Generational Patterns

 Welcome to February! 2024 started yesterday and we’re already 36 days in. It’s not too late to commit your year to God and hand over the wheels to Him. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan out your year, but that you should plan it out and submit it to Him (Prov. 6:6-11, Ps. 37:5).

If you have been reading my blog for the last couple of months, you’d always hear me refer to a devotional called Walk Through the Bible. I highly recommend it as it does exactly that, walk you through the bible every day of the year. The devotional for Jan. 18, which focused on Exodus 1 & 2, made me reflect on the power of words and generational patterns.

In Ex. 2, we are introduced to Moses who Num. 12:3 referred to as the meekest man in the bible. But just 12 verses in, Moses committed murder because he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man (Ex. 2:12). My mind immediately recalled Gen. 49 (from the Jan. 17^th devotional), when Jacob delivered his last words (blessings) to his sons. In Gen. 49:5-7 (NLT), Jacob said of Simeon and Levi:

“Simeon and Levi are two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence. May I never join in their meetings; may I never be a party to their plans. For in their anger they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport. A curse on their anger, for it is fierce; a curse on their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob; I will disperse them throughout Israel.”

Many years later, we see the generational pattern of anger leading to murder continue in Moses (a Levite). As you get more mature in Christ, one thing you hear about is the need to watch out for generational patterns. Not because we aren’t new creatures but because wisdom is profitable and understanding is important (Eccl. 10:10, Prov. 4:7). They say knowing the problem is half the solution, this extends to negative generational patterns. Fortunately, as a child of God, we can break such patterns, as Moses did.

The following Sunday (Jan. 21) I joined service online at Lakewood Church and the message was titled Generational Breakthroughs. God works in mysterious ways. In the sermon, Pst. Osteen lets us know that there are certain patterns we inherit that can only be broken by God’s power. The best part is that when God ends it, He ends it permanently (Ex. 14:13, John 8:36). Your time is coming, generational breakthroughs are coming. Keep praying and trusting in God, no matter how impossible it may seem. “If you keep the right attitude, God will use what was meant to stop you to move you forward”. In this month, the charge to you is to keep God first place, keep the right attitude, and watch God show out in your life. If you do so, you’ll see Eze. 18:2-3 manifest in your life. Don’t forget, you are a chosen generation (1 Pet. 2:9), you don't have to eat the sour grapes.

 

Declaration: Generational breakthroughs are coming!

 

P.S. Click here to listen to Generational Breakthroughs by Joel Osteen