INTRODUCTION
Life is about choice. Your choice is your life. There are three major choices you need to make that will affect generations after you.
Choice number one : the choice to serve the Lord. Joshua said choose today who you want to serve.
The choice to serve the Lord has consequences over generations after you.
Choice number two : the choice to love the Lord. God says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "... eyes have not seen, ears have not heard. No one has ever thought about, that is what God has in store for those who love him".
Choice number three, the choice to obey the Lord.
God says in Joshua 24:15, "Choose today to obey or to disobey..."
If you obey, God says that he will bless you, but if you disobey, you fall under a curse.
Do you want to make choices that will affect generations after you? What are the choices you are making today that can affect generations after you?
You will make your case to be different by the quality of the choices you make.
Let's break down those three choices and I believe it will bless your soul. Let's pray.
OPENING PRAYERS
Father, thank you for today such a beautiful day you give unto us to come in your presence to learn from you.
We adore you and we bless you. We worship you oh God. Thank you for the grace of another morning altar of prayer.
We worship you and we give you the praise in Jesus Precious Name we have prayed and we all say amen.
THE CURSE IN THE LINEAGE OF JUDA
In Ruth chapter two verse one, the Bible talks about Boaz a man of wealth.
Boaz was an influential man. A man who made a difference in his generation. A man who broke curses in his life.
Listen to me.
There was a curse in the lineage of Judah because of what Judah did in Genesis chapter thirty-eight. He slept with his daughter-in-law and he got two children : Pharez and Zara.
Down the line in the genealogy of these two boys there was a problem.
Remember in the book of Genesis chapter fourty nine there was a promise that was spoken over the life of Judah that he will produce kings.
Genesis 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
Genesis 49:9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Unfortunately he was not able. Why? Because there was a curse.
From the Scripture above, the Bible talks clearly about Judah and the scepter in verse ten. The scepter talks about the kingdom.
But when you go in the book of Matthew chapter number one we find that Judah was not able to produce any king.
Let us read
Matthew 1:3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
Matthew 1:4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
Matthew 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
Matthew 1:6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
So when you when you read from Judah to David, there were ten generations, which shows that there was a curse that was upon Judah.
It is amazing because in that kind of cursed generation, we see Boaz being there and making a difference.
I want to let you know today that curses are not a fate. You are not bound to continue the curses in your generation.
The good news I have for you today is that generational curses can be broken.
And I want to trust God the same way you see Boaz standing out, you will also stand out in the Name Of Jesus Christ.
See yourself how Boaz is outstanding and see how Elimelek died. There is a big difference. That is purely and practically what I am talking about.
I want to trust God that in your generation, you will make a difference in Jesus name.
TAKE NOTE OF SOME INFORMATION CONCERNING CURSES.
A curse is a repeated pattern of woes and calamities in the life of its victim.
When you read
Matthew 22:25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
Matthew 22:26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
Matthew 22:27 And last of all the woman died also.
From this text, we see a repeated pattern of woes and calamities befalling the whole family.
The second information I want you to take note of is that a curse persists as long as the root cause has not been dealt with.
In Proverbs 26:2, the Bible says, "As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come".
In other word, a curse does not happen if you have not done anything to make it happen. A curse is provoked. Curses cannot you unless you deserve them. A curse that has no reason to be effective will not be effective. A curse is curse when you deserve it. Otherwise it has no foundation.
Please understand it very well.
Goliath was cursing David. But the curse turned upon head. That's why his head was beheaded.
Now I pray today that any curse that has no cause in your life will return upon the head of those who are sending it to you in Jesus name.
Balaam for example was cursing Israel but the curse was transformed into blessing because there was no root.
Deuteronomy 23:5 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.
Listen to me. You are too loved to be cursed. Praise be living God. You are too loved to be cursed. Amen and amen.
The question is this one ... Does God punish children for the sin of their parents?
When we talk about generational curses, it looks like God is punishing the children for the sins of their parents.
Proverbs 26:2 states clearly that "A curse without a cause is pointless".
NOW HOW TO EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT GOD VISITS THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN AS WE READ IN ...
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
How can you explain the iniquity of the fathers over the children who did not do anything?
We read in Numbers 14:18, "The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation".
Sin is the cause of curses. That is why the Bible says ... God visits the iniquity of the fathers ...
Now listen to me. There is a difference between sin and iniquity.
Iniquity is a generational sin. That's why when we read Psalm fifty-one verse twelve when David was repenting before God he was repenting for the iniquity.
Iniquity is the sin fathers did and the children are doing the same.
So God visits the iniquity that the following generations continue to do.
Remember that the Bible says in Acts 7:51, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye".
So God does not automatically transfer the curse to the next generation. No. It happens only when the children of the fathers do the same as their fathers did.
If they do the same, they will get the same.
That is why when reading Deuteronomy 24:16, the Bible says,
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
In 2 Kings 14:6, the Bible says,
But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
In Jeremiah 31:29-30, we read, "In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
Jeremiah 31:30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
In Ezekiel 18:20, it is written, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him".
Praise God. I want to announce to you that you will not suffer what your fathers suffered. You will not suffer what mothers suffered. You will not suffer What others in your family line have gone through.
I want to let you know that the curses in your family line will be minus you.
But ... there is a but ... If you do the same things like them, that is now the problem. If you commit the same iniquity like them, that is now the problem. If you commit the same sin like them, that is now the problem.
I declare over you that the battle your father went through, it will not continue with you. You did not come in this world to continue the same battles.
You did not come in this world to continue the battle of your mother. You did not come in world to suffer the same way they suffered.
No. I do not want to continue the struggle of my family members. Are you hearing me?
Family wise everybody is suffering the same. Everybody is suffering the same sickness. The same marital instability. The same divorce etc.
No. I say no.
Christ was made poor for you to be rich as it is written in 2 Corinthians 9:8.
You have been redeemed from the curse of the law to be the blessing as it is written in Galatians 3:13.
You are blessed in Christ. In Christ, you are reconciled with God. In Christ, you are righteous. In Christ, you are free from hereditary diseases. In Christ, you are free from marital spell.
In Christ the curse of rejection is broken. In Christ curses of all kind are broken. Are you hearing me?
The whole lineage of Judah was under a curse. But we see Boaz a man curse free. It means in other word that you can make a difference in your generation and in the generations after you.
THE QUESTION IS HOW TO BREAK FREE FROM THOSE GENERATIONAL CURSES.
Curses or blessings are the result of men's choice. They are not a fate. It is the choice of men.
When you look at Boaz and you compare him with Elimelek, we see clearly that the difference between the two of them was their choices
One chose to go to Moab. The other one chose to remain in Bethlehem. And at the end of the day, the difference between the two crystal clear.
That is why I say that curses or blessings are a result of your choice. It is not a fate.
They are provoked by your choice.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
You are the one to choose and decide whether to be blessed or to be cursed.
It means in other word that blessings or curses are not imposed to anyone. It is your responsibility to subscribe to one or to another.
If blessings and curses are human choice, generational curses can be also be broken by your choice.
That's why today I want to talk to you about the three choices you need to make for you to break free from generational curses.
CHOICE NUMBER ONE | CHOOSE TO OBEY GOD.
I believe Boaz stayed in Bethlehem by obedience to God.
Remember that in the last verse of the book of judges, the Bible says
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
And here we are introduced to a man who was a man of obedience. That's why if you want to break generational curses, it is by your obedience.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
So it is you to choose to do the will of God.
Obedience is a choice to place the will of God above your own will.
Matthew 26:42 Not my will but your will.
Obedience is a choice of the wise.
Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Obedience is the gateway to blessing. It's a choice of blessing. If you want to break generational curses in your life, if you want yourself to be different in your generation, I give you the recipe : choose to obey the Lord.
Deuteronomy 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
Deuteronomy 11:27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
Deuteronomy 11:28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
When you choose to obey, you choose to be blessed. When you choose to disobey, you choose to be cursed.
That is why it is written ... A curse if you not obey ... A blessing if you obey.
Receive the grace to obey. Praise be the living God.
Obedience is to your own advantage.
Disobedience is to your own disadvantage.
You cannot obey and be cursed. It is impossible. Obey and He will bless you. Praise God.
Let us talk about tithing.
Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Malachi 3:11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
THE BENEFITS OF TITHING are directed to God to you not to God. I will mention eight of them.
One| I will open to you the windows of heaven.
Two | I will pour out to you the blessing.
Three | There shall not be room enough for.
Four | I will rebuke the devourer for your sake.
Five | I shall not destroy the fruit of your ground.
Six | neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field.
Seven | all nations shall call you blessed.
Eight | you will be a delightful land.
You see all those blessings are not for the Church. They are for you if you choose to obey which means in other word if you choose to disobey, you choose to be cursed.
Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
I come from a family with a background of poverty. We have struggled a lot in my family line, lack of food, trekking to go to school, struggling to pay the fees.
I know what it looks and even in the beginning of my life after university, it was very tough for me. I know what I'm talking about. It was very tough.
It was humiliating until I made up my mind to obey the instruction of God for tithing. That's why I talk about it all the time. That is what bailed me out in my life.
God never lies. He is the covenant keeping God not a father Christmas God. What I share with you is what has worked in my life. And if you are interested you can subscribe to it because it's a matter of your choice.
I don't want my children after me to go through the same poverty I went through in my life. The same struggle I went through in my life. No to it. I don't want.
I made a vow to God that everything that hits my account 10% must go as a tithe and God is so faithful. For all those who are in the Word of Life you can know and you can attest that what I'm telling you has proofs.
I picked it from my father in the Lord Bishop David Oyedepoo. See how blessed the Church is. See how blessed my life is. It is a choice. If you want, good. If you don't want, good.
CHOICE NUMBER TWO | CHOOSE TO LOVE GOD.
Deuteronomy 30:16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Do you want to break curses in your life? God says, "Love God and he will bless you".
Is that not simple? When you see me serving God the way I do, it is because I love God.
You can't love God and be under a curse. That is why it is written, "... Love God ... and he shall bless you..."
You cannot love God and suffer general curse.
We see Boaz a lover of God. See how he loves people in his field. Boaz was a loving and caring man.
Your love for God entitles you to generational blessings. If you love God you will enjoy generational blessings.
Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
When you love God, you secure a thousand generations after you. You are not making any favour to pastor Kasuku. No. Love God.
HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU LOVE GOD?
Number One | If you love God, you will find time for God.
Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
It is not true that you do not find time for God because you are busy. It is not true. The truth is ... you don't love God. Why am I saying that? Because men always find time for what they love.
Number Two | If you love God you will love what he loves and you hate what he hates.
Psalm 119:163 I hate and abhor lying but your law do I love.
Psa 119:164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
Psalm 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
Number three | If you love God you will love others.
That's why I'm talking about Boaz a loving man.
1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
And I believe that Elimelek was a selfish man. He went to Moab because he did not want to share what he had. He was in abundance, but he was running away.
Be free from selfishness in Jesus name.
Number Four | If you love God, you will give to others and you will give to God.
I see Boaz a loving man because according to the Law, it was instructed to the rich that when they harvest, they should keep a portion to the poor.
Isn't it an act of obedience? Isn't it a sign of love? Boaz loved others. And you can't say that you love God, but you don't love others.
Oh I don't want to be in this Church because I avoid problems. It is not true. The truth is that you are selfish.
1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Number five | If you love God, you will keep his word.
Psalm 119:140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
WHAT ARE THE BLESSINGS OF LOVING GOD?
Blessing 1 | When you love God, he will bless you toward 1000 generations.
Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Blessing 2 | When you love God, you will enjoy divine revelation.
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself im.
Blessing 3 | When you love God, you will enjoy the supernatural and the uncommon.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
CHOICE NUMBER 3 | THE CHOICE OF SERVING GOD.
Exodus 23:25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
Exodus 23:26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Serving God is a choice.
The man of God Joshua said something very interesting in
Joshua 24:15, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD".
Choose to serve God. It's your choice. You don't need to be a pastor to serve God. You don't need to be an apostle to serve God. You don't need to be a bishop to serve God. You just need to make it a choice. It is a choice.
By experience I have come to understand that nothing pays the most like serving God.
If you want generational curses to be broken in your life the way Boaz did, do what Boaz did.
Boaz was a servant of God. When Naomi is coming back crying, complaining, Boaz is found thriving.
What are the blessings of serving God?
Blessing One | If you serve God, God will keep his covenant toward you from generation to generation.
2 Chronicles 6:14 "O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts".
You see?
Abraham was a servant of God. Isaac was a servant of God. Jacob was a servant of God. Moses was a servant of God. Job was a servant of God. David was a servant of God. Daniel, Shadrac, Meshach and Abednego were servants of God. Paul was a servant of God.
Can you wake up?
The energy you are putting in looking for money won't last for generations. It will help you to pay your rent, to have some food there but it will not secure your eternity.
Blessing two | If you serve God, God will honour you and you will not suffer the curse of shame and reproach.
John 12:26, "If any man serve me, him will my father honour".
Blessing three | If you serve God, God will bless you with good health, prosperity, fertility, longevity. In other words, you will never suffer the curse of sickness, disease, poverty, infertility, miscarriage, premature death. No.
Exodus 23:25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
Exodus 23:26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Blessing four | If you obey and serve him you will spend your days in prosperity and your years in pleasure.
Job 36:11 If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
You can make those choices for yourself and for the generations after you. Lift your hand where you are and just pray.
CLOSING PRAYERS
The Lord help me to make that choice.
Those choices in my life in the name of Jesus.
Lord I come before you today and I pray that you will indeed confirm your word in my life.
I make the choice to obey the choice to love the choice to serve you oh God. Obey. Obey. Love and serve. Obey. Love and serve. Obey. Love and serve. Make that choice oh God today.
Lord those choices I pray that in my life oh God. Generation at me will be blessed.
I receive the anointing that was in Boaz to be freed from generational curses where others are enjoying where worrying where others are struggling it will be mine as me oh God.
I receive the grace to serve you. To obey you. To obey your instructions. To obey your word. Father help me today. Open my eyes and my heart. To submit to those three choices to break curses in my life.
Oh Lord It happened to boss. It will happen to me. It happened to Ruth. It happened also to me. My case is different. Because I am obeying you by your grace. Because I am loving you by your grace.
And because I'm I pray that God will help you to make those choices today. The choice you make today will affect your generation tomorrow.
Receive that grace today in the name of Jesus. The son of the living God.
I bless you all. We meet this coming day to seek the face of God and to put a seal of difference in our lives. It shall be so in Jesus name amen and amen. Love you all. Blessed day.
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