your parents. There is a foolishness that I have seen today. Some guys because they are pastors or men of God will allow their parents or other elderly fathers and mothers to bow before them and call them “papa”.

Sometimes these men of God in the name of spiritual parents will abuse and will speak rudely to these elderly parents. That is an error, that is a curse.
Yes, you may be their spiritual father, but let’s not forget their age. Some others because they earn a lot of money will despise their parents and insult them. Just for the fact that your father met your mother and you were conceived, your mother carried you in her womb, they deserve your respect, even if they failed in some ways in their responsibilities. God alone will judge them and not you.

Listen to this protocol given by Paul to Timothy, “Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.”
(I Timothy 5:1‭-‬2)
We are to respect elderly ones and especially our parents.
Honour them by obeying them, giving them gifts and speaking well to them and about them.
I don’t mean to say that you will agree in everything with them even when they are wrong. No! But, Honor your parents.

Giving tithes is useless if we do not honour and support our parents (Matthew 23:23).
In Proverbs 30:17 and 20:20, there are two strong warnings:

1. The eye that mocks his father, And scorns obedience to his mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.
2. Whoever curses his father or his mother, His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
   Honor your parents and it will be well with you.
   It shall spare you some hours of prayers. Their prayers and blessings will sustain you and open you doors. Hallelujah!

Deuteronomy 27:19
"Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow." And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

The first cause of curses we saw was worshipping of idols and any form of occult practices; then we saw secondly that disobedience and dishonoring of parents also lead to curses. The third cause of curses we see in Deuteronomy 27 is Injustice and oppression of the weak and the helpless.

This could be workers in our company or field, subordinates at our job side, house servants in our homes; orphans and vulnerable people in our homes or in the society; how do we treat them?
In Deuteronomy 27, the matter is expressed in three ways:

1. Dispossessing the weak or the poor of their belongings or possessions. V17a says, ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’
   
2. Misleading or deceiving the poor or the weak to take advantage of them. V18a, ‘Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.’ This curse also applies to those who conspire in the secret against their neighbors. Though the neighbors do not see what they do in the secret, God sees and will repay the wicked.
   
3. Oppressing the right of the weak and vulnerable. V19a, ‘Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’ God Himself administers justice for the fatherless and the widows… (Deuteronomy 10:18).
   
   On the contrary, when we help or show mercy to the weak, we also obtain mercy according to Matthew 5:7. When we give to the poor, we are lending to God who will in turn pay us back.
   So, any form of abuse in our dealings with or neighbors will results in curses;. Verses 24 and 25 go further to say, ‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.’.. ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’
   
   Any form of treachery against our neighbors exposes us to curses.
   Get is straight from Proverbs 28:27 He who gives to the poor will not lack, But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.
   
   We see therefore that there are some little actions that can have tremendous impacts on our lives and future. Let’s examine our lives and ask God to forgive us where we have acted wrongly in the past. May His grace come upon us so that we will do better henceforth, amen.

1 Corinthians 6:9‭-‬10
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators… nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites… will inherit the kingdom of God."

The next cause of curses to consider is Illicit sex or unnatural sex. Again called as sexual immorality, it is any sexual activity with a wrong person or the wrong way. We can distinguish: fornication, adultery, homosexuality, incest, bestiality, masturbation, pornography, debauchery, and all unnatural sexual practices.

The passage above says it clearly that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The wrath of God is manifested against such practices. Paul wrote, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness… For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.

For even their women exchanged the natural use (of their body) for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
(Romans 1:18‭, ‬26‭-‬27). Homosexuality, lesbianism are all Illicit sex. They expose the people involved to God’s punishment.

Sex has always been a problem in the world from time immemorial. From the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible to the stories of the ancient cities of Pompeii and Corinth, humans have always had a deviant inclination to sexual practices giving birth to verbs like “to sodomize”.
Sex was created by God for human good and pleasure.

But when it is consumed at the wrong time with the wrong person, it becomes a curse. In Deuteronomy 27: V20- 23, we see God’s warning about the matter: ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s bed…Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal…Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother… Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law….

We can also read Leviticus 20: 10-16 to have more details.
We should never think that as born again, we are free to do as we want. Our freedom in Christ is limited within the provisions of God’s principles.

If one is caught up in any of the cases above, repentance is the only solution. Asking God for mercy and trusting in the finished work of the cross. God loves us and wants us free from sexual immoralities. May we stand free from sexual immorality. May God grant to us the power to resist all temptations that come our way in Jesus name, amen.

Jeremiah 17:5: "Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord."

One of the most dangerous deceptions of our time is to think that men can do well without God. Humans have pushed their reasoning to great levels of inventions and innovations so much that we seem not to consider God and faith anymore.

Nowadays, humans can fly to the moon; humans can have in vitro fertilization and conceive children. Many more things that can be done today through science and technology.
Let me say this, no matter, our personal intellectual development, the development in science and technology in our time, we will always need God in our lives. Why do I say so?

1. We are created by God.
2. We were given the breath of life by God.
3. We shall one day transit out of this body to a new dimension of life. We cannot outgrowth the need of God and His Word in our lives.
   As we read from the passage above, it is a curse to trust in self or man rather than trust in God; it is a curse to rely on human abilities, wisdom, material possessions rather than trusting in God. God says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.
   
   This is evident in many Christians lives today. Those who have started well in the Spirit but now are depending on themselves, their professional achievements and their human abilities. Some swing into false religions and traditions to seek for help.
   
   In as much as we use technology and science to answer some needs and solve some human problems, we must do so with reverence to God who gives the wisdom. Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret.
   
   Joseph was brought to him as one who could help; but listen to the answer of Joseph when he was asked whether he could help. So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
   (Genesis 41:16).
   
   The man who trust in man and in human abilities, God says in Jeremiah 17:6 that he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited (Jeremiah 17:6).
   
   Let me close with Proverbs 3:5-8, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.
   Hallelujah!

Zachariah 5:4
“I will send out the curse,” says the Lord of hosts; “It shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It shall remain in the midst of his house and consume it, with its timber and stones.”

We are still in our series looking at some causes of curses. The objective is not just to exposed these causes and make us feel guilty, but better that that, to lead us to examine ourselves so that we can free ourselves from any of the causes that lead to Curses in our lives.
The next cause of curses we see from the verse above is stealing and telling of lies under an oath; that is false swearing.

Zechariah the prophet saw a flying scroll with writings on both sides and tried to enquire what it meant. He was told that, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”
(Zechariah 5:3).

So, there is a curse over every thief and every perjurer. Stealing is wrong because of the act of stealing and not just because of the person or the place from which the item has been stolen. Even in our own house, we can be found guilty of stealing. Stealing can different forms:

1) Stealing of another person’s properties or belongings. In any way we dispossess others from their dues, right and properties, it is stealing. It could even be stealing of time, joy, peace and so on.
2) Stealing the state funds in areas of taxes and other dues. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God.” When people fraud and play games over their taxes, it is stealing.
3) Stealing of companies items such as books, pens, and so on; using the office phone for private businesses without prior authorization.
4) Stealing from customers. A trader can be victim of this curse because he steals from his customers. When a trader has different prices depending on the customers before them, it is unjust and it is stealing. That is the same as using different scales. Proverbs 11:1a says, “The Lord hates people who use dishonest scales.” Also, ” The Lord wants weights and measures to be honest and every sale to be fair.”
(Proverbs 16:11).

5. Stealing from God. This could be in areas of tithes and offerings. Malachi 3: 8-9 is clear about it. Are you giving the tithes and offerings that are due your level of blessings?
   So, as we said above, if we are found faulty in any of the areas above, let us adjust our ways and seek God’s mercy. That the Lord may bless us and increase us. He will supply our needs and proper us in Jesus name. Hallelujah!!!