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"Reverse the Curse" Deuteronomy 30:15-20

by Clancy Nixon

September 9, 2007

Church of the Holy Spirit

Ashburn, Virginia

www.HolySpiritAnglican.org.

Blessing or cursing the choice is ours. In Deuteronomy 30:19, Moses said, "I set

before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, that you and your

children may live [in blessing]." - God has given us a huge power in our tongues. We

have power to bless God, to bless others and even to bless ourselves and we have that

same power to curse God, curse others, and curse ourselves. When you and I were little,

we've all used that old protective mechanism when some kid on the playground called us

some name, in effect cursing us. Someone said "You're a klutz," or called you "Fatty,"

Or said, You're so stupid!" So we said, sometimes with tears in our eyes, "Sticks and

stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." This cliché is a child's

attempt to release himself from a curse by speaking as if it has no power. The problem is

that curses do have power that is why we feel the need to say anything back to the bully

at all. If name-calling had no power, we'd feel no need for protection by speaking a

cliché. What you and I need to learn is both how to bless others, and we need to learn a

more effective way to break the power of curses in our lives. We need to learn how to

reverse the curse. Let's say this together: Let's reverse the curse.

All of us have experienced the power of words to bless us, or curse us. Proverbs

18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." Proverbs 12:18 says,

"There is one who speaks like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise

promotes health." Particularly powerful in our lives are the words of our fathers and

mothers. Our parents were our first authority figures, and that authority was delegated

directly to them from God. Mothers, your love for your children is essential in passing on

blessings to your children. Because fathers are the priests and leaders of their homes, it is

very important for children to receive their father's blessing. Men, I need you to listen to

me carefully. You have an irreplaceable role in God's economy to bless your sons and

daughters, and all those around you by your words. Take the time, think through how to

bless your children so that they will remember your blessing.

When my elder son Will made a decision to make Jesus the Lord of his life, and

be confirmed in the church when he was 14, I wanted him to know that he had the

father's blessing from the important men in his life. I invited his two grandfathers and

his two godfathers to come to the confirmation where Will gave his testimony. I had all

this videotaped. We had a gathering in our home afterwards where each of these men

took turns and laid our hands on Will and said a blessing over him. Other people shared

prophetic words over him. Because the grandfathers were in their eighties, we also asked

them to say blessings over Sam, my younger son, which we also captured on tape. I was

so proud of my sons, and of the grandfathers, for whom this was new. Reverse the curse

by speaking blessings over your children.

Years ago, we had a neighbor whom I`ll call Sally. Sally was a very thin, had

boundless energy, and was a compulsive exerciser. She was a catholic believer and

prayer warrior. We later learned that she was bulimic. Her story came out that when she

was a girl, she was on the chubby side. Her father often criticized her and raised his

voice at her. He told her she was an overeater, and that if she didn't get serious about it,

she'd always be fat. Children are marvelous recorders of information, but they tend to be

lousy interpreters. Sally internalized that message, and she got serious about it she

became bulimic, binging on food and then purging herself. She found a way to keep

from becoming fat, an unhealthy way. As an adult, when we met her, she still purged,

but now she ate very little, and her health was poor. It was twenty years later that she

finally began to uncover the source of her eating disorder.

The fifth commandment to honor our father and mother is a commandment with a

promise. It says, at Exodus 20:12, "Honor your father and mother, so that you may live

long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." There is a divine blessing that comes

with honoring your parents.

Many of us need to remember the ways our parents blessed us, and to honor them

for it. We can all remember ways in which our parents blessed us. It would be good for us

to speak that thanksgiving out loud. I'd like you to do something. Please stand up now.

Find one person for this little exercise, someone not in your family, of the same sex as

you. Get a partner, and share with them one way your father blessed you, and one way

your mother blessed you. This need not take more than one minute for each of you. Go

ahead and do that now. Share one way your father blessed you, and one way your mother

blessed you.

When you get home today, I want to suggest to parents that we do this with our

children we speak out loud a way in which they bless us.

What do you do when you are cursed? What do you do when someone spreads

lies about you, or does you deliberate harm? Are you free to retaliate by pronouncing a

curse on them? The Bible says, NO, you're not. God wants us never to curse another.

Romans 12:14 says, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." We are to

be instruments of blessing. Teenagers, I know that some of you love sarcastic humor.

Some of us adults do this, too! Be very careful with this. When in doubt, don't. It is so

easy for us to internalize spoken words, even words spoken in jest. Jesus says at

Matthew 12:36 that we will one day give an account for every idle word / every careless

word that we have spoken. This includes words spoken in jest. Why should this be?

Because our words have the power of life or death in them. Choose to speak blessings

and life, not curses and death.

In today's lesson from Deuteronomy, Moses speaks his last word to the Nation of

Israel on Mt. Nebo, just before they are to enter the Promised Land of Canaan. Moses has

been with the people for forty years, and he knows their tendency to wander from the

LORD. Ahead lies both crisis and opportunity a land flowing with milk and honey, but

a land with giants in it that must be conquered through bloody battles. The stakes before

them are very high. In verse 15, Moses sets before them a stark choice: choose to obey

their covenant with Yahweh God, the way of life, prosperity and blessings; or choose

disobedience to God and rebellion, which is the way of death, destruction and curses.

Moses couldn't make the choice for them. He reminds them that the choice they make

would not only affect them, but also the lives of their descendants. In verse 19, Moses

says, "Now choose life, so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the

Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him." The same is true for us today.

Friends, listen carefully: obedience to God brings you to the place of blessing. Repeat

that with me: Obedience to God brings you to the place of blessing. Turn to your

neighbor and tell them that right now.

[Exodus 20 -2nd commandment against idolatry includes Gods curse to the 4th

generation for idolatry, and God's blessing for a thousand generations for faithfulness.

Curses can be generational. Some of us need release from that curse through the blood of

Jesus.]

The good news is that through faith in Jesus Christ, you and I can be released

from any curse. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 3:13 and 14, "Christ has redeemed us

from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, (for it is written, "cursed is

everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the

Gentiles in Christ Jesus..." In this Great Exchange, Christ became a curse for us that

we might receive the blessing. Jesus has opened the way to us for full release. If you

have received the forgiveness of sins through Christ and so are born again, you are

released from the curse of eternal separation from God. Praise God for that! However,

just because you are born again and forgiven does not mean that you do not sin. It does

not mean that others do not sin against you, or that you are protected from all curses that

affect your life here. The Greek word that the Bible translates as "salvation" is sozo, and

it means many things in addition to forgiveness of sins. Sozo is also used to describe

physical healing, of being delivered from demons, and even our ongoing protection and

preservation from evil (2 Timothy 4:18). We do not receive all of these provisions in one

transaction.

Some of us need to reverse the effects of a curse in our lives. It may be a curse

we have spoken over ourselves. I've heard people say, "I'm so stupid!" when they do

something wrong. Friends, many of us live unconsciously under the power of those

words. You are not stupid. You are blood-bought sons and daughters of the King of the

Universe! If you have ever said words like that about yourself, I encourage you to reverse

the curse today, and cancel the power of those words. You do that by saying aloud

something like this: "I'm not stupid. I'm a child of God and God has made me smart and

capable." As an example, and because so many people have struggled with this particular

self-imposed curse, let's say that aloud together. "I'm not stupid. I'm a child of God and

God has made me smart and capable."

Some of us need to reverse the curse that another person has put on us. It may be

the words of your father or mother.

Whatever it may be, you need a simple way to remember how the power of God

can release you from any curse. What you need to do to reverse the curse is the same

process you go through to receive Christ. Repent, Believe, Confess and Receive. Repent

of any rebellion from God that has kept you from the place of blessing. Believe that

Christ broke the power of all curses on the cross by becoming a curse for us, that he has

the power to set you free from any curse. Confession here has several parts. Confess any

sin you may have committed in that curse, including the sin of not forgiving the person

who cursed you. Confess aloud your forgiveness that person. Ask Christ to release you

from every curse in your life, including those that may have come to you from your

ancestors. Then receive. Believe you have received the freedom promised.

(Prayer for release from Blessing or Curse, by Derek Prince p. 196.)

"Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You are the Son of God and the only way to

God; and that you died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead. I give up

all my rebellion and all my sin, and I submit myself to you as Lord. I confess all my sins

before You and ask for your forgiveness especially for any sins that exposed me to a

curse. Release me also from the consequences of my ancestor's sins. By a decision of

my will, I forgive all who have harmed me or wronged me just as I want God to forgive

me. In particular, I forgive... I renounce all contact with anything occult, and I cancel all

Satan's claims against me. Lord Jesus, I believe that on the cross You took on Yourself

every curse that could ever come upon me. So I ask you now to release me from every

curse over my life in your name, Lord Jesus Christ! By faith I now receive my release

and I thank you for it."