Bashan Ministries - Curses and cursing

Curses

Cursing

This is a topic I rarely touch on, but it is evident that many wonderful people are misinformed about such things.

Over the years I have met people who were worried that they had been placed under a curse, or are experiencing generational curses, causing them much unnecessary distress.

This page will hopfully set the record straight.

Many Christians say that they have been under demonic attack and I dislike hearing that. The bible speaks of course about evil entities and a kind of warfare, but the real battle is in our minds. This is one reason why scriptures tell us to renew our minds. Many people go about waging spiritual warfare, but Jesus did not tell us to do that. He said that we can cast out evil spirits—if and when we encounter them and that is how He ministered. He did not deliberately seek them out.

Sometimes when He encountered some, they reacted, recognizing Him and they can recognize us. Please consider that when we are born again, we become the temple of the Holy Spirit and as Paul said, Christ is in us. The account of the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19 illustrates that.

Now, there were seven itinerant Jewish exorcists, sons of Sceva the high priest, who took it upon themselves to use the name and authority of Jesus over those who were demonized. They would say, “We cast you out in the name of the Jesus that Paul preaches!” Acts 19:13-14

Please look at my highlighted portions. They did not have a relationship with Jesus and took it upon themselves, trying to use His name like a magic wand or religious formula.

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we force out demons and do many miracles by the power and authority of your name?’ Then I will tell them publicly, ‘I’ve never known you. Get away from me, you evil people.’ Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus did not deny their claims. They were doing what they claimed, but without His authorization and this is what is happening today in many churches. They are doing things Jesus did not ask them to do. For more information on this, the page about qualificationf for priesthood may help. Click here.

What we call the great commission is seen in Matthew 28 does not say a word about evil spirits.

It does not mention building churches and doing the things we do today.

He told us to make disciples, to teach truth, to baptize them and to “observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”.

That word observe is interesting. The Greek word is tēreō and it meas to keep doing the same things, to continue in the same state, to guard and to obey.

He intended for us to keep doing what He did.

Yeshua came and talked with them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim, immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age.”
Matthew 18:18-20

We have that delegated authority today, so “legally speaking” the devil has no claim on us.

My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one. John 10:29-30

Jesus dealt with the sin issue at calvary, but He also executed judgment on the devil and his cronies, totally disarming them and removing their “authority to operate”. Such authority was given to him by Adam.

Jesus, the Second Adam, restored that status. If Adam had such authority and gave it away, it makes me wonder if we too can give it away. I believe we can—if we do not know truth and walk in that truth. All that Adam needed to do was to tell that thing and tell it to get lost and tell Eve not to listen to it.

If you look closely into the Genesis account, God placed him in the garden to guard and protect it. The Hebrew word used is šā·mǎr meaning just that. It also speaks of worship and to function like a watchman. That garden was fenced around with a hedge of thorns to keep something out, but the man let it in.

John said:

The person who keeps on sinning is from the Adversary, because from the very beginning the Adversary has kept on sinning.
It was for this very reason that the Son of God appeared, to destroy these doings of the Adversary. No one who has God as his Father keeps on sinning, because the seed planted by God remains in him. That is, he cannot continue sinning, because he has God as his Father. Here is how one can distinguish clearly between God’s children and those of the Adversary: everyone who does not continue doing what is right is not from God. 1 John 3:8-10

These facts took on greater meaning when the Lord visited me many years ago and started speaking on several matters, one of which was on this topic. He was very angry and I do mean angry! His opening words were, “How dare they? How dare they”.

He was referring to people who were saying that the devil was attacking them and said two things. One was a question, “What have they done that is so important that he singles them out?” He then said that people who say such things are “worshiping the devil by default” saying in essence that “Calvary was not good enough”.

The problem is that although the devil had been defeated, he is still loose pending final judgment. This is why he is able as Peter said, to wander around “as“ or“like” a roaring lion, “Seeking whom he may devour”. Peter did not say that he IS a roaring lion.

Nevertheless, he is able to probe and test, looking for a weakness in someone and exploits that. He looks for displays of the flesh and knows when we are disobedient to God. The simple remedy if not to let him find anything in us to give him permission to operate and we are well able to do that. In simple terms, do not give the devil something to work with. Ensure that our armour that Paul spoke of in Ephesians 6 is worn at all times and that we know the truth by God’s word. We can do what James said—resist him.

This brings me to the question, “Can a Christian be cursed?” A quick glib answer is, “No”, but I shall qualify that. Are such things real? The answer is yes. It is a matter of authority. Jesus has all that authority, so the devil has none. He only has what we allow him to have. If we wonder why the world in such a mess, the simple answer is that people give it to him. Adam did!

All of us have been created as a free-willed spirit being. We make a choice to give our allegiance to Jesus who has all authority spiritually as an act of our will, or giving that authority to satan in the form of accepting wrong thinking, wrong beliefs, willful and continual disobedience and such. When people give their authority to the devil, he can use their own authority against them. What you see in the world is the cumulative effect of generations and sometimes whole nations who have given their authority to him, which he has used to oppress millions upon millions, generation after generation, sometimes for centuries.

Once we have given our authority to Christ, we become one with His authority, which is why He said those who believe in His name will use His name to cast out demons, lay hands on the sick and see them recover etcetera. Anyone why says things like that have passed away is denying the truth of Jesus’words, or calling Him a liar. That is taking sides with the devil.

No Christian is subject to anyone’s witchcraft curse. If however, we believe we are subject to demons or a curse, we are legally giving them our authority and they may use that against us. The sins of your dead or living relatives can’t affect you if you will rise up in your authority to reject them. If they are generational curses, those things were broken when you repented and made Jesus the Lord of your life and like our past sins, wiped away and erased by the blood of Jesus.

We are not immune from temptation but should not be afraid of it. Jesus was tempted, but did not succumb. We talk of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, but sum them up in two areas of the flesh and enticement. Jesus was hungry and that was the flesh that was perfectly natural. Satan tried to entice Him to turn the stones into bread. Jesus came to show us who He is and that was in the flesh and was perfectively acceptable, because He was the Son of God in the flesh. Satan tried to entice Him to prove it. Jesus came to save mankind and restore the world’s governments to God and that was in the flesh. The enticement was to misuse Jesus’ authority and bypass God’s plan so that He could rule on the earth, but give the worship to the devil.

Remember that the evil spirits may observe us, so that may know any weaknesses and try to exploit them.

We must have an honest conversation with ourselves about how our flesh likes sin. Once you know yourself honestly, then you can fight temptation. You can’t fight a temptation or a demon if you and the demons know you really want that sin. You will lay down your authority every time until you learn to value your fellowship with God more than you value that sin.

No Christian should ever be afraid of the devil, but if a Christian has been taught in error that we are to pray against the devil, they might draw unwarranted attention to themselves. Why do that? It is said that we should not wave a red flag at a bull. I do not know if that is true or not, but the idea is that we get that bull’s attention and he then charges.

Smith Wigglesworth was ministering in a city and woke during the night to see a dark shadowy figure standing at the foot of his bed. He said that he bound the thing, commanded it to leave “in the Name of Jesus” and prayed much, but it remained there. In the morning, that thing turned out to be a raincoat hanging on a coat hanger on the door. Many Christians could be Praying like that, shadow boxing and going nowhere.

If we are properly taught to obey Jesus by using His name correctly, we can live demon-free, no matter the devil’s plans. The temptations in life are the devil’s efforts to get you to give him your authority in that area, so he can use your authority against you. He lives in the darkness and light always overcomes light.

Darkness is nothing literally. It doesn’t exist as a ‘thing’ because it is merely the absence of light. We may think that darkness is advancing, but in reality it cannot exist in the presence of light. In reality darkness comes when light retreats. If we allow the light in us to retreat, darkness can come.

Jesus did not command us to make our light shine—He told us to LET it shine.

Think of a vacuum. Can you measure it? Not really, but we can measure air pressure. A vacuum is a lack of air pressure. Air will fill that vacuum just as much as light dispels darkness.

We can measure brightness, using instruments and obtain figures in lux, lumens, foot-candles etcetera but I challenge you to be able to measure darkness.

Those bad things may be able to get into our lives—but only if we let the light in us retreat.

Evil doesn’t exist as a ‘thing’ that can be measured. Evil is the absence of Good. It is the absence of God in any given situation. It is the rejection of all that is God. Only good can be measured. To explain that, consider what Jesus said about faith. He spoke of little faith, great faith and no faith, so in that sense, faith and goodness can be measured. Evil is a comparison against the degree of good.

We can stand up and exert our “good”—Christ in us and not give in to fear and intimidation. We are one with Him. When we submit to God and resist the devil, according to James, he will flee for us.

John said:

Beloved ones, do not believe every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of Elohim, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
By this you know the Spirit of Elohim: Every spirit that confesses that יהושׁע Messiah has come in the flesh is of Elohim,and every spirit that does not confess that יהושׁע Messiah has come in the flesh is not of Elohim. And this is the spirit of the anti-messiah which you heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
You are of Elohim, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:1-4

I hope this has been of assistance.

Shalom,

Robert