SPEAKER_00 0:02

Let's get into the Word of God. Today I want to talk about just some studying that I've been doing and just some revelation that the Lord uh kind of gave me uh over the last few weeks, and I just want to talk about it a little bit today. I want to talk about a topic that we we say as generational curses. Raise your hand if you believe in generational curses. Okay. All right. Well, according to Focus on the Family, a generational curse is the belief that negative patterns, traumas, behaviors, or hardships are passed down through multiple generations of a family. While traditionally viewed as a spiritual punishment or demonic bondage, modern psychology and sociology recognize it as learned behavioral habits, trauma responses, and environmental conditioning. The first mention of generational curses in the in the Word of God is in Exodus. Exodus chapter 20, beginning in verse 1, it says, And the Lord spoke these words. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven, above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters below. You shall not you shall not bow down to worship, uh bow down to them or worship them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. There's a couple other ones here in Exodus chapter 34. It says, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children for their uh punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. This is a super solid family Sunday message, amen. Numbers 14, 18, and the Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children for the sin of their parents to the third and fourth generation. And then again in Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 9, you shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Now these uh are the scriptures that when we generally think about a generational curse, these are the scripture uh that we would all we generally point to, uh, and they're primarily referring to idolatry. And uh it's more of a punishment uh really than a curse. Um when we look at the definition uh that I just read a few moments ago from Focus on the Family, uh for the most part it's a passing on of negative patterns or behavior, um, such as abuse of behavior, alcoholism, or drug abuse. When that's kind of in our lives, kind of some of the things uh that we tend to think about. But as believers, and I believe this with all my heart, as believers, we oftentimes want to protect uh those of our children, our grandchildren from these patterns of the past. I think uh when I think about my life, like there's certain things in my life that I desperately want to protect uh my children from and my grandchildren, uh, Lord willing, someday, uh, from as well. So uh believe that we live in a culture uh in a time and space where it's really easy for us uh to blame certain things in our lives on our parents or on other people that uh have been in our lives that have gone before us and and we can just kind of blame them. Well, I'm this way because of my dad, or I'm this way because of my mom, or I'm this way because of this or that. Um and I definitely believe that there are certain things that are passed down uh behaviors, particularly uh that we we grab hold of. Um and I definitely believe that that is true. I also believe that we are dealt different cards uh growing up. Some of us were born into a prosperous family, some of us maybe not so lucky in that regard, uh, different family situations, different things uh that just we're dealt a different hand. And um I believe that that is absolutely true, certain advantages and disadvantages uh based on the home that we were born into or the family that we were born into. But today I want to challenge kind of the idea of that generational curse as we think about it. Um, just because something happened uh before me doesn't necessarily have to be the life that I have. Amen. That's doesn't or or choose. Um, as I was thinking about my own upbringing, um, I was really uh kind of started processing some things, and one of the things I had kind of thought about before, and one of the other things I hadn't really thought much about, um, I was kind of thinking about uh and on a positive note, like uh I'm the very first person in my and I listen I have a I have a tree. You think about family tree, I got one, and it's got so many branches and sprigs, and you would think there's I think there's multiple trees that you know must connect underground by the root system or something, because there's stuff going on all over the place. I mean, I'm learning at 40 years old that I've got an uncle that's my age, like I didn't even know these people existed, you know, and and so there's all kinds of stuff going on that I didn't know about. Um, but I was the first person in my tree that I know of that went to college. Of of all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, you know, even extended out from there. I was the very first person uh who went to college. And the college isn't the beat all to end all. I love college, I appreciate college, I want my kids to go to college, I want them to do well and all that great stuff in life. Um but you know, that's not the beat all to end all, is it? But I was we encouraged our children to give it a go and give it a try. And so um, so that's a that's a good thing. I also, when I was really just sitting down and processing and and thinking about uh my family, and and I was like started thinking about some of the things that are, you know, not great things that that can happen in life. And divorce is one of those things uh that can certainly happen in life. And I was really thinking about my own family tree, and as I was looking, like just kind of like looking down each branch, I was like, holy cow, like my biological father left uh our house when I was born, and my mom and he got divorced. Uh my mom met my dad uh when I was two years old, and she married him and uh after knowing him for two weeks, and I I don't recommend it, but it worked out really, really well for them. Um but uh they knew each other two weeks, got married, and and were married all those years. And I and I said this earlier, my mom you know, they my mother and father were never apart, ever. Like ever. And I I I jokingly say this is probably why my dad's such a mess right now, is because he leaned so much on my mom. They were always together. But so my mom, you know, and my biological father were divorced. Uh both of my siblings were divorced, my both of them, all my grandparents all divorced, all of my aunts and uncles all divorced, cousins divorced. Like, it's I'm like the only person, and we just you know, we it's just not gonna be a part of our life, you know, and we we made that decision a long, long time ago. I tell I jokingly say this all the time. If Julie tries to leave me, I'm going with her. And so it's just not an option. It's just not an option. It never has been, it never will be. Um, but uh, you know, we we break that curse. Amen. We break that. And I rebuke all of that thing, all that stuff, and that's not it's just not gonna be a part of my my story um going going forward. It's riddled with divorce and dysfunction. Um and I, you know, I definitely believe that those types of patterns and things can exist in families and in lives. Um I look at these verses in Exodus and we point uh to it in relation to general curses. I I believe especially as it uh, you know, all those they really are a product of the idolatry of really just uh worshiping things, worshiping stuff. And I don't know that they were necessarily curses more than they were um uh punishments, that the Lord was like, you know, you're not doing right, and here's the punishment for it. Um we look at those scriptures, and I think it's it's really interesting that what we generally do when we read these scriptures here, like in Exodus chapter 20, verse uh five, we say, You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. And what we do in this country when we study the Word of God is we stop there. Right? We we see that, we say, Oh, yeah, he's gonna punish, this is the deal, and we don't keep reading. Right? And it's not even a period. There's a comma. But then when you read, continue to read, it says, But showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. And all of us should say amen to that. Because we have a choice. I have a choice in my life if I'm gonna continue down the patterns and behaviors that were me that were shown to me before me, or if I'm gonna change. And if I'm gonna change those patterns and behaviors that I have witnessed in my life and make it make a change. I I you could, you know, you just gotta keep reading. I think that's our problem when we read the word of God is we we see something and we study it, and then it's like that's not awesome, and then we stop. But this whole book, it's just like the book of Judges, we're like, it's the the cycle of woe, and it's a cycle of ugly, and it's a cycle of mess, and all these things. It just continues, great things, bad things, right? But one thing that I love about the book of Judges is whenever there's a negative thing, just keep reading because you know what? It comes back, and there's hope, and the Lord gives them hope. Even when they're messing up, even when they're doing stupid stuff, the God gives them away, and we have that same opportunity in our lives. I also love how it's worded in in some of the scripture that we read earlier in Exodus chapter 34 and Numbers chapter 14. It says, in court uh in Numbers chapter 14, verse 19, it says, In accordance with the great love, with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now. The Lord replied, I have forgiven them as you asked. And then again in Exodus chapter 34, verses eight and nine, it says, Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped. Lord, he said, I have found it uh if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin and take us with your inheritance. You know what I love about that is the people had Moses, and Moses went before the Lord, and he he was their advocate, and he went for them, and he said, I know they're a he didn't even pull punches. He's like, They're stiff-necked, they're messed up, they're doing this and they're doing that. But Lord, if I have found favor at all with you, please forgive them. And the Lord, you know what I love about the Lord is he is faithful and just to forgive every single time. Aren't you glad that you've had people in your corner? Raise your hand if you've ever had somebody in your corner that has helped you, has worked for you, has has got we have Jesus, amen. And he is he is in heaven right now. He's our advocate, and he is going before the Lord. Uh, every time I mess up, he's like, he messed up again. And it Lord, and he and he said, But by the blood of Jesus, amen, I'm forgiven each and every single time. And so I love that I've had even people on this earth that have gone, have been my advocate, have that have prayed for me. Here Moses is praying, he's going to the Lord and he's requesting, you know, favor, and he's calling upon the faithfulness of God to do that. And we have that same thing in this world, in our fleshly world, that we have the same thing. I'm so thankful. You know, one of the things that I love uh so much is that when someone comes to me and just says, I've been praying for you, I'm praying for you. Man, it means the world to me. There's no greater thing. I I used to say the dumbest thing. I would say that someone would ask me to pray, I'd be like, Oh, that's the least I can do. You know, I'd be like, Oh, that's the least I can do. I'll pray for you. No problem. You know, but that's like the most important thing you can possibly do for someone is to pray for them. I had to reprogram my mind several years ago on that. And just like, no, that's dumb. That's the dumbest thing you could ever say to somebody. They are asking you to pray, and you're saying that's the least I can do. No big deal. You know, I'll offer this prayer. But it's the most important thing that we can do for someone. And the the the the coolest thing is is I had people praying for me, and it's still they pray for me. I had a lady that messaged me this week and said she was standing in a parking lot and a receipt hit her foot, and she said she looked at it, it said parlor donuts, and she said, I'm just gonna pray for Pastor James. I was like, Well, I'll take them how I can get them. Amen. I'll take them how I can get them. If it's a piece of garbage floating on the ground and it makes you think of me, more power to you. I don't care. Just pray for me. I need it, I appreciate it. But I'm so thankful that there was someone that prayed for me. And I always point here because right here is where I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I remember when I got up, there was one person, a couple people, uh, but one person in particular were sitting right there, and that was Nancy Van Hoos, and she was praying for me, and she was sitting right there. And after that was over with, she came to me and she was tears in her eyes, and she said, I've been praying for you your whole life, and I didn't even know your name. And I'm so thankful. I mean, I who knows where I would be and what would be going on if it be it not for the prayers of a righteous woman. Amen named Nancy Van Hoos, who prayed for me. I had to come to this determination, and and I'm not here to get into my testimony today. Many of you know my testimony and the things that I've been through in my life, but at some point in my life I had to decide that I wasn't gonna let anyone, what they've done to me, or who they have been, or hurting anyone that I love, I cannot allow anyone to dictate how my story ends. And I had to make that decision in my own life that I'm I just refuse to allow anyone to tell me how my story ends. And so we have choices, amen, that we can make. And and I there's people like I mean I could point down the down that family tree line so far down and be pointing and pointing fingers, like, this is why I'm so messed up. It's because of you and you and you and you. But to what end? Because it's some choice. I have to make a make this stand on my own two feet and say that listen, I refuse to allow anyone's actions to determine where I end up. Exodus chapter 20, verse 6 says this, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. I love that. Amen. Because we have a choice. We have a choice to make. I want to talk today a little bit here briefly about a king by the name of Josiah. And his story is told in uh 2 Kings and in 2 Chronicles. Uh the Bible tells us that Josiah came from a long line of kings. We know that his grandfather was a man by the name of Manasseh. And in 2 Kings chapter 21, beginning in verse 1, it says this Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 55 years. His mother's name was Hepzeb. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations of the Lord, that the nations of the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He also erected altars to Baal and made an asheropole, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshipped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem I will put my name. In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to the starry hosts. He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spirits, spirit spirituses. He said, uh, he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. It goes on to say that he committed detestable acts. When you think of the other things, and then it goes on to say he committed detestable acts on top of that, including the shedding of innocent blood. And Second Chronicles says that Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil, more evil, than the nations that the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. That's not good. Not a very good guy, but not a very good king. And that was Manasseh. That was his grandfather. And so then you think, okay, who's next? Well, it's it's Josiah's father. And his his uh name was Amon. And 2 Kings chapter 21, beginning in verse 19, says this Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother's name was Mashulamath, daughter of Heruz. She was from Jotbeth, and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord as his father Manasseh had done. He followed completely the ways of his father, worshipping the idols his father had worshipped and bowing down to them. He forsook the Lord, uh the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him. Right? That doesn't sound like a very good guy. We're not off to a very good start here with Manessa and then with Amon. Second Chronicles goes on to say that Amon increased his father's guilt. So whatever we thought of Manessa, Amon took it a step further. He was even worse than his father. Not the line that you would want to, if you could pick your line of uh family, maybe not the two uh most uh uh great people to look at, to to want to emulate. Amon was so bad that his own officials conspired to kill him. And they did. Which brings us to Josiah. In 2 Chronicles chapter 34, it says this Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 31 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. Is there anyone eight years old here? Is it anyone like eight? Marshawn is, but he's not here. All right. You got an eight? Come here. Come here if you're eight. Greg's nine. Daniel, I wanted actual age, not mentality. Come on up. Yes. I do love you, Daniel. So you're eight years old. Could you imagine in your wildest dreams being king? You can. So this picture. Picture this. Come over here. Can you preach the rest of the sermon with me? You can? Alright. I love this today. You know what I loved about this morning during worship? Over here, the only two people that came to the altar were two little guys over here. And then these two princesses danced all during worship. Alright? That's amazing. Do you guys want to come up too? Come on. Look at these two. Oh, those are little mini mouse dresses. I didn't even notice. I noticed stuff like that. I have three girls. Everyone used to say, Did you see this movie in that movie? I was like, I don't know, does it have a princess in it? They're like, Nope. I was like, I haven't seen it. All right, can you guys just stand up here with me for a few minutes? All right. So you are Josiah, and you have just been named king. And so you have this opportunity, you have this incredible opportunity. And there's something really subtle that happens here in this scripture that if you're not paying attention, you wouldn't even notice. Do you remember? You were probably back there paying so much attention that you will know the answer to this so quickly. But do you remember what uh Josiah's father's name was?

unknown 20:32

Amon.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Amon, that is exactly correct. And so Amon was his father. But what does the scripture say here? It said he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father, David. It doesn't say Amon, it says David. So what do you think is cool about that? He had not great examples, did he? The kings that were before him that were his his daddy and his grandfather, they were maybe not the best examples of people that you want to follow if you want to do right. So what did what did Josiah do? Josiah decided that he wasn't gonna look to his father, and he wasn't gonna look to his grandfather. He went down his family line and he found someone by the name of David, King David. And it says he did what David did. He followed in his example, and so that's what I think is so cool. And I and I'm just I'm not even gonna worry about my notes anymore because I just think that's great to have you guys up here with me. And so what is so amazing about that is we have that same opportunity. I look, you got Reggie back there and Rhonda, and there, I mean, you got examples to follow, right? Give me some. All right, and so you got great examples to follow. But we all have maybe stuff in our lives that maybe that it's not the best example. And but I love what Josiah did. Josiah decided that he wasn't gonna look at his father and he wasn't gonna look at his grandfather. He wanted to make change in his life, so he decided go ahead, dance along. I don't care. And he wanted to have change in his life, so he found someone in his family tree. That knew how to do it and knew how to do it right. And he said, David, he did it, and he did it right. And I'm going to follow him and I'm going to do what David did. And we all have that same opportunity and same chance in our lives. I've I may have created a monster. I don't even know. Um up here. But I'm just so thankful that Josiah made that choice. It the scripture says he did right what was in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. And it says in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek God, the God of his father David. And in the twelfth year, he began to purge Judah. So what did he do? He decided if I'm going to follow David, I got to get rid of all this other stuff. All this nonsense that my dad did, all this nonsense that my grandfather did, I'm going to make a decision to reverse that. I titled my message Reverse the Curse. I don't even know if I don't even know how what I believe about curses. You know, I believe that there's stuff that happens, but I have a choice that I'm not going to follow that road. And so we all have that choice, don't we? We all have the choice to make our own decisions and make our own way. And that's what Josiah did. He decided, I'm going to follow the ways of David. And he started tearing down all those altars. He started tearing down all those poles. He started tearing down all that stuff because he wanted to do right in the eyes of the Lord. And so then what did he do? Then he wanted to restore the temple. He said, he decided he wanted, we got to get the God's home back. And so they go in, they're fixing it, and they they need the fun, the money. And so they go back, they get the money, and they're going to take it to um uh and so he'll uh he'll oh gosh, his name just went out of my brain. Hilkiah. Uh he sent Hilkiah, the priest, his his official, to go to the temple to get the money. And when he gets there, he uh they had found something else. They found the book of the law. And so what does Hilkiah do? Hilkiah takes that book of the law, he takes it, and he begins to read that to Josiah, and he's telling Josiah. And Josiah, when he was hurt hearing the word of God, he he was so sad, he tore his his clothes and he decided, like, we've got to make change. And so then he sent uh he sent uh Hilkiah to talk uh to Hopa, who I'd never even heard of until this week. I I find it so interesting, and I said this in the early service, and I'll just get myself in trouble by saying it again, but I'm going to, I don't care. Um, but you you I've been all on Facebook this week, and I see the Southern Baptist Conference, and they're all tore up about women and what their roles is in the church, and I'm like, well, here's here's Hopa, and and she was good enough that she was over the whole nation. And they took advice from the whole nation from her. So I don't know. You can process that yourself. Um, we we certainly believe Julie, she can just preach it up. Man, I don't care what anybody says. And so you can say all you want. But he but this is what happened. Hope he hope tells uh him, like, yeah, Israel's been bad, and the stuff that's been said is gonna happen. You know, there's gonna be disaster that's gonna hit the hit the nation of Israel. But because, Josiah, because you have done right, you will rest in peace. You're gonna die someday, you're gonna and but you will rest in peace uh with the great kings of Israel. And what an amazing story. And it all happened because he made a choice. Amen. A choice to change. And I want to say this. I'm not here today to discount anything you've been through. I'm not here today to say that it didn't happen. I'm not here to today to say that it didn't hurt you or your family. I'm not here to say any of those things. But what I am saying is that we have to get to a point in our lives where we will not blame those things from taking us to the destiny that God has for us. At some point, we have to make that choice. You guys are gonna remember this sermon for one reason. And I'll do it every week. If I have to have little girls come up and dance to get your attention, that's all I'm all for it. Here's why this is important. Here's why it's important because it's not just about you. If you make the change in your life, it can and will affect the future. What happened next was after he had heard that word, after uh Hilkiah came back and told him, then Josiah, he gathered all the people from the least to the greatest, is in his inner court and everybody else. And he had every single one of those people come. And he went out, and you know what he did? He read the book. He read the book and renewed the covenant that he had with the Lord, and all the people did the same. This is why this is important. That would have been around 609, uh 609 BC. Around 605 BC, something happened in Israel. The Babylonians came in, and they they took them, took them away. And so, what I know that I know, which what probably happened? Probably not tag right now. You can play tag in just a minute. I'm almost done. Okay? And I'll tell you what, I'll I'll find some people to play tag with you. Okay? Deal, you gonna hold my hand for a second? All right, let's do it. All right, and so here's why it's important. This is why it's important. Because there would have been some people that would have been in that in that group that day when Josiah was renewing the covenant, and when Josiah was talking to the people about the goodness of God, there would have been some young people there because we know that they were of noble birth, and they know we know that they would have been involved there, maybe perhaps even in the house of the king. And their names are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. We know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And those young men and Daniel would have most certainly been in that congregation that day, hearing of the covenant, that that of rededicating the covenant to the Lord, hearing about the goodness of God. They would have heard those things that day. And then when they were, okay, and then when they were taken away, what did we what did they do? Because we know these stories. When they were under intense persecution, what did they do? They stood strong. They stood strong for the Lord. Today is the day. Come on up. Today is the day. Stand to your feet. This thing's over. And I'm fine with it. Any other kids want to come up? Every kid come up. If you want to come up, I'm gonna pray for you. Listen, you're the one that started this whole thing when you came to the altar and started praying. Amen? How are you? Where are my kids? Get up here. Thank you, Jordan. The decisions that each and every one of us make today affect these guys. They do. The decisions that I make today affect these guys. There were three, and now there's two. The other one was here. Oh, she went to alright. It's okay. Come on out. These are my two of my beautiful girls. You are supposed to applaud when I say that. But the decisions that I make in my life affect these guys. Now they're embarrassed. Praise the Lord. But we have the choice, amen, to change. To change our lives, and when we change our lives, it affects those people around us. So I I want to pray over these over these young people today. I want to pray over you today. I pray, again, I I said this. I would never ever want to discount anything you've ever been through. But I'm here today to say this. You have a choice to make if you're gonna let that affect you the rest of your life, or if we're gonna make a change so that we can fulfill what the Lord has for each and every one of us to do. Amen. Let's pray for these guys. Dear Lord, I just thank you for each and every one. Point your hands up here at all these babies and kids. Dear Lord, we just thank you for each and every one of them. I'm so blessed, Lord, to stand in front of this congregation every single week, God. And I know that you have huge plans in store for every one of these young people. That if they came up on this platform or if they're still in their seats, or maybe they're in the nursery or wherever they may be today, Lord, I pray, God, that you would bless them. I pray that you would use them in a great and mighty way, Lord. I pray that whatever I pray the protection over them, that they don't have to go through the things that some of us have been through, Lord, that you would protect them in an awesome way, in an incredible way, Lord. I pray that you would show your face in each and every one of their lives, Lord. And I pray over our congregation, Lord. I pray over each and every hurt. I pray over each and every thing that negative, ugly thing that this world has thrown at uh at people that are here today, Lord, and maybe watching online or maybe watching at a different time. Lord, I pray over them. And I pray you, Lord, that you would send your Holy Spirit to them. I pray, Lord, for peace over their situations. I pray for life over their situations. I pray, God, that you would give them hope and show them hope that can only come through you, Lord. Fill those empty, vacant spaces in their lives of hurt and fill them with you. And we just thank you, Lord, for it. God, I pray, Lord, that the Lord would bless you, that he would keep you, that he would make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. I pray that the Lord would lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And I love the last part. I place the name of Jesus on you, the name above all names, Lord. I place the name of Jesus upon everyone that can hear my voice, that he will bless you. May the house of God say amen. Amen. God bless you and have an awesome.