ARE YOU CURSED? I DON’T THINK SO!
Pastor Bankie
Many times I see people who tell me they had or have Typhoid fever. I laugh most of the times and tell the people simply, “you don’t have Typhoid, and believe me, you don’t want to have Typhoid.” What the persons have most of the time which they call Typhoid fever is nothing more than an improperly treated attack of malaria or simply, a flu. A lot of times the people have nothing more than fatigue disturbing them. Their so-called Typhoid was diagnosed by poorly done tests, which even if properly done does not diagnose the disease. I am yet to see one person among these whose typhoid was properly diagnosed by the correct test. It is all ignorance. (I know the disease exists, and I have seen many, but most people are not so afflicted who think so in this part of the world).
Please I am not now talking Medicine, but I wish to say it is the same principle that I see when it comes to curses. Many Christians go about complaining that they have a curse working in their lives; when you asked them why they think so, they tell you about their numerous problems, as if problems are only found with accursed people. When I hear the problems I laugh. A man told me his things have been getting missing. Many would tell you that the last three ladies they proposed to turned them down. Yet others feel like the repeated failures in their lives is due to an ancestral curse. While I admit that curses do exist (and I have seen truly cursed people), the truth is that I am yet to see any of these complaining people show me what is happening to them that blessed people have not experienced. Please read the following portion of the Bible and take a lesson.
“Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.” 1 Cor 10:13 TEV
Hey, even blessed people have had those disappointments! Read the story of one of them here.
“23 They say they serve Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in jail more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24 Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled many weary miles. I have faced danger from flooded rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the stormy seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be Christians but are not. 27 I HAVE LIVED WITH WEARINESS AND PAIN AND SLEEPLESS NIGHTS. OFTEN I HAVE BEEN HUNGRY AND THIRSTY AND HAVE GONE WITHOUT FOOD. Often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.” 2 Cor 11:23-27 NLT
Talk about difficulty! This guy must have been cursed and must have been serious a sinner! Oh no; this was Paul the great apostle, and he was describing why he said boldly that he was a more determined servant of God than many other people. His problems were a sign of his apostleship.
Wao!
Hey, what do I see here? Blessed people and those who are serving God may have problems. It is not necessarily the sign of a curse.
Look, life is hard and we must overcome it. Life is not hard only for the man who is cursed. The fact that life can be hard is the reason why Jesus promises His reward only to the overcomer. Why should He talk about overcomers if things will not be tough?
The promises of God for your life are real, but there are many obstacles and adversaries on the way to your receiving them.
“…the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize — a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].” Matt 11:12 AMP
Problems are not a sign of a curse for the believer in Christ; they are signs that we have work to do in overcoming.
This curse matter has become a cheap excuse for many people’s laziness and walk in ignorance. They lack skill, are lazy, practise poor accounting and cannot control their appetites. Worse, they are unfaithful and undependable. When they fail in their businesses and their ministries, they blame witches and curses. Only a sinner is under a curse and not the person who believes in Jesus.
Come out from under these cheap excuses and face life and succeed.
Peter Daniels is an extremely wealthy Christian man today; he is in his 70s. After he gave his life to Christ as a young man, the first three or so businesses he started went bankrupt. No, he did not interpret it as a curse, not a near-miss or almost-there syndrome; he saw those things as learning processes and a reflection of the fact that he was yet to discover the place of his strength. He found that place in Real Estate business and from there he moved into diverse things. Even his children now are millionaires. Many of us would rather start a process of deliverance, praying all night and sowing seeds that are supposed to break the yoke. Ignorance!
A Christian can have challenges; it is not a sign of a curse!
There are 3 sources of 'problems' in the life of the believer.
1. Ignorance. This can be as it affects any of the parts of the word of God (promises, precepts, commandments, etc).
2. The just recompense of reward for disobedience (breaking of divine order and commandments)
3. The trial of faith.
(for more on this sources of 'problems' in the life of the believer, listen to the message “We have overcome – 4. What the devil wants in your life”)
The devil does not have the power over your life that you think he has. He is a defeated foe. Apart from tempting you to walk in sin and to continue your self-deception of thinking you are cursed, there is little else he can do.
Get up and face your challenges in life; if you will arise, you will discover that His grace is sufficient. The fact that you failed many times in the past is in keeping with righteousness. Proverbs 24:16 says, “…a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again.”
Who is a righteous person?
It is the one who has believed in Christ Jesus. It is that faith that moves you into the righteousness of God. Your sins, as a believer, have been washed by the blood of Jesus.
Are you are a believer in Christ?
Then get up and go; you are not cursed!
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