Obtaining good Counsel

Sunday 30 July
READ: Prov .11: 14
MORE LESSON: Prov. 24: 6

It is important to get counsel before you take decisions in life. There are different ways of obtaining good counsel, but all the ways must ultimately point to God, who is the only good Counsellor. You can get good counsel through the Word of God, the voice of the Holy Spirit to you or through people that God has positioned to supply His counsel to you.
There are people that God has chosen as His representatives to counsel. It is not every believer that has developed themselves to the extent of obtaining God's counsel on every matter on their own. So while they gradually grow to the point where they can hear God clearly on every issue, the Lord has made provision of people who are more mature in the Body of Christ through whom they can obtain God's counsel. If you are a counsellor, know that you are God's representative; you should not just give people counsel based on what you think is a nice idea. You should hear God on behalf of the people. In fact there is nothing wrong if someone comes to you for counsel and you tell him to give you time to hear God on the matter. A good counsellor is not an alpha omega who always has all the answers, he is merely a representative and spokesman for God.
There was a time when the king of Babylon didn't know how to resolve an issue and he needed counsel; so they sought Daniel who had an excellent spirit. If a whole king needs counsellors, then there is no reason why any man should feel too big to obtain counsel from other people. There are people to whom God has given the answer to your question, you will save yourself a lot of troubles when you go and meet them. Even if you are also a counsellor; you need to know that a counselor also needs to be counselled sometimes. The truth is that so many believers are embarrassed to go for counselling because they think it shows that they do not know. On the other hand, it is the people that know who go for counselling – at least, they know that they need counsel. The one that doesn't go to be counselled is the one that doesn't know - he doesn't even know that he needs to be counselled.
In my years as a pastor, I found that most times in the church, when you check the people that come for counselling, the workers and leaders are not part of them. It leaves me wondering whether being a worker or a leader means that one knows everything. Even as pastors, we need counselling and we go to those that God has given a higher measure of grace to get it. There is safety and progress in getting good counsel. Pray for the grace to get good counsel.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to fill you with the Spirit of counsel and might, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that you will not lack good counsel at any point in life, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that God will fill your leaders (spiritual and physical) with wisdom to direct you always, in Jesus’ mighty name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Rock of Ages, my confidence and defence is in You, let me not be ashamed and let not my enemies triumph over me, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Sacrificial Exchange

Saturday 29 July
READ: 2 Cor. 5: 15
MORE LESSON: Rom. 5: 6 - 8

Two identical twins were living together. The first was a rogue while the second was a child of God, who always implored his brother to accept Jesus but his preaching fell on deaf ears. The rascally brother continued in wanton living and revelry. One day, he ran home drunk and soaked in blood. He had fought at a party and mistakenly murdered someone. A crowd followed in pursuit as he hurriedly staggered home. He got home in the middle of the night and quickly locked the door behind him. The twin brother who was peacefully sleeping woke up as his brother dashed in and the police with a crowd banging at the door. He asked what the problem was and he cried as he narrated how a fight broke out at the party and he stabbed someone with a broken bottle. He never meant to kill the fellow but he did, and the whole lot of people and police were after him to arrest him for murder. He started begging the brother not to throw him out. By this time, the police were near breaking the door to come in and get him.
The brother looked sternly at the villain and knew that he would be sentenced to death for man slaughter. He further reasoned that he was born again and if he died, he would make Heaven but if his brother was killed, he would go straight to hell. So he took the blood stained clothe from his brother, put it on and stepped out before the police succeeded in breaking the door. He told his brother before he stepped out, 'I want to go and die in your place, promise that you will surrender your life to Jesus after I am gone'. Thus he surrendered himself to the police, who promtly arrested and charged him to court where he was declared guilty and was sentenced to death by execution.
This story depicts how Jesus died in our place so that we can escape eternal damnation in hell. He took our sins and was condemned to die even though He was innocent. The only thing He demands of us is to live for Him, having died for us. Jesus Christ took the judgement made for you so that you will not die but live. You have no right to live for yourself anymore; you should live for the One who died for you, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:20.

Prayer/Action
* Give thanks to God for giving Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb for you, in Jesus’ name.
* Tell Jesus you will not turn away from His love, in Jesus’ name.
* Declare to the Lord that you will spread the news to someone today.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I will trust in the Lord and He shall lead me in the path of righteousness all the days of my life, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Enemy from the Rear

Friday 28 July
READ: 1 Sam. 30: 1 – 20
MORE LESSON: Psa. 18: 36 – 49

David and his men went out from their camp to battle in Ziklag. But before they came back, the Amalekites had invaded the land and took all their families and possessions. They were absent for 3 days and the enemy took advantage of their absence. The Amalekites were opportunists who took advantage of David's absence to wreak havoc on him. Every satanic invasion of your life and business that takes advantage of you will be utterly crushed, in Jesus’ name. Everyone that has taken advantage of you will be exploited by the Lord, He will turn the table on them, in Jesus’ name.
One of the most difficult battles to fight is the battle from the rear. It is difficult to win a battle you didn't prepare for as you never saw it coming. David went to war without leaving anyone to defend the rear. He left the house and the enemy invaded in His absence. This shows that even as we pursue things in life, we must learn to protect what the Lord has already given to us. Do not pursue gain to the detriment of what you have already gained.
David enquired of the Lord and the Lord told him to pursue the enemy and he would recover all. In dealing with the enemy from the rear, you need prayer and God's direction. It was as David pursued according to the Word of the Lord that he saw an Egyptian that lay on the ground about to die. They helped the man by giving him food and drink. David had his own trouble but when he saw another man that was in dire need, he put aside his own trouble and looked for a way to solve the man's problem. David was trying to help someone else but he didn't know that that was the key to dealing with his enemies. It is when you sow a seed of lifting to the person below you that you are lifted by those above you. After the man was restored, he led them to where the enemy was and David also attacked them from the rear. He caught them unawares just as they had earlier caught him unprepared.
In dealing with the enemies from the rear, you need prayers, the instruction of the Lord and the seed of kindness to others. For instance, an enemy in your office may hide your file, but some junior staff, whose life you have touched positively, see the file and bring it out. The enemy from the rear is watching you while you are not watching. So prayers, hearing God and sowing seeds of kindness to other people will be your defence. It is the people whose lives you have touched that will arise to fight your enemies even when you are not aware that a battle is taking place. Today, commit all your sides to God, both front and back, because except the Lord keeps the CCTV the watchman works in vain (Psa. 127:1).

Prayer/Action
* Declare that the Lord is your shield and defence, no enemy shall prevail against you, in the mighty name of Jesus.
* Cover your household with the blood of Jesus.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, standing on Your promises I sign up today for progress and unprecedented success, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Mr. Self II

Thursday 27 July
READ: Gal. 5: 19 - 24
MORE LESSON: 1 Cor. 13: 1 – 8

As I worked among students in my early days in ministry, I noticed that when you go to rooms where believers lived together, you would meet everywhere untidy and scattered, whereas some that kept a separate room had it tidy and clean. I began to wonder what was responsible for this. On pressing a bit further, I began to hear from those that stayed together, “I cleaned the room yesterday, he does not even arrange the shoes. Does he think I'm a fool?” Even though they were Christians, self began to take its toll on them.
When self enters the home, it brings troubles along. This is the reason you must make sure you give no room for selfishness in your life and home. One of the things that self introduces is anger. It makes you angry with the other person; you believe the other person is the problem. However, the problem is the self - seeking nature in you. This is because even when the person does wrong, if you are selfless and full of love, you will overlook the faults. Self brings bitterness and strife. You can't even smile at a fellow believer any more. It is self that makes a sister avoid speaking to another in the church because of ill feelings. Self brings envy and it is rooted in pride.
In the kingdom of sin, there is a kind of chain reaction that happens. No sin works alone; it is linked to other sins and drags them in wherever it is given opportunity. If you are angry with someone, you might become bitter about the person and so you begin to backbite or slander the victim. Before you know it you have hatred in your heart and then you behave badly towards the person that even you are surprised at yourself.
This is the reason why you must nip sin in the bud before the chain reaction starts. The way to do it is that whenever you see any manifestation of self that wants to suggest wrong to you about a person, quickly silence it by the love of God. When you don't even feel like loving the person because of something he/she has done, you have to make yourself walk in love. The love of God is the cure for selfishness. Let love find expression through you. Love both those that deserve and those that do not deserve to be loved. The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. So if you are walking in love towards someone and the other person takes you for a ride, you just keep walking in love. It is not because you are a fool; it is because you have crucified self. Do not let selfishness rule you, rather dominate self by God's love.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that the true Christian character will be seen in all that you do, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God for grace to live a crucified life, in Jesus’ mighty name.
* Destroy the manifestation of flesh you have been battling with, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
As the Lord lives I shall not be a slave in destiny, I shall rise and not be beneath, in the mighty name of Jesus.