Blessing and Cursing -

Gain by Soothsaying

“And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:” Acts 16:16

“Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;” 2 Peter 2:15

Gain by soothsaying is when a person is paid for telling the future. This also includes prophets who do not belong to the Lord but are in the business of being paid for some kind of prophecy about future events. We even watch it on TV, especially during pagan holidays like Halloween, to honor the dead and evil spirits. The occult practices during this time display magic, supernatural, and paranormal phenomena. Any form of pagan practice involves the false teaching of pagan gods. Some have entered the church today preaching a different doctrine that is not of the Gospel of Christ. People are no longer looking to God for answers, but instead are seeking special prophets’ advice who are not Christians at all. We are not to glory in any spirit of the dead or any other kind of spirits. We are not to go and have our fortunes read or play games that seek the spirit world for advice. Any character of divination, enchanter, charmer, or consulter with familiar spirits is an abomination unto the Lord [see Deuteronomy 18:10-12]. We should be aware that these practices bind a person to live a life of darkness where deceit and lying spirits control the individual.

Have you ever read about the prophecies of Balaam? In Numbers chapter 22, you can read the story about the prophecies of Balaam. Balaam was a mercenary prophet from Pethor. He was a prophet for hire. We have many prophets for hire today. Some are pastors claiming to be prophets of God but are not following the truth of the Gospel of Christ. We should heed the warning about Balaam, who was a man who practiced divination. In other words, He predicted future events. Balaam was hired by King Moab to curse the Israelites. Can you imagine being paid to curse people? Yet, through many generations, some families have talked about being cursed. This is why James states that the tongue is full of iniquity and sets on fire the course of nature that brings chaos rather than order in people’s lives [see James 3:6].

Yes, we can learn lessons from the story of Balaam. The first thing we can learn is to bless others and not curse them. Is it harder to bless than to curse? Some would say yes, but it should not be this way. Christians should already be doing this since they have the Spirit of Christ living within their hearts. If they do not have the Spirit of Christ living within their hearts, then they can pray for it after they have repented. If your focus is on something other than God, your heart is in the wrong place. It is what you focus on that causes you to speak out a curse because your focus is on gaining something you want, or you are angry about something. What can we do about individuals who consistently harass or persecute others? The apostle Paul tells us to bless those who persecute us [see Romans 12:14]. By blessing them, it will reveal the individual’s own behavior and help them to come back to the character of Christ. It is similar to the random acts of kindness policy that helps one see their own negative behavior or feelings. We all need to be noticed and loved.

Balaam received payment to curse the Israelites. He rode on a donkey with the princes of Moab. This was after God had visited and spoken to Balaam, giving him specific direction on what he was to do, but Balaam ignored God’s instructions. God sent an angel of the Lord to stand in the way of Balaam. The donkey saw the angel and turned out into the field. Balaam hit the donkey with a stick and tried to turn the donkey in the direction it should go. The donkey began and still saw the angel, thus running into the wall and crushing Balaam’s foot against the wall. Balaam hit the donkey again. The donkey still saw the angel and had nowhere to go because the angel of the Lord always blocked his path. The donkey fell with Balaam on top. Balaam got mad and started to hit the donkey again with his stick. That is when the donkey started to talk back to Balaam as to why he was being beaten.

The Lord had to open the eyes of Balaam for him to see the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord asked Balaam, “Why did you hit your donkey three times?” The angel of the Lord told Balaam that he had to stand against him because his way was wicked [see Numbers 22:32]. Despite Balaam’s disobedience, Balaam ended up speaking the blessings of the Lord and not cursing the Israelites. Let us see what the Apostle Peter had to say about Balaam when he was referring to false prophets and teachers.

Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
2 Peter 2:15

The second lesson is to be aware of false prophets and teachers. They have no concern for those within the body of Christ, and they are intent on going their own way. They trap others to follow them into coveting after their own desires. They are deceitful in bringing in a stumbling block before God’s chosen people, causing them to sin [see Revelation 2:14]. Sexual immorality is one of the well-known sins in Christian leaders today. False teaching is a stumbling block when the truth has been told, but is being ignored for personal pursuits. A true prophet will give the truth according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A true prophet will believe in the Bible as the written word of God. A true prophet will not be selfish but will follow Christ and lead others to follow Christ. A true prophet will not seek after their own best interest; instead, they will be concerned with the well-being of others who are in the family of God.

The third lesson is to repent. Balaam would not repent and accept God’s word. Balaam was deceptive, and he chose who he wanted to listen to. Balaam knew the truth, but decided to find a way to be disruptive, causing Israel to sin. Balaam did not believe in God’s sovereignty. Balaam worshiped many pagan gods. He may have spoken God’s words, but his heart was not in what God spoke. Many organizations that say they are Christian-based are promoting a different lifestyle that is not pleasing to God. Let us not be caught worshipping something other than the true God who has given us His son Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Be ye holy for I am the Lord your God. It is the Lord who sanctifies us. Be careful to not defile yourself. Keep yourself pure before the Lord. Bless and curse not, and always look to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Tame your own tongue to speak blessings in the name of Jesus. Do what Peter said in the following verse and inherit a blessing.

Be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:9

What Comes Out of the Mouth

“Out of the same mouth proceeded blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” James 3:10

Out of the mouth comes either blessing or cursing. We have heard, seen, and witnessed what comes out of the mouth of people. Even children copy their parents in what they say. The negative talk of bitterness, hatred, and judgement. How words that come out of the mouth can hurt, destroy, and bring a person no hope but rather darkness. James the brother of Jesus said, “these things ought not to t be so.” James stated that every beast can be tamed except for men.

In verse 8 of James chapter three we read how the tongue “is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”

Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. James 3:9

We can bless God, but not men and vice versa. Yet, men are made/created after the similitude of God. Men who are in the state of being similar to God. James states that the tongue is unruly, evil, full of deadly poison [see James 3:8]. How can this be possible? Because we have not surrendered all to the Lord. We have not yielded ourselves fully to God. I’m not sure if the newer generation has ever heard the traditional method for words of profanity, lying and a biting tongue. The discipline used was to wash out our mouth with soap. Our lips should be edifying and not cursing those in the body of Christ.

We may pray the Lord’s prayer to deliver us from evil, but we may not realize where evil comes from. The Hebrew word “Satan” means to accuse or be adversary. It means to obstruct or oppose someone. One can read about it in the story of Job. However, King David also prayed to be delivered from evil man whose tongue is sharpened like a serpent [see Psalms 140:3].

“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity.” Psalms 141:2-4

Set a watch before my mouth and keep the door of my lips O Lord. Have we considered this prayer to the Lord? What is in our heart is what we speak, but please Lord, let not my heart be inclined towards wickedness. We need to be reproved, cleansed from all wickedness. Is your tongue on fire? What course of nature are you following? James tells us that it is set on fire of hell [see James 3:6]. This is what defiles the whole body. Jesus said that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies, [see Matthew 15:18].

Bitter envying and strife come from the heart, and this effects the body and the soul. We just do not think ahead in the heat of the moment, when our mouth speaks. How can our body be a temple for God when it is defiled? We must let it go and give it to the Lord to cleanse our lips from all wickedness. We must pray to keep our mouth and tongue in order to keep our soul from troubles [see Proverbs 21:23]. Let us keep our mouth for blessing others in love and not for cursing in Jesus’ name. Let my tongue praise the Lord and be a tree of life and not death.

“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4

Do not put a breach within your spirit by speaking things that are not aligned to the word of God. If you do, you will lose the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You must ask for the mercy of God to give you grace and forgiveness for the negative words that has been spoken. Be reconciled to God and men. Speak words that will edify others in love instead of bringing them down. Words of life are the blessings we pass onto each other.

The Eyes of the Lord

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
Proverbs 14:3

The eye of the Lord is everywhere. The Lord sees all things. The Lord beholds the evil and the good upon the earth. This seems astonishing and yet we rarely think about it. Some people get angry about it, for if the Lord sees, why does he not do something about the evil. Ah! We forget about man’s free will. The Lord God has given us the choice to choose between blessing or cursing, between life and death, and between good and evil.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
Deuteronomy 30:19

To think that there is even a record of what we have chosen is something that is unheard of let alone mentioned. How do we even know that there is a God unless we are told by someone. The biggest comfort we can have when someone we love dies is the possibility of seeing them again when we pass. Sometimes a funeral may be the first time we have ever heard a message from a pulpit when scriptures are read from the Bible. Yet, this may be of little comfort for some people. One thing we do know is that there is good and evil in the world. We learn this and we see and experience it on a daily basis. We may not fully understand the rationality of why humans do what they do, but we soon know that the use of knowledge is to attain specific goals. These goals are used to gain possessions. We just do not think that the eye of the Lord sees all the things that we do. Would we do anything differently if someone was watching us?

Who is watching who is the question we are asking when it comes to having some sort of privacy. Just think about the security cameras. We have forgotten that they are there and yet criminals are bolder today as they crash into stores with vehicles and ransack stores. We are witnessing this in the news almost daily. Violence is being displayed upon school grounds when young children come to school with guns. How they got those guns is a question we keep asking. I can remember seeing a gun on the coffee table when I was 8 years old. My mom was sleeping on the couch and the gun was lying on the coffee table. I knew guns were bad and killed people, but I did not know why there was a gun on the coffee table. This was in the 1960’s. No one talks about the sanctity of life, and it seems that it is taken for granted. Yet, all life should be sacred since we are all created in God’s image. Do we value human life? This is dependent upon the knowledge one has of good and evil and if they believe in God.

The Bible tells us to choose between life and death, blessing and cursing. Not only does the eyes of the Lord see the evil and good of man, but he ponders upon man’s hearts.

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”
Proverbs 21:2

We may believe that our way is the right way, but the consequences tell us otherwise. It all boils down to the motives of the heart. Of course, many of us would choose life rather than death. Choosing life is to obey the Lord’s commandments and walk in them. The result of your obedience is that God will make whatever work you do with your hands, to grow along with the increase of your cattle and your land. The increase is the fruit it will bring forth. God is good in the promises He makes.

“And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:”
Deuteronomy 30:9

Our Lord God wants to show himself strong on your behalf and to rejoice over you with good. He looks for those who seek him with all their heart. The Lord loves righteousness and so should we. Can we rely on the Lord our God? King Asa of Judah did not rely on the Lord and Hanani the seer came to Asa and said, ” the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand because you did not rely on the Lord thy God,” [see 2 Chronicles 16:7].

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore, from henceforth thou shalt have wars.”
2 Chronicles 16:9

Is your heart perfect toward the Lord thy God? The eye of the Lord is looking throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on our behalf. The Lord has given everyone a choice to choose whom we will serve. It is our choice that brings wars around us. The greed and selfish desires of the heart wage war upon the human race. With our mouth, we bless and curse foolishly, creating conflict. James the brother of Jesus states that this should not be happening.

Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeded blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”
James 3:9-10

James continues to say that it is bitter envying and strife in the hearts of man. This brings confusion and every evil work [see James 3:16]. This is not the wisdom that comes from the father God above. Listen to what James says about wisdom that is from above.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
James 3:17

Let us choose wisely and listen to what the Lord our God is saying in His word. As the eyes of the Lord beholding evil and good, He is waiting to see who will rely on Him. Let us choose life instead of death that we may live. Let our hearts be perfect towards the Lord our God. Let His eyes look upon those whose heart is pure and bless them with the increase of their hands.