- Are my finances cursed?
Is there spiritual warfare that's taking place
in the area of my finances?
We must understand that the world is more spiritual
than we realize.
A lot of things we see in the Bible that had spiritual forces
behind financial problems.
For example, the famine during the days of David.
The Scripture says that the first few years it was fine.
You know, David just thought it was just the weather.
But after a while he started to inquire of the Lord
and the Lord revealed that there was a spiritual cause
behind a financial problem.
We see similar things with like Achan's disobedience to God
in terms of the forbidden or the accursed things
in the city of Jericho brought a calamity on the whole nation
and then eventually brought destruction upon his life.
When the servant of Elisha took what was not supposed
to be taken, he received leprosy.
When the disciple of Jesus, Judas,
who lived a lifestyle of stealing,
he would take money from the offering,
it opened a door to the enemy to deceive him and eventually
demons you know, Satan himself, the Bible says, entered him.
And then this devil not only deceived him and led him
to betray Jesus, eventually he took his own life.
The Bible says that Satan has put in the heart of Ananias
to lie to the Holy Spirit concerning finances.
So if you think for a moment that spiritual warfare
only happens in the area of your sleep,
in the area of your health, in the area of your emotions,
in the area of your mind, in the area of the world,
but it doesn't touch the area of your finances, think again.
Which area is the competition to your worship of God?
It's the area of your finances.
"You cannot worship two gods," Jesus says.
"You cannot worship God and Mormon."
He didn't say you cannot worship God and Satan.
Mormon is the money god.
It's the riches. It's the wealth. It's that.
It's the deceitfulness of riches; cares of this life
that choke the Word of God and make it of no effect in our life.
The reason there is a warfare on the area of finances
is because whoever has the area of finances has your heart.
If God has the area of finances in your life,
He has your heart.
If Satan has the area of finances, he has your heart.
You can proclaim your loyalty and allegiance to God
all day long but if the area of your finances
is not submitted to God then you are honestly
deceiving yourself.
In the area of finances, I want to highlight few truths.
One of them is a blessing and a curse.
The Scripture says, "The blessing of the Lord makes rich
and it adds no sorrow with it." Proverbs 10:22
I want you to notice that the blessing of God is not riches.
The blessing of God brings those things
but the blessing of God is not those things.
The blessing of God is not stuff.
The blessing of God is not possessions.
The blessing of God is not bling and bling.
The blessing of God is not money.
The blessing of God is a spiritual empowerment for expansion
to help you fulfill your assignment.
That's why God blessed Adam and Eve
before He told them to be fruitful and multiply.
God blessed Noah before He told him
to be fruitful and multiply.
God blessed Abraham before he told him
to be fruitful and multiply.
Jesus blessed the five loaves and two fish
and they multiplied.
He blessed His disciples and then He commissioned them
to go into all the world and make disciples.
You can't advance, expand, move forward
without a spiritual empowerment that we call, the blessing.
It's a spiritual reality that manifests itself
reveals itself in the natural world.
People that are blessed are not necessarily people who are rich
they are people who have what it takes and more
to do what God called them to do.
And that's really what we are after.
We are not after money, we are after His blessing.
Like Jacob, we wrestle with God that He will bless--
Like Jabez, we would say that you would bless me
that I will not cause pain.
That you will expand my territory.
And God heard his prayer, and God answered that.
Through the beatitudes Jesus says blessed are the people.
And He tells us how to receive that blessing.
The opposite of blessing is curse.
Now there are different people who can use different words. Okay?
And there is a play of words that really happens.
People who say Christians can't have curses and everything
honestly, a lot of that is a play of words. Okay?
And you can choose whatever words you want to use for that.
I'm just going to use the words that I'm familiar with.
And why I'm using the word curse is because
I see it in the example of Jesus.
When Jesus pronounced a curse over-- it was a big tree
that had no fruit.
But after the curse was released on it,
this big tree that was fruitless became a tree
that became withered.
So everything that's cursed withers.
Everything that's blessed is empowered for expansion.
In the area of finances, when you look at your finances
can we just be honest? Are your finances--
Do you sense an expansion, an advancement moving forward?
And no, not for our purpose
the purpose of advancing God's Kingdom.
The purpose of helping other people
or the purpose of living generously.
Or you sense that everything you try
something is holding it back, something withering it?
There is constant, constant, like a chain that holds it back.
If that is happening in the area of your finances
you might be in a spiritual warfare.
I want to encourage you with few practical things
on what to do.
Examine first and foremost, who is the master
your money or your Lord? Who is the Lord of your life?
Do you worship God or you worship money?
Because if money has become your idol
you are not just in a spiritual warfare,
you are in spiritual defeat.
Many people when they experience repentance
from the idolatry of money, they experience victory
in the very area they surrendered and yielded to God.
And you can examine that very easily.
Are you a generous person or are you a stingy person?
Do you trust God with your finances
or you trust in your finances?
Are you a covetous person
or are you a person who lives in contentment?
The other question that I would examine in your heart is
is there traces of stealing in your life?
Do you currently live a life that is stealing?
Do you live a life where you are taking what is not yours?
It doesn't matter how fast you speak in tongues
and how many times you've been in church
or which Christian t-shirt you wear.
If you are actively stealing, you are under a curse.
You are representing the nature of Satan.
He comes to steal, kill and destroy.
Jesus comes to give and more abundantly.
If you are stealing you are no different than Judas.
You are no different from the thieves on the cross.
Now there is redemption for you,
there is forgiveness for you,
but you must understand your finances are cursed.
There is a verse in the Bible that says,
in the life of a thief even the timbers in house
will come under destruction because of stealing.
Repent of stealing, and stop stealing.
Be like Zaccheaus who says, "I will return four times more
anyone that I ripped off
and I will give half of my income I give away."
And Jesus was impressed with that transformation of heart
by seeing the transformation in Zaccheaus' finances.
But also, I would ask: Are you lazy? Are you hardworking?
You know, praying against financial curses, all of that
even giving does not replace the importance
of being early for work, being late after work
meaning you are a hardworking person.
You are diligent. You are disciplined.
You are a focused person. You do a great job.
A lot of people that are experiencing spiritual warfare
is because they are not working hard at their job.
Perhaps you are facing this demonic attack on your finances
You know, Mormon is the word for money but Mormon is also
is a powerful demon that is commonly personified as greed
demon of-- lord of riches, abundance, wealth
prosperity and injustice.
In fact, throughout the Christian culture
people have seen Mormon as a spiritual entity to some riches.
Who rules your life today?
If it's the Lord who is the owner of all the wealth
all the goodness, He will help you to get through this season.
But if you have made wealth into your Lord,
then my friend, you are not just in a spiritual warfare
you are in a spiritual defeat already.
And I'm inviting you to repent.
I'm inviting you to repent of making money into God
and make God your Lord.
You will see His spiritual blessing follow your life.
That doesn't mean you will have stuff
it means you will have whatever you need
to fulfill whatever He has called you to do.
And you will sense His wind blowing in your back versus
His some kind of a resistance hitting your face.
May God give you the strength to push through
whatever resistance you are facing
to repent of any sin that you have allowed in your life
and to understand that you can't serve God and Mormon.
God bless you.
Thank you for watching this video.
I hope that you were encouraged
and I pray God reaches blessings on the area of your finances.
Remember, God blesses us so we can be a blessing.