Changing The Course of Tomorrow

There is a new concept in the church that some call family deliverance, they pray and fast and go for the laying on of hand hoping to change the destiny of their family for the better

It doesn't work

Most of the time it is simply an exercise in futility

Abraham departed in order to set his new family on the right course

If you will change a man, change how he thinks

If you will change a family's destiny, change how they think as individuals

If you will observe how things are and will lay it bare to one another truthfully

You can set a new course of action that will change the destiny of your family forever

You must let bygones be gone and change the course of tomorrow

 

Observe

[əbˈzəːv]

VERB

notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant

watch (someone or something) carefully and attentively:

take note of or detect (something) in the course of a scientific study

fulfill or comply with (a social, legal, ethical, or religious obligation)

 

I woke up this morning with the word observe in my Spirit, just that one word

Observe

Meaning 

To watch someone or something carefully and attentively

When we observe, we can also be fulfilling or complying with an obligation

The two meanings are quite contradictory

The first indicates that you do not have to participate or be a part of something, you are just looking at it from afar and taking notes

The second means actually participating in it to do it as it was laid down by those who had done it before you

Jesus was born into a well-set religious society with religious laws that must be observed by those who consider themselves to be bonafide members of that society

He observed (watched and studied) how they did their things for thirty years

His parents observed (Participated and fulfilled) the rules and regulations regarding the Jewish culture as expected of them

There is a difference between observing to comply and conform and observing to come up with a better way of doing things and insisting the old ways of doing things were obsolete and there must be a new way of doing things if things are to get better

Of course, people will prefer the first: to just go with the flow and not ruffle feathers

It takes only the brave to champion a new course in life

Africans didn't think the Western way of doing things is better than the way of their ancestors

Till tomorrow, some Africans are still resisting change because they are determined to keep the old ways, even though the old ways have been proven to be largely a result of narrow-mindedness, superstitions, and lies

Of course, not everything about the old ways of doing things is evil but if the source of a thing is evil, it is inherently evil

When you are determined to embrace change, you must do so or perish with your old ways of thinking

Jesus championed a new way of doing things simply because the old ways were deficient

Moses gave the children of Israel the law

The law made nothing perfect according to Hebrews 7:19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

This means none of those who followed the law were able to become perfect through it

The law also did not offer anyone eternal life

Jesus proclaimed this boldly

John 5: 39 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,  yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Everyone who came and died before Jesus came died and went down to Sheol, in the bosom of Abraham because observing the law only served the purpose of keeping them in the place of waiting for the days of the Messiah

This was why Jesus said Abraham rejoiced to see His day

In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, which was narrated by Jesus, we saw how close Hell was to Heaven and how the rich man was able to talk from hell and get a reply from Abraham because only a gulf separated the two places

They were in the same location

Those in Sheol were waiting for the one who will come with eternal redemption to arrive so that they may journey to their final place of rest in eternity

The Bible made it clear that the very day Jesus was crucified, many of them were set free from Sheol and that many of them were seen in Jerulasem as a testament of this to show us that their years of waiting and groaning were over

Matthew 27: 52 And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Jesus was the one who perfected all things

He was the one who came with grace and truth

He was the Messiah who came with the solution to the dilemma of creation by proferring a once and for all sacrifice that abolished the old ways of doing things

Under the law sacrifices of goats and bulls had to be made daily

Under grace, sacrifice was no longer required because Jesus was our once-and-for-all-time sacrifice that was required to satisfy the wrath of God

Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

This is the life that we have been given in Jesus, the benefit of our salvation in Christ

This was what the new way of thinking championed by Jesus Christ brought to the whole world

In it we found enlightenment, we were translated out of darkness and every knowledge and way of darkness into the light, we became sons and we were given eternal life

The new ways of doing things were far better than the old ways of doing things

Why then do people hold on to the old ways of doing things?

When there is clearly a new and better way of doing things?

You come into a family, you observe how they have been doing things

Are they united?

Do they have sincere love for each other?

Are they determined to help each other grow?

Are they happy and do they celebrate each other's growth and successes?

Even though you were born into this family and they have a culture of doing things, you observe

You don't have to do things the way they have always done things because this is their culture

Jesus was counter-cultural all the way

The impact of the domineering mindset of Jesus is still being felt all over the world today and yet he lived only for thirty-three years

Methuselah had zero impact on the world and he lived the longest in history

It is better to live a short and impactful life than to live long and have an evil legacy

Imagine a family where all the children were set against each other

When the first child talks about his siblings, he will lament for hours, recounting tales of the evil done to him by his own mother and the other children with whom he grew up

What do these stories do to his own children?

It colours their opinion of their siblings, they were raised to be suspicious of their father's younger ones and to treat their cousins and other relatives with caution

When the second child talks about his own siblings from the same mother it is the same

None of the children have anything good to say about each other

And yet when they meet they will sit down and pretend to tolerate each other while you the child and all the other children would observe their behaviour

Soon you notice the same character trait in your own generation

Your own siblings from the father and mother had observed and were actively participating in the culture of suspicion you met on the ground

They were doing this instinctively because they did not know any other way of behaving

You observed and you realise the cancer is spreading and corrupting the coming generations

There are families that grow together and thrive

The Adefarasins, The Adeyemis, The Oyemades, the Awolowos, The Kutis

You see these families all around

Well-banded together and pushing one another to the top

You notice Seun Kuti (Not a born-again Christian yet) talking about Made Kuti as the best of them while tracing their musical heritage from their great-grandfather to his cousin

You see how the Cokers would defend each other and stand by each other through thick and thin

The enemy for them was never within and when the enemy is from outside, they come together and fight it to the last in unity

In your own family, however, you notice the enemy was always within

They must pick one of their own kind and tear him or her to pieces with their words

The people who are supposed to be pulling one another up are the same people tearing each other down

The first had to go make his money in secret for fear of sharing his joy with the second

The second had to keep his family in isolation, for fear of exposing his children to the evil influence of another

The third had to fight hard to make headway in life

The fourth had to keep her children far away from the rest because of strife

You were observing and you were praying to be like Jesus

You were saying it is either we reset this process or find ourselves swallowed whole by the miry clay of backbiting, gossip, suspicion, and hatred

When the opportunity came, you were determined not to follow the same pattern and culture that they had followed and had embraced as the norm

Of course, you know there will be resistance but you were built for it

A generational departure is imminent

You must be determined to champion it

This was what Christ did for the believer on the cross

He was willing to put that which he had observed as a failed way of life to the sword and he established a new way of doing things which brought eternal life to everyone who believed in him

As a believer this is how to be a practical Christian, allow yourself to observe how things are done in your family, among your children

Observe their prayer patterns, what do they say? What does it reinforce? How does it affect how they think?

Teaching your children to pray enemy prayers makes them conscious of enemies all the time

They talk of enemies, think of enemies, and pray about enemies

Teaching your children to be suspicious of relatives and family members makes them grow up cautious and full of distrust

It is an African thing to tell your children not to allow this person to touch them or that person to touch them or anoint them with oil and cover them with the blood of Jesus before every family event

You are sowing seeds into those lives that will ruin your family in the future

Raise your children to be conscious of the power of the Holy Spirit and the spirit of love that is in Christ Jesus

There is nothing to gain by tearing down your own siblings and living in unforgiveness

It is true that some of them have grown into the old ways that they have become like cancer and you feel you need to cut them off

Know this day that they cannot hurt or touch you and your family

The power of Jesus in you is a power of love and love conquers all things

PS: If you have a strong man or strong woman in your family who you believe is the evil one disrupting the peace of the family, instead of praying that he or she should die or quench, serve him or her a notice of a takeover

Say it this way

"I (insert your name) of Zion, declare today that my generation belongs to me and is spared from the evil influence of the tradition, culture, customs, norms, and values that had existed in (the  (Insert your family name) before my time

I bring order instead of chaos

I have come to put things as they ought to be and to kill the evil influence of darkness and dark thoughts that had dominated my family before I arrived on the scene

I have observed and found this culture to be inadequate and unacceptable

Mene

Mene

Tekel

Parsin

I have judged it

I have found it wanting

And today, I have taken the kingdom from it

I declare that in me the days of Christ have come

I have taken my place"

-GSW-