Wonderful Counselor
Isaiah 9
6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
2 Corinthians 1
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.
4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.
6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.
7 We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.
8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.
9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.
10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
2 Corinthians 10
Now I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ —though I realize you think I am timid in person and bold only when I write from far away.
2 Well, I am begging you now so that when I come I won’t have to be bold with those who think we act from human motives.
New English Translation
3 For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards,
4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons,
but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds.
We tear down arguments 5 and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God,
and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.
Galatians 5
16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Prayer of Consecration from wildatheart.org:
I present my body to Jesus Christ as a living sacrifice; I present the members of my body to Jesus Christ as instruments of righteousness. My body has been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ and it belongs to him. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I renounce every way I have misused and abused my body; I bring all those acts under the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. I rededicate my body and all its parts to the loving rule of Jesus Christ; I dedicate and consecrate my body to him in every way. I ask for the blood of Christ to cleanse my body and make it holy once more. Holy Spirit, come and fill your temple now; restore my body under the complete dominion of Jesus Christ.Now, explore this practice:
Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to your heart and mind one word to summarize where your broken place is, one word to describe your heart condition, your mood and emotions.As you do, ask Jesus to meet you there.
This is vital!
When we meet with Jesus, we meet this Jesus:
2 Corinthians 13.3
Christ is not weak when he deals with you; he is powerful among you.
4 Although he was crucified in weakness, he now lives by the power of God.
2 Corinthians 1
20 For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.
21 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us,
22 and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.
- So when Holy Spirit gives us that word that we’re asking Him for, we’re asking Him to teach us to be surrendered to Him, and He is the Living Word.
- He brings with Himself his mood, his emotions, his authority.
- So you won’t be left with just a word to describe brokenness; you will be met with His Word.
- So ask Him for the word that describes your broken or hurting heart AND bring His promise with Him.
Holy Spirit will bring a verse or a passage of God’s promise and comfort, correction and change.
Example:
So angry driving in traffic, running late. So disappointed that I let that circumstance govern my emotions and actions and attitude, I worked through the process.
Holy Spirit, why am I so angry? I brought the word “frustrated”… and that didn’t register. I brought the word “stressed” based on a too-full calendar. That wasn’t it.The Holy Spirit said “inadequate”.
The Lord instructed me that I was frustrated by traffic and frustrated by bad drivers because I was going to be later than I wanted to be and God said ‘you’re carrying around that you’re not enough, you think your worth is based on what you do rather than what I said and did for you.’
But God didn’t just leave me with the word ‘inadequate’. He reminded me of His word about Him and His word about me.
Galatians 2.20
I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless.
Philippians 1.6
God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
1 John 4.16-18
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
- You see right away why we need to collect ourselves in God’s presence every day. We come to the Lord in prayer, to set ourselves apart to be fathered by God.
- That’s ‘consecrating’ ourselves, reminding us every day of our relationship with God.
Where does this happen? Living room, dining room, in our car in the parking lot at work - that physical location isn’t as important as making the time and living by the realization that we need to have union and interact with Jesus who lives in us:
Colossians 1.27
Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
- Romans 8 is a great chapter to start with tomorrow morning.
It is full of the many assurances we have as we live ‘Life in the Spirit’. Here’s how Romans 8 will get us started tomorrow morning.
The Holy Spirit will tell us what to pray:
Romans 8.26
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.And the Holy Spirit will work within practices like we’ve rehearsed tonight.
- Our Savior is our wonderful counselor and He is working to make us look like Him for our forever:
Romans 8.28
We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son
- Holy Spirit, tell me what’s going on in my heart.
- What am I actually struggling with?
- Identify my broken place and please bring Your presence and Your promise–Your Word with You.
