Paul spoke in Hebrews 12 about running the Christian race. He said that we need to lay aside all the weights of sin, that would hold us back and look to Jesus who will help us to finish the race. He spoke of the suffering of Christ as our example. Although we suffer for the gospel, most of us will never suffer to the point of shedding our blood. We should not despise the chastisement of the Lord. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). When we endure God’s chastening, then we are his children, just like earthly fathers chastise their children. Most people don’t like to be disciplined, but it helps us in the long run. Paul urged us to live at peace with others and to avoid bitterness.

“lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright” (Hebrews 12:16). Esau’s trading of his birthright set the scene for his brother, Jacob to steal his father’s blessing. Jacob ruled over Esau and lived in the covenant blessing of Abraham. Paul also recalled Mount Sion where Isreal gathered and were afraid after hearing the voice of the Lord. “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven” (Hebrews 12:25). The voice of God shook the earth and he has promised once again, to shake the earth and heaven.

This final shaking will remove the things that are shaken, and only those things that cannot be shaken will remain. There was recently an earthquake in the world, which claimed many lives. People spoke after the earthquake about poor construction of some buildings, which crumbled during the quake. It seems that they were suggesting that buildings which had a stronger foundation, survived. Earthquakes are some of the most dangerous natural disasters, that affect the earth and lead to destruction. The shaking which Paul and other prophets spoke of, is not an earthquake or a volcano. There will be a final shaking before this heaven and earth passes away.

Until then, God will at times shake the world to shift systems, cultures, economies and even the body of Christ. These shakings are to bring about change, transformation and revival. God will first shake the church, because we cannot continue with business as usual. There is an end time harvest which needs to be gathered and lukewarmness will be shaken out of the church. World systems and political structures will change. Organisations will see a major transformation and a shift in leadership structures. Only those who are planted firmly in Christ will withstand the shaking.

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24).

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In 1 Samuel 30, we read of a time when David and his men returned from doing battle with the Philistines. To their surprise, their camp had been raided by Amalekites and their wives, children and possessions taken and the camp was burnt. As a precursor to this incident, in chapter 27, David fled to the Philistines as a way to escape from Saul. “Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand” (1 Samuel 27:1). His strategy worked, because once Saul heard that he was in Gath, he stopped pursuing him.

David lived with his family along with six hundred men and their families who followed him. He and his men lived in Ziglag and would go out and raid other regions and take their goods. When the King of the Philistine asked David where he had raided, he would convince him that he had raided his own people in Isreal. What he did was to take out everyone among the regions that he raided, so that no one lived to inform the King. Eventually, the Philistines went to war against Saul and they refused to take David. They were afraid that he may turn against them and support Saul and his army.

David and his men went back to their camp in Ziglag and found that their families had been taken. He was distressed because the men were bitter and wanted to stone him. He sought God, strengthened himself and God told him to pursue the army to recover what they stole. They went after the army and recaptured their families and possessions along with the army’s possessions. Despite this victory, some of David’s men were so tired that they could not complete the mission with him. This created some division as the men who fought, did not want to share the spoils with them. “Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike” (1 Samuel 30:24).

This is a great story of restoration and recovery, as God helped David and his men to retake what they lost. We have to consider if the original losses could have been avoided, if the camp was not left unguarded? David and his men were busy raiding other territories, while they left their own territory unguarded. All the men went to war and left the women and children alone and unprotected. We can relate this to our homes and families. Many times we go out to do battle in ministry and in the marketplace. We cannot go to war and leave our homes unguarded. If we do, then the devil will take opportunity to come in and steal our possessions.

“lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” (II Corinthians 2:11).

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Haggai prophesied at a time when the Jews were in captivity in Babylon. He spoke to Zerubbabel who was the Governor of Judah and to the remnant of the Jews. “‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes” (Haggai 2:3)? Yet Haggai encouraged them to be strong because the Lord of host was with them. God confirmed that the covenant he made with the people when they left Egypt, would still come to pass. He promised to shake the heavens, the earth, the sea and land. He would shake the nations so that all the treasures would come in and fill his house with glory. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:8).

Haggai declared that God would restore the glory of the latter house, far greater than the former and he would give them peace. God promised a blessing for his people who were once defiled and Zerubbabel was declared as a signet or the designated authority for the people. God promised to overthrow the strength of kingdoms and nations and overthrow their defence systems. Zerubbabel was given the authority and power to rebuild the temple which would restore worship in Jerusalem. Joel also prophesied about a great and terrible day of the Lord, when the armies of God would go forward and destroy everything in their path. “The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining” (Joel 2:10).

Joel called for repentance with fasting and weeping. He asked the people to rend their hearts and return to the Lord who is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and full of love. God often sent his prophets to warn his people about impending destruction. A people crying out to God in repentance for their land and people to be healed. “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God” (Joel 2:14)? The Lord has a promise of restoration for his people who are willing to cry out in repentance. There will also be an outpouring of the presence of God upon all people and sons and daughters will prophesy, old men will dream and young men will have visions.

The world is being shaken by atrocities including wars and natural disasters. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7). Yet there is a remnant people whom God has spared and a generation who will arise to give him praise. This shaking will level the crooked places and make the paths straight. Mountains will be brought low and valleys will be exalted. Principalities will see and know who are the righteous, who serve their God and everyone will see the difference. God is providing hidden riches in secret places for his people to meet the needs of the church. Treasures will come in to restore the glory of the latter house, in order to usher in the end time harvest of souls.

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A stronghold is a fortified place or a shelter, which is typically built for survival from outside sources of attack. The word stronghold has both positive and negative connotations. As a positive reference, it relates to God being our deliverer and a defence from satan. “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalms 18:2). In this Psalm, David acknowledged God as his saviour from death and destruction. God responded to his cries for help and came down in his splendour and might to save him. David ran to God for shelter and found safety and protection.

The strongholds that Paul referred to destroying, are those established and reinforced by the devil. These are spiritual strongholds which are habitual patterns of thoughts, beliefs and ideas that are entrenched in people’s minds. “We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). In this verse, Paul was detailing the spiritual prayer and warfare strategy that we need to counter strongholds. He said that although we are in the flesh, our war is not against flesh and blood.

Strongholds originate in the mind as a desire or a lustful fantasy. “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15). Although strongholds start in the mind, they feed sinful habits that people struggle to get free from. Many people have negative habits, thought patterns and behaviours that they struggle to control. Many people have tried for years to live right and to be set free from some besetting sins. This can cause frustration and hopelessness in people who struggle with no success to do good. Paul understood this struggle firsthand as expressed in this scripture. “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me” (Romans 7:21).

The good news is that there is a way of escape. Habitual thought patterns, behaviours or sins that seem difficult to break are strongholds. The weapons against strongholds include persistent prayer, fasting to undue the burden of sin and to let the oppressed go free (Isaiah 58:6). There is hope and there is nothing that is impossible with God. Jesus told his disciples that if they had faith, they could command a mountain to be rooted up and thrown into the see. One main requirement that we need to ensure that our prayers are answered, is to forgive anyone who has hurt us, so that God can forgive us. “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).

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Jabez descended from the tribe of Judah and his mother had a difficult birthing experience with him. His name represented her pain and it would appear that this had a negative impact on his life. Either that or he understood the implications of his name and prayed to avert the meaning this. Jabez prayed this very short prayer unto God, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked” (1 Chronicles 4:10).

There are other Old Testament prophets who spoke blessings and curses over their children. Isaac blessed Jacob although he intended to bless Esau. This was after Jacob and his mother conspired to disguise him to trick his father into passing on his brother’s blessing. Esau cried out to his father when he realise what had been done and asked him for a blessing. “But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing”” (Genesis 27:35). Isaac told Esau that he had made Jacob Lord over him and his brothers. “By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck”(Genesis 27:40).

Jacob also spoke blessings over his sons and some of his pronouncements sounded like curses. To Rueben he said, “Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch”(Genesis 49:4)! He also had harsh pronouncements for Simeon and Levi. “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel” (Genesis 49:7). Jacob had high praises from Judah and pronounced this over him. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Genesis 49:10).

The blessings spoken over Judah can be seen with both King David and Jesus Christ descending from that tribe. Parents have spiritual authority over their children and the words spoken them from conception and throughout their lives carries significance. Words spoken in anger, frustration and even in adoration can take root and bear fruits. Jabez’s example demonstrates that curses can be reversed. His prayer was simple and sincere and God answered. Other people can also speak word curses over children and adults. This is especially related to people who have some form of authority such as Teachers or Ministers. Through the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of God in us, we can identify and pray to reverse the effects of negative words.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21).

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Jesus taught a crowd of people that were gathered to him, about what defiles a person. He explained that it is not what goes into a person’s mouth that defiled them, but what came out of their mouth. One of his disciples explained to him that the Pharisees took offence to what he said. Jesus’s response was that any plant that had not been planted by the father would be rooted up. In essence, He was saying that there were things planted by the father and other plants sown by someone else. He told the parable about the wheat and tares in Matthew 13, to illustrate the Kingdom of heaven. In this parable, a farmer went out and sowed good seed in his field. While he slept, an enemy came along and sowed thorns among the wheat.

In this instance, the farmer told the servants to allow the wheat and tares to grow together until the day of harvest. At harvest time, the thorns would be separated from the wheat and burnt. In Matthew 15, Jesus was referring to the Pharisees who had established themselves as the religious authority among the Jews. They had religion without salvation and a form of godliness without the power of Christ. It’s safe to say that their root system was faulty. The foundation of their beliefs and values were in the legalistic requirements of the Old Testament law. While Jesus did not come to do away with the law, he came for its fulfilment. The New Testament ushered in the dispensation of grace through faith and the free gift of salvation.

The Pharisees were so entrenched in their religious laws and doctrines, that they could not grasp the concept of salvation being a free gift. Their foundational root system was entrenched in their history and the laws of Moses. While our history is extremely important to understand where we are coming from, it should provide information and revelation for the future. Many people have carried on traditions, customs and practices that have been passed down from previous generations. It is important to examine our history to see the things that led to failures. Just because your grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother did something does not mean that you have to carry on doing it. The main lens for us to test values and ideas is the word of God.

Whatever we have been taught that runs contrary to the word of God, is not worthwhile keeping. There are many things which our fore parents did for survival, that may have been useful at the time. However, not everything is useful for subsequent generations. We have to examine our root systems to determine what is informing our actions. What seeds have been sown illegally into your heart and mind, that have taken root and are bearing unpleasant fruits? We have to deal with the root causes of some issues and stop trying to address major issues on the surface. Significant relationships with parents and relatives are the main sources of seeds being planted in us. In the same way that negative trees are planted, the word of God is able to root them out!

“Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine”(Jeremiah 2:21)?

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