For there is no sorcery against Jacob,
Nor any divination against Israel.
It now must be said of Jacob
And of Israel, Oh, what God has done!
– Numbers 23:23
On Sunday, 18th October 2015, Rev. Isaac Boluwatise shared from the scripture to upset the ideology (popular especially in the African context) about curses. He showed that a man’s life is ruled by his ideological leaning, i.e. what he thinks and what he believes, which affect how he lives and does things. A personal ideology not checked with scriptural lens can ensnare a person’s progress towards the zenith of God’s plan.
He shared that even after salvation, Christians are still prone to think in regional terms. The instantaneous change at salvation did not produce a drastic overhaul in the mind. The mind is to be transformed continually towards the image of Christ. Such transformation, causes us to know that while our earthly regional affiliations stands, as new creation 2Cor. 5:17, belonging to a new commonwealth, 1 Pet 2:9, Phil 3:20, our affiliation to the kingdom of God becomes primary.
He established that the general way of thinking in Africa, which uses the incurable religious disposition in humanity, appreciates the supernatural but wrongly magnifies the devil and his prowess more than God, emphasising the efficacy of curses more than of blessings because of the experiences from the past. Rev. Bolu in his teaching did not deny the operations of the devil and the reality of curses; he however insisted that the blessing is superior to the curse.
He declared that:
1. The promises of God stand in spite of the troubles from the past or around in the present. A person blessed of God cannot be cursed, your future pronounced by God cannot be denounced by the devil. Numbers 23:8.
2. It is time for you to take what belongs to you and that everything standing in your way are giving way for you. God, he said, is positioning you to the frustration of the enemy. The enemy is out on a mission to devastate seeing you are now thinking less of the past. He doesn’t give up on his mission. Pastor established the truth that every believer is blessed of God and they should never doubt this and should know that as the journey gets closer to what God has for you, the devil’s strategy changes for the worse while the blessing of God stands sure.
3. You need to understand the significance of blessings and curses: he explained that Both are empowerment (He defined blessing as empowerment by God for you to be all He has declared about you and curse as empowerment by the devil for someone not to be all he was declared to be,) set before you: as your choice and thought will determine which of them operates in your life) and released by words (In diabolical operations they use words, incantations to express sorcery and cast spells. God also declares blessings via the spoken word. His blessings are His spell (God’s spell is the root for Gospel in English) cast upon lives and situations for prosperity).
He encouraged everyone to invoke divine blessings: (1). By refuting every mouth that speaks against personal welfare since God did not design such scheme for His people. (2). By believing that the end is blessed despite the attempts of the devil. (3) By rising up like a lion that will not rest until victory has been celebrated; and (4). By pronouncing the blessings since God has previously released them.
He rounded up with the declaration that we are blessed beyond the curse, encouraging everyone to consciously, intentionally walk in the provisions of God.
Isaac Boluwatise 