BLESSING BEYOND YOUR BACKGROUND
(A message by Pastor Henry Arikpo)

Text: Genesis 12:1-3

 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

“And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.”

From the Scriptures above, I will like you to know that the place or family you are born into do not mean anything to God but what matters most to God is what you do with your life. God is concerned in the fulfillment of your destiny. God has a purpose for every man on earth.

There are two keywords in these passages:

Blessing:

·        It means to prosper

·        To be comfortable

·         To live above death

·        Prosperity

·        To stand out in life

·         To be fruitful

·        multiply and replenish

·        To subdue your enemies

·         To be better than the best

·        To succeed

·        To be elevated above others or to have good people around you.

·        Blessing means being contented with whatever you receive from God.

·         It also means the fulfillment of God’s promises upon your life or the spiritual enlightenment from God that brings prosperity.

Note: Blessings can be physical or spiritual.

Your background.

Your background or foundation can be negative or positive. If it is positive, it brings support and upliftment but if it is negative, it brings problems, afflictions and curses like; (1) curse of hardship (2) curse of poverty (3) curse of pains and sorrow (4) curse of afflictions (5) curse of premature death (6) curse of non-achievement and (7) curse of delay.    

There is a close relationship between your background and the blessings you can receive because your background determines the type of blessings you can receive. Abraham's background was a hindrance to God’s blessing that was why God told him to move out of his father’s house.

I pray for you, you shall not die uncelebrated in Jesus name...

If God blesses you, you will flourish like the palm tree in the book of Psalm 92: 12-14 “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; ”.

Most times before God can bless a man, He will tell the man to separate himself. God called Abraham out for blessings for a number of reasons:

1. He called him away from the idols of his father’s house because the idols limited him from receiving God’s blessings.

2. He called him to move away from stagnation which his father suffered.

3. For a change: a change of his background brought blessings to him. God can also call you to change your background when He sees that your background is hindering your blessing and you must be prepared to obey the call just like Abraham did. Joshua 24:1-3 and Leviticus 18:24-25

Your background means so many things to God especially when it comes to the fulfillment of the destinies of His children. That is why as a child of God you must not worship idols in any form because if you do, you will not receive God’s blessings. The reason God chased out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan for the children of Israel was because of idol worship. God hates it with perfect hatred. God wants to make you a blessing, to be above and not beneath so you must do away with idol worship.

How can you be blessed beyond your negative background?

Galatians 3:13-14 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

1. Deal with your sins: Do away with fornication and adultery, stealing, fraud, etc because if you die in that way, you will go to hell fire. You need to repent from all known and unknown sins.

2. Throw down the altar of your father’s house.

3. Attack the testimony of such idols; never give credence to idol worship.

4. Attack the attack of idol-like hardship.

5. Pray against the power of such idols.

6. Renounce every known and unknown covenant with such idols.

7. Exercise dominion over these evil powers through the blood of Jesus.

8. Command God’s blessings to come upon your life.

9. Look for every opportunity to work for God in His vineyard.

10. Ensure you pay your tithes and offering regularly.

11. Learn to give to God's work cheerfully to provoke God’s blessing.

12. Learn to be honest about your background; realize where you are coming from and cry to God to repair your background/foundation.

13. Pray aggressively. Be obedient to God in whatever way; never have anything to do with idolatry. 

 Prayers

1.      Every satanic priest programming evil thing into my life, die in Jesus name.

2.      Any affliction coming into my life by the idol of my father’s house die in Jesus name.

3.      Ancestral problem in my life, your time has expired; die in the mighty name of Jesus.

4.      Every curse programmed into my placenta to in order to curse my children, die in the name of Jesus

5.      You my blessings that has been lost as a result of evil background; I recover you now in Jesus name.