No Mas Grandma

“He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah, and Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron.”  

2 Chronicles 15:16 

What does generational freedom look like? How can we be freed from those in our family lines who perpetuate unhealthy lives and lifestyles?  

One last look, for now, at generational sin. If you have missed the previous two Overflows I encourage you to read/listen/watch them. Today’s generational story centers on the Judean King Asa’s moves against Maacah, his grandmother. (While the text calls Maacah Asa’s mother, the Hebrew word for mother and grandmother is the same. We know that Maacah is the mother of Asa’s dad, Abijah, making her Asa’s grandmother.) 

King Asa is making sweeping reforms in Judah because his dad was a faithless king. Asa removes Baal worship and Asherah poles from Judah. He wants a clean break from the generational line into which he was born. His grandmother, Maacah, has assumed the title queen mother. She wields great power and influence both in her family and her country. The ONLY way for Asa to be freed from her generational affect is to deal with her directly.  

He must say, “No mas, grandma!” 

Watch the sequencing of Asa’s liberation. First, he identifies a healthy, truthful model. 1 Kings 15:11 says Asa walked in the ways of King David, NOT his father Abijah. Second, he identifies who the person(s) is in his generational line that is wielding the negative power. In his life that is his grandmother. Third, he identifies the specific toxins she has spread. Maacah is a Baal worshipper who has built Asherah poles. (Asherah poles are wooden “statues” in the image of Asherah, the goddess of fertility.) Fourth, he removes Maacah from a position of power. Fifth, he destroys her ways. The Scripture says that Asa “cut down her horrid image (the Asherah pole), crushed it and burned it.” Sixth, and this is crucial, Asa enthroned the LORD and embraced His truth.  

Because of Asa’s work to cut off his generational line, he was able to live in flow of Yahweh’s faithfulness. He was blessed. The people of Judah were blessed.  

Make NO mistake – generational lines are POWERFUL forces. They can be good or bad. We can be richly blessed because of our generations, and we can be thoroughly destroyed because of our generations. As adults we MUST examine our families under the love of our Father and allow the Holy Spirit to expose generational strongholds so that we can experience liberation. I regularly work with people, those who have surrendered to Jesus, who live in bondage because of generational issues.  

So, let’s take Asa’s steps and map them onto our lives. While his steps may not map 100% onto your situation, I think you will see ways forward. And, prayerfully, you will be equipped to help others as well!  

Steps to generational freedom: 

First, embrace who you are and whose you are. If you have given your life to Jesus, you are a beloved child of the One True God. You are worthy. Jesus, your new brother, is also your King. The Holy Spirit of God Himself rests and works in you. YOU DO NOT CONFRONT GENERATIONAL ISSUES ALONE OR IN YOUR OWN POWER. All of the following steps are done in the Spirit’s power in the name and authority of Jesus.    

Second, identify who the person(s) is in your generational line who wields influence in your heart and mind. You can have multiple people that negatively affect you in different areas of your life, one person who dominates every area, or multiply people who affect you in one area of your life. Who are the people in your family line that poison you?  

Third, identify the generational issues. Is the issue generational criticism? Pessimism? Anger? Fear, pride, sexual immorality, anxiety, depression, occult, superficiality, judgmentalism, gluttony, or something else? When identifying generational issues, we are not looking for microscopic issues in a family line – this is not straining gnats. We are looking for pervasive issues that have wrought destruction.  

Fourth, remove the person from power. You may not have to physically, directly remove a person from their role as “queen mother” as Asa did, but a dramatic change must happen. While the person remains as your grandmother or grandfather or mom or dad or whatever, they no longer have power. Unfortunately, depending on the volume of generational poison, taking extended time away from the person(s) may be necessary which may require missing family events. But you, and your health, are that important.  

In this fourth step, I highly encourage you to seek wise counsel from other brothers and sisters in the Lord who can help you determine what you need to do. Do you need to directly confront the person? Can you achieve generational freedom without a confrontation? Certainly, if the person on the throne of your life has passed away, you will not be able to confront them.  

If you do have to confront them, you must do so in love. “Grandmother, I need to take a break from our relationship. The way you constantly criticize me is not of the Lord. This is not how my Father feels about me and I cannot handle listening to you speak to me this way. I love you. But I cannot continue in our relationship.”  

In this fourth step, remember that you are not a little boy or girl anymore. You are a blood bought child of the living God moving according to the Spirit of God.  

These kinds of moves will often affect multiple family members and dynamics. Be assured and stand firm. Generational poison must end.   

Fifth, destroy their poison. As Asa destroyed Maacah’s Asherah poles so too you must destroy the generational poison inside of you. In the power of the Holy Spirit, according to the love of your Father and the life of Jesus, renounce the words, sayings, phrases, tones, non-verbals, feelings, and other associated traumas. In this step, writing down the poisons will be helpful. The Holy Spirit will help you to see and identify specific wounds. Notice Asa identified, crushed, and burned his generational issues! He was not playing around. He wanted nothing to do with what he was raised in.  

Sixth, enthrone and embrace the love and truth of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Accept the invitation from our Father to relax back into His gracious love. Abide in Him. “We have come to know and have believed the love which God (our Father) has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). Soak in love. Continually, throughout your day, take deep breaths and relax back into love.  

Adoption is a huge aspect of salvation. John 1:12-13, Romans 8:12-17, Galatains 4:4-7, Ephesians 5:1-2, 1 John 3:1-3 and many others Scriptures speak to our adoption. When you surrendered to Jesus, the Holy Spirit came into your life, made you born again, and re-created you in the family of our Father. You were adopted into His family. BUT, in order to be adopted into His family you have to be adopted OUT OF your family.  

The path to generational freedom is about renouncing poison AND embracing LIFE.  

While much more can be said about generational issues these three podcasts should provide clear understanding and direction. For more specific issues and guidance speak to a trusted pastor, counselor or friend who can give good insight.  

May God our Father lead you to generational freedom. May you embrace who He has, is, and will make you to be. May you enjoy what He has for you to do. You are a blood bought child of our Father, a brother/sister of Jesus, and a temple of the Holy Spirit!  

This is LIFE in the Overflow…