"If someone with good intentions gives you advice which turns out to be not good, do not hold it against him. For even a good counsel sometimes fails, and there is no one on earth who can tell what the future holds. No one is wise enough or has foresight enough to do so. Do not scoff at the advice of unaccomplished brethren who have your welfare at heart."
There is much in this rule that I do not agree with. God places his Spirit in man and directs man and gives gifts unto men to assist others with counsel.
Remember Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon?
Both of these servants of the Most High God were able to give good counsel because of the Spirit of God within them.
Also consider 1 Corinthians 12:8-11
"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."
But most especially, let us look unto the Lord for counsel, for his counsel never fails.
See Proverbs 3: 5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all of thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
In our family we seek the counsel of the Lord in fasting and in prayer and in the study of his word. When counsel is sought we often write up lots with different options, allowing for "none" or "other" and, after agreeing together to know of the Lord what we should do or how we should act, we pray together calling on the name of the Lord to guide the selection of the lot and to protect the selection of the lot from the influence of the adversary. After the lot is selected we act in faith to carry out those instructions.
You may question this use of lots, but it is supported in both the old and the new testaments.
Consider Numbers 26:52-56 KJV
"And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him. Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few."
Also Acts 1:20-26 KJV
"For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Mathias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles."
No comments:
Post a Comment