The Rules of Engagement

Weapons of Mass Destruction

enemy will use: family (e.g., Moses, Aaron, and Miriam), friends (Peter and Jesus), business partners and ministerial colleagues (Paul and Barnabas), and confidants, counselors, and mentors (David and Ahithophel). F rustration Frustrations result from the failure to reach some valued objective or achieve the fulfillment of purpose. (See Ezra 4:1–5.) G enerational C urses A generational curse operates by a spiritual law called the “ancestry law.” You have probably heard the adage, “The apple does not fall too far from the tree.” What this means is that certain characteristics, tendencies, and peculiarities unique to certain families are passed down genetically. So many Christians misunderstand the term curse . According to Scripture, a generational curse is the natural outcome of an act of defiant disobedience passed down from one generation to another. (See Exodus 20:5; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 11:26–28.) Ezekiel 18:2 says, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” This weapon of the enemy plays itself out in family and community peculiarities, eccentricities, social/ethnic traits, tendencies, oddities, pathological conditions of mind and body, individualities (DNA), passions, motives, intentions, agendas, habits, ideologies, perceptions, temperaments, personalities, illness, and degenerative/congenital diseases. G ossip If Satan’s characteristic is that of a snake, then gossip can be likened to the venom of a snake. This weapon is made powerful because it uses rumor, hearsay, sensationalized talking, and commentary to undermine and destroy a person’s image, influence, reputation, relationships, name, and even future. In my opinion, this weapon has been the cause of more destruction than all wars combined! James writes in James 3:5–6, “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” Jesus warns us about the misuse of the tongue and the eternal judgment that awaits individuals who refuse to

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