Counsel of the Lord

By Alan Breitenstein

July 15, 2018

Scripture Reading:  John 14:10-21

10) “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not unto Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.

11) Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works sake.

12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

13) And whatsoever ye ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14) If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.

15) If ye love Me, keep My commandments.

16) And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever;

17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

18) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

19) Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also.

20) At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.

21) He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.”

Before I begin, I want to thank the Father, Son, And Holy Spirit for this message. Believe me, I could not have done this without Them constantly feeding me verses and information.

The message today is focusing on seeking the counsel of the Lord. Special attention is made on these three introductory verses:

• Verse 13: “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” and,
• Verse 16: “I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever”, and
• Verse 20: “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you.”

When Jesus the Christ was crucified, the veil inside the Temple was torn in two; no longer separating our Father from His people. He is in our temple so long as we will have Him. The question is: Has it really sunk in that the Father and Son reside in us through the Holy Spirit.

In the Old Testament, Prophets and priests would petition for the people.

Exodus 18 v 19: “Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee; Be thou for the people and bring the causes unto God.”

Numbers 27 v 21: Eliezer the priest was to ask counsel for the congregation of the Lord.

Numbers 31 v 16: Sons of Israel through the counsel of Balaam to trespass against the Lord.

Deuteronomy 32 v 28: Israel is a nation lacking in counsel and there is no understanding in them.

Joshua 9 v 14: Joshua did not ask for the counsel of the Lord and made a contract with those whom he was to destroy. Joshua found out they lied to him, so since Joshua was compelled to not destroy them due to the sworn affirmation to God, he made them slaves. Had Joshua sought the counsel of God he would have known that these people in future generations would have been a thorn in Israel side.

In the book of Judges: We see where Levite priests were paid to seek the counsel of the Lord and one certain Levite priest in Judges 20 cut his concubine up into 12 pieces and shipped them to every tribe of Israel telling them what men of the tribe of Benjamin had done to her. The tribes had sought the counsel of the Lord and God told them to go up and destroy Benjamin only to be defeated by Benjamin not once, but twice. Could be that these Israelite tribes were guilty of violating God's laws also. It was on the 3rd time that God delivered Benjamin into their hands. So, seeking the counsel of Lord will not fare well if the seeker is in violation of the law.

In 1st Samuel 14: Saul asked for the counsel of the Lord regarding going up against the Philistines and God did not answer him. Saul was not a patient man plus he did not do what was right in the eyes of God.

In Kings and Chronicles: The counsel of the Lord was sought after by few kings and instead the council of elders, friends, or self-counsel was the rule of the day just as it is today.

In Ezra 10: Ezra sought the counsel of the Lord to put away all the wives and children forbidden to be in the congregation of the Lord.

Psalms 16 v 7: I will bless the Lord who has counseled me.  Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

Psalms 20 v 4: May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your counsel.

Psalms 32 v 10 and 11: The Lord brings the counsel of the heathen for naught.  He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever the thoughts of His heart for generations.

Psalms 73 v 24: Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory.

Psalms 106: David tells about the Israelites in the wilderness who did not wait for the counsel of the Lord. The waiting period could be that God has not sent His counsel yet or that He has sent His counsel, but He has not manifested it to happen yet. Patience is a virtue. I myself lack this virtue, but not all the time.  And speaking from experience, lacking in this virtue leads to doubt. Doubt destroys faith.

Hebrews 6 v 17: “Wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of His Counsel, confirmed it by oath.”

Throughout Scriptures we can see the counsel comes either by man or by God. We also see that God is willing to give His counsel as long as we ask for it and we are obedient and able to accept it.

In the Gospel of John 15: Jesus is the vine and we are the branches If we abide in Him, He will abide in us and bring forth much fruit. As long as this happens, whatever we ask for, it shall be done unto us. Thus, the Father is glorified that you bear much fruit. Jesus wants us to be His friend, not a servant. Jesus says that we have not chosen Him, but He has chosen us. He has ordained us and that we should go and bring forth fruit.

In Psalms 24: The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it. Now who does not want to be a friend of One who owns everything, other than the Jews who want it all themselves (which they are doing a pretty good job of getting it).

To sum this up: The Lord has chosen us and put His Spirit in us. If we abide in that Spirit, we can ask for anything and He will give it to us. We must bear fruit. We must bear fruit, for bearing fruit pleases the Father. So, now we must figure out what fruit we are to bear. I always thought that trying to get others to wake up and see who they are in Scripture was bearing fruit. But this isn’t so. Jesus chooses who His friends are. Those trying to bring others in, that Jesus did not choose, are not being fruitful.

Could bearing fruit be seeking the counsel of the Lord? Could bearing fruit be doing what He says? Could bearing fruit mean growing more and more in the knowledge and wisdom of our God? We cannot be satisfied with just what we have or with knowing who we are, for doing so will leave us dormant.

And being dormant may cause us to look back and see what we had or what we have done. Doing this will leave us in the same state as Lot’s wife, who turned into a pillar of salt.

Seeking the counsel of the Lord is a type of prayer. In a moment I will show you ways to seek the counsel of the Lord.  Generally, when we pray, we are asking God to intervene on the matter we are praying for. Seeking the counsel of the Lord is asking God to direct us on a matter. With some prayers, such as praying for the sick, we are relying on God to miraculously intervene without us doing anything, but rather calling out to Him. Yes, praying to God in this way, answers may come sometimes within that day, or within a week, or sometimes months, or sometimes never. Seeking the counsel of the Lord can get you answers right away. Seeking the counsel of the Lord can direct us what to do for the sick, of course, if the right questions are asked.

How many of us has asked for the counsel of the Lord when we made a big purchase like buying a house or a car or even food? Have we ever asked for the counsel of the Lord in regard to our health, such as what doctor to see, or what type of doctor to see, or what medicines are good for us? Regarding purchases, we can never know the hidden problems with such purchases such as termites, water problems in homes, defects in an engine of a car, or chemicals in our food. Yes, we get warranties, but problems usually occur after the warranties are up. This, by no means, is saying that our Lord does not want us to have these things. It means that seeking His counsel will lead us to items with less burdens. Asking our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on these matters is like a child asking his earthly father for advice on earthly matters. It shows trust, faith, and brings joy to our Father for including Him on our needs.

I have been to several herbalists and have been fascinated with their methods of testing for herbs and such. It is called muscle testing. I investigated the internet on muscle testing and it is also known as Applied Kinesiology. It was originated by Dr. George Goodheart, a chiropractor in 1967 (I believe it was used long before Goodheart). He discovered that the strength or weakness of every muscle was connected to the health or lack of health of a specific corresponding organ.

Dr. John Diamond who worked as a psychiatrist and with preventative medicine found that the indicator muscles would strengthen or weaken in the presence of a positive or negative emotional and intellectual stimulus.

Amy B. Schur, an author and energy therapist, writes:

“Muscle testing is getting answers from your subconscious mind to find out what impact something is having on our energy system. Just like plants and trees, your body will naturally be drawn to the positive or the truth (emphasis on truth) while naturally repel itself away from something that does not feel good to it.”

Imagine a Jew trying to do this, for there is no Truth in them.

Another article that I found states that you can get inconsistent results when you are tired, under stress, under the influence of a toxin, and unable to focus in the moment. If inconsistent, drink some water and try later.

Accuracy is very dependent on desiring only the Truth. This can be the greatest block to accuracy, for if you are intent on getting one answer and would be disappointed if you got the other, you are not being objective and you are not desiring the Truth.

All the articles suggested focusing on the item in your mind. The writer of this article says some people want to use muscle testing to tell them what to do, or to predict the future. From their perspective self-muscle testing is accessing your personally, learned, and accepted subconscious information. This is what is called the writing on the wall. This writing is made up of thoughts, beliefs, and values we acquired from parents, school, religion, experiences, etc.  In their experience, our subconscious information is often biased and not necessarily higher Truth.

Granted what was said here is true, but the writer could have stated that to get the Higher Truth refer to the Gospel of John chapter 14.

I see this as a way of communicating with our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It should be used just as much as any communication device out there. When communicating, if we focus on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are focusing on Truth. I have found out that communicating this way must be done from day to day and should not be relied on for future assessments for our own personal gain. Future assessments were given to all the writers of Scripture both for good and bad.

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing, always seeking the counsel of the LORD.