During the Sunday online service Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached a sermon titled: ‘Turning curses into blessings’ Her main text was taken from the Book of Deuteronomy. “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord, because they did not meet you with bread (food) and water on the road as you came out of Egypt, and because they hired [to act] against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless, the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God has loved you” (Deut 23:3-5; AMP).

She said that this scripture refers to the story of a false prophet called Balaam, who was hired by the Moabite King Balak, to curse the people of God. Balak was afraid of God’s people because they were many and seem so powerful. He wanted Balaam to curse them so that they will scatter and die. Balaam inquired to his ‘god’ about what to do. But Jehovah God Himself appeared to Balaam and told him he should not curse Israel because they are His people and they are already blessed (Numbers 22 to 24). Because of the promise of money, Balaam insisted to go. He went, but all the curses he tried to invoke, God not only blocked them, not only nullify them, but changed them to blessings. Why? Because ‘The Lord your God loved them!’. Three times God’s name as ‘The Lord your God’ appears in Deuteronomy 23:5. In Hebrew, ‘The Lord’ means Jehovah, The Covenant Keeping God. The word ‘your God’ means Elohim, the Creator, the Highest Judge or Magistrate of the universe. Child of God, this is God’s decree: The Holy Trinity, blesses you, and turns your curses into blessings because in Christ, He loves you!!! Amen! Halleluiah!

Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh said that according to the Bible, the devil is the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10). The devil can accuse you, but God does not listen to him! Even when the devil seems to succeed, for a time, (like in case of Job), God is still in charge! In the Court of Heaven, there are only two Lawyers: The Accuser (the devil) and the Advocate (our Lord Jesus Christ)! God the Father is the Highest Judge. When you fall into sin, the devil accuses you to the Judge. But even then, Jesus Christ the Righteous will speak for you. He will give the Judge an answer of peace (propitiation) on your behalf! As God did not listen to Balaam, so God will never listen to your Accuser. God listens only to The Advocate, The Defense who speaks on our behalf. Jesus is our Heavenly Barrister. He has never lost a case. He can never lose! Not because we are good, but because He died for us, His people. By His sinless perfect life of obedience and by His death, He has the right to speak for us. And God always listens only to Jesus!!! This is a great comfort to us! “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1Jn 2:1, 2; NKJ). It is because of Christ’ intercession in heaven, no child of God continues in sin. Eventually, he shall repent and come back to God. The devil tempts and can deceive a believer but cannot ‘touch’ (lay hold on him forever). “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” (1Jn 5:18; NKJ). This is the revelation of the Bible: When they sin, God chastises His children. This holy, painful, fruit bearing discipline is also a sign of God’s love. But God will never allow the devil to forever curse His people. Be sure of that! Praise the Lord!

There are many examples in the Bible when God turned tragedy into triumph, and failure into success. This pattern applies only to the children of God! Joseph suffered much. He was betrayed by his brothers, sold as a slave, went to prison. But God exalted him to become the Prime minister of Egypt. See what he told his brothers: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Gen 50:20). Job also suffered much but God turned his pain into praise. During good times and bad times, he continued to worship the only Living God. “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:20, 21). Naomi lost her husband and her two sons. She came back from Moab as a defeated, poor widow. But Ruth, the Moabitess, followed her. Ruth married Boaz and became the grandmother of King David and in the line of our Lord Jesus Christ. Goliath cursed David by his gods and Shimei cursed David (1Sam 17:43; 2Sam 16:9-12). But both these wicked men died terrible deaths. (Lesson: It is a terrible thing to do wickedness against a child of God!). Apostle Paul was afflicted and tormented by ‘a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan’. But God ‘compensated’ him for his pain with great revelations, even as the power of Christ rested on him in his weakness (2Cor 12:7-10).  All these stories are real! Read them! Darkness, sickness, defeat, failure, oppression, and weeping may endure, but only for a night. Joy comes in the morning (Ps 30:5). What a hope! What a turn of events! Only God can do that! The power of resurrection is stronger than death! Give Him praise!

Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh said that the word ‘blessings’ appears 600x in the Bible. The word ‘curses’ about 300x. Both blessings and curses carry supernatural power, affecting people and generations. Their power lies in words (spoken, written, or spoken silently in the heart). In the Bible we see that God blesses and God can curse. But the devil can only curse. In the Book of Deuteronomy 28 you read about the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. God says that if you listen to His voice and obey it, His blessings shall come, overflow, and overtake you. This is His promise! What are some of these blessings? Divine promotion, protection, victory in warfare, fruitfulness, health, and prosperity (spiritual and natural). You shall be ‘the head’ (the part that thinks, makes decisions). You shall be a leader and not the ‘tail’ (a blind follower). But if you do not listen to God’s voice or you disobey it, God’s curses will follow. What are these? Humiliation, demotion, chronic sickness (that the medical science cannot treat), mental sickness (depression, anxiety), female bareness, defeat in warfare, failure, losses, singles cannot marry, the marriages are unhappy or end in divorce, family divisions and breakdowns, poverty (even when you are educated and work hard)… etc… The devil and his agents can curse people, even the Christians. These curses cannot kill a child of God and cannot destroy his salvation. When he dies, he will still go to heaven, but he will not have a happy life on earth. The main roots of curses: Idolatry (Ex 20:3-5), disrespect to parents (PV 30:17), betrayal (PV 17:13), wickedness to the poor (PV 28:27), Unnatural sex/ homosexuality, incest (Lev 20:10-16), hating Jews (Gen 12:3), trusting flesh (Jer 17:5, 6), Stealing (Zech 5:1-5), or being stingy towards God (coming to church, listening to sermons, but not giving any offering or paying tithes) (Mal 3:8-12). Some place curses on themselves by speaking negative words to themselves (for example: ‘I am a failure. I am always poor, like my papa…I can never succeed. Na die I want die so…’). You need to deliver yourself and speak God’s Word over your life! In Jesus’ name!

Many Christians are ignorant of these curses. How do you know that you are affected by a curse, generational, familiar or a spell was placed on you? The curse is like an invisible chain holding you to the past. You observe that you cannot make progress in life. For example, you are sick. You are improving for a time, but then you get sick again. You always spend money in the hospitals. Another example: you work extremely hard, but you are not financially stable. You make money but then, you lose them, and you become poor again. Or, you are single person (sister). Men like you but they do not marry you. Or, you are married but you do not have peace in the home. You feel that God does not answer your prayers…From one problem to another… That is why you are always anxious, because you cannot become established. You have the feeling that you must start everything afresh again and again. What should you do? First, be sure that you are born again! Then, fast and Pray asking God for help, for deliverance. Repent of all known sin! Separate yourself from any contact with idols, with spiritual defilement. Draw closer to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Be re-filled with the Holy Spirit. Start to praise and serve God! Learn to live in the newness of life in Christ Jesus! Trust God! Your future is better than your past!

Where is our hope? Our only Hope is found in Christ and Him Crucified! There is power in the Gospel! There is power at the Cross! Jesus died for us, the sinners, that we may live and be free, eternally! On that Cross, God made His Beloved Son to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. On that Cross, Jesus became a curse so that we might receive the blessings of Abraham, faith, freedom, and the promised Holy Spirit!  (2Cor 5:21; Gal 3:10-14). Jesus Christ is our victory and our Hope of glory! We boast in the Cross where salvation, deliverance, healing, and victory was purchased for us thru the shedding of His precious Blood! By His death and resurrection, Jesus gives us the authority to use His name and win the battles against all spiritual enemies. Jesus says: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Lk 10:19). Child of God do not waste time! It is time for you to stand and fight! Fight for your soul, for your freedom and for your testimony! Bless your family! You can do it! Jesus is Lord! Peace be upon you! Worship the Lord!