Thought for the Day

This verse tells us that the curses that come to someone's life are not by accident; there is a reason behind them. What is a curse? Today, we think of "cursing" as using foul language, profanity, or perhaps, even blasphemous words against God. Our definition usually is synonymous with "swearing." This is a form of cursing, but it is only a small portion of what "curses" mean in the Bible. Cursing in the Bible is not only speaking evil of someone, but evil coming upon someone. If a person is under a curse, according to the Bible, evil has come upon them in some way. Sickness, tragedy, or bad circumstances are occurring in their lives.

There is a reason behind every evil that comes against us, just as there is a reason that birds migrate south in winter and north in the summer. It has long been a mystery as to why the swallows return to certain places each year, like the migration of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano, California. The incredible flight of the swallows happens every spring around the 19th of March to the old Spanish mission located there. Most scientists cannot explain the migration of birds other than to say that it is just a fulfillment of some inner biological destiny. The Bible tells us that God is the one who created the birds and has made them like they are. Therefore, it is God who set up the spiritual laws of cause and effect. When we break them, we reap what we sow. Curses come because of broken spiritual laws. We may not be aware of why some curse or evil has come upon us, but there is a reason. As we seek God for the answer, He will give us the revelation as to not only why, but also the remedy for it.

In today's culture, some Christians have curses operating against them. That is because various occult practices are openly practiced in our societies. Christians need to be freed from curses spoken against them before they were saved, or from curses that have come upon them through involvement in idolatry and witchcraft (Deuteronomy 29:24-28).

Curses can work against Christians if they are in rebellion, out of the will of God, or not walking in faith and love. However, if we are walking where God wants us to walk, a hundred curses against us would just bounce off and would do us no harm. If we have been affected by a curse, the good news is that by accepting Jesus, we can be free from demonic oppression and actually have authority over the devil and his curses, instead of his spirits having power over us and our family. "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10:19).

The story of Balaam and Israel gives us a good example of this principle (Numbers 22). Although Balaam was not an Israelite, he was a prophet of God. The kings of Moab and Midian wanted him to curse the Israelites during the journey from Egypt to Canaan. Elders of those nations offered him what apparently was a lot of money, and he tried to do what their king wanted, but he could not curse them. He tried three times but was unable to do anything, but bless Israel. "How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?" (Numbers 23:8).

Before we are born again, we walk under the law of sin and death; but, after we are regenerated, we are under the law of life in Christ Jesus, who took the curse for us. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14).

How wonderful is our inheritance as Christians! We do not get the evil that should be ours. We all deserve hell, but when we come to Jesus, we get Heaven. We are not under the curse of sickness and death any longer. We now have power over sin through Jesus. The way to break a curse is to repent for whatever involvement has occurred on the enemy's territory and rebuke him from our life.