Rev. Robert Ampiah-Kwofi
Many people are standing in the place of decision, whether to go one way or the other, to stay or to go, to flare up or control their anger, or to let it all out or restrain the self. We have to make so many decisions, and every decision carries a consequence. Even the decision we refuse to make still carries consequences because choosing not to decide is still a decision. When you refuse to choose, you have also chosen.
When you make the right decision, it closes off certain doors that would have been a problem. If you study Scripture carefully, you will discover that if Adam and Eve had eaten of the fruit of the tree of life, they would never have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is implied in Scripture because God told them there are two trees. There were several trees in the Garden of Eden but God mentioned only two—the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:9). When they ate of one, God positioned an angel on the other and said that they could not eat of the other. From what they chose, we can see that making a decision will close certain doors. We have to make good decisions to avoid all kinds of negative possibilities. The Lord will arrest them all because certain things cannot go together.
God’s grace will be upon us abundantly so that our environment will not dominate us. The things around us shall not control us. We shall prevail by the Word of the Living God. We shall stand, rise, and go forward. Others may falter, but we will march forward because we have faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. We are also full of the Holy Ghost. We are also full of His Word, a tither, a seed-sower that connects with God and Heaven. Our destiny will be different from all others because we are moving in a different direction.
Irreversible blessing
“On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God, because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.” –Nehemiah 13:1-2
The decision we make will bring us to a better place. So it’s important to have the power to make right decisions, and it is essential to know that the decisions we will make have an impact on generations.
In the verses, the Ammonites and the Moabites should not come into the congregation of God forever because there was a reason that caused them to be barred from entering. It was a serious indictment and a severe penalty. For those wondering what kind of sin, crime, or error they committed to merit such an indictment, it is because thousands of years ago, they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water and hired the wicked Prophet Balaam against them. However, despite the prophet’s plan to curse the Israelites, God turned the curse into a blessing (Numbers 22-24).
We serve a God who can turn a curse into a blessing. And even one blessing can bring you more than you can contain. In the story, Balaam received payment to speak a curse upon God’s people. He was coming, riding on a donkey with a mission, which he had already received payment for—to go and curse God’s people.
The prophet was described later in the New Testament, as someone who “was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet (see 2 Peter 5:16).” He had already rehearsed the words of the curse, and the one who paid him was standing by him to ensure that he would say the right words. The wicked Moabite king Balak was standing right beside Balaam, but even with their evil intention, when Balaam opened his mouth, he instead began to bless the people. He said, “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good (Numbers 23:19)?”
When God decides to bless you, others won’t be able to reverse it. Not even a pandemic can change your blessing. No matter what happens in the world around us, our blessing is still guaranteed. What God has for you, He still has it for you. He has blessed you, and nobody can reverse it.
Let nothing change what God has spoken over your life. God is greater than the words of people in authority, and no matter what they try to say, the God of Heaven turns it into a blessing. There is a blessing and a favor upon your life.
We pray that many of us choose to do what God puts in our hearts first because God is always directing us to close off other doors. Everything He tells us to do is because He can foresee other things, and He wants to shut off some doors by opening the right ones.
Forgiveness and restoration
The Holy Ghost commands us to forgive those who have hurt us. This is for our protection especially of our hearts, because if we let grudges carry on, there are certain doors the enemy is seeking to open. But when we obediently forgive, we are shutting those doors that the enemy sought to open.
Sometimes we think our problem is because of our background—our family or the generations that came before us. But a lot of things are centered on our own decisions. So many times, we think what we do or choose is for something far away, but we are making decisions now that are more impactful to our lives than something that happened generations ago.
God is calling people to be restored to a level of passion, prayer, and commitment. We must remember that God has not turned back on His faithfulness to us. Allow Him to stir your heart so that the fire may rise again. Allow Him to let your zeal rise again. Let us praise God with all our might and strength. Let your worship rise.
No matter what happened before, may our zeal be restored. May our love for fellowship be restored, and may we come together again as His Body. “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).”
Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” Your choice is affecting your seed—your children, your grandchildren. When you choose life, you are a blessing to yourself and those in your family. Right now, choose to worship, pray, study the Word, pay your tithe, and honor God. Sow your seed for these choices will bring life.
He’s doing new work in your life right now. Receive the power. Your best days are coming.