Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The month of December cheers the hearts of us all for various reasons. During the course of this year, some have suffered a lot. They are happy that finally, the year is coming to a close. For some this year has been a year of blessings and so they are sad that it has come to an end. Some look forward to the New Year with hope that it would bring new blessings and joy. Before the end of this year, we celebrate the birth of Christ and wear new clothes, and decorate our houses. The boundaries of houses and even trees are decked with lights.
We put up over our houses huge stars as if to declare that the star that guided the wise men stood over our houses.
By placing our full trust in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we become His children. Because of the birth of Christ, we have the joy of salvation from sin, the joy of having been bestowed grace upon grace from His fullness, and the joy of truth. Thus, all of us have the joy for different reasons from His birth. He was the true light – a light that makes us shine as His people through His grace. We are the children of light. He alone makes this transformation. The name and actions of this loving God can guide us in good path. His works are awesome. Let us meditate on the name of Counsellor in this message. The Lord, who said, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye” (Psalm 32:8), is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He does not change.
I HOW IS GOD’S COUNSEL
1. God is Great in Counsel
“You are great in counsel and mighty in work...” (Jeremiah 32:19).
The counsels of the Lord are great and His acts are mighty. Isaiah 12:6 says, “Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!” Yes, indeed. He is great in our midst. Jesus Christ wants to bless us by cleansing us with His Word, His Spirit and His fire, which He wanted to send on earth (Luke 12:49). He wants us to be holy for He the Lord is holy that we should be His (Lev. 20:26). He says, “I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Lev. 20:7). He sanctifies us on a daily basis. He shed His blood on the cross. He is great in our midst. It is His will that we should be holy.
Further, He is great in counsel. He who is in you is greater than he who is in this world (1 John 4:4). He will do great things through you. By this word, we have victory over Satan. Jesus Christ is greater than the temple. He said, “Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple” (Matt. 12:6). In Matthew 12:41, He says, “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” Through Jonah, the people of Nineveh turned to God listening to the word of the prophet. Jesus Christ did greater things than him in His earthly ministry. King Solomon was found with wisdom that brought the Queen of the South. She heard about his wisdom and came to visit him. But Jesus Christ is greater than King Solomon. She will rise up and bear witness against the people of His time as they failed to respond like her. The counsel of Christ is greater than that of anyone else.
2. His Counsel Does Not Change
“Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath” (Hebrews 6:17).
His counsel does not change as it is immutable. He says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10). If we respond to every one of His counsels, there would be true peace and blessings in life. We get into trouble only because we do not take His advice seriously. We set it aside and attach no value to it. If you listen to His word and respond properly and fully to it, you would succeed in life. The Lord counselled Joshua to wage wars. He acted accordingly and had great victory. In the same way, the Word of God is glorious for us to be blessed. It does not change.
His Word does not change; He does not change; His call does not change. He blesses us with joy and peace through His counsel. Once my cycle parked behind the church was missing. At the time of worship, I saw a youth going in that direction. As it was missing, I had an inkling that the boy would have taken it to his house. So, I went to his house which was near the church. He was not in his house. His mother was there. I remembered the colour of his shirt. I told her about the shirt he wore. His mother denied it. I did not know what to do. At that time, the Lord prompted me to make mention of another colour. I told her so. I could get back my cycle by the suggestion of the Lord.
The Lord gives us counsel in our daily life regarding our business and the dishes we make to make them relishable.
3. He is wonderful in Counsel
“...Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.” (Isaiah 28:29).
The counsel of the Lord is excellent. With our wisdom, we cannot fathom it. It is beyond our understanding and grasp. Jericho was a fortified city and it was difficult for the Israelites to conquer it. It was on their way to Canaan, a place promised to them. The Lord counselled Joshua to go around the city every day and on the seventh day to go around it seven times. On the seventh time, they should shout loudly and the walls of city would break down. When he acted accordingly, the city fell and they could march ahead. This happened according to the counsel of the Lord.
Today, decide to act according to the counsel of the Lord. Then everything that stands against your progress, the barriers in life, in getting married, in promotion in job, and in all other things would vanish. The enemy would be shamed.
The Lord advises His children in all that they do to make them have joy, peace and victory. Once a teacher shared her testimony. Her husband was working in another place and so would come home only once in two weeks. He was used to eating dosas for breakfast and supper. One day as she made dosas for him, she found it difficult to make them. She prayed in her heart saying that people in hotels made big dosas of two or three feet size, but she could not make a small one. At that time the Lord suggested rubbing an onion on the pan. She obeyed and then she was able to make it. The suggestion of the Lord was wonderful.
II WHY DOES GOD COUNSEL US?
1. To protect us from falling
“Where there is no counsel, the people fall...” (Proverbs 11:14).
Counselling of the Lord is for our safety, not to fall. We face defeats and disappointments in life as we lack good counsel. At times we have afterthoughts that it would have been better if it had been done in another way. The enemy always acts against us to make us fall and to encounter agony. But the Lord lifts us from falling. So, He gives good counsel to prevent us from falling into the devil’s trap. It is given with good intentions.
Once, I was travelling to do ministry with another minister of the Lord. On the way, I was instructed by the Lord, not to go there. His words stopped me. We got back to our place of stay. For some hours the phones stopped functioning as there was no transmission of signals. Then after some time, the minister contacted us over phone and asked us where we were. We told him that we were at the place of our stay. He was greatly relieved to hear that and thanked the Lord. Then he shared with us that there was an explosion in that building and several persons were dead. As we responded to the suggestion of the Lord, we were saved. He counsels us to save us from falling.
2. To teach us the way
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psalm 32:8).
As we do not know that right way to take, we miserably fail to accomplish our goals. We stumble on the way. But the Lord instructs us to teach us the way we should take. If we decide to walk according to His counsel in the way He takes us, there would be no disasters. All impediments would be removed.
Paul and Silas were stopped from going to Asia and were directed to go to Macedonia. There the Lord used them. They had the right place to stay and do the ministry.
3. To give us success
“For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counsellors there is safety.” (Proverbs 24:6).
To lead a successful life, we do need the counsel of wisemen and the ministers of the Lord. We have to overcome the forces that act against us. Several years ago, an Israeli plane was skyjacked and was taken to Entebbe along with the passengers who were held as hostages. Then the politicians and the minister of the military along with military officials charted a plan to carry out a rescue operation. At the end a team set off in three planes and rescued all of them from the enemy successfully. As there were counsellors, they were successful in the job. It is a blessing to have a multitude of counsellors.
III BLESSINGS OF HIS COUNSEL
1. Need will be Supplied
“When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.” (John 2:9).
Jesus and His mother had been invited to the wedding feast at Cana. There was a shortage of wine. His mother brought this shortage to the attention of Jesus. In our lives also we meet with shortages in some area of life and are naturally upset. But Jesus gives us good counsel to have a good life. In the wedding, it was a situation which would bring bad name to the host. It could not be set right immediately. They might be humiliated in the sight of guests. They were instructed by His mother to do as per the advice of Jesus. They too listened to His advice and acted accordingly. Today many of us do not respond properly to the advice of Jesus Christ, but cling to traditional practices. But in this wedding, the servants obeyed Him and did what He told. As a result, water turned into wine. This is a powerful testimony to the power of the Lord. A reproachful situation became one for praise.
Dear Brother/ Sister, are you upset with any shortage in life? Right now, invite Jesus Christ into your life. He is the wonderful counsellor. As you accept His counsel and act accordingly, you will see changes and there would be joy and praise.
It might be some problem in the body, some health problem that is ailing you. Whatever it might be, the Lord Jesus Christ who would transform it and bless is alive. Once we were invited to dine with a family when we were ministering in a foreign land. The names of the family were Indian. I asked them how they accepted Jesus Christ in their lives. Then they started narrating how they accepted Christ. Once a Tamil preacher from Tamilnadu had visited their place. When they came to know that a Tamil speaking preacher from India had come, they wanted to listen to his Tamil. So, they went to the meeting. Then they also invited him to visit their home for dinner. They had expected that he would come with four or five people. But he went with some ten other people. So, they decided to share all that they had for them and to cook for them later. That minister prayed to the Lord to bless the food and to make it sufficient. Then they started to serve them. After they had eaten, there was more left. They also ate and the food was sufficient for them for three more days. So, they had accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord. Jesus Christ can fulfil all our needs.
Let us heed to His advice and walk in His ways. He will bless us sufficiently.
2. Healing
‘And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”’ (2 Kings 5:10).
Naaman, the commander of the army of Syria, was a leper. A little girl from Israel was serving his wife. She suggested that if her master would visit the prophet in Samaria, he would heal him. Naaman heard the words of the girl and got a letter from the king to visit the king of Israel. When the king of Israel received that letter, he tore his clothes thinking that it was a pretext for waging war against him as it was impossible for him to cure him of leprosy. But when the prophet Elisha heard it, he sent word to the king to send Naaman to him. When Naaman went to the doorstep of the prophet’s house, Elisha sent a messenger to him with the message to go and wash in the Jordan seven times so that he would be cleansed and healed. Naaman had thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ But his words disappointed him. His servants urged him to do as he had been told as it was only an easy task. So, he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Even today if we act according to the word of the servants of God, we would have healing and strength.
Once a Brother came for prayer as he was affected at his throat. He had been suffering with pain in his throat for several years. The servant of God touched him and prayed and also suggested gargling with salt. He also did as he was instructed. He had a miraculous cure. The words of the servants of the Lord would do away with all sickness and bestow a new life.
3. Provision during famine
“So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days” (1 Kings 17:15).
Elijah the prophet said to Ahab, ”As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” The Lord led the prophet, He was hiding near the Brook Kerith. The Lord fed him with the help of ravens. The water in the brook dried as there was no rain. The Lord asked him to go to a widow in Zarephath. There he met a widow. He asked for water. When she was about to leave, Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’” So it was, as she obeyed him. When it was famine for others, she had plenty.
Dearly beloved in Christ, Prov. 3:9-10 say: “Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.” When you learn to do this, whatever be the season or time, He will provide abundantly for you. Similarly, in 2 Kings 4:1-7, the wife of the prophet did according to the word of the Prophet Elisha and she could settle her debt, and her needs were met.
4. Defeats Replaced by Success
“And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink” (Luke 5:6-7).
After preaching using the boat of Peter, Jesus Christ asked him to launch into the deep ocean and cast his nets there. He did so and caught so much that they could fill the other boat also. As he heeded the advice of Jesus Christ, his defeat was transformed and he had plenty. Let us get closer to Jesus Christ to listen to him. Let us renew our relationship with Him.
May the Lord bless us!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.