It's funny how God turns bad into good. He took the cross and brought resurrection life. He made the ignominy of the cross the way of atonement, justification, and forgiveness making me whole, complete, and the way to a love relationship with the Father.
That's why Paul could affirm, "We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. They are the people he called, because that was his plan." (Romans 8:28).
My parents passed down their generational curse (and also their generational blessing) to me. The curse was passed to them through generations all the way back to Adam. I in turn passed the curse on down to my children and they are passing it down to their children, my grandchildren.
Every generation is under the curse. The Apostle Paul said that the curse was passed down from Adam to generation after generation to me. "Death has come because of what one man did. In Adam all of us die."
Through the centuries, the generational curse passed down from Adam has been confirmed. Church leaders at the the second Council of Orange (A.D. 529) declared: "One man [Adam] has transmitted to the whole human race not only the death of the body, which is the punishment of sin, but even sin itself, which is the death of the soul."
Reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) wrote, "Therefore original sin is seen to be a hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature diffused into all parts of the soul."
And in the 21st century, theologian, best selling author, and pastor, John Piper observed: "The problem with the human race is not most deeply that everybody does various kinds of sins—those sins are real, they are huge and they are enough to condemn us. Paul is very concerned about them. But the deepest problem is that behind all our depravity and all our guilt and all our sinning, there is a deep mysterious connection with Adam whose sin became our sin and whose judgment became our judgment."
Thus, every generation is under the curse including me. Each generation including me must break the generational curse. My children must break the curse passed down to them and my grandchildren must break the curse passed down to them by their ancestors including their parents, and grandparents.
I broke the curse. How did I do it?
It's been a lifelong process of learning and growing in the Lord. It's been a lifelong process of self understanding and self awareness. It's been a lifelong process of leaning new skills to overcome my generational curse.
How did I break it? First, I learned from Jesus. He invited me to learn of from him. He is meek and lowly of heart. His yoke is easy. The yoke of the generational curse is hard. Jesus' burden is light. My burden was heavy. Only Jesus could give me rest. I learned to rest in Him which broke my generational curse.
What did I learn from Jesus? I finally learned from who I am. I finally accepted and experienced my identity in the way Christ defines who I am. I leaned how He defined me. How He defined my "I." Once I understood who I am as Jesus defines me, I found rest and release from my generational curse. I can't describe the feeling of freedom that I now have. It's incredible!Liberating! Jesus said to me, "Ask, and He will answer. Seek, and I will find." Little by little, the Truth of who I am was revealed to me. Then, I not only had to know how Jesus defined me, but I had to accept by faith who He said I am. It's by faith I am saved.
Secondly, I went through the long, painful process of self-understanding and self-awareness. When I am in physical pain, I seek a doctor. The emotional pain sent me to a psychologist and to my friend, Pastor Roger Bennett, who is a trained pastoral counselor. Through his insight, books that he gave me to read, and his group sessions which he leads each week, I became self-aware. I learned much about my "I" such as that I am powerless to change and overcome the generational curse by my efforts. I had to take a moral inventory of who I am, and believe in the power of Christ to change me. I am grateful to Roger and all those who have been used by the Lord in my journey to emotional, mental, and spiritual wholeness.
Third, I had to learn new mental and emotional skills to overcome depression, rage, dependence upon others, and lots of other manifestations of the generational curse that had made me miserable. I leaned not to depend on others for my well-being and happiness. I learned not to be defined by the expectations of others or what they thought of me. I leaned not to lose or merge my "I" into them.
I learned to stop blaming others saying that it was their fault why I lost my temper. I leaned to take responsibility for my blow ups and broken relationships. It was a long, painful process.
I also learned the purpose of emotional pain. The Lord sent the pain to tell me something was wrong in my psyche just like a He does when I experience physical pain. I learned the purpose of emotional pain is actually a gift from the grace of God to move me to seek Him completely and totally, and to have a healthy love relationship with Him which developed into healthy rather than toxic relationships with others.
I learned how Jesus had His emotional needs met. Jesus came to us as the God-man, and as man, he suffered everything and more that I experience. I learned that Jesus had His emotional needs met through the love of a his Father. Over and over, the Father affirmed Him. "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The Father loves me. I speak only what the Father tells me to say."
When the Pharisees called Jesus the devil, He didn't let it shake Him. He didn't retaliate because He was absolutely secure in His relationship and identity given to a him by the Father. When His disciples argued about who was the greatest in the kingdom of God just prior to His arrest and crucifixion, He didn't let it phase Him. When the crowd tried to define Him as their political, King and deliverer, He refused their definition of Him and to please them by becoming king as they wanted. And, the huge crowd rejected Him when He didn't please them. That didn't phase Him either because He knew whom He was. His identity was secure in His love relationship with and affirmation of the Father.
From the example of Jesus, I finally learned who I am in Christ. How He defines me. How He loves me. This gave me my true identity and gave me confidence and assurance which replace my self-loathing and doubt of my self-worth.
I could write a book about my journey, but this short synopsis will give you an idea of the peace and joy that came to me after bearing a lifetime of the generational curse and the emotional pain I suffered. I hope that my openness and honesty gives you hope. Hope that you can be free from the curse. Hope that you can be free from the chains of sin and addictions. Yes, there is hope, and yes, by the grace of God, by learning from the meek and lowly Jesus, and through the help of good godly counselors and Christian self-help books, I entered the rest and freedom Christ wanted me to have. There is no other way but Jesus' way. "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
By one man, Adam, the generational curse has been passed down to all of us. And by one man, Jesus Christ, we are made alive.
Christ turned the curse of the cross into a blessing. Through Christ, He turned my generational curse into a blessing - the blessing of abundant life here and eternal life forever in a love relationship with Him. Hallelujah!
The truth shall make you free! Free indeed! Amen.
Listen to these truths from Darlene Zschech and HillSong. I am free in Jesus name. (Click this link) or click the arrow on the video.
That's why Paul could affirm, "We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. They are the people he called, because that was his plan." (Romans 8:28).
My parents passed down their generational curse (and also their generational blessing) to me. The curse was passed to them through generations all the way back to Adam. I in turn passed the curse on down to my children and they are passing it down to their children, my grandchildren.
Every generation is under the curse. The Apostle Paul said that the curse was passed down from Adam to generation after generation to me. "Death has come because of what one man did. In Adam all of us die."
Through the centuries, the generational curse passed down from Adam has been confirmed. Church leaders at the the second Council of Orange (A.D. 529) declared: "One man [Adam] has transmitted to the whole human race not only the death of the body, which is the punishment of sin, but even sin itself, which is the death of the soul."
Reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) wrote, "Therefore original sin is seen to be a hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature diffused into all parts of the soul."
And in the 21st century, theologian, best selling author, and pastor, John Piper observed: "The problem with the human race is not most deeply that everybody does various kinds of sins—those sins are real, they are huge and they are enough to condemn us. Paul is very concerned about them. But the deepest problem is that behind all our depravity and all our guilt and all our sinning, there is a deep mysterious connection with Adam whose sin became our sin and whose judgment became our judgment."
Thus, every generation is under the curse including me. Each generation including me must break the generational curse. My children must break the curse passed down to them and my grandchildren must break the curse passed down to them by their ancestors including their parents, and grandparents.
I broke the curse. How did I do it?
It's been a lifelong process of learning and growing in the Lord. It's been a lifelong process of self understanding and self awareness. It's been a lifelong process of leaning new skills to overcome my generational curse.
How did I break it? First, I learned from Jesus. He invited me to learn of from him. He is meek and lowly of heart. His yoke is easy. The yoke of the generational curse is hard. Jesus' burden is light. My burden was heavy. Only Jesus could give me rest. I learned to rest in Him which broke my generational curse.
What did I learn from Jesus? I finally learned from who I am. I finally accepted and experienced my identity in the way Christ defines who I am. I leaned how He defined me. How He defined my "I." Once I understood who I am as Jesus defines me, I found rest and release from my generational curse. I can't describe the feeling of freedom that I now have. It's incredible!Liberating! Jesus said to me, "Ask, and He will answer. Seek, and I will find." Little by little, the Truth of who I am was revealed to me. Then, I not only had to know how Jesus defined me, but I had to accept by faith who He said I am. It's by faith I am saved.
Secondly, I went through the long, painful process of self-understanding and self-awareness. When I am in physical pain, I seek a doctor. The emotional pain sent me to a psychologist and to my friend, Pastor Roger Bennett, who is a trained pastoral counselor. Through his insight, books that he gave me to read, and his group sessions which he leads each week, I became self-aware. I learned much about my "I" such as that I am powerless to change and overcome the generational curse by my efforts. I had to take a moral inventory of who I am, and believe in the power of Christ to change me. I am grateful to Roger and all those who have been used by the Lord in my journey to emotional, mental, and spiritual wholeness.
Third, I had to learn new mental and emotional skills to overcome depression, rage, dependence upon others, and lots of other manifestations of the generational curse that had made me miserable. I leaned not to depend on others for my well-being and happiness. I learned not to be defined by the expectations of others or what they thought of me. I leaned not to lose or merge my "I" into them.
I learned to stop blaming others saying that it was their fault why I lost my temper. I leaned to take responsibility for my blow ups and broken relationships. It was a long, painful process.
I also learned the purpose of emotional pain. The Lord sent the pain to tell me something was wrong in my psyche just like a He does when I experience physical pain. I learned the purpose of emotional pain is actually a gift from the grace of God to move me to seek Him completely and totally, and to have a healthy love relationship with Him which developed into healthy rather than toxic relationships with others.
I learned how Jesus had His emotional needs met. Jesus came to us as the God-man, and as man, he suffered everything and more that I experience. I learned that Jesus had His emotional needs met through the love of a his Father. Over and over, the Father affirmed Him. "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The Father loves me. I speak only what the Father tells me to say."
When the Pharisees called Jesus the devil, He didn't let it shake Him. He didn't retaliate because He was absolutely secure in His relationship and identity given to a him by the Father. When His disciples argued about who was the greatest in the kingdom of God just prior to His arrest and crucifixion, He didn't let it phase Him. When the crowd tried to define Him as their political, King and deliverer, He refused their definition of Him and to please them by becoming king as they wanted. And, the huge crowd rejected Him when He didn't please them. That didn't phase Him either because He knew whom He was. His identity was secure in His love relationship with and affirmation of the Father.
From the example of Jesus, I finally learned who I am in Christ. How He defines me. How He loves me. This gave me my true identity and gave me confidence and assurance which replace my self-loathing and doubt of my self-worth.
I could write a book about my journey, but this short synopsis will give you an idea of the peace and joy that came to me after bearing a lifetime of the generational curse and the emotional pain I suffered. I hope that my openness and honesty gives you hope. Hope that you can be free from the curse. Hope that you can be free from the chains of sin and addictions. Yes, there is hope, and yes, by the grace of God, by learning from the meek and lowly Jesus, and through the help of good godly counselors and Christian self-help books, I entered the rest and freedom Christ wanted me to have. There is no other way but Jesus' way. "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
By one man, Adam, the generational curse has been passed down to all of us. And by one man, Jesus Christ, we are made alive.
Christ turned the curse of the cross into a blessing. Through Christ, He turned my generational curse into a blessing - the blessing of abundant life here and eternal life forever in a love relationship with Him. Hallelujah!
The truth shall make you free! Free indeed! Amen.
Listen to these truths from Darlene Zschech and HillSong. I am free in Jesus name. (Click this link) or click the arrow on the video.
That is terrific. Thank you for this testimony. Is there a list of books you used to help you? I am a little confused how you say only Jesus can free you from the curse when you had to do all this work on yourself for years. I hear Christian's saying that phrase a lot of has become a cliche. I think it is flat out wrong. Jesus doesn't do all the work.
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