The Land is Cursed

“And to Adam He said, Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:17-19 AMP

Adam's mistake was that he had listened and heeded the voice of his wife when she was in disobedience and rebellion to God. As a result, his punishment was that the land was cursed. 

In the general sense, many know the land or earth had now been cursed. But there is another land that is cursed. The land is the man himself. Man was made from dust and to dust he would return. Man is the spiritual land. Our hearts are the land. The seed (Word) must fall into good soil to produce much good fruit. When the land is cursed, it will only produce thorns and thistles which are worldly and physical worries. Always worrying and thinking of how to survive and make it.

When the earth was cursed and on a global scale, there was sickness, famine, wars, murder, poverty, and Death. On a local scale, the man or the husband who listens and heeds to his wife who is in disobedience and rebellion to God will start to manifest the curse of the earth. The husband who is cursed will begin to get sick, experience poverty, produce spiritual thorn and thistles, and head in the direction of withering away.

Such cursed husbands, families, or even sons will work their full physical strength to reap but have it stolen by the enemy. They will never reach abundance life. They will always come short. They will never get ahead but always hit a brick wall. They will wither away.

The women, wives, or mothers are the inside and the men, husbands, or sons are the outside. Eve was made from the inside or Rib of Adam. God comes to Eve first to change since she was first to sin. But most importantly, Eve is the inside. When a person is severely sick, the doctors look and address the inside of the body. What goes on the outside of the body is the symptom of the real issue on the inside.

This is not to blame Eve, the women, the wives, or the daughters but to awaken their important roles. The daughters of the Most High are required to pray, die to themselves, read, worship, and become the spiritual Proverbs 31 wives/mothers. They are called to be prayer warriors or lionesses for the King of Kings. 

May we discern and humble ourselves to repent and cry out on our knees for forgiveness and restoration. 

Pastor Steve Kim

What is real Faith?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4JOSEZxsao

Spiritual exile

“The nations will then know why Israel was sent away to exile—it was punishment for sin, for they were unfaithful to their God. Therefore, I turned away from them and let their enemies destroy them. I turned my face away and punished them because of their defilement and their sins.”

Ezekiel 39:23-24 NLT

Today, Christians are spiritual Israel. Many today are living a life of spiritual exile. We may not be physically conquered and sent away, but spiritually, many Christians have been conquered due to their sins and are spiritually living a life of spiritual exile. 

First, we must understand why Israel was allowed to be conquered and sent away for captivity. They were in sin and in rebellion to God. But sadly, most of them did not realize they were deceived and in sin. Regardless, their pride and idolatry has blinded them just as many are blinded today. 

God had sent for King Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, God said that Nebuchadnezzar was His servant. God would used Babylon to punish His people and to teach them obedience. If they did not obey Nebuchadnezzar, they would die. 

Today, many Christians are living a physical life in spiritual exile. They are spiritual captives to the demons. They are slaves to bondage, poverty, sickness, and addictions. When people are physical slaves, the slaves work to feed and prosper their conquerors. As spiritual slaves stuck in bondage, addictions, or other problems, people without realizing are spiritually feeding the demons who have them conquered. It is a time of spiritual punishment. Sadly, many Israeli children were born in Babylon and they had become slaves. They were eating the fruit of the sin of their parents. Today is no different. Many Christians are paying for the sin of their parents and grandparents. They are eating the fruit of their sin.

But there is also a promise of restoration. Today, as spiritual Israel, we also need to cry out (pray) to God. HE is more than willing to restore us for His Name sake.

"So now, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will end the captivity of my people; I will have mercy on all Israel, for I jealously guard my holy reputation! They will accept responsibility for their past shame and unfaithfulness after they come home to live in peace in their own land, with no one to bother them. When I bring them home from the lands of their enemies, I will display my holiness among them for all the nations to see. Then my people will know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them away to exile and brought them home again. I will leave none of my people behind. And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 39:25-29 NLT

In the Holy Fire Ministry, I realize this is the time and generation HE is gathering His people to restore for His Glory. Do not lose this opportunity due to fear or sin. Run from sin and come back home. Run from fear and come to His Perfect Love. Everything takes time as we are tested. Not all will return out of captivity due to their choice. But HE will leave none behind who is willing to obey and surrender back to Him.

Pastor Steve

Do not be ruled by greed

“I will give their wives to others and their farms to strangers. From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that. They are all frauds. They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.”

Jeremiah 8:10-11 NLT

"Their lives are ruled by greed." When we see the word greed, we associate it with money. We think greed had to do with money. But in the spiritual sense, greed is more than money. Financial resources are the surface issues. What are deep rooted issues for living and being ruled by greed? 

When we refuse to let go of our hurt and truly forgive, we are ruled by own greed to live in self pity or live as a spiritual murderer. When we refuse to submit and live a life of anger, jealousy, coveting, disobedience, lust, fear, or such, we are choosing to live and be ruled by greed. 

Greed shows that we are desiring to be our own king. We want to rule ourselves. We may want to live a life of anger because we refuse to let the resentment go. God looks at all this as greed. Greed is to be ruled by our carnal nature. 

When we want to lust, we are being greedy to satisfy the flesh. When we want to disobey and lie, we are being greedy to satisfy our need to self preserve rather than be crucified. When we continue to be ruled by anger, we are being greedy to prove we are always right. 

We can call ourselves Christians but whether we are lay people or priests, if our lives are ruled by carnal greed, God will declare us Frauds! As frauds, there will be no genuine power of God working so treatments to assist one another will be superficial. The answers we give to one another will have no affect. This is why many churches have no power. God said even the prophets and priests are ruled by greed. It is not always about money but they have yet to crucify their flesh. Many in authority may still preach from positions of hurt, unforgiveness, lust, compromise and so on. Therefore, whether one is in authority or a lay believer, many offer superficial advice and counsel. It is superficial because they themselves have not been fully healed or restored. 

"They give assurances of peace when there is no peace."

They say just have faith and trust God when things will not really get better. How can they know it will get better when their own lives are not better. How can they know when their own lives have yet to bear a testimony of victory. How can one give assurance of peace when they themselves are not at peace? 

We must examine ourselves, are our lives ruled by our greed or are we submitted allowing the Holy Spirit to rule our lives.

Pastor Steve

Keep your faith to the end to be saved

I Matthew 24:9-13 EXB “Then people will arrest you, hand you over to be ·hurt [persecuted; tortured], and kill you. ·They [The world; L All nations] will hate you because ·you believe in me [you follow me; L of my name]. 10 At that time, many will ·lose their faith [turn/fall away], and they will ·turn against [betray] each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will ·come [appear; arise] and ·cause many people to believe lies [deceive many]. 12 There will be more and more ·evil [sin; lawlessness] in the world, so ·most people will stop showing their love for each other [L the love of many/most will grow cold]. 13 But those people who ·keep their faith [endure; stand firm; persevere]until the end will be saved.

At any level when Christians are persecuted and tortured, there is a chance, many will begin to lose their faith. As they lose their faith, many will turn on each other since hate was already there in their hearts. Persecution or torture may also represent great stress or pressure on one's general life. Great stress or pressure can be reflected in the lives of dealing with family issues, finances, or personal peace. 

When such persecution or torture (great stress/pressure) occur, many will be drawn to false prophets to believe their lies. The false prophets can be individuals or churches that teach a water down message. The false prophets represent false authority. What is a water down message? What did Jesus teach us as HE was the example? HE did not walk away, quit, complain, or sought a way out. For the sake of Love, HE endured the cross. We all have our spiritual crosses to carry. We must endure our circumstances, situations, and difficulties for they are used to help us die to ourselves. We may also have to endure even if it cost us our lives. The false gospel or authority teaches us to run and save our own lives. 

Why would so many professing Christians betray and fall away? Since they have hate (sin) in their hearts, they will seek a false gospel that does not point out the root of their sins but rather distract them to the thorns of thistles. The thorns of thistles are the cares of the world. They will be distracted by end time or worldly events rather then their hearts. Jesus commanded us to first clean the inside of the cup. HE wants to over turn the tables in our hearts that are occupied by spiritual foxes and merchants. The worldly issues represent the outside of the cup which are the concerns of our physical needs and issues. But we are to seek the Kingdom first and all His righteousness. 

Verse 12 states "most people will stop showing their love for each other." The lack of love for one another will increase the sin in the world. Many will think they are loving each other but in truth, they will still possess hate and bitterness in their hearts. Rather than enduring for one another, we will and are abandoning as we leave one another. Verse 13 is very sobering, "But those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved." In our walk with Jesus, to keep our faith is to keep on loving to the end as we die to hate, bitterness, resentment, and so forth. 

Many Christians are easily offended because they are still very carnal. Many Christians are easily offended by their pastors, other church members, or family members. If we say we love one another through HIS Love, then how can we be offended? Are we not able to forgive and continue to forgive? Of course, we all still need to grow in HIM and obtain His heart and love. 

But if we are offended and we stop going to church or we stop praying, reading, and worshipping, then we are already falling away and not keeping our faith. We cannot stop praying, reading, worshipping, and staying in HIS Presence and claim we still believe or have faith. We must continue to do the things of God to define persevering and staying in the faith until the end. Please do not be deceived nor be led away by offense by staying away from God. We cannot blame people and then get angry at God by staying away from HIM (following His commandments).

When God's own people persecuted, kicked, mocked, spat, and crucified Jesus, HE did not get mad at Father God. HE did not run away, quit, or had a tantrum. HE continued to love those who were weaker as HE died for them (us). Do you really possess His Heart? Or are you offended and fallen into the trap of the enemy? Being mad or offended is not keeping your faith.

Pastor Steve

The heart is deceitful above all things

Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things And it is extremely sick; Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives? “I, the Lord, search and examine the mind, I test the heart, To give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.

Never trust your own heart as the bible says is the most deceitful above all things and extremely sick. God will test our hearts to show the bad fruit it produces so that we may repent and fully depend on Him.

When our harvest or fruit is continuously bad and falls short, HE is trying to tell us that we have been relying on our own hearts rather than obeying Him. It is the result of our own deeds thinking we are following Him.

When we come to realize our hearts are really wicked, we need to put down all our own thoughts and ways for they are destructive. We need start and submit to His authority and covering. God sent His people to exile here in the book if Jeremiah because they needed to learn obedience. They thought God was with them but in reality, they were fighting against Him. Many Christians do not realize they continue to wrestle with God thinking they are seeking Him.

Pastor Steve