Friday 26 January 2018

The Accursed Thing


Scripture: Joshua 7 v 11-13: "Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
 12  Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
 13  Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you."

Joshua is busy conquering the tribes that dwelt in the Promised Land. After the death of Moses the mantle of responsibility for Israel's progress into the Land was laid on his shoulders.  Along the way one of their number, Achan, had disobeyed the Lord by taking an idol of the spoils of an enemy tribe and hiding it in his belongings.

The next battle is against Ai, a small tribe, and Joshua decides to send a smaller force of 2000 - 3000 men to deal with them. To his shock and dismay Israel is decisively beaten and he falls to the ground weeping before the Ark of God trying to discover why the power of God had deserted them on the battlefield. 

The Lord has no pity for him and says that Israel have sinned and taken a cursed thing into their midst and because of this they had no power against their enemies.

The Lord says that disobedience ties His hands and He has made it very clear in His Word and dealings with Israel and with us that if we obey Him He withholds nothing from us but if we disobey Him a curse blocks us from receiving His blessings.

Do we have something in our possession that the Lord frowns on? If we are unable to overcome  problems in our lives we must ask the Lord to show us if we have hidden an accursed thing in our homes or if we have been disobedient or sinned in some way. 

Strange idols include African carvings - especially masks, drums or heads;  all pornography; illegal drugs; statues of Buddha, Hindu, Jesus, Mary, or Joseph. Books of the Occult, Mormon Bible, DvD's of witchcraft and occult related content.  Music cd's of Heavy Metal or Death Metal; Trance, most Rap have very dark lyrics and music with serious deep base tones. 

Lucifer, before he became Satan, was known as the one whose entire being was created in a musical dimension. It is one of his most constant influences on the human race. When Lucifer fell the whole spectrum of music fell with him. He wants us in trance so he can control our minds and emotions in areas of drugs, sex, rape and violence. Think on these things.

Ezekiel 28 v 13: "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."  Lucifer knows how to make an entrance covered in jewels and music to lure the unwary.

When our family or finances or health is under stress seek and destroy the accursed thing that is blocking the Lord's blessing from our lives.  We may be unaware of this problem area so we need to ask the Lord's help.

In my case the Lord sent a lovely Christian into my home who rooted out books, ornaments, even an innocent looking ice bucket, that all went up in flames and restored peace and harmony to our home.  Then the pastor and some members of the church came to pray dedication of our home to the Lord.  

To our intense surprise the very next day, the little black ants that had infested the whole house, streamed out of every room like tributaries and made one long river of ants marching out of the front door, never to return!  Back then there were no videos on phones to record this ant exodus but whatever accursed thing had been destroyed, the tormenting insects had to go.

Jesus wants us to live the abundant life, a life of complete satisfaction with our lot.  He wants to help us achieve our very best by clearing out anything that creates unseen problems for us.  Ask Him to walk with you through your home and show you whatever things may be disturbing your peace.  

I did this with a dear cousin not long ago and she had been given some furniture made by Freemasons, plus she had some carved African heads and a few other things in her home.  She also had a troubling heart condition.  She obediently got rid of the offending items plus a few other things that suddenly irritated her.  It took a little while but her heart problem is now healed.  I knew about the furniture because it had belonged to my mother who had died of a heart ailment.  How great and merciful is our God.

In the verses from Joshua 7 the Lord says that if we have these accursed things in our "baggage" we have no strength to stand against our enemies.  Our prayers have no power against disease, financial attack, oppression on our children, lack of spiritual growth.  I have found that the hardest sentimental item to let go of, is the thing that has cursed you most.

1 John 5 v 21 : "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen."

Deuteronomy 7 v 25 -26: "The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
 26  Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing."

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, forgive me for hiding the accursed thing in my goods. Cleanse my home, family, car, office and life of this evil and wash me in the Blood of the Lamb.   Teach me to discern good and evil before I allow anything to come into the place You have cleansed.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.