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

Short testimony of Pastor Yoojin, Victory over the enemy during the wilderness

By the grace and mercy of God, I have birthed a testimony of victory relating to my former religious and difficult husband, my difficult mother in law, my father, difficult people and even myself. However, this testimony is focused only on my victory over my former difficult husband.

In 2005, our whole family had moved to Michigan. The name of the town was Sault Sainte Marie. We had moved for a business. We had bought a 130 room, conference center, restaurant bar hotel. Moreover, one core reason we moved was to get away from my mother in law. She was interfering in our marriage. She wanted and spoke about us divorcing with other nonsense issues (testimony with my mother in law is another long story). The ethnic group in this town consisted mostly of Native Indians, mixed Natives, and Caucasians. We were pretty much the only Koreans in a town with a population of 15,000. There were a few Chinese who ran the Chinese restaurant.

But many of locals were under the influence of alcohol, cigarette, gambling, sexual immorality and other major problems. Many families were divorced and as a result, the children were left with single parents. This town was heavily seized/controlled by the forces of the many different kind of evil spirits which, of course the people of this town had no ability to recognize. This town was surrounded by many trees and few large lakes. We had moved to the countryside. We were on the borderline with Canada. In the winter, the average temperature was five degrees.

There were some churches but there was no churches/pastors whom I was able to receive answers for my ongoing difficulties, personal problems, spiritual problems, and much more. Our hotel business was going down real fast as the general economy was bad. We were losing a lot of money. Therefore, my husband had become depressed (who is now Pastor Steve), and he began drinking every night. He was also a smoker. He was verbally violent and abusive towards me especially whenever he was drunk. Whenever he drank, he yelled and screamed at me with the S** word, B****word, F*** word and the many other names you can think of. There was no conviction in his heart whatsoever. He would speak nicely to everyone else but me. He would converse hours with others but me. He often looked down on me. He talked down on me. My self esteem went very low. I felt like I was only a housekeeper and a babysitter in my household, nothing more and nothing less in my household. I did not feel like that I was desirable by my husband as a woman. I felt like I was left alone helplessly and hopelessly. I felt as though I was all alone.

In the midst of all the difficulties, I did not know where to look for a help. It was not like California where I would be able to go, find, and try out many different churches to find the “ right church” and be strengthened. It was not like I was able to hang out with friends and vent out for hours. It was not like I would be able to just go out to the nice places and get myself some fresh air, or drive around to get the stress out. It was not a place or time I was able to treat myself with good food at a nice restaurant if I decided to do so, or go to a nice shopping mall and browse around and so on. I was totally trapped in a small countryside town. It was nothing like California. I was a stranger in this town. I did not know anyone in this town. There were no friends or family members. I could not experience any proper fellowship with anyone in this town.

I thought to myself why all these things were occurring in my life. Although I was a baby Christian, one thing I was very sure of was that our God was a good God who loves us very much. Therefore, I was very curious why all these “bad” things were happening to me if He was a good God. Then the Lord whispered in a gentle way with tremendous peace.

“This is not a bad situation. Actually it is a good situation. Trust Me.”

When I heard this, I just knew that I had to believe that it was a good situation. I actually told my husband about this revelation but he refused to listen or tried to understand. He only cried out to God, “God why is this happening to me! I don’t understand!” My heart ached.

Since there was no spiritual pastors whom I was able to counsel with in this town, I began surfing the internet to find something...or someone. I was desperate. God led me to this one pastor from the Los Angeles area. He became my pastor, mentor, and spiritual father whom God utilized to guide me one small step at a time. God began to teach me through the pastor regarding spiritual things and how to spiritually fight as I lived in a physical realm.

Pastor Michael Park was his name. He is now my ex-mentor. First thing he ( as an ambassador/voice of God) told and taught me was not to focus on my huband and not to even worry about his difficult and miserable condition. Whether my husband’s condition becomes better or worse, he said, do not look or focus on it. He said that I have to completely focus on God and Him only.

The Pastor said, “just let him be since there are spiritual forces working behind my husband.” Therefore, pastor said that I needed to know what was influencing my husband instead of looking at his miserable condition. The Pastor advised me not to engage into a fight or argument with my husband in any situation even when he attacks me in any form. The Pastor said that this is a spiritual warfare not a physical warfare and therefore, he said that I had to battle and tackle it spiritually. The Pastor told me to begin praying, worship and praise, and read the Word of God daily. He further advised me to pray over my husband when he went to sleep. But not only praying over him but I needed to perform deliverance on him which is to cast out the demons in the name of Jesus and with the blood of Jesus. The Pastor wanted me to anoint the whole house with prayer and an anointing oil. I completely followed his instruction without leaving anything out. I obeyed him as though I was obeying God. God was utilizing him to guide me.

Every single night, I’ve had never stopped praying, worshipping and praising, and reading the Word of God. I prayed with much tears. I cried out to the Lord with all my heart. I was spiritually fighting without ceasing. Whenever my husband tried to fight with me as he yelled and screamed and called me B*tch, I quietly went into the room and closed the door. On my knees, I began to pray in tears. I was utilizing God’s way of fighting against the dark forces working behind my husband and the forces that was fighting against my family and my life.

The dark forces tried to knock me down. They had tried to depress, discourage, and tried to make me give up. I fought each day. It was a life and death battle for me. My whole family’s salvation, happiness, and a blessed life was all depending on my decision and choice. God had entrusted it to me. I could not possibly pass a day without praying, praising and reading.

One day, as I was reading the bible, God had seized my hand and began flipping the bible pages. I was a baby christian who was reading the bible without fully understanding the depth of it. So the Lord utilized my finger and flipped the pages of the bible and stopped at the book of Jeremiah 33. Then he placed my finger on verse 3.

‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.’

Even though I did not fully understand, I knew this meant that I had too…. I needed to pray. I became more persistent with prayer and reading. No one taught me how to pray but I just prayed but because I did possess the gift of tongue, it helped me greatly.

Then the Lord said, “Do not look at your husband’s current condition, otherwise you will be deceived by the enemy. What you see now is not what he is going to be in the future. Believe in your heart with all your mind that he WILL BE CHANGED. You must focus on Me. Do not worry about your husband. Look beyond what you cannot see right now and proclaim that your husband will be changed serving Me. I want you to keep on believing and proclaiming it!”

Hebrews 11:1-2 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

So I did. I obeyed and believed His promise. After a couple of years had passed, we thought we finally had a buyer to buy our hotel business. God had led us to believe that we would sale and because we fully believed that this hotel was going to be sold, my husband had sent me back to California. I went to my mother’s house temporarily. My husband’s plan was to complete the process of the sale and come back to California with a good amount of money. At that time, I had three little children in which two were toddlers and a baby. Because my husband did not send us enough money for the four of us, we were struggling financially. Money was always short. My three children could not have any toys, snacks, extra clothes, and so on. My sister sometimes bought little toys for my children here and there but that was about it. I literally had only two pairs of outfits for Sunday church service. I basically had wore the same two outfits rotating every other week. My children had limited winter clothes. My son, who was only about one year old at that time had one or two long sleeve tops for the winter time. I had to experience watching my children looking at the other children eating good food, having nice children’s snacks, going to nice or fun places and having fun toys. These things were too fancy for me and beyond my finances for my children to enjoy. All they ate was most of times was a bowl of rice and some soup.

God had tested me with money. God impressed my heart that all tithes belong to Him. When I was impressed, I did not resist at all. I faithfully gave tithe even though I was always short. On top of that, I also gave offerings to God. I had a choice to make. With the little tithe and offering, I could have bought some extra good food, toys, clothes or go to fun places for my children but I had decided to put God first. My children was secondary. Everything in my life was secondary. God was my everything and foremost. When it comes to giving to God, I had never hesitated. I had attended church services three times a week. I was thirsty and desperate. I was determined. Each awakening moment, besides taking care of my children, I spent all my other precious time seeking God’s face. When my son David was only about one and a half years old, he was rebuked by my friend who also had a son. The reason was that David touched her son’s favorite train set. This train set was big enough in which a kid could ride. I could not afford to buy such a toy, and my heart ached watching my son wanting to play with it.

Finally, when the hotel could not be sold, my husband told me to come back to Michigan. But the Lord impressed my heart, “Not now.” So I told my husband I had to wait for a few more months. He got really mad at me. Then about January 2008, God impressed my heart that I can go back around April time. I waited, and when God’s timing came, I contacted my husband that I will come back. When we met again, my husband told me that he had never loved me. He was preparing to divorce me. He indirectly confessed that he found a lover of his life. I excused myself and went outside. I cried out to God,

“I don’t understand! What about all that years of prayer and enduring excruciating pain? Were all those in vain? I don’t understand God!”

Then the Lord gently spoke in my heart.

“Trust Me.”

In that moment, overwhelming peace came upon me. In fact, He placed boldness and courage inside of my heart. I stopped crying. I went back to the room and I told my husband,

“I will be ok. If you have found a lover of your life and if you have decided, I will not stop you. I want you to have a good enjoyable life with her. I will take the children instead. I have God on my side and I am confident that He will provide and protect the children and I. I will work hard and live my life for God.”

In that moment, my husband looked at me weird. Then God began to turn his heart. He did not want to divorce me any more. It was my test, God had tested me through my husband’s threatening statements. But because I had trusted God, He changed his heart.

Not long after I have returned to sault sainte Marie and back into the old hotel room, God told me, “Your husband has cheated on you.”

I could not believe at first but I asked him if he did. At first, he denied it. I knew he had found someone, but I did not think he would already be sleeping around with her when we were still together. As I was very persistent, he finally confessed. He had slept with the sales lady at our hotel. I felt so betrayed and all that years of praying as I endured many excruciating pain…

In our whole marriage, my husband had never bought me a birthday gift but I found out that he had bought a nice blouse for that girl. My husband had never took me out to a nice restaurant but I found out that he had took her out to a nice restaurant just to celebrate her birthday...and this happened when I was struggling in California. Full of hurt again, I cried out to God and said that I want to divorce. But God said,

“You have only one option. Forgive him”

I understood the forgiveness of Christ, I understood that He had also forgiven me. Therefore, I knew I had to try to forgive him. I cried out to God day and night, basically each day for two weeks. Until the pain went away and my heart forgave him, I did not stop praying. I prayed many days in tears. I was on my belly on the floor next to my bed. I was determined not to get up until this issue in my heart was taken care of. God also wanted me to forgive the girl whom my husband had cheated with. I called her and I gently told her that I have forgiven her.

The years of my trials did not stop there. My husband being very religious with full of the bible knowledge fought against my belief in God. He believed once saved always saved. He was still a smoker and a drinker. He did not say foul words or names to me any longer, but he was still harsh. I was still praying every day as I  dealt with his anger and his wrong spiritual belief. God was crushing and breaking me through my husband.

Then one day only after a short time from the ordeal of my husband cheating on me, my ex mentor in LA called me and sent me some books, titled, “Baptized by blazing Fire” by Pastor Yong Doo Kim. The Pastor said that God had entrusted this translating job to me. The books were all in Korean language. I had refused at first for my English grammar was really bad. But pastor was very persistent. So I asked my husband to help me out with the translation from Korean to English. We began translating together. But because he was not spiritual but religious, he began to pick a fight with me regarding the books. He was having a hard time believing what was written in the books and therefore, he was getting mad. When the first book was almost all translated, my husband decided to stop translating (book 1) due to his unbelief.

I told him, “I need to finish translating all six books because God had entrusted it to me. I rather divorce you for His work. I will find someone else to finishing the translation”

When I was firm with my determination, it made my husband think. So he asked God,

“What is your truth God? I am believing this way but my wife believes differently. I want to know your truth. Put me in an agreement with You”

God led him to ask such a question because God wanted to answer my long enduring faithful prayer. The prayer to change my husband. When My husband received his answer from God and when God began to show my husband His truth, he began to change dramatically. God had finally answered the prayers to my aching heart and enduring prayer.

After God moved us out from Sault Sainte Marie, MI, we came back to California. God had placed us under my husband's mother and his younger brother. We were placed in a motel room once again. This part will be another 6 years of staying in this motel room, which was another level of our wilderness. I will testify this part later.

What I wrote here is only about 70 percent of what I went through. Let God be glorified.

Hebrews 10:26-39 Do not, therefore, fling away your [fearless] confidence, for it has a glorious and great reward. 36 For you have need of patient endurance [to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising], so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.

37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. 38 But My righteous one [the one justified by faith] shall live by faith [respecting man’s relationship to God and trusting Him]; And if he draws back [shrinking in fear], My soul has no delight in him.

39 But our way is not that of those who shrink back to destruction, but [we are] of those who believe [relying on God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by this confident faith preserve the soul.

Pastor Yoojin

Wife of Pastor Steve Kim

Fire of God Church