Tag: counsel

The Wondrous Endowments of Christ

Isaiah 11:2
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

In this passage, Isaiah was prophesying of the nature of our coming Savior. The scripture foretold that Jesus would be given extraordinary endowments through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Because we are indwelled by Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Our Savior, we inherit these same wondrous endowments for ourselves. The inheritance that we receive is not temporary or occasional. It is a permanent and enduring influence on our lives.

With our inheritance, we receive three pairs of spiritual influences to assist us in being holy, pure and wise. Each pairing is made up of a spiritual gift and the resulting impact of that gift in our lives:
1) We are provided wisdom from which comes the understanding to perceive moral and intellectual truths.
2) We are provided counsel from which comes the might that gives us the direction and the power that we need to carry out the plans that emerge from our spiritual insight.
3) We are provided knowledge from which comes the fear of the Lord which establishes the foundation of our relationship with the one true God, Our Father in heaven.

Let us be mindful of all the gifts that Christ made available for us when He died on the Cross. Let us seek the fullness of the Spirit of the Lord to overwhelm us each day. Let us use our gifts to produce great fruit for the Kingdom of Almighty God and bring honor and glory to Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the wondrous nature that You have given us in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will rest upon us. We seek Your wisdom so that we may have understanding in all matters. We seek your counsel that we may become mighty warriors for Your kingdom. We ask, Lord, that You inspire us to take the knowledge that we have of You and turn it into a reverent awe that changes how we live every moment of our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives power to the faint and might to those without strength, Jesus Christ.

Finding Comfort in All Times of Trial

Isaiah 40:28
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

If we find ourselves knee deep in doubt about our service to God or find ourselves overwhelmed by our circumstances, it would be good for us to listen to Isaiah. Isaiah reminds us that we serve an everlasting God who created all things, who possesses depths of understanding that exceeds anything that we can imagine and who is never weak nor weary when it comes to meeting our needs.

Whenever we do the work of the Lord, we are like broken bread and poured out wine. We are providing nourishment to those around us. It does not matter what we are doing. We may be serving. We may be giving. We may be praying. Whatever it is that we are doing for others can drain us to the point of exhaustion. When the body is physically or emotionally drained, the spirit can also be exhausted. To keep up our strength, we must insure that we are seeking our power from the One who never wearies. Our affections must be with Him and not with the world.

Whenever we draw on His strength to carry us through our trials, we are privileged to draw on His infinite wisdom. He is never at a loss to provide the perfect counsel to carry us through to a place of comfort. Our focus must be on Him and not on our problems.

No matter how we may be serving Him, no matter how challenged we may be in our service or in life in general, we should always be inspired and filled with confidence that we rest in His hands. There is not a single need that we have that escapes His attention. He is never weary in attending to the countless needs of His children.

Let us gather our strength from the One who never tires. Let us draw our wisdom from the One with a depth of understanding that is incomprehensible to us. Let us seek the One who created us and is our ever sufficient supply.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that our every need is known to You and that You never weary in hearing and responding to our pleas. We rejoice in knowing that Your response to our needs is always perfect and always perfectly timed for our good and for the good of Your kingdom. We pray, Father, for the grace to never lose faith in Your faithfulness as Our Provider. We ask that you show us how to draw on the endless reservoir of the Holy Spirit within us to provide our strength. May our ears be opened so that we hear the urgings of the Holy Spirit as we humbly submit to the process of overcoming our unbelief, our pride and our self-confidence. We ask all these things in the name of our Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.

God Confirms His Plans for Us Through People and Events

1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.

When Paul addressed the Corinthians, he emphasized their sanctification through Jesus Christ. He confirmed that they would be among all the saints in heaven who had also called on the name of Our Lord as their Savior. He stressed that they would all be part of the Body of Christ.

By the grace of God, we are all called to be heirs to His kingdom. Our Heavenly Father’s hand never leaves us as He prepares us to be His saints. It is for His good pleasure and for His glory that He provides His Holy Spirit to prepare us to be His saints. But God also brings commonplace people and commonplace events into our lives to teach us, to encourage us and to confirm the plans that He has for us. He may at times use extraordinary people and extremely uncommon events when He needs to drive a message home.

Let us take careful consideration of the people that God places in our lives. Let us be aware of the challengers who are there to test us on an ongoing basis in order to stimulate our spiritual growth. Let us also be aware of the challenged who are there for us to encourage, build up and serve.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect plan to have us join You in heaven for all eternity. We bless the name of Jesus for His shed blood that washes us clean and makes it possible for us to enter into Your presence. We pray, Lord, that You will release many teachers, encouragers and confirmers into our lives. We ask for ears to hear them and the wisdom to follow their counsel. We pray that we may also become teachers, encouragers and confirmers in the lives of others on their journeys to sainthood. We ask all these things in the name of Our Holy and Awesome Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Extraordinary Endowments of the Holy Spirit

Isaiah 11:2
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

In this passage, Isaiah was prophesying of the nature of our coming Savior. The scripture foretold that Jesus would be given extraordinary endowments through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Because we are indwelled by Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Our Savior, we inherit these same wondrous endowments for ourselves. The inheritance that we receive is not temporary or occasional. It is a permanent and enduring influence on our lives.

With our inheritance, we receive three pairs of spiritual influences to assist us in being holy, pure and wise. Each pairing is made up of a spiritual gift and the resulting impact of that gift in our lives:
1) We are provided wisdom from which comes the understanding to perceive moral and intellectual truths.
2) We are provided counsel from which comes the might that gives us the direction and the power that we need to carry out the plans that emerge from our spiritual insight.
3) We are provided knowledge from which comes the fear of the Lord which establishes the foundation of our relationship with the one true God, Our Father in heaven.

Let us be mindful of all the gifts that Christ made available for us when He died on the Cross. Let us seek the fullness of the Spirit of the Lord to overwhelm us each day. Let us use our gifts to produce great fruit for the Kingdom of Almighty God and bring honor and glory to Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the wondrous nature that You have given us in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will rest upon us. We seek Your wisdom so that we may have understanding in all matters. We seek your counsel that we may become mighty warriors for Your kingdom. We ask, Lord, that You inspire us to take the knowledge that we have of You and turn it into a reverent awe that changes how we live every moment of our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives power to the faint and might to those without strength, Jesus Christ.