Inheriting Baggage 2

We closed our last message with asking how we can escape the negative spiritual inheritance due us.

And this because some can clearly see that the trajectory their lives are taking either points at some negative inheritance (many talk of generational curses) or know that we deserve that negative heritage since we know where we come from.

We can therefore deduce that we have some inherited baggage we are carrying, baggage that is causing unpleasant consequences that we interpret as inherited judgment or habits.

Examples are drunkenness that can’t be explained, fights, broken families, unending health challenges however strictly we adhere to diet, exercise and lifestyle, and many other uniquely us barbs we continue experiencing.

This despite the fact that we have believed in Jesus and seek to follow Him.

However, I will avoid the route most want you to follow.

Do not start looking backward to get a solution. That is unless you already know what you are reaping from. And even then it won’t be of much help.

Do not look for those hidden covenants that you were not part of. Do not be a sleuth in your family affairs since you will most certainly offend many; some who do not know what you are doing and others who will call you a meddler in their affairs.

Chances are none of those alive have any idea the covenants binding you to that judgment since they were sealed many generations before your time. It is akin to examining the fruit to trace the roots and the specific conditions under which the seed was planted.

Determine to know Christ and follow Him completely and wholeheartedly.

Determine to intimately know His word and live according to it. Determine that whatever God says you will do unreservedly.

You see, Christ took our curse by being made a curse for us. He took our judgment by dying in our place.

Unhitching from my past and hitching to Him is therefore the only sure way of escaping from those chains holding me to my heritage.

I have used superlatives intentionally.

No other degree is acceptable when it comes to Christ and our relationship to Him.

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (John 6:68)

It is when He is the only option that He becomes the ultimate prize and solution.

Many times, we will struggle with bondages because we have not completely left our perch on our heritage.

No wonder we hear of believers who are unable to leave their tribal or racial leanings. No wonder we have believers who are unable to stop bad language. No wonder we have believers who are unable to stop unhealthy relationships.

They choose to take Jesus but are not willing to completely let go of their past. They want to hold on Jesus but are unwilling to completely let go of what they were holding on before Jesus came around.

And I am not talking about growth since, though salvation takes a moment, growth takes time, again depending on my level of surrender.

I am talking about a church elder, pastor, bishop who are unable to let go of booze. I am talking of the same leader who is unable to remain faithful to his wife. I am talking about such a leader who does not see any problem with greed.

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5: 3 – 5)

If your conversion is unable to rid you of such, we can confidently assume that either, it was fake, or it did not go far enough.

In short, Christ was not taken as the Lord He is.

And this because only Christ as Lord is able to conclusively deal with any baggage we have when we allow Him.

Nothing less than full and complete surrender can move Him to deal with issues His way because then He will ultimately have to share the spoils with our effort and ingenuity.

Remember when Gideon was told that his completely outnumbered army was too big for God to use?

Imagine God saying that a 4 to 1 disadvantage is way too advantageous to His people.

That He needed a 450 to 1 disadvantage to function properly.

Because then there would be no argument about the source of the victory since nobody would have explained away God’s hand in the whole thing.

This means that for God to fully manifest in one’s affairs, there has to be no doubt about His singular involvement. That my part in it is my agreeing with Him and doing exactly what He tells me to do.

We love having bragging rights and so will very easily discount His intervention by our determination or effort.

Many will very comfortably talk like God was powerless until they gave Him the permission to intervene. Many talk as if their salvation was the result of their untiring pursuit of God. Many talk of their victory as the product of their spiritual stamina and prayer.

But God does not operate under those conditions since He cannot share His glory with His creation.

That is why we have Gideon’s story. And many other similar stories in the scriptures.

Gideon still takes us to the main point I am making.

He broke completely free from his past spiritual baggage by demolishing his father’s (and clan’s) spiritual bulwarks and making fuel of the same in building an altar and offering sacrifice to God thereon.

No wonder they wanted him lynched.

It was from that point that God could then issue the command we have just looked at.

It is impossible to access God’s breakthrough if my security is elsewhere.

And that elsewhere may be that good job, that stable family, that worthy investment, etc.

I must let go of them to be able to accurately see God’s hand in my affairs.

And where better to see than in being rid of that bothersome baggage that holds me back from exploding in my spiritual impact.

Elisha did that.

Ruth did that

Rahab the harlot did that.

That is why we read their stories for our instruction.

But it has a cost; a very high cost that many find forbidding.

Even Abraham battled with it for long; until his father finally died.

What I am saying is that it is impossible to conclusively deal with inherited spiritual baggage unless I am willing to completely let go of everything tying me to that heritage, especially security.

Even company and peer pressure are symptoms of a lack of that breaking through because it indicates an insecurity about standing alone.

I know believers who will thrive in the right company but become scoundrels when that support system is no longer there.

These are those who are on fire for Christ at home or in college where fellowship is fine yet will break down when they are sent to remote stations where there is little or no fellowship.

And it is not that their decision to Christ was fake.

They find it impossible to stand on their own, especially against the security company offers.

Can you imagine such a person doing what Gideon did?

Can such a person make the decisions Rahab and Ruth made?

That is the simplest reason many are unable to break free of inherited baggage. That is why many are unable to break free of ancestral yokes.

I do not know where you stand in this.

But would you rather stand up ALONE with God or be surrounded with all the right people with baggage?

That is the reason we have serial repenters.

They are always weeping over their sins yet are unable to make a clean break with whatever is leading them to those particular sins.

No wonder motivators thrive.

They keep them comfortable by helping (killing is the right word) them from taking responsibility for their choices and decisions.

And they do it by prophesying this or the other breakthrough, declaring and decreeing this or the other monumental victory.

Yet never holding them accountable for their actions, thoughts, attitudes.

As an example, you will never overcome sexual immorality by grabbing and holding and possessing this or the other decree or prophecy. Otherwise, Joseph’s story should not be in the Bible.

Flee youthful lusts is an admonition in the New Testament for those who are scared of instruction from the Old, as if the Bible is two books!

I appear as if I have run off the rails.

But it is for the simple reason of wanting us to connect our victory to choices and decisions.

It is to show us that a clean break is possible but not automatic as it needs sweat on our side.

Christ’s victory is available but not free for the picking of whoever, however.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

There are choices to be considered.

There are dangers to be faced.

There are decisions to be made.

There are things to done.

And there is a cost to be borne.

And it is foolhardy to imagine that you can break through that spiritual baggage without a struggle.

It is foolish to assume that the ropes binding you to that baggage will break on their own or after a prayer or anointing from whoever.

You are the sole determinant of your breaking free because God is just waiting for you to make that single break.