John Bevere - How to Change Your Family Line Forever

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Porn-free. In this lesson, we’re going to talk about generational strongholds, and I have been so excited; in fact, I’ve put more time into preparing for this lesson than any other lesson I’ve brought to you. This is because, number one, it is fascinating, and number two, I realize it is a huge part of my own personal testimony. Here’s another aspect of the testimony that I’ve never really shared, even with my own sons, and that is this: when the Holy Spirit led me to address the demonic powers at that time, He had me confess the sins of my father, my father’s father, and my father’s father’s father. I realized that this was a key part of whatever was changing in me at that time.

Let’s read our foundational scripture for these last two lessons. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, «For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments.» Now listen, it’s up here—arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Recall that a stronghold is a fortress. Remember, Proverbs says that a person who does not have self-control is like a city with broken-down walls, allowing the enemy to come and go as he wishes. He can even build himself a house, or a stronghold, and that stronghold is genetically created through our thoughts, and it can also be passed down from our parents.

Now this is where it is going to get interesting. This is actually where science, later on, after the Bible was written, proved the Bible to be accurate. I love things like that! As I have an engineering degree, a bachelor’s in science, these kinds of things really interest me, and they will help you understand some concepts. So, in that continuum, I’m dealing with the sins of my fathers, confessing, and you’ll see this in the Book of Daniel; Daniel confesses what his forefathers had done to achieve the freedom they were seeking. Ezra did the same thing. God makes a statement that is very interesting, and I actually talked to a Jewish rabbi about this this week. You will find this reference one, two, three, four, four times in the Old Testament. I’m going to read Exodus 34:6-7: «And the Lord passed before him, Moses, and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgressions, and sin; but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.'»

Now, some in the church have taught this as generational curses; I don’t like the word curses. I want you to understand I’m not teaching on generational curses, but I am teaching on a pattern that is passed down. First of all, God is not saying that He is making the children and the children’s children sin, because we know from Ezekiel 18 that God says this: «You ask, 'Doesn’t the child pay for the parent’s sin? '» God responds to His own question, «No, for if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parents will not be punished for the child’s sins.» So when God says He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and children’s children, He is obviously not talking about punishing the children by putting on them what the fathers did. He doesn’t do that; remember, He is merciful.

However, there is something very interesting we find in the Book of Romans regarding the way God created mankind. It says in Romans 5:12 and 19, «Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,» so He is talking about Adam. Sin spread to all men because of Adam. «For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.» So obviously, there is something that is passed down here from the parents, right? Are you seeing this?

Science has made a discovery. This discovery was made in the mid-20th century, back in the mid-1900s. They put a name to it: epigenetics. Now, we understand genetics talks about our genes, right? Epigenetics is basically instructions that sit on top of the genome, telling the genes what to do. It doesn’t change the genes, but it tells them how to shift, how to move. It actually turns some genes on and some genes off. Genes that should be turned on are turned off, and genes that should be turned off are turned on.

Now this is what’s amazing: epigenetics can be passed down from one generation to the next. So not only do our parents pass down their genes, but they pass to us the epigenetics—the instructions on how those genes work. One science book that I read was magnificent and helped me understand it. I think it will help you. If you look at a person’s life, let’s make it a long movie. Our cells are the actors, but the genes, which create the cells and tell the cells what to do, that’s the script. Alright? So you know what epigenetics is? That’s the director. In other words, if you had Steven Spielberg directing a movie with the same script as Woody Allen, you would probably have two different outcomes.

When scientists began discovering these instructions above the genome, they conducted experiments to prove it. They got a bunch of mice and introduced a specific fruit odor into the habitat where the mice were. The moment they introduced the smell of that fruit, they shocked the feet of those mice with an electrical shock. So the whole pad was shocked. These mice learned that every time they smelled that odor, they got shocked. They did this several times; remember, repetition means it’s not a one-time event. They kept doing it, then they stopped, and ten days later, they allowed the mice to mate. In other words, there was no shock when the mice were pregnant.

What they discovered was that when they took those baby mice and let them grow up a little, they introduced the smell of the fruit without the shock, and the mice went crazy! These mice had never been shocked; they weren’t even in their mother’s womb when this happened, and yet they reacted strongly when they smelled the fruit. They then allowed that generation to grow old enough to mate again, and this time they introduced the fruit odor to the grandchildren of those original mice, and those grandchildren went crazy as well.

Here’s the point: if your father or your father’s father was an alcoholic, you are born with an epigenetic pattern that makes it likely you will become an alcoholic if you engage with alcohol. If you refuse to touch alcohol, that epigenetic won’t kick in. However, if you engage with it, it does kick in. If your father was addicted to pornography, this pattern may also manifest in your life.

What’s interesting is this thought that came to me, and I really believe the Holy Spirit showed me this: Hugh Hefner, who was the founder of Playboy, and Larry Flynt, who is the founder of Hustler magazine, were key players in this spread of pornography. Never before had pornography been so widespread in the United States until these magazines emerged.

Now, isn’t it fascinating that in 2019 and 2020, 70 percent of males—68 percent of males who go to church—are bound to pornography? Could it be that this epigenetic kicked in, the pattern formed, and we now have access to pornography everywhere on our phones and tablets? Our parents passed down those instructions above our genome, and as we began to see it and engage with it repeatedly, the patterns strengthened.

Isn’t it interesting that a high percentage—80 to 90 percent—of people in our society look at pornography regularly? I believe that we must address the sins of our fathers, asking the Father to forgive us. We need to confess, «We did wrong. We ask you to cleanse us from this.» Then we begin to make right choices because there is something called epigenetic modification. You can change that epigenetic pattern by doing the right things and putting the Word of God in us.

This is where we are going in our next lesson. Now let me say this is really important for you to understand. I have a friend who is a neuroscientist, and this friend is also a very strong Christian. They conducted their own experiment, hooking people up to neuro machines or whatever they are. They had people reading history books, science books, novels, other religious books, and the Bible. Do you know what the scientist told my wife and me? The only ones who showed a significant change in their neural patterns were the ones reading the Bible. Not those reading history, science, novels, or other religious texts—only those reading the Word of God!

This book, the Word of God, with the Holy Spirit teaching us, possesses the power to literally change the epigenetic pattern in us. So we can modify that epigenetic pattern, which means your children won’t have the battles you had. Your children’s children won’t have the battles you have. It’s not that sin is imposed on your children; rather, the propensity toward that sin is passed down. You can actually remove it.

Let me give you an example: my dad, and my dad’s dad, and my dad’s dad’s dad never had a problem with alcohol. My dad was never drunk a day in his life. He and my mom were married for 66.5 years. When I was in college, I tried drinking and got drunk a few times, but can I tell you, I didn’t like it? It was one of the easiest things for me to give up because I didn’t enjoy it. I remember one time coming home from a bar during my freshman year of college, while my two friends were plastered. My mom was waiting up for me at 12:30, and I sat down with her and said, «Mom, I just don’t like drinking.» She laughed and said, «You are such a Bevere.»

Later, after I got saved—about a month after that incident—I realized the reason it was so easy for me to give up drinking was that my dad didn’t pass down that epigenetic pattern to me. But there were other patterns I had to deal with, just as there are patterns that you might have to deal with. If you’re watching this course, we can safely assume that there’s something in your ancestry that you just need to confess. There’s no need for you to look for specifics like, «What did you do, Dad? Did you look at pornography?» Just say, «Father, do what Daniel did. Forgive my father, my father’s father, and my father’s father’s father, for reducing women or reducing men down to a piece of meat. I ask that you wash me clean from this, and now in Jesus' name, I command this stronghold to be broken. I command a change.»

The way you change it is by the way you live. Stop looking at pornography. Just say, «I choose not to do this,» and simply choose to not do it. If you do that, you will change the neurological patterns in your brain and eventually find yourself stating, «I have no desire for this.» One day, you’ll find yourself saying, «I am actually repulsed by this.»

I hope this helps you understand that sometimes, in dealing with the enemy, we must address what our fathers did and see that change by the power of God—the epigenetic pattern in our lives—so that we can truly walk free. In the next course, we’re going to show how this Bible, the Word of God, will literally change the way you think, and in changing the way you think, it will change the way you live. I’ll share how I went from craving pornography to feeling repulsed by it. See you in the next lesson.