Living in Blessing

Our speech, how we communicate with one another and with the One Most High, is something that we all do and deal with every single day of our lives. Yet how good (skilled) at it are we? Do we really communicate what we want, or do we simply fit in with the rest of the world in its language and phrases. The suprising fact is, that what we say has great impact on our lives, not just physically, but spiritually as well.

This discovery came to me some time ago when I was working on my family tree. During my research, I learned that my grandfather had belonged to the masons. Not knowing much about the masons, I decided to do some more research. I had the general impression that this was a group to be avoided by the believer, but I never knew what kind of evil was in this organization. Every step of the way, masons take oaths (some on the Bible) that are basically making curses upon themselves, their family, and their posterity. Most of these deal with bad health or early death if they do not obey the rules of masonry.

I genuinely did not know what to make of this at first. The idea of our lives or our children being effected simply by what we say seemed a bit much to me. It sent me on a study into the Bible which is still ongoing. What I found is that the Scriptures have a lot to say about blessings and cursings. I was surprised and maybe even shocked to find that there genuinely are scriptures relating to generational blessings and curses.

How does all this tie in with the Covenant Relationship? What I found with continued study is that the covenant relationship we are in works through blessing and cursing. If you do not recall this, you can read the account of Israel at Mt. Sinai, Mt. Gerazim & Mt. Ebal, or even just look at Deuteronomy chapters 28 & 29. To sum up these passages, if we obey Him he will bless us and we will prosper and see good. If we disobey, we will be cursed and see evil. The Nation of Israel accepted this for themselves and for all their generations to come. The history of Israel clearly shows the effects of how well they kept the covenant.

Why include blessing and cursing in the covenant? I suspect that it is a part of covenant justice. Remember that blessing and cursing are the results of keeping or breaking the law and have nothing to do with our receiving salvation nor YHVH's love for us. It comes across like a father who disciplines the son he loves. The Father loves justice and we can see throughout scripture that people do receive the consequences of their actions. But we must remember, that with the Father, justice always comes with mercy and forgiveness if we are repentent. Whenever we give up evil, then blessing returns.

It initially seems puzzling how we can bless the Almighty, we can bless other people, and the Almighty can bless us. What is this word that both we and the Almighty can do? Basically, in both the Hebrew and the Greek, to bless someone is to speak well about them. Thus when we bless the Almighty we are worshipping by saying good about Him. When the Almighty speaks a blessing, when He says something good about us, one can be sure that something is going to happen for the Almighty's word causes action. To the human ear, blessing may seem like merely praise, but in the spiritual it acts as a witness and helps something positive to happen.

Knowing this, we can look at what effect the law has on our lives. As an example, let us look at the laws regarding the keeping of the Sabbath. We find many times that the Father states this as a commandment (law) to be kept. He then states that those who keep this law will be blessed (among those blessings are peace and rest) and those who do not keep this law will at best just lose peace and at worst be cursed through their sinful actions in not keeping it. We must note that it never says we will gain salvation by keeping the Sabbath ... even as important as it is, it is not there to do the job that Yahshua came to do. Every law in the Bible is the same ... it shows us how to have a right relationship with each other and with the One Most High. It shows how the relationship works, it does not create that relationship. We can only approach the Father and begin the relationship by first accepting His Son.

There are blessings and cursings for what we possess and it is amazing what we let accumulate in our homes. Let me give you a personal example. The owning of idols is a definite no-no according to the Bible. Yet how many pagan symbols might be in your home? None you say. My wife and I decided to do some house cleaning ... spiritual house cleaning. We were definitely surprised by what we found. We try to keep a clean house but here are some of the items we found. A set of relaxation balls (that one moves in the hand) that made noises which were supposed to have some type of mystical healing properties. The box they came in had many pagodas and dragons (and perhaps buddhas). It was a gift we had never used, but simply held onto because of who gave it. We had a piece of mayan like jewelry which had a respresentation of the sun (and we think most likely represented a sun god). Again a gift as most items were.

It is not just gifts. I also surprised myself that I had made things not worth keeping. From back in my photography days, I photographed a ballet group doing a performance of dracula. The images included vampires, ghosts, living dead, and other assorted things. Years ago when I took them, it was something of a novelty and I paid no attention to it. Even if no evil is directly attached to them, why would a believer want to put his mind on such things. They certainly are not from above. These items were not bowed down to nor were they used for any mystical means. SInce having gotten rid of them, we have enjoyed peace and I believe increased favor from the Almighty for He wants to see His people trying to live righteously. At this time we also rid ourselves of a few masonic related items that had been handed down through the family and renounced any oaths that ancestors had made for that organization.

Does this sound excessive or does this sound like a safe precaution? After experiencing these things for a couple years, I am convinced that they are important and not excessive in any way. The Almighty wants His believers to be a pure people and having anything foreign to His kingdom is not pure. I am not at all even close to being an expert on the spiritual; in fact, I feel like a novice. But I recognize that it is there and I recognize that after going through our house and ridding ourselves of such things that life in general is more peaceful.

What complicates this issue is that generally, we cannot simply see what is happening in the spiritual side of things ... those behind the scene happenings that effect what is happening in the physical. What is happening is basically justice. Justice?! When we enter into covenant with the One Most High, we are doing the same as making a contract with Him. Following this, there are consequences to our actions. It is not always as clear cut as doing something illegal and going to jail ... but when we sin, peace is usually taken from our lives and when we do well, peace seems to come in abundance.

A factor that we should pay close attention to is the fact that it is not just what we do that has consequences. It is in fact also our words. The truths we say, the lies we speak, the testimonies we give all have their impact on the spiritual. And that which is impacted in the spiritual, impacts the physical.

Do words have power? No, of course not. The words themselves do not have power. Yet look at the Scriptures. Speech and what is said do have power and this is a major theme in many passages. There is talk of controlling the tongue, life and death being in the tongue, the wise control what is said, judgments come on what we speak even to our idle words. As far as I am aware, ALL of the miracles, signs and wonders (and even creation) happened after a word is spoken by the Almighty or through a prophet. I cannot recall any that happened without its first being spoken. There is a Jewish saying that says 'a covenant is made with the lips'. This is meant to show that every thing we say is taken seriously ... and this is true quite literally. When we speak, it is taken as our form of communicating what we want whether speaking to the Almighty or to another person. When we speak a promise or vow, to the Almighty or to a person, there is going to be a reaction if we do not keep that promise.

Whether we like it or not, we sometimes fall into the trap of superstition. We can be scared to talk of doing something in fear that we might somehow 'jinx' it and cause it not to happen. As though the words we speak somehow influence how things will turn out. The history of the jinx comes from witchcraft. The concept comes from a bird commonly known as the wryneck what has the ability to twist and contort its neck into unusual positions. It is similar in appearance to a partridge. It is scientifically known as either Jynx torquilla or Jynx ruficollia. It was used to bring bad luck to people.

The superstition of the jinx is wrong ... but we may harm ouserlves by our speech. There are many everyday phrases in our language that we say without thinking. If I say 'I need to do something' am I not lying [I may truly want to do something, but there is no real necessity for it]. What is the punishment for lying? This is one of the things the Almighty calls an abomination. He hates lying.

I have read some articles that seem to take the verbal sayings down to a question like the chicken and the egg. If a person consistently says "I am always losing my keys and having to search for them" - do they say it because they have lost their keys, or do they lose their keys because they have spoken it. That may seem like a silly example, but there are many such potentially self-imposed curses (phrases) that are very common in our English vocabulary that we repeat over and over without giving a second thought.

To help put things in perspective, I again turn to personal experience. A few years ago the Almighty brought a wonderful lady into my life to be my wife. It has been a joyous experience and I have tried to be a good husband. Yet, I realized that there was a part of me (emotionally) that I seemed unable to give to her. It felt like it was held back or anchored down somehow. After three and a half years of marriage and learning to be more perceptive to what is happening in the spiritual, I realized that this part of me was trapped elsewhere. Almost ten years earlier I had dated a woman in college and one particular convesation remained a strong memory in my mind. Although not consciously trying to make a promise to each other, we had none-the-less made a committment to each other for exactly what I was unable to bring out for my wife. I formally ended this committment and I was released ... suddenly that moment in time faded away as a memory ought to and I was able to give my wife (and receive from my wife) that comforting that was lacking. Nothing had happened in the physical, it was only a verbal committment, yet it had the power to effect me for almost a decade even though I have not seen her for years. It also had the power to hinder my relationship with my wife. Thus to me, the topic of blessing and cursing, promises and vows, and what we speak (and do) is an important one.

Another area we must be careful in, is with those who have authority over us. When we enter into the covenant, we give Elohim authority over us and therefore He can do what He pleases. So too when a person is allowed to have authority over us. This begins as children as our parents automatically have this. It can be transferred in part to teachers, employers, spouses, or anyone in general through promises and vows. What is said by those over us carries a lot of weight and effects us both in the physical and in the spiritual. Think about how nice it is to have a patriarchal blessing at a wedding ... not only does it show acceptance of the spouse by the parent, but something happens in the spiritual to bless the young couple. Even the Nation of Israel suffered to put itself under the authority of a king. Where the king went (good or bad), so went all of Israel. If David commits a personal sin, tens of thousand of Israelites may die. If the king turns to or away from the Almighty, the blessings or cursings follow as all Israel follows. Paul states that the husband is head of the home and therefore has great authority there. Men, watch your words, for the peace of your home rests upon them.

We also have authority over our own lives to a great extent ... that is just part of having a free will. We should all learn that we can clean out our lives, both physically and spiritually. It is a process, not quickly done all at once, but it is worth it. As we work at renouncing the evil we have done, and remitting the places where sin has occurred, our life (and of those around us) grows increasingly peaceful. As curses are removed and we get away from evil, room is made for the increase of blessing.