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Showing results for tags 'counsel'.
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Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. - Proverbs 1:30-31 We have all had times in our lives where believers in the Lord have given advice to us in our Christian walks. Sometimes it was a kind reminder of a verse or a practical suggestion in a situation. Other times it could even be an extreme "Thus saith the Lord." What do we do with such counsel we recieve in our lives? Do we accept counsel that we at first disagree with or is contrary to what we are doing or think? In my own live there were various times that I recieved godly counsel that I knew deep down in my heart was right but was against what I wanted and desired. Other times I have recieved strong words from brothers that was very extreme and in the end I needed to weigh it with other counsel and how Church history also believed on the issue. But one way we can know that counsel is sound is if it accords with the Scriptures and secondly if it is counsel that many other godly men agree with. Such counsel should be weighed carefully and it is dangerous to reject such warnings as in the end we might be fighting against God Himself. Many believers in our day are quick to give their opinions but godly Elders and leaders in the body of Christ, pray and hear from God clearly to sound a warning or help for someone. It is not dangerous to reject someone's opinion or thinking on an issue but to reject strong godly counsel from a church leader can lead to a life full of hurt and even destruction. If we cannot recieve counsel and instruction we become foolish no matter how prosperous we are in life (Ecclesiastes 4:13). We can start to hate being corrected or having counsel that goes against our thinking (Proverbs 5:12). When we reject godly counsel over time we end up rejecting the Lord Himself (Proverbs 1:25-26). We become right in our own eyes in every situation (Proverbs 12:15). C.S. Lewis says, "There is nothing progressive about being pig headed and refusing to admit a mistake." Be willing to admit failure, admit that your way is not always right. Admit you allowed a mistake. Such humbling of one's self will open your heart to hear godly counsel again, and allow the Lord to direct your paths. When we put pressure, control and our own reasoning upon a situation it can seem we are right but in the light of Scriptures and godly counsel the actual truth can be revealed. The warning in the verse in Proverbs is that the worse thing that can happen, is the Lord simply will allow us to be filled with the "fruit of our ways" and the end result of our own scheming. May God have mercy and allow us to always be willing to hear the advice of others, especially godly elders and mature believers in the Lord. Such an open heart will save us from many trials and lead us in the way of blessing with the Lord.
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In Jeremiah 33:3, we are told to call to Him so He can reveal things that were once hidden but now have become accessible. He wants to bring restoration and establish His purpose and plan in our lives—not man’s plan but His plan. All we need to do is ask. Psalm 33:10–12: "The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance." Here we see that the Lord does reveal His counsel to those who seek His heart for each generation. And where the Lord releases His counsel, He also flows with His might. Counsel and might flow together (see Isa. 11:2). In First Corinthians 2:10, we also find that the revealer loves to reveal to us the things He has for us: “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (NKJV). A HIGHER WISDOM AVAILABLE This is why, in First Corinthians 2:4–5, Paul writes: "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (NKJV)." In the very next verse, Paul explains why this is important, writing: "Yet when we are among the full-grown (spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do impart a [higher] wisdom (the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden); but it is indeed not a wisdom of this present age or of this world nor of the leaders and rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away." - 1 Corinthians 2:6 AMP POSITIONING OUR HEART FOR HIS HEART Be of good cheer! Don’t be shaken in your faith by the outward circumstances around you or by the plans of people. The plan and purpose of the Lord will be established. As you seek Him, positioning your heart for His heart, He will reveal to you what He plans. The Lord is sending out His voice, and He is looking for those who have hearts set toward Him. He is giving entrance into the things that the natural cannot access. We can only enter them by the Spirit of the Lord, as Scripture makes clear: "The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." - John 14:17 NKJV "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." - Ephesians 2:18 NKJV Let’s come into agreement with this verse: “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV). Here the word mighty actually means “inaccessible.” Once it wasn’t accessible, but now it has been opened to you! Truly, through His counsel and might, He is releasing and activating mighty deeds that can only be done by His Spirit. No matter how small they may seem, they are mighty, because with the Lord, a spark becomes a glory awakening. ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY