"Do not be deceived: God cannot be
mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who
sows to please his sinful nature, from that
nature will reap destruction; the one who sows
to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap
eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing
good, for at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians
6:7-9).
You and I reap the good and the bad in our
lives. Good health does not just happen. Each
one of us must do something to promote good health.
If we are eating a lot of sweets and getting no
exercise, we cannot expect our bodies to be healthy.
In the Bible there is a law of sowing and reaping.
If we take good care of your body, we will in
most cases reap health. This includes areas such
as eating good food with a lot of fruit, vegetables
and grains. It also includes such areas as emotional
health by not holding bitterness and anger within
our heart. These negative emotions will affect
physical health. We also can inherit bad health
tendencies through our family lines. There is
the possibility of ill health through our generational
line. Carefully pray about this regarding anything
in your family line. My family has a tendency
toward heart and bone disease. Yours may be different.
The following is one way of looking at the possibility
of ill health in our body.
"Whenever unforgiven sins exist in our family
lines, the legal necessity to reap remains in
force." Exodus
34:6-7, Numbers
14:18, and Deuteronomy
5:9 are key verses regarding this. We wonder
how this can be true. But God is fair, and there
is a law of sowing and reaping. We must realize
that forgiveness restores our relationships, but
it does not do away with the need for discipline.
Jesus reaped the harm of all generational sin
passed down from our forefathers (Ezekiel
18:2-5, 9). Only He is righteous, and it is
only by His righteousness imputed to us (2
Corinthians 5:21) that we no longer have to
reap the sin of our forefathers. God is good,
and His Son cleanses us from all sin (1
John 1:7). But even after we are saved, inherited
evil does not end. Christians still reap in their
own lives the evils their ancestors have committed.
Some sins must be prayed about specifically
or else the sin continues through the generations.
How is Generational Sin Passed
Down Through the Generations?
"The Lord is slow to anger, abounding
in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet
He does not leave the guilty unpunished; he
punishes the children for the sin of the fathers
to the third and fourth generation" (Numbers
14:18).
There are three ways generational sins pass down
through the generations. They descend through
physical genes, modeling others' behavior, and
by the law of sowing and reaping. Whatever
is sown must be reaped. "The descending
of generational sins by law is compounded by the
fact that Satan understands the principle of sowing
and reaping. He knows that not only will our children
and their descendants reap the good we have sown;
they will also reap the evil. He also knows our
ignorance about law, that we think we can just
do this or that 'little' sin and nothing will
come of it! We do not realize there is no escape
from consequences - except by grace." The
devil knows what weaknesses we have inherited
in our bodies. He will try to pass these on to
us, causing us to reap bad health.
What unhealthy tendencies have you inherited
from your parents, grandparents, etc.? What
was modeled to you in negative behavior that you
have easily adapted into your own life? Some examples
are overeating, lack of exercise, eating junk
food and the list goes on. What have you inherited
and reaped in your physical genes? Some examples
are heart disease, obesity, cancer, etc. What
about your emotions? Do you easily get depressed,
angry or bitter? All of this will greatly affect
our present and future health if we do not stop
the law of sowing and reaping in our present generation.
"Innumerable harmful results may
descend as a result of previous sin. Tendencies
to cancer, allergies, lung problems or circulation
disorders may descend from sins in previous
generations. Tendencies to sexual perversion,
homosexuality, frigidity, barrenness, tragic
early deaths, a lack of boys or girls born into
a family generation after generation - any of
these can descend from ancestral sins. Additional
harmful reaping includes depression, bipolarism,
mental imbalance neuroses and psychoses, alcoholism
and chemical addiction." Unnamed quotes
by John Sandford
How do we deal with all of
this generational sin?
The following will help you to know how to deal
with the generational sin in your past that was
passed down either through modeling, physical
genes or the law of sowing and reaping. It is
important to realize that some sins come from
our present sin and not from our past generations.
This is taken from the book Healing the Nations
by John Sandford.
- See the negative health patterns; inquire
into your family tree.
- Look for repeated occurrences in grandparents,
parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
- List them. Some examples could be heart disease,
cancer, overeating, anger, etc.
- Pray, first giving thanks for all the good
that has come from those forefathers.
- Pray, placing the cross, through prayer,
between your forefathers and yourself or your
family, declaring
that all the destructive patterns inherited
from the ancestors now stop on the cross of
Christ.
- Name the patterns, believing that Jesus has
died with them on the cross.
- Repent on behalf of those who have gone before
and for yourself.
- Receive forgiveness.
- Pray blessing, declaring that the very opposite
of the harmful generational pattern will now
replace it. Give thanks.
- Reaffirm the prayer whenever you feel led,
keeping at it for at least several weeks. Give
thanks, believing it is done.
Isn't it good to realize that we can stop
the negative, generational patterns and can begin
to sow good patterns into the present and future
generations? We will reap what we sow. It
is time to sow good eating and living patterns
into our lives. May God help each one of us to
sow good seed, for we will reap a harvest if we
do not give up. The following is a prayer renouncing
the sins of our ancestors. You may want to pray
this over you and your family.
"As
a child of God purchased by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, I here and now renounce and repudiate
all the sins of my ancestors. As one who has been
delivered from the power of darkness and translated
into the kingdom of God's dear son, I cancel out
all demonic working that has been passed on to
me from my ancestors. As one who has been crucified
with Jesus Christ and raised to walk in newness
of life, I cancel every curse that may have been
put upon me. I announce to Satan and all his forces
that Christ became a curse for me when he hung
on the cross. As one who has been crucified and
raised with Christ and now sits with Him in heavenly
places, I renounce any and every way in which
Satan may claim ownership of me. I declare myself
to be eternally and completely signed over and
committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. I renounce
(list the curses in your family background) and
I receive (list the blessings). All this I do
in the Name and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ."
The Adversary by Mark Bubeck
Health
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