BREAKING THE CURSES

What I understand about Generational curses:   They come from spirits that have attached themselves to your family and perpetuated for generations. They latch on to you because of those before you who opened the door and let them in, or didn't put them out. They are behaviors you have because that's all you've ever seen.  They are behaviors you don't have because you've never seen them.

Being overweight is NOT the generational  curse but the problem is the way your family eats.  You didn't inherit the weight, you inherited the behavior that causes the weight.  You didn't inherit financial instability and poverty, you inherited the behavior that produces it. 

I think we're making a lot more hoopla out of the so-called curses and still not paying attention the root of the issues. As you open your mouth and break the curse, you will find yourself changing the behaviors that give you the negative outcomes. The problem is not in the branches that we see sticking out in the open, (multiple bankruptcies, foreclosures, 3 or 4 marriages, a family full of high school dropouts, etc).  The problem is the root. Breaking the curse isn't like cutting off branches that will only grow back. Breaking the curse is pulling the problem  up at the roots. 

Those invisible brick walls you keep running into were passed down to you through your family via mentality or habits that create them. Open your mouth and tear them down. You're not destined to be poor, unsuccessful, depressed, unhappy, financially unstable. Let not your identity be that of who you are related to but who you belong to, Jesus!  He breaks every chain.  He breaks every curse.  He overrides what was passed down to you, to reveal the core of who He created you to be.

If I determined my identity simply by who I’m related to, I can immediately create a list of things I will NEVER overcome…because it’s just the way I am, or have always been, or the way my family has always been.  But I have discovered that as I begin to say to God that I surrender to HIM and ask Him to teach me who I am in HIM my whole life begins to shift.  As I speak and decree that every generational curse is broken, every hindering and preventive spirit is rendered powerless in my life, my mindset begins to adjust to line up with what I’m speaking. Your mindset is directly attached to, or actually develops and shapes your behavior, and lifestyle.  As you resist that lifestyle and submit to life as God wills, your mindset begins to change, and as your mindset changes, your life changes.

For example, as you come against the generational curses of poverty, and financial instability, that have run amuck in your family line you'll begin to see the demise of the “don’t care”, “oh well”, “whatever”, “I’ll deal with it later” attitudes you've always had about money and finances.  Not only do you begin see clearly what to do, (because we all know what we should be doing) but now as you have submitted to God’s will and identity, He works in you both to will and to DO of His good pleasure. As your mindset changes, your behavior changes, and the curse, the cycle, is broken.

It’s not always about a family who has a string of failed marriages, teen pregnancies, bankruptcies, physical abuse, mental illnesses, felons, sex offenders, etc.  Some families pass from generation to generation a mindset of insecurities, and feelings of inadequacy.  They don’t allow themselves to expect much out of life. They won’t go certain places, or try anything new. They often sabotage their own happiness and success. They have a tendency to compare themselves to others and coming to the conclusion that they themselves come up short. They are just as or even more talented, gifted, and capable than the ones they place above themselves but in their own minds, they are not quite good enough. 

Some families continue to pass on from generation to generation a mindset of arrogance and self-righteousness.  They breed into their offspring the idea that they are above, better, more this or that than other people.  Yet they live in the same neighborhoods, make no more money, attend the same churches and schools, shop at the same stores, eat at the same restaurants, as all the people they have convinced themselves that they are better than or above. There is a difference between understanding and appreciating who GOD created you to be, and thinking more highly of yourself than you ought to think. Truth be told, arrogance is just an unhealthy way of dealing with feeling inadequate.  These people have simply learned, and teach their offspring to "talk a good game".

We are all broken, flawed human beings. We have all fallen short. I am not who I am because of who fathered or mothered me. If anything, in order to reach my full potential, I have to overcome some of that which I inherited from my parents. My bloodline determined my height, my skin tone, the color of my eyes, and some personality traits. It brought me into the world with some tendencies and things that I may be prone to. But it does not determine who I am at the core. God determined that from the foundation of the world.  I am who I am because of my true identity in Christ.  He chose my family, and even my pastor because of His call on my life, not the other way around. The glory is all His.

To break generational curses is not to go against, stop loving, or even deny the family that God birthed you into.  It is simply to choose God's way over that of any other and accept any adjustments that need to be made within yourself in the process.  Your BIG life, your BEST life, your TRUE identity is in the center of God's Will.

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ALL THIS TIME!

My Mama went to heaven in 2006, February 10th, just over 5 years ago. The other day one of my brothers and I were talking about certain things that happened prior to her death that let us know that she was about to go home. One of the things he told me was that a few days before Mama passed, he would wake up to the sound of her laughter in his ear. For those of us who have ever heard Mama laugh, especially in her younger years, we remember she had a big laugh. All her teeth would show, especially the pretty gold ones in the front. She had the kind of laugh that made you either laugh along or just sit and grin or giggle without a clue of what was funny. Even when Mama was rejoicing and praising she would burst into a laughter that had nothing to do with humor. So I can only imagine the height of laughter that was released when she embraced the Lord in heaven.
He said that he would wake up and hear her laughing in heaven, but her laughter was so much bigger and louder than it ever was here on earth. I suppose it's the laughter that none of us will experience until we too, are in heaven face to face with Jesus. He said that he would hear her laughing hysterically and it was as if she was in water, or a river, or pool and tossing the water up and laughing, and saying this to Jesus in heaven:
"All this time I've been looking for you, I’ve been searching for you, I've been waiting for you, I've been watching for you!...and you were as close to me as the words in my mouth and the breath in my body!"
Five years after Mama left, this message comes to us from her...from God. My brother was given a glimpse of what she would say before she even got there. Knowing my mother, I have no doubt that those are the exact words she spoke to Jesus when she saw Him there. I have no doubt that the laughter he heard was exactly how she laughed.
"All this time".  I wonder now, how many tears I have shed unnecessarily? How much energy have I wasted? How many doors have been and are still waiting for me to walk through into every promise God has spoken over my life? How many times did I choose not to get dressed and go out and get what I wanted because I didn't realize I would NOT go alone? How many times have I allowed man's rejection to cripple me for days, weeks, even months because I didn't realize that with HIM, IN ME, there is no real rejection, no real throwing away of me? Because HE will never.... How many days did I sit and do nothing, crashed in front of the television when all I had to do was open my mouth, and speak to myself to use the breath of God and go take my victory? How much time did I spend going through the motions while inside not expecting anything good to come to me? "All this time" feeling sorry for myself. "All this time" doubting, second guessing. "All this time" questioning my worthiness, my worth, my value. "All this time", waiting for God to show up in some romantic movie like scene, watching for this someone to show up from around the next corner. "All this time", not realizing that the day I asked Him to come "into" my heart, "into" me, that is exactly what He did.
"I've been waiting for you, I've been searching for you,  I've been watching for you, I've been looking for you". In spite of the greatness I feel is inside of me ... In spite of the gifts, talents, abilities, intelligence, ministry and anointing....I heard the cry of my own heart in these words. I was reminded of the question mark, the gaping hole, the void, the missing piece. I could relate. It makes me wonder...What was Mama looking for? In what direction was she looking for her missing piece to come? What sign did she seek that He was finally there? But He was already there! Not just in the vicinity. Not just in a crisis. Not just walking with...but within! As close as her own breath.
"As close to me as the words in my mouth and the breath in my body”. And so it is for me, for you, for us. He's not just in the vicinity. He's not just God in a crisis. But every day, every moment, as close as the words that fill our mouths and as close as the breath we breathe without even thinking about it. Something happened to me when he said this to me, and I believe my life will forever be changed because of these words. What am I longing for that I could have if only I would breathe Him? If only I would think of Him each time I speak over my own life? If, with every effort I put forth, every challenge I face, I do it and face it with full assurance and knowledge that I am breathing the very Son of God in and out of my own body. I can't imagine singing again or writing again without considering that with every note and every keystroke I can know that it is God breathed.
I have asked myself, and asked God, yes even recently, "Lord, what's missing? What am I missing? Where is the piece I'm missing?" With this seems to come the answer, or at least part of it, "You don't realize how close I am to you. You don't realize what you have with me. You haven't begun to realize how great my love is for you or how much I long for and desire to be close to you and give you all your heart's desires."
I have been in love. And in those times I have felt as if I would like to just crawl into the man's pocket just to be with him at all times. I have desired him so fully that I have thought that if I could just unzip him and crawl inside and zip him back up, maybe that might be close enough. I have longed to know him, to feel him, to carry his scent with me. To share his hurt, his laughter and joy. To not just know his thoughts but to feel them. To feel and satisfy his longing. I have loved and desired so much that I just wanted to be a literal part of him. So enamored that poetry just spilled over out of me and I desired to breathe myself into him. If I have loved and longed for so deeply, how much more can the Lord desire me, desire you! But the best part is, He can be a literal part of us! He has made a way to be completely blended with us, one within us breathing with us and through us. So that everything we need is not in us because he put it there and left us with it to figure things out on our own, but HE is the everything we need.
I sat there talking with my brother thinking that my Mama got to heaven before that was made so real to her. Although I believe that some things will only be fully known in heaven, I also believe that this is something the Lord wants us to realize NOW. And I believe it is the reason this "message" was left on record for US. So that we can be even more inspired to come to know Him, truly, intimately, personally and not just spend our lives wondering what could have or would have been...but that we can begin with each breath to walk in it.

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SO YOU'RE EXPECTING NOTHING?

People say that we should give, expecting nothing in return. But my Aunt Carrie says, "When God gave His Son, He was looking for something in return".  Aunt Carrie got a point!  God gave His only Son so that His Son could give His life, so that we would in turn, give our lives back to Him.

And did not Jesus say, "Give and it shall be given unto to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, shall men give unto your bosom"? Yes He did say that! 

I don't know if people think that they are being spiritual or humble. Unfortunately many of God's people really feel unworthy of the very blessings that He has promised to those of us who love Him. But trust me when I say that you aren't doing yourself or anyone else any favors by not expecting to be blessed! You are not being deep or spiritual and you are denying your heavenly Father the joy of simply giving to you! Whatever your reason for not expecting anything in return, according to scripture, to not expect a return is to NOT operate in faith in what God has promised in His Word.

Maybe for some, the problem is not in expecting a return, but in how or through whom we expect the return will come. Let us take our expectations off of individuals and place them on the only person who can meet and exceed every one of them! He didn't say that the same people you give to will give unto your bosom. He did say that "men" (people in general or whoever He chooses) will give unto your bosom. 

Every time I see, hear, or sing these words I want to stop and explain to people just what Jesus is saying to us.  These terms may not be heard very often any more unless you're still living in the south, or as we used to say, "in the country". But when you understand just what people mean when they say these phrases you'll come to the conclusion that you are not going to miss out on this promise.

When you would hear someone say that something was a "good measure" they were saying it was a lot.  A plenty. Or that they were very happy with the amount. 

When something is "pressed down" it makes room for more to be added.  For instance, when you are putting clothes into a container, if you just plop them into it, it can look really full really quickly. But once you take your hands and press them down, you find that you now have room for even more.  It could mean the difference in you using 1 suit case or 2, 3 baskets for laundry or 4.

When you buy flour and bring it home to store it in another container, have you noticed that if you "shake" the container a little, it causes the flour to settle down some and actually make room for more flour? That "shaking together" is what creates room for even more! 

I don't even think I really have to explain the running over, but just to give you a visual if you don't have one by now, imagine your favorite beverage being poured into a glass or cup and instead of stopping at full, or enough, the person keeps pouring until the container overflows and spills over onto a saucer, the table, your clothes, the carpet or where ever it happens to land.  Now imagine your blessings coming to you like what I just described. Imagine your blessings coming to you with a flash flood warning. This is your overflow! Your more than enough! Sounds to me like God is serious about blessing us when we GIVE!

So please, if you're one of those who is always giving and isn't expecting a return, adjust your mindset and begin to expect your promise of "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over".  Expect a return because it has been promised to you!

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KEEP DIGGING!

If you're like me you've already had some moments where your new year and new start....again....tried to drift back into the old place of non productivity, giving up, talking yourself out of things you promised yourself you'd make happen.

Have you noticed sometimes that the very thing you're hoping for and working toward seems to pop up in many of people's lives around you, and that's just the problem....AROUND you, but not FOR you or TO you.  This can catch you off guard and hit your dream with a sucker punch.  But you gotta regroup as quickly as possible.  Pick up your shovel and get back to digging.
 
The problem isn't that other people are getting blessed. The problem is what it triggers in your own thoughts.  For some reason it can cause you to feel like the whole world is passing you by...again.  But it's not. As long as you are reaching, learning, researching, inquiring, you're still digging.  And at some point you're going to hit YOUR wellspring of blessings and when you do, you're going to understand what it was all about!

Remember, your BIG LIFE isn't determined by the others and what happens to and for them, good or bad..  Your spring of living water is down inside of you.  Every gift you need, every ability is buried inside of you underneath everything that life has thrown at you up to this point. It's buried underneath everything that tried, but failed to destroy you.  You're not less because someone else got blessed!  So come on, dry those pity party tears, pull yourself together, repeat back to God what He has said to you, pick your shovel back up, AND KEEP DIGGING!  YOU'RE ABOUT TO STRIKE IT RICH!  IN LIFE, IN LOVE, IN FULLNESS OF JOY!  IF ANYBODY'S DREAMS HAVE EVER COME TRUE (and they have) SO CAN YOURS!

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SET SOME GOALS

I want you to set some goals this year, but let’s just start with the month of January.  Looking a whole year ahead may be too big of a stretch for you right now, depending on where you are.  Although we walk by faith, we also have to grow in our faith.  We are not all on the same level but we can all have amazing results from our faith. So I recommend the advice that Steve Harvey gave on his show.  “Inch by inch, anything’s a cinch.”

What would you like to have accomplished by January 31^st?

How much money can you save by then?

How much weight can you lose? Or what kind of healthy changes can you make by then?

What area of your life would you like to see improvement on?

Is there something you’d like to try by then? A new food? Going out to dinner [and a movie] by yourself? (Believe it or not the thought of this scares the mess out of some people.)

Whatever your goal, set it.  Don’t think of your goal as “big”, or “small”.  Part of the BIGLife mindset is that we’re making a BIG deal out of living.  Everything we do is a BIG DEAL! A better word might be “reasonable”.  Pretty sure I won’t save 2000.00 by January 31^st, Or lose 75 pounds by then!

But a reasonable goal for saving money for the month of January, may be a certain amount, or if it’s a huge challenge for you, it may be simply to SAVE SOMETHING.   If you’re messy with money, it may be to make the entire month without any overdrafts in your checking account.

You may not lose 15 pounds this month, or even 5.  But what if you set a goal that you will drink more water?  Or less pop, or coffee?  What if you decided that you will add something green or fruit to your food intake?  Get my drift?

Once you set that goal, whatever it is, your next step is to decide what it will take to make it happen.  And then the challenging part starts…DOING IT DOGGONE IT!  J

This is where you’ll have to MAKE yourself do what’s needed.  If you’re scared, do it.  If you’re suddenly feeling down in your emotions, do it.  If you’re having doubts, do it, even if doing it may require you to make an adjustment to the goal.  I didn’t say do away with the goal, but adjust. Please understand though that adjusting the goal may not take the fear away. Start where ever you need to start and get it done.

If you’re hardheaded and you know it, you may have to do week by week goals. Whatever works best for you, monthly, weekly, or by the end of the day, set a goal, and go after it.  You can do this!

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