A GOLD MINE WAITING TO BE EXPLORED – SEEKING COUNSEL

God is very deliberate about what He does. He is very skilled and also pays attention to details. He knows all things and ensures that no one person knows everything so that we would not only have to depend on one another but would all have to depend on Him. I guess if one person knows all things, then he might as well be God. One of the things that make God who He is is the fact that He knows all things. No man knows all things; for no man is able to tell the end from the beginning.

1 Corinthians 13: 9-“For we know in part and we prophesy in part.”

Since nobody knows all things, we would have to learn from one another and most of all from God. This is the reason we all need counsel from time to time. The bible does say “in the multitude of counsel, there is safety”. Seeking counsel helps us learn from other people’s experiences so that we can avoid some pitfalls of life. Also, the things God has shared with a mentor, He expects you to learn from them and not to come seeking the same information from Him. However, our challenge often is with the choice of counselor and whether or not we ourselves are “in the spirit” as we listen so as to discern anything the enemy might slip in if he finds opportunity to.  

Psalm 1:1-2a “blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord.” 

We must be very careful where we go for counsel. Your counselor does not have to be your best friend, family or parent. Indeed, sometimes they are the worst people to receive counsel from; because they love you too much to see clearly in any situation that concerns you. It is best to choose a counselor that fears God, is mature in the things of God, pays attention to details and is not often beclouded by emotions. Maturity in the things of God is very important for a counselor. There are things that God allows us glean from experience.

2 Chronicles 10: 6 “Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, how do you advise me to answer these people?”

Of course we know Rehoboam rejected their counsel and instead went for the counsel of his friends as a result of which he paid a very costly price. Whilst you are receiving counsel, the onus is still on you to ensure that you accept only what aligns with the call of God on your life. I know the office to which God has called me so if I am being counseled by an evangelist for example; I must be able tell when He begins to interpret what God expects of me in relation to the call of God on His own life. It was Rehoboam who lost a portion of his kingdom and not the counselors.

As counselors, we must be able to set aside our emotions and counsel according to the word and will of God for the counselee’s life. We must recognize that God does not want the person to be like you so you need to tap into the mind of God so you can accurately interpret God’s counsel for each person as you counsel. Remember you will give an account to God for every counsel that you give.

BEAUTY OUT OF PAIN

I don’t know who I am writing for today but I want you to know that God loves you too much to leave you in your comfort zone hence this experience. He wants you to know that He is able to step in and stop any experience that will destroy you. If He doesn’t stop it, it is because it won’t kill you. He made you and has you in the palm of His hand; He knows what you can handle. He wants you to know that He is right there with you though He is silent.

Psalm 23: 4 “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me.”

After several years of being a believer, I had gone through several different experiences and thought I had experienced the worst of the dealings of God in a man’s life until a few years ago when God was determined to take me out of my comfort zone for a greater course. It was an experience that tested the very core of my life and faith. I lost my job (a job I held for 13years), my friends (those with whom I went into the house of God), meanwhile the cold hands of death had taken the man I had come to see as father since I lost my own father. Unfortunately, this was all intertwined with my place of worship (my safe heaven) and I had to quit that too. I was a persona non grata and I saw the frailty of man even at his most anointed. Though God had prepared me for it, all the preparation seemed very inadequate as I went through this difficult time which seemed endless at the time.

2 Corinthians 4: 7-8 “we now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”

Now I thank God for that experience and truly appreciate everyone that was used one way or the other to accomplish God’s purpose at the time. How else could I have come to where I am today? It is not about where I am today but the fact that I am better positioned for the greater walk ahead of me. God is “the way maker”; He made a way for me out of a situation I thought had trapped me. The devil had it neatly tied together but He brought me out and into another level just like He’s doing for you.

Psalm 66: 10-12 “You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver. You have captured us in your net and laid the burden of slavery on our backs. Then you put a leader over us. We went through fire and flood, but you brought us to a place of abundance.”

You may right now be in a situation that looks like a maze, please don’t try to figure it out because you can’t; you will only frustrate yourself. Just set your eyes on Him knowing that those that put their trust in Him shall never be put to shame. I know the pain you feel right now is real but rejoice for the joy that is set before you. Honestly, the end is closer now than ever before. At the end of it all, you will like what you have become.

Hebrews 12: 1b- 2 “And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross disregarding its shame. Now He’s seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

ARE YOU STILL IN THE FAITH

I just listened to a sermon by Billy Graham, the old time preacher. Honestly, at the end of it I prayed the sinner’s prayer along with the rest of the people. The bible does talk about perilous times; these are perilous times. Walking with God today is tough; maybe tougher than it was. Warfare is at a heightened level and so many soldiers are dying in the battle field. What is so scary is the fact that the warfare is very subtle. Clearly, it is not the way it was in times past: for example, our enemy comes wearing nice suits, talking super spiritual these days. You may never identify him or his workings if you are “in the flesh”. It is sad because slowly but surely he is drawing more of us into the level of the flesh and causing us to lose battles of life at that level where we are ill equipped to war since the weapons of our warfare are spiritual and spiritually empowered. We need to be discerning.

2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 “we are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle the keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish all disobedience.”

Reality is that if you do not win the battle within yourself, you cannot win the external battles? Are you fully obedient? The battle within is getting more intense and fierce than it has ever been, though more subtle, because self is being exalted like never before. It is easiest for satan if he can fan our weaknesses so that it destroys us; that way he need not waste his limited resources on us. We must consistently search our hearts and our lives instead of always seeing those that want to attack or do us harm. If we are led by the Holy Ghost, obeying the word of God, no enemy will successfully attack us. 

When I was a young believer, born again believers lived right and were never afraid to face the enemy as long as God led them. It is not so any longer; we run from the enemy. Run is the wise thing to do if one is ill equipped but that is not the life of the believer the bible describes. The devil ought to flee from us as we resist him and not the other way round. I am not by any means suggesting that we are to fight every battle but we must be led by the Spirit of God. Our faith is not powerless but we have rendered it so by our faithlessness, misinterpretation of the scriptures and our lifestyle. We must begin to walk by the Spirit otherwise Christianity will be made to look like a joke. We ourselves must take the word of God seriously; if we don’t who will? If we believe there is power in the word, then we must demonstrate that belief.

1 Corinthians 10: 12 “therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

It is time to turn the search light on in our lives. Are you slowly and unconsciously rewriting the gospel to accommodate your opinion? Have un-forgiveness, pride, fear, unbelief and any other evil work taken root in you? These things are easy to identify in another but you want to check your life? It is time to turn the search light on in our own lives. We can’t continue with this powerless gospel. You can make that decision to realign or rededicate your life today even in the privacy of your home. It is time to start again so that we do not make “the word of God of none effect”.

GUARD YOUR LIFE!!!

I have found out that if you don’t take charge of your life, somebody or something else will. It is so very important for us as believers to ensure that we are in charge of our lives. I am by no means suggesting that you be Lord in your life. No! Be in charge enough to make the decision in every situation to submit your life to Christ and be able follow up that decision by actually submitting it to Christ. Some people are unable to submit their lives to God though they want to, because they are not in charge of their lives. There are influences in their lives who have taken charge. I guess that is why the word of God enjoins us to guard our hearts with all diligence because the issues of life come from it. In essence, be in control of what goes in and out of your heart so that you can ensure control of your life since the issues that pertain to life come from there.

Mathew 18: 18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be forbidden in heaven.” 

This tells me clearly that I have great responsibilities for my life. God does not take charge of our lives, He lets us do that and heaven rejoices when we then make Jesus Lord of our lives. To ensure that we are in charge of our lives, it is very important that we make the decisions as to the kind of friends we make what we hear, read, watch and even the places we go. All of these things add to make us who we eventually become. We ought never to find ourselves in situations where we are doing what we would rather not do but now would do because of the influences in our lives. Whether you like it or not, you will be affected by the voice you hear all the time. That is why it is always important to set the boundaries and/or limits very early. However, it is better done late than never done.

Boundaries help to establish that you are in charge of your life. You are also letting the devil know that you are well aware of the rights you have; one of which is to guard your heart. It always starts from the heart. Whatever affects one’s heart affects one’s life. The pain that comes from not guarding one’s heart has caused some people to make some wrong decisions that have impacted several other lives negatively. If you don’t guard your life, even “wandering birds will build” their nests therein and then you will blame them; but the problem is not with the birds, the problem is with you who left your life unguarded. The wandering birds were just looking for a nice place to build their nests. Even God admonishes that you not only guard your heart but that you do so with all diligence.

This is the thing – do not blame anyone else for your own negligence. Who left their life unguarded? You did. I am not by any means suggesting that we should not be vulnerable – indeed the love the bible describes suggests some form of vulnerability; however, we must be guided by the Holy Ghost in all things. The onus is on you: taking charge of your life is a responsibility you and I need to take seriously. So please examine yourself and then ask yourself – who is in charge in your life?

THE POWER OF OBEDIENCE

John 2: 5 “His mother said to the servants, whatever He says to you, do it.”

I heard somebody today; repeat this quote by the mother of Jesus at the wedding in Cana when she wanted Him to resolve the problem of their finished wine which was a potentially shameful situation for the people having the party. It just could not happen that wine would run out during a wedding ….shame!!! Shame!!! Shame!!! So that in a way, Jesus was asked, by His mum, to deliver the people from the imminent shame and disgrace, that seemed set to befall them. The situation was already bad but thank God for what His mum knew about Him. She knew He was able to do something about their situation. She was aware He had come to take away our shame, poverty, and mourning; restore our joy and glory and make our joyful amongst several other things.

I dare to suggest that when Jesus said “woman my time has not yet come”, He wasn’t just saying it isn’t time for me to start operating in the miraculous; He was also saying, “I need to die and be resurrected to actually accomplish some of these things”. It was more than just turning water to wine, it was much deeper. He turned their lack into fullness and took away imminent shame.

Clearly, Mary, though mother of Jesus, was well in tune with the power of obedience. It is amazing that she did not bother to find out what Jesus would have them do before she said “do whatever He says”. What if He told them to kill themselves? She was confident that His instructions would do well. She must have known the scripture that says “His thoughts toward us are thoughts of good to give us an expected end”. What faith and belief in God yet she brought Him into this world. Today in the times we live in, we would want to first hear Him before we are bold enough to say “do it” and anyway, even if you say so and they know it is Jesus speaking – would they do what He says to do? Selah.

One of the most fearful and arrogant statements I ever heard in my entire life from a believer was that he would make the decision he needed to make and then ask God to bless it. The height of stupidity: he definitely had it the wrong way round. You give the orders and God does the obeying and you hope to have good success - very interesting! Man in himself was never able to make the right decision otherwise he would not require the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

One of the wisest things in life is for man to take advantage of the presence of God on the inside of him/her. It is a privilege to have Him lead us in every situation. To be guided by the one that knows the end from the beginning. Indeed, whatever He tells us to do is the best thing to do. It may require more hard work than we think is necessary. They had to get pots, more than they had previously, fill them with water and He turned it all into wine (sweeter than they had). When He takes away your shame, He does it in such a way that all will see the glory that He puts around you.

Doesn’t He know how to fill our mouths with laughter? All the work we are required to do mean nothing when compared with what we get at the end of it all. Who would have thought He would change water to wine just like that when He had never done it before. It is truly best to do what He says to do because we never know how He intends to solve the problem. Tough - Yes it is. Who doesn’t fear the unknown?

QUIETNESS IS NOT DEFEAT

Oh how I love the hymns. They were definitely written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. I like some more than others: I really like the one that says “up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes: He arose a victor from the dark domain and is risen together with the saints to reign.” It definitely puts me at ease and reminds me that my Saviour is a champion.

From what the bible tells us, when Jesus died, He went to the dark domain (hell) took on satan, defeated him and took from him, the keys of life and death so that there was restoration of authority that God gave man, back to God. That must have been one fierce fight but Jesus took it all in His stride as usual. When He returned to earth, nobody would have known that all that time, He appeared to be dead, He was actually very busy fighting the battle of His life and the fight that would give Him the ultimate victory and ultimately, restore glory to mankind. What awesome victory Christ won.

One thing I found in life is that the noisy side is often not the winning side. There is something called “hype” these days. It is when people make a lot of noise just to create awareness around one thing, person or the other. Very often it appears to pay off. Indeed so many seem to have succeeded in it so a lot more people are hiring people to make some noise about them and refer to it as “public relations.” How so unreal? Of a truth, “empty vessels make the most noise.” As believers, we are not empty vessels and don’t need the noise. We have the God from whom promotion comes.

A man on a mission does not really have time to make noise. He is so focused and single minded that he would not remember to make noise; at the end of the day, his works will speak for him. Better still, if you try to destroy a person and you find that they have gone quiet, do not be deceived into thinking that you have succeeded in your evil, God is only at work in them and through them, when He is done, you will be sad that you ever rejoiced over their “seeming failure”. Don’t gloat because you may be disappointed. Like the Psalmist says, “in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

There are some battles in life we must fight for ourselves and win if we must go forward. Nobody can fight such battles for us, not even God who has completed all His work. If you must get to the place of glory, you cannot dodge the fights. These are spiritual things that either manifest in the physical or the results will be made apparent for all to see.

There are “alone” moments in life when it seems like even God is so far away from one but in truth, He is standing by and cheering you on to victory. He is waiting at the other end with the prize He shall give you when you come through. No matter how low you may think you have fallen at such times, be rest assured, if God is with you, you shall rise again. There is no depth; He cannot lift you out of: for He can take a beggar out of the dung hill and cause him to sit amongst princes.

Are you in that situation right now? Don’t be discouraged. He is preparing you that He may brag about you. There is no depth lower than hell but Jesus defeated the enemy and rose from the dead.

LET GODLY COUNSEL GUIDE YOU

We all need counsel from time to time. I know some people think they know it all so they don’t need any form of guidance but it is self-deceit. Some such people even pretend like they want counsel, they go to people pretending like they would listen to them, even sit through an entire session asking questions and pretending to listen but they hear nothing because they already determined in their hearts what they will do. It is sad when born again believers do this. The issue is therefore, more than seeking counsel; it is paying attention to it and letting the right counsel influence our lives and/or decisions. 

Proverbs 11: 14 “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”

Of course, you and I have a responsibility to ourselves to ensure that as we seek counsel, we are praying that the people we go to will speak the mind of God. It is absolutely important that counsel is rooted in the wisdom of God. So as we seek counsel, we must pay enough attention to ensure that we do not accept counsel that is only rooted in the wisdom of man. It is sad also that sometimes even when we seek counsel, we manage the information we give the counselors to get them to unknowingly validate what we already planned to do. Sometimes, the intention is to blame the act on the counselor if the consequences are in the negative but the truth is you bear the responsibilities for your decisions even when it is based on someone else’s counsel. 

Proverbs 8; 14 “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom.”

The bible tells the story of Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) who needed counsel and chose the counsel of his friends above that of the elders who sat in his father’s presence. Of course, the young men were irresponsible and childish. The onus was on Rehoboam to think through the counsel which he didn’t do as a result of which he lost a huge portion of his kingdom. Unfortunately, his counselors lost nothing from the counsel. Indeed they had no kingdoms to loose. So it is of absolute importance who we take counsel from. We can lose our total inheritance in Christ because of where we get counsel.

Psalm 1: 1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly”

Proverbs 24: 6a “For by wise counsel, you will wage your own war.”

The truth of life is that the people we spend a lot of time with will impact our lives. Associations or friendships are very important because as we commune often, we take in things we say to one another inadvertently and one is eventually influenced by these things. Who knows, maybe Judas shared his dislike for Jesus with some people who encouraged it which ultimately pushed him to do what led to his taking his own life. My guess is that he did not start out planning to kill Jesus but as his dislike grew, the devil found a willing partner in him. The thing to note is that he finally took his own life. We are not told that anyone died with him. You must take the responsibility for your life seriously.