I have added a new video above....please listen to it as you read. This is my new favorite song. EVERY CURSE IS BROKEN.
Have you been living under a curse? The curse of sickness, of poverty, of mental illness? Something you can't get over and you can't get around? On the above video, Kari Jobe sings about how Jesus on the cross defeated every curse. What does that mean? Does it mean that everyone who is ill will be healed? Well, long-term, it does mean that for the Children of God. The curse of death is broken in the resurrection of the dead. Just as Jesus rose from the grave, so we too will rise in newness of life and will receive bodies that can no longer be touched by sickness or pain.
But does it only mean that the curse is broken after our death? Or does it have some meaning to us now as well? I believe that the bitterness of heart, the "whining and complaining" we can do when we are in pain, the "why me"'s, the self pity....all these things can be broken right now. If we surrender our bodies to Jesus and ask / allow him to defeat sinful attitudes in us and to begin to use our body, sick and broken though it may be, for the glory of the Lord; then he will do just that. And that is only accomplished by the cross and by resurrection power.
Are you under a familial curse? Misfortune, poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, genetic illness? That curse is broken -in Jesus' name! Claim that. OWN that and refuse any longer to submit to the slavery of that curse. Break it in Jesus' name!
Can God heal you? Yes, he can. Will he heal you in this lifetime? He might. And if he doesn't, it means that he has other purposes for you and wants to use that illness in your life possibly to defeat self pity. To defeat the grip of addiction....possibly to pain medication. Maybe he wants to use you as a poster child for his love and grace and strength. Maybe he wants to use that illness to keep you clinging to him and depending on his strength and grace. Maybe he wants you to hear him say:
and to hear you respond:
"Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."
Why and how is power perfected in weakness? It's the power that was displayed by the cross and by the death of our Savior. There is nothing more powerless than a dead person, is there? Yet in his death, the Lord descended to hell and took the keys of sin and death right out of the hands of the enemy and he took from him the right to defeat his children....not to allow them to continue to live in sin and defeat any longer. He BROKE that curse. He BROKE the curse of death and sickness both now and eternally.
So I say to you, "Begin to claim the power of the resurrection in your life!"Those sinful attitudes of self pity, despair, bitterness--Lay them at the foot of the cross and LEAVE them there and go on to walk in the newness of life. The "newness of life"---what is that? It is the power of the Messiah's death and resurrection.
What was the cross? It was the living out of Jesus' words in his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane "Not my will, but Thine be done." It was by these words, the ultimate words of surrender to the will of God, that Jesus broke the curse of sin. Because what is sin? It is a refusal to walk the path that God would have us walk. And Jesus refused to refuse God's plan for him.
When we yield to God's plans for us, it is an act of worship...the kind of worship God delights in...even more than hearing us cry "hallelujah," even more than our singing and clapping our hands. That is easy worship. But as David said "Far be it from me to offer a sacrifice that costs me nothing." When you turn down your "rights" to be angry and bitter and self pitying--that is an act of worship that costs you something. It is an act of worship that slays your old self---the dead in sin self--and it is to choose the power of the cross to live in your life. "Not my will but Thine be done."
Refuse to live under the power of the curse. Because on the cross, Jesus smashed that curse into pieces. Walk in the "newness of life"
Baptism is a statement to the world that the power of death is no longer active in you. That you are altogether a new creation. (2 Cor 5:17: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.")
Please enjoy the next video....and remember...the curse is broken. Stop and consider the curses you live under....hand them to Jesus and claim the power of the cross over them.
Have you been living under a curse? The curse of sickness, of poverty, of mental illness? Something you can't get over and you can't get around? On the above video, Kari Jobe sings about how Jesus on the cross defeated every curse. What does that mean? Does it mean that everyone who is ill will be healed? Well, long-term, it does mean that for the Children of God. The curse of death is broken in the resurrection of the dead. Just as Jesus rose from the grave, so we too will rise in newness of life and will receive bodies that can no longer be touched by sickness or pain.
But does it only mean that the curse is broken after our death? Or does it have some meaning to us now as well? I believe that the bitterness of heart, the "whining and complaining" we can do when we are in pain, the "why me"'s, the self pity....all these things can be broken right now. If we surrender our bodies to Jesus and ask / allow him to defeat sinful attitudes in us and to begin to use our body, sick and broken though it may be, for the glory of the Lord; then he will do just that. And that is only accomplished by the cross and by resurrection power.
Are you under a familial curse? Misfortune, poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, genetic illness? That curse is broken -in Jesus' name! Claim that. OWN that and refuse any longer to submit to the slavery of that curse. Break it in Jesus' name!
Can God heal you? Yes, he can. Will he heal you in this lifetime? He might. And if he doesn't, it means that he has other purposes for you and wants to use that illness in your life possibly to defeat self pity. To defeat the grip of addiction....possibly to pain medication. Maybe he wants to use you as a poster child for his love and grace and strength. Maybe he wants to use that illness to keep you clinging to him and depending on his strength and grace. Maybe he wants you to hear him say:
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NASB)
...“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”and to hear you respond:
"Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."
Why and how is power perfected in weakness? It's the power that was displayed by the cross and by the death of our Savior. There is nothing more powerless than a dead person, is there? Yet in his death, the Lord descended to hell and took the keys of sin and death right out of the hands of the enemy and he took from him the right to defeat his children....not to allow them to continue to live in sin and defeat any longer. He BROKE that curse. He BROKE the curse of death and sickness both now and eternally.
So I say to you, "Begin to claim the power of the resurrection in your life!"Those sinful attitudes of self pity, despair, bitterness--Lay them at the foot of the cross and LEAVE them there and go on to walk in the newness of life. The "newness of life"---what is that? It is the power of the Messiah's death and resurrection.
What was the cross? It was the living out of Jesus' words in his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane "Not my will, but Thine be done." It was by these words, the ultimate words of surrender to the will of God, that Jesus broke the curse of sin. Because what is sin? It is a refusal to walk the path that God would have us walk. And Jesus refused to refuse God's plan for him.
When we yield to God's plans for us, it is an act of worship...the kind of worship God delights in...even more than hearing us cry "hallelujah," even more than our singing and clapping our hands. That is easy worship. But as David said "Far be it from me to offer a sacrifice that costs me nothing." When you turn down your "rights" to be angry and bitter and self pitying--that is an act of worship that costs you something. It is an act of worship that slays your old self---the dead in sin self--and it is to choose the power of the cross to live in your life. "Not my will but Thine be done."
Refuse to live under the power of the curse. Because on the cross, Jesus smashed that curse into pieces. Walk in the "newness of life"
Romans 6:4
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.Baptism is a statement to the world that the power of death is no longer active in you. That you are altogether a new creation. (2 Cor 5:17: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.")
Please enjoy the next video....and remember...the curse is broken. Stop and consider the curses you live under....hand them to Jesus and claim the power of the cross over them.
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