Trials, curses, generational curses, divine chastisements.

What are they, with respect to a Christian? Are they all the same thing? If not, What is the difference between them, how do they affect a Christian IF they do, and how are they resolved? Can a Christian be cursed? Do generational curses affect Christians?

Please feel free to ask other questions, suggest answers preferably with Bible verses, and to otherwise contribute on this topic. Be blessed!

Hmmm, no responses? No questions, either?

Traugott:

Trials, curses, generational curses, divine chastisements.

Are they all the same thing?

I'll briefly answer the first question: No, they don't mean the same things.

For one thing, remember some of the popular verses that instruct us about divine chastisements:

[list][li] (a) Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law - Psalm 94:12[/li][/list]

[list][li] (b) But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world - 1 Cor. 11:32[/li][/list]

The fact that chastisement does not mean generational curses or even curses is clear when we consider a simple case: Psalm 94:12 says those who are chastened of the Lord are blessed - surely that is not saying that 'blessed' is the man whom God 'curses'! Rather, as used there is a question of a believer being disciplined by the hand of God in the same way that a father would do to his son (Deut. 8:5).

More later.

yes, christians are affected by generational curses, imo.

However, you can be set free if you want to.

Some people are bound and dedicated to idols even while in their mother's womb. All that doesnt always automatically go away.

I think a lot depends on who you associate with, and what kind of counsel you listen to. You cant serve God and satan at the same time.


Trials and chastisements arent the same thing as generational curses. Chastisements are supposed to improve or correct someone. Generational curses are more like a right demons have over you through your bloodline.

@ curses (not generational ones)

People can bring curses on themselves through their actions. There's a verse saying the curse unwarranted shall not come, or something like that.

Viaro and Tpia, thanks for your comments!

As it has been correctly asserted, trials, curses and divine chastisements are NOT the same. You can't put them all in a bag, shake it up and randomly choose one, calling them a name you please.

Curse:

A supernatural power imposed by words, causing unpleasant things to happen to the subject(s) it is imposed upon.

One who truly walks with God should not feasibly be under any curse! (see Gal 3:13-14, Gen 12:1-3, Num 23:23, Isa 54:17, Pro 26:2) However, this happens at times, and we will consider that special case.

Blessings and Curses are both imposed by words.

Blessing: Empowerment to prosper
Curse: Empowerment to fail

Therefore it is impossible to be blessed and cursed at the same time. God is the giver of all good gifts (Jas 1:17), it's from Him that all blessings proceed. When one walks with Him, they can't be blessed and cursed simultaneously because He is not deceitful and does not lie (Num 23:19). See Psa 116:11, Rom 3:4, Jas 1:17, Isa 40:8, Psa 119:89, Lam 3:37-38.

How does the blessing accrue to the Christian? The blessing that came upon us is by virtue of Christ's becoming sin for us. Jesus Christ became the embodiment of sin (2 Cor 5:21) and like the bronze serpent was lifted up, Christ took the serpent's (Satan's) nature of sin upon himself and hung on the cross. The main issure here is a matter of receiving: you need to receive this blessing that accrues to you BY FAITH!

Let me give an example: A man went to the supermarket, purchased goods and then found out that he forgot his wallet at home: including his ATM card and his cash. Fortunately, he was nice to an old lady on the queue so she offered to pay for him, but the man was so self-conscious that he left the paid-for-goods on the counter and dashed off to get his wallet! This is the story of many Christians, who have a heavy account of blessing thanks to Christ, but they leave it at the counter. It's all a matter of receiving. (See Gen 12:1-3)

As a partaker of the divine nature, the Christian takes his/her part. According to ministry, we're servants but in the family of God, we're sons!

Tpia was referring to this verse: Proverbs 26:2, and I paraphrase "An undeserved curse does not come to rest". This means that a curse can only take root where it is deserved. A believer may, by disobedience to God's Word, become vulnerable to curses because he has "given the devil a foothold". See Deut 28:15-28, Ecc 10;8, Eph 4:26-27, John 5:14, Mal 3:8-9, Psa 107:17.

I once read that over 80% of the world's illnesses are psychosomatic i.e. traceable to traits like unforgiveness and bitter hearts. But that's not the only evil in those traits, they also highlight you as a target for curses to practice their landing.

Prolonged anger becomes wrath, and when you walk in the premise of unforgiveness, it rolls you into serious danger. Unforgiveness is a trait of Satan, drop it! If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord won't hear me. By disobedience, men walk into the devil's camp. Give NO PLACE to the devil. Never borrow his slippers, giving you a reason to go to his camp to return them!

Many times when a child of God has done things out of disobedience and they are facing the consequences, they ignorantly call it a trial. But they're not the same!

TRIALS

We begin by considering what TRIALS are not:

1. A TRIAL is not a curse

2. A TRIAL is not divine chastisement (Pro 3:11-12)

Let us consider HOW a curse and a divine chastisement vary, before we look at trials.

The Shepherd and the wayward sheep
The sheep kept straying. The shepherd kept using the staff on his right hand to push it in line. It got more stubborn because the grass was greener on the other side, so the shepherd turns the staff around and uses the crooked end to pull it back by the neck. But this sheep wants to really chow the greener grass, so it tries harder. The shepherd uses the rod on his left hand to twack the animal on its side. The sheep gets gentle for a while. Process repeats itself until the sheep makes a really dangerous attempt, then the shepherd uses the staff to break its leg and puts the stubborn sheep on his own neck/shoulder till the broken leg is healed. (This explains why some stubborn new believers experience awesome levels of grace during a period of divine chastisement: they're on the shepherd's shoulders!).

With curses, when the believer strays via disobedience, he strays into the devil's territory and gets snared. At best, a kind of ransom will get him out mildly scathed (aftermath of a "curse" now lifted). Curses are freely given, in fact, perforced upon camp members and newcomers, in the enemy camp.

With divine chastisement, God brings a rod of correction BY HIMSELF upon an erring child without allowing him to get as far as the enemy territory. He does that for the purpose of correction and for the good of the believer. It is done in love.

Scriptures establishing divine chastisement are Psa 119:67, Num 12:1-16. 1 Chr 21:1-30, John 21:1-3

When a believer in the situation of divine chastisement genuinely confesses to God, and repents, he finds mercy.

Repent: Re-pent. Pent would refer to an elevated position, to re-pent means to come back upwards, not to stay down where you fell.

3. A TRIAL is not "suffering for ignorance's sake"

Hosea 4:6, Isa 5:13-14 describe this kind of suffering, but they are not trials. In fact, they are much closer to divine chastisements than trials, but they are not always divine chastisements either.

Hosea 4:6 says MY PEOPLE: the holy, righteous and sanctifiedc ones! Not the enemy! MY OWN PEOPLE!

There are established laws and principles in the spiritual and in the physical, and when one is ignorant of the principles and runs against their grain, there will be (super)natural consequences, and since God is just, he will not lift a finger to stop it unless he does that in his infinite mercies. However, there is really no reason to be ignorant when you walk with the God who knows everything!

Ignorance is one of the worst, and deadliest diseases in the church today. The right remedy to this destruction is true knowledge. Through true knowledge is the righteous delivered!

Pro 18:13 "A fool confirms a matter before he hears of it"

Destruction lies in the wake of ignorance. Ignorance is highly vulnerable to deception, and deception is the worst tool that the devil uses against people. As small as a seed of knowledge is, it dispels ignorance and keeps deception at bay because Whatever you use grows!

The word of God, arriving in you, is bitter; but when it settles in your tummy it will taste sweet to you.

One such point of ignorance with many people has to do with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God inspires LOVE, GRACE, FAITH and COMMUNION. Any other thing is secondary!!! 2 Cor 13:1 establishes that truth is confirmed between two or three witnesses. If any of these witnesses mentioned above (Love, Grace, Faith, Communion) has not confirmed whatever you are dealing with, it's not worth your time as a Christian. Everyone Jesus met, their lives got better for it. If you are in church and your life is not improving, then that's not the place for you!

Let us look at one guy in the Bible that was suffering due to ignorance. It was NOT a curse, it was NOT divine chastisement, it was NOT a trial. It was simply suffering due to ignorance and self-induced deception. It's the story of the prodigal son, which many of us are familiar with. The prodigal's brother was on the farm, WORKING, when the SERVANTS and SLAVES were partying at the return of the prodigal. He didn't even know what was happening back at home, he had to ask a SERVANT. The servant that he asked was obviously closer to the family than the guy himself. Then he complained to his father: I have been slaving away for you! Suffering in ignorance, He had been believing that if he worked hard and got his father's attention maybe he would get a cow pikin (calf) someday. LOL! THATs the height of suffering out of ignorance, when the father was altogether rich.

Now, we move on to TRIALS. What are trials?

Traugott:

Now, we move on to TRIALS. What are trials?

Very interesting so far. People have tended to confuse these things today - I don't know so much about the scenario in Nigeria, but you should hear just what many Nigerian Christians in London believe!

@Viaro: Yes o, my brother! In fact, it was a UK church pastored by a Nigerian, that I saw their website and what they were saying. That made me raise the topic and share some things from my old study notes! I continue. . .

Nine (9) Various Schools of Thought with respect to Trials

Sincerely I do not know if there are more than Nine (9), but here are 9 that I know:

1. A CHILD OF GOD NEVER FACES ANY TRIALS, OR GOES THROUGH ANY TRIALS
FALSE. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them (see Psa 34:7, and also Isa 43:2, John 16:33, 2 Tim 3:12)
Christians go through trials. The difference between us and the world is that we go through trials with a "mountain" attitude, even when we are placed in the valleys of life's walks.

2. TRIALS OCCUR DUE TO A LACK OF FAITH IN THE CHRISTIAN
FALSE. These ones are always quick to say "Brother, you don't have faith, that's why you're going through this!"
There is no Biblical position for this, so I am not content with that explanation.

3. WHEN TRIALS OCCUR, ONE MUST TELL A LIE TO COVER IT UP
FALSE. One of the most common statements to this effect (at least in Nigeria where I live), is this one:
"I am strong" when one has an illness (in this case, it is not said by faith, but said as a quick-willed slogan). Faith must always be backed up by actions! I will give two quick examples to illustrate the faith / lies aspect of trials.

Pastor: "Why didn't the two of you come to church?"
a) Christian 1: "Oh, pastor, I was strong"
Traugott: Is that so? So why were you reclining on the couch at home, watching TV rather than confessing the word or taking drugs and believing by faith that you are healed? Thus, saying you were strong is not a statement of faith, but a LIE.

b) Christian 2: "I am very rich, in fact my wallet is loaded with cash, and my bank account is overflowing"
Traugott: This is a lie, and not a statement of faith. If you really wanted to do something, money will not be a hindrance. If you pray for a means to get to church, if it doesn't come in form of cash, you will get a lift, or you will have excellent energy to trek (Even Jesus trekked, when there were chariots/coaches and other means of transport). In the ministry of the Christian, things fall in line with someone who knows where he/she is going, so you should go in faith. Faith without works is dead, and is all a lie.

4. TRIALS OCCUR AS A RESULT OF SIN
FALSE. Trials don't show up because of sin! The people with this school of thought are always quick to say "This brother / sister is in trials because of sins he/she committed" but I do not find any Biblical statement justifying that!

5. TRIALS ARE GOD'S JUDGMENT FOR YOUR PAST SIN
FALSE. These ones think that God is punishing you for your past sin, but this is not true, as the Bible declares that he remembers our sins no more. God has divine amnesia with respect to forgiven sin: it's a clean slate! But unfortunately many Christians are in this school of thought. When they say "God is judging me for past sin", the devil will nod and encourage the thoughts!

Isa 1:18, Isa 43:25, Micah 7:26, Psa 32:1, 1 Jn 1:9 all declare that God wipes away our sins when he forgives us, and thus He justifies us! It's the devil that reminds people of their past, accuser of the brethren: accusing you to your contemporaries, you to God, and you to yourself! God has not dealt with us according to our sins!

There are two things one can do with their past:
a) Forget it
b) Learn from it

Many people do the second, others do the first only, but it is important to do the second, THEN the first. If any man be in Christ, the old goes and the NEW comes! (2 Cor 5:17) Who can then bring a charge against God's own elect? (Rom 8:33)

RIGHTEOUSNESS is the ability to stand before God without condemnation, inferiority, sin, guilt or fear!

6. TRIALS ARE A DIVINE CHECK AGAINST FUTURE SINS
FALSE. These ones say things like "Lord, kill me before I sin. If you know I will blaspheme your name today, let something bad happen in my family that will put me in check." This is utterly faithless and has no known Biblical pattern.

7. TRIALS ARE SOMEWHAT RANDOM, ONE CAN'T TELL IF THEY INDICATE THE LORD'S HAND, OR THAT OF SATAN
FALSE. This school of thought is also wrong, in light of the definition of TRIALS (next post). Satan has absolutely no reason to try you because he does not intend for you to get better!


8. TRIALS ARE THE CONTINUOUS OFFSHOOT OF GENERATIONAL CURSES
FALSE. We will deal with generational curses after we are done discussing trials, and then the error in this school of thought will be seen.

9. TRIALS ARE THE EXAMINATIONS BEFORE A PROMOTION CAN OCCUR
TRUE.This is the school of thought I agree with. The adherents of this school of thought, from God's perspective, know WHY they're tried, they go through it with fullness of joy, and they come out of it better and not bitter! They know that every trial has an expiry date, and ends in a promotion, and they acknowledge Job's story as such an example of a trial.

Since many people blame things that happen to them on trials, we will need to expand on the definition of trials, and explain further.

A friend once described trial as an acronym TRIAL: The Root Into Another Level.

Talking about the inheritance of God (Jacob), the Bible says of God
Deu 32:11  As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
Deu 32:12  So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

As an eagle stirs up her nest, God stirs up our comfort zones! The mother eagle stirs the nest to make the eaglets uncomfortable if they are getting too used to the nest. They may think the mother is wicked, but she knows what she is doing! The Eaglet may say "Now I know she is not my mother. How else would she fling me upward to fall?"  when the mother eagle flings the eaglet upward to encourage it to fly or die. THAT is trial, it will force the eaglet to use the skills that it has learnt from its mother, and excel at it.

I want to quickly make some further clarifications between trials, divine chastisements, curses and sufferings due to ignorance, to drive my points closer home.

Let's identify a divine chastisement in the New Testament: God slapped Zechariah and made him dumb temporarily because He doubted God's message, otherwise as God's Priest he would spread unbelief among the people! (Luke 1:18-22)

See another:
Psa 119:71  It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
This is NOT suffering for ignorance, because suffering for ignorance never has an expiry date. It gets worse for as long as you remain entrenched in ignorance! It is a divine chastisement: a correction to make him learn God's statutes. Notice: MAKE HIM LEARN, so it's not a trial of what he has learnt.

Another friend of mine once said that if he walks for days in God and he doesn't get a single rebuke, then knowing that he is imperfect, he will be forced to ask himself "Am I now a bas.tar'd?" because him whom the Father loves is rebuked!

And a trial:
Job 23:10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath[b] tried[/b] me, I shall come forth as gold.

As seen from the two examples above, Divine chastisements and trials bring out the best in us. Curses and suffering in ignorance are just wrong for us, and we shouldn't even be experiencing them at all!

Im sorry I have been posting this slowly, and in small parts. My current Internet Service Provider is quite a comic I am almost done now.

Now let us look at definitions of trials in the worlds of science, law, commerce, entertainment and sports, to enlighten us further on what trials mean.

Commerce: A trial is a test of the likelihood of good's suitability for consumption.
God wants to "feed" on you, enjoy your praise and your walk with Him. It's just like the wood may complain when the sandpaper scrubs hard against it, but when it ends up looking snazzy, it poses in the showglass and watches people oooh and aaah in wonder.

Science: Trials are experiments in which one tests something by using it or doing it for a period of time until one discovers how best it works. It provides a standard for consistency, viability and integrity.

Entertainment: Trials mean an auditioning: giving someone a privilege of short performance in a play to see if the person is good for the act. Some may have the accent, but not the face or the attitude. To really select the best, you need to be tried!

Sports: Trials are closed examinations or tests given to sportsmen before considering them for a buy in the club / team. But that doesn't mean he'll play: he is to be checked for attitude (e.g. when benched), considered under diverse weather conditions, drilled for his style of play, etc. It's until he is found FIT FOR ALL PURPOSES!

Law: Trials are legal processes in which a judge and jury listen to evidence and decide whether a person is guilty (or not) of a crime.

In all, in summary, trials are, as I quoth earlier: T[/b]he [b]R[/b]oot [b]I[/b]nto [b]A[/b]nother [b]L[/b]evel. This means TRIALS preps you up for another level of relevance in God! Trials are the examinations that God takes us through before promotion (see Psa 75:6, promotion comes only from God) 

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The last point of this study will be about generational curses, and I will start by saying that I do not believe that they have a hold on true Christians.

As an appetizer, consider with me:

Psa 14:5 There were they in great fear: for [b]God is in the generation of the righteous.

If God is in my generation, then I can't experience a generational curse. God cannot be cursed. It is a generational blessing that accrues to me.

More on generational curses later.

Pro 18:13 "A fool confirms a matter before he hears of it"

i like this

y do some people choose to climb a tree frm d top or put goats in aquariums, must everything b related to evil spirit, in simple terms wat some call curses etc is simply a case of history repeating its self nothing else, eg as a boy or a gal ur father abandoned you, ur mother never remaried there by creating a vaccum in ur life, as a gal u grow up to have poor expectations n thus poor relations wiv men so u end up as a divorce also unwilling to re marry, as a boy u grow up not understanding committment and responsibility and thus u have kids for different women n end up abandoning ur kids as well, a very simplified example, not always the case,,,but u can see how family plays a vital role n somin so simple can spiral out of control

wbb

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