THE ACCURSED THING

Today Bishop Joseph Walker III preached from the book of Joshua chapter 7 about Achan. Walker drove home the point that when we are in sin mode, we are cursed and cannot defeat our enemies.

Joshua 7:6
And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.

Joshua 7:10
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?

Sandra’s comments: Joshua was on his face before the Lord until eventide. Because sin was in the camp, the Lord was NOT receptive to Joshua’s posture. The Lord told him “Get thee up” because it had no effect. In essence, sin separated him from GOD….

Joshua 7:11
Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, …

Joshua 7:12
Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

Sandra’s comments: Sin prevented Israel from having victory. In our present day, habitual sin prevents many Christians from being a threat to the kingdom of darkness. Today I listened to a Christian pastor on the radio discuss when he was in about a week or more of rebellion against the Lord. The Lord had told him to double up on his prayer life and to double up on his Bible reading etc. He had not done so. The pastor stated that Satan came in his bedroom one night and the pastor stated that the sight of Satan caused the hairs on him to stand up. He stated that he rebuked Satan. He said that Satan laughed and told him that he could not rebuke him because the Lord had told him (the pastor) to double up on his prayer life, to double up on his Bible reading etc. Satan informed the pastor that he could NOT rebuke him because he (the pastor) had NOT done what he Lord told him to do. The pastor understood that Satan knew. Eventually, the pastor repented but until he did, he did NOT have authority over Satan. Satan knew it and mocked and laughed at him.

Joshua 7:13
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel. There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.

Sandra’s comments: It is dangerous to be a Christian and not be fully armored as stated in Ephesians 6. Many Christians are living defeated lives because of lack of knowledge. The Word of God warns us that GOD’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Years ago, more Christians had less resources but more anointing, authority and power to destroy yokes. Holiness was more in place and more of those Christians had more than a Christian label. They were true worshippers and were fully armored and would regularly put the Devil on the run. In our present day, we have more resources such as books, DVD’s, Internet, and Bibles of all sorts - yet many so-called Christians do NOT know the Word and do not do it. The Word is our sword. How can we be dangerous to the Devil if we do not effectively wield the sword of the Spirit? The Devil, our enemy, knows the Word while numerous Christians don’t. The Devil knows it but he does NOT obey it.

Many Christians are afraid of Satan and are subject to him. True worshippers of GOD have the demonic under subjection to the power of GOD that resides within. That is Bible living.

A pastor in Tampa, FL who does deliverance ministry told me that he was a guest speaker at a church when a demon manifested in an attendee. Since the pastor was a guest, he deferred to the pastor there and the church leadership to deal with the matter. They told him to cast out the demon because they had sin in their lives and did not believe that they could do it. I was stunned and asked to make sure that that was what the pastor said. He said that, yes, the pastor there told him that. The Tampa pastor did cast out the demon. GOD gives power and authority over the Devil to holy people. Of course, He is sovereign and may choose to do otherwise but typically that is how it manifests.

It would be powerful if all who are called Christians were a danger to the kingdom of evil but the truth is that that is NOT the reality and will never be in this life.

Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

May God help us all!