Based on what I’ve always heard and thought to be true, and then later ‘confirmed’ by a simple internet ‘search’, tapping in to the National Cancer Institute, a person's body can ‘harbor cancer cells that remain dormant for months, years, and even decades without developing into a tumor causing detectable illness’. (.gov)

These ‘sleeping’ cells are clinically known as ‘cancer cell dormancy’. The article also includes this statement: “What causes disseminated cancer cells to enter, and then to leave, a dormant state is not known.” The same could be said about other dreaded diseases out there today that we know are often times passed down through family lines. I’ve personally known families who agonized over whether to have their children tested to see if they were ‘predisposed’, or had the particular cells, given there were no known cures for that particular disease.

If you would please, take a moment and read through this passage found in Deut. 28:58-63. However you want to process what you just read, in both these opening paragraphs and that passage I just cited…is between you and God. I am very aware how delicate and sensitive this topic is…for all of us to wade through. I have stated previously that I have much to learn myself and don’t claim to have this all ‘figured out’, but I am confident enough to share what I believe the Holy Spirit has been bringing to light for me, personally; and all I can do is share with you what I am discovering in God’s word and then hope that you will do as they did in other times and places and study this out for yourself to see if God might reveal or confirm these things to you as well (Acts 17:11; Luke 24:32,45). But don't just take my word for it.

We know that we were designed and created to be ‘spirit beings’ that possess a ‘soul’ (mind, intellect, emotions, will) and we were ‘housed’ in a physical body. (1 Thess. 5:23)

Prior to having a ‘genuine-come-to-Jesus-conversion’, we were spiritually ‘dead’, being separated from God. Ephesians 2:1-3 explains this rather well. We also learn in that passage that something ‘spiritual’ in nature was/is actually ‘working IN us’, and we are told it was not a good spirit, rather it was demonic in nature (2). This should not come as a surprise to any student of the Bible, given what we know from 1 John 5:19, Acts 26:18, and 2 Timothy 2:25-26. In John 10:10, Jesus refers to him/them as a ‘thief’, explaining what their primary mission is, which is to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’. But He also leaves some good news of hope there, seemingly offering us an alternative... provided we ‘come to Him’ (John 5:40; Luke 4:18).

We also learn from this same book, (the Bible), that we would do well to remain ‘vigilant and sober minded’…given we have a spiritual enemy known as the ‘devil’ who still actively ‘roams about like a lion seeking to devour’ people (1 Peter. 5:8). This would be the same devil whom we are admonished to ‘give no place to’, in Ephesians 4:27. Care to guess how we do that, give place to this devil? You might go review John 5:1-14 and see how Jesus advised a man whom He healed from a very long (38 years) debilitating, physical ailment, and what he would do well to avoid.

Where am I going with all this, you might be asking? Let’s continue, but first I have to ask you this: Are you willing to consider the possibilities…that in the same way unwanted ‘physical’ cells that could trigger life-threatening diseases might be lingering within your body, could unwanted ‘spiritual cells’ , or ‘bad seed’ (spirits) continue to linger within you as well? They may very well be ‘dormant’ for the time being, but either way, you would like them to ‘come off the land’ in the same way God intended for those unwanted nations of people to be eradicated from the land He was leading His people into to take possession.

Do you remember how God was always reminding them not to worry nor fear those tribes of ‘giants’, but to just obey Him and he would lead them to overcoming all their enemies? And if/when they failed to follow through on God’s commands, guess who He used to carry out judgements and punishment? Yep…those very people who were their enemies.(Hab. 1:12)

Now let’s change gears here…

Can you think or identify a particular ‘trait’ or area in your own life that you’ve longed to change about yourself, and you also saw was prevalent in one of your parents? It might be something seemingly ‘little’ like always worrying, or impatience or given to fault-finding and criticizing? Maybe one of them were always grumbling and complaining about anything and everything, which you too find yourself doing today?

Is that just learned or ‘acquired’ behavior, or is it possible that something ‘spiritual’ in nature was passed down…like ‘bad seed’ (Eph. 6:12)? Were you aware that God is no fan of grumbling and complaining? (1 Cor. 10:10; Phil. 2:14; James 5:9). But if you grew up in an environment where those who raised you were always complaining and finding fault…then think in terms of those words being like ‘bad seed sown’ into our hearts. Is it any wonder that you are producing the same kind of bad fruit? And if you are not dealing with that bad fruit, which is sin, then why would we be shocked to discover that we have provided an open door to this spiritual enemy to come in and to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’? But wait, consider this: If you yourself are bearing that same kind of fruit, think of all those ‘seeds’ coming out of your mouth, from the ‘abundance of the heart’…. Where do you think they are ‘landing and being sown’ into? Your own children?

Obviously, that list of ‘bad seed’ is numerous, and you might start reviewing by reading through Gal. 5:19-21 and Romans 1:29-32 to identify some of those various ‘bad fruits’.

I don’t mean to compare ‘sins’ as if downplaying them because they might not seem as serious as others, so don’t worry if you are a ‘complainer’ or enjoy watching shows that stir up spirits of lust within; just try to avoid being a murderer, or an adulterer, or a homosexual, etc. Whatever your ‘issue’ is that you struggle with, it is quite possible it was ‘passed down’ through family lines; and if it is unrepentant ‘sin’ (regardless of how it got there), then it will open the door for the enemy to come in and bring harm and suffering in your own life as well, which is what sin always does.

What comes out of our mouths/hearts…matters. “Life and death are in the power of the tongue”. (Proverbs 18:21).

So how does one end or break that cycle of sin once and for all? Join me tomorrow and we can delve even further in to this truth that brings freedom.