Changing the Course for Your Family Line

Image by Felipe Venâncio via Flickr

There is a young lady in our church by the name of Vanessa who is a medical doctor. About fifteen years ago, she began to experience incredible pain in her joints, all through her arms, shoulders, and knees. It got so bad that she finally had to have surgery on her knees. Of course, she was hoping it would get better, but her pain continued to get worse. She was so crippled that she had to walk with a cane. When Vanessa would come to church at our old facility, it would take her 45 minutes to walk from the parking lot to her seat in the auditorium when it should have only taken three or four minutes. During the week, she would wake up at 3:00 a.m. to start loosening up her joints and getting dressed so she could be at work by 8:00 a.m.

Her father had the same disease in his early 20’s, and sadly, he died from complications at just 43 years old. Even her grandmother had this problem; she was a paraplegic. It looked as if this was Vanessa’s destiny. Vanessa could have easily sat back and thought, “Too bad for me. I will never get well.” But that was not Vanessa’s attitude. She had a different spirit. She dug her heels in and had an attitude like David did in the Bible. “This thing is not going to defeat me. I’m going to become everything God has created me to be. I will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord.”

It didn’t happen overnight, but little by little she began to get better. Today, Vanessa is perfectly normal. She’s as healthy and whole as she can be. What happened? She rose up in faith and broke that curse off of her family line once and for all. And now her children and her descendants are all going to be better off because she chose to stand and believe God.

What obstacles are you facing today? Is there something in your health, your finances, or your relationships? Is it something that’s been in your family line for a long time? I’m challenging you today; don’t just sit back and accept it just because it’s been in your family line. No, today is the day for you to rise up and change the course for generations to come. Shake off a defeated mindset. Shake off discouraging comments. Shake off negative thoughts. You have the seed of Almighty God on the inside of you. There is victory in your DNA. The favor of God is surrounding you right now like a shield. Right past that obstacle is promotion. On the other side of that difficulty is a new level of God’s victory. Keep standing, keep believing because nothing from your past, nothing from your ancestors can keep you from living the life of victory God has in store for you!

The rich and the poor

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son

How was the trip?

It was great, Dad.

Did you see how poor people live? the father asked.

Oh yeah, said the son.

So, tell me, what you learned from the trip? asked the father.

The son answered:

I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end…

…We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond

…We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them

The boy's father was speechless

Then his son added,

Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing?

Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have

Appreciate every single thing you have!

Refresh your perspective and appreciation