Isa. 40:13-17 π Mk. 8:33 π Mk. 14:4 π 1 Cor. 2:16 π 1 Pet. 4:1
The Counselor lives within us via the new birth. It isn’t academic, Scriptural, knowledge that we present to people in counseling, as good as that may be, but it’s the Spirit of Jesus Himself - the mercy of Jesus, the long suffering of Jesus, the tenderness of Jesus, the patience of Jesus and the peaceful deep joy of the love of Jesus - that does the restoring and healing of our hurts and stresses.
It’s not the presentation of factual Scriptural material, but the touch of Jesus in an intimacy that takes our breath away by its beauty and total concern for each of us, that brings peace in turmoil, joy in sorrow to our own personal, private needs that nobody else could remotely come close to understanding as Jesus does.
What a counselor is our Jesus!
The disciples tried to counsel Jesus not to go through with the crucifixion and we know what kind of an answer they got. ( Mk. 8:33 ) Again the disciples counseled the woman with the ointment, telling her she’d wasted it on Jesus when it could have gone to help the poor. ( Mk. 14:4; top ) When will we learn one of the greatest of all lessons: that of not presenting our own ideas that interfere with God’s will for someone? Could it be that our egocentric desire to counsel is void of the unselfish compassion and tenderness of Jesus Himself? And could it be that our programmed advice is interfering in God’s order of perfecting that individual, so he could eventually love as Jesus loves?
Human sympathy is void of the perfect will of God for a person. God is often doing a surgical job of removing some fleshly debris, and we bungle it by counseling human sympathy. “...For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” ( 1 Pet. 4:1; top )
God be merciful to us in this hour!
“Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord...with whom has He taken counsel...” ( Isa. 40:13-17; top )
“Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” ( 1 Cor. 2:16; top )
We are to have the mind and heart of Jesus, to be a counselor for Him!
I’d love to hear comments and/or questions from you! Email me!