The Man of My Counsel
Dear Sisters,
I have a burden upon my heart that I want to share with you, and I pray that the Lord would do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,” (Ephesians 3:20) in blessing this to the encouragement of your hearts.
This year, for my 17th birthday, I received a beautiful KJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible. My eyes glowed when I saw it and I pronounced it my favorite gift. In the days that followed, when I began to eagerly read from my new Bible, the Lord began to speak to my heart. While I thought I was loving to read my Bible because it was God’s Holy Word, He showed me that I was in love with the beauty and newness. It was then that I began to pray more earnestly that I would love the Bible for it’s truth much more than the external looks… that I may take it for the Man of my Counsel.
I read a little excerpt from a book which shows a good picture of what the Bible should mean to us.
A tourist asked at the service station the way to a certain town. The directions were carefully given. The tourist said, “You think this is the best way, do you?”
The service man replied, “It is not only the best way, but it is the only way.”
The Bible is the only way to heaven. Do you live to all it teaches every day?
[Charles E. Orr; Helps to Holy Living, “Only One Way”]
Do you love God’s Word, dear sisters? Do you love it because it is God’s words spoken through lips of clay, preserved to show us the way? If you were all sitting in front of me and were to raise your hands in yes to the question, I have no doubt that almost all hands would be raised. However, in this little article I’d like to share with you different aspects of God’s Word and challenge you to love it with a greater depth yet.
The Bible Is True
The first ingredient in loving God’s Holy Book is faith; we must first reach out in faith, believing that what He says is true. My brothers are not believers and whenever we mention anything about the Bible, the usual retort is, “How do you know it is true?” or “What if it is just all made up?”
We know that it is true because we have experienced the Royal birth the blood-washed, heart-changed life. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” (Psalm 119:160) It has been tried and tested and proven true all down through the ages since the time of the apostles and “the word of our God shall stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
Yet… do we sometimes go around on the overly-confidant path? Are there things in your life that God has been convicting you about that you like to push aside and forget? It is sad to say, but nonetheless true, that many people today have their own gospels. They pick and choose from the Word of God and live according to the desires of the flesh. Oh sisters, God grieves to see this. We’re to live by “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” (Matthew 4:4) not by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God that we like, or which the world seems to promote.
The Bible Is Our Guide
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
There are many false prophets today and many winds of doctrine floating about. Many are confused, but the Lord has made sure that there is a way out of the fog.
A plumb bob, or plummet, is a piece of lead or weight attached to a plumb line, used for accuracy in carpentry to measure or level things straight up and down. The Word of God is the Christian’s plumb bob.
As a family, we’ve been reading a book called The Man of His Counsel, and I want to quote a little part of it for you. The main characters of the story, Joe and Susie Holmier, at a certain part of the narrative, were living a life pleasing before the Lord and were walking in all the light He had given them. At one point in the story, their little boy was very sick and they had nowhere to turn; the doctor, as they discovered that morning, was drunk and they couldn’t place their trust in him.
At this Joe picked up the Bible which lay on the table in the room and said, “There is but one thing to do, and that is to see what the Book says for us to do. You know we have taken it as the man of our counsel, and there must be something in it now that will tell us what to do at this time.”
[Effie M. Williams; The Man of His Counsel, “Answered Prayer”]
They took the Bible as their ultimate guide and the Lord was faithful to shed light on their pathway. Are you confused, perplexed or don’t understand? Take everything to the Word of God and measure it to see whether it be of God or man. If it doesn’t line up to our Plumb Bob, then we know that it isn’t truth.
What better guide do we have than the Word of God? We cannot go wrong if we bring everything and measure it to the Bible.
The Bible Satisfies the Hungry
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
In thinking about this scripture, the woman with the issue of blood came to mind (Matthew 9:20). She had spent all her money going to different doctors and searching for cures until, finding nothing, she gave up. Then she heard about Jesus, the great Physician and said, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” (Matthew 9:21)
This woman came to the end of her rope; she had no where else to turn and I think the best way to describe her would be “poor in spirit.”
The Lord delights in us when we are poor in spirit; when we’ve come to an end of ourselves. I believe He looks down with joy on those who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness… and He’s promised that they shall be filled.
Remember the Israelites in the wilderness? I wouldn’t say that they were hungering and thirsting after God, but He was faithful nevertheless to provide manna every morning. The Lord is just as willing to give us our daily bread as He was back then, only it is not earthly food, but spiritual, fulfilling substance that leaves nothing lacking.
I hear of many girls who struggle with getting up early enough to spend time with God. Indeed I, too, struggled with it for a long time and occasionally slept in instead of getting up if I really need the rest. However, the Lord has answered my prayers for more hunger. Many times when I wake up in the morning, I have a strong desire from the Lord to draw close to Him to gain the Heavenly Manna that will carry me through the day.
If you don’t have a strong desire to read from His Word, ask God. Seek and knock till the doors are open. God has precious things for you in His Word, if only you will make it a priority and follow after it until you are satisfied.
The Bible Hid in the Heart
For the practical side of this article, I wanted to express how very important it is to memorize the Word of God, “that [we] might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11) However, it is even more important that we ask the Holy Spirit to write His Word into our hearts.
To live holy lives we must have God’s Word in both mind and heart. The same hand that writes it in the heart also writes it in the mind. Studying the Bible is good, but not sufficient. What we read in the Book, we must have written in the mind by the Holy Spirit, or it will profit us little or nothing. The Holy Spirit never writes God’s law in the mind except He writes them in the heart also. When written in the heart, man obeys.
[Charles E. Orr; Helps to Holy Living, “God’s Law in Man’s Mind and Heart”]
As a family we’ve read many true story accounts about men and women who have shone as lights even though they didn’t have Bibles. Others have been thrown into prison or all their Bibles have been burned or forbidden. It may not be that America will become as bad, but there are times when we’ll need it in our hearts even though we have plenty of Bibles at hand.
Recently, an older sister who lives on her own shared how a man came to her door at night. She didn’t dare open the door, and when he wouldn’t go away, she was afraid he might break in. The Lord was faithful to her in the situation and didn’t leave her or forsake her. She went into an adjoining room and started earnestly praying. The Lord brought to her mind the scripture, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3) She trusted in her Lord, and He took all fear away from her and the man went away.
The Bible Is God’s Word to Us
That may sound a little funny, or like it could be grouped together with another subtitle, but I want to talk about how God communicates to us through His Word.
One of the reasons I feel it is so important to spend time each day in the Word, is because it is God’s communicator. We conununicate with God by prayer; He answers, most commonly, through His Word.
Not too long ago, I was facing a lot of discouragement and I felt like Paul—troubled on every side. Temptations were right before me and I prayed for God to show me what to do to get the victory.
Just at that time, while I happened to be separating the pages of my new Bible, I stopped at a certain point and happened to look down at the page.
The Lord had answered my prayer and brought before me the story of Tamar and her brother Amnon, the children of David (2 Samuel 13). Amnon had sinned before the Lord and against his sister and in the end he was killed by his brother Absalom. The Lord used that illustration to show me what I needed to do to get rid of the temptations—I needed to slay the source of the temptation.
Often in the morning, when I come before the Lord to meditate on His Word, I pray, “0 God, if you want me to understand Your Word, please give me ears to hear and anoint my eyes to read and comprehend all that You have for me.” I have learned that unless our hearts are completely open and God removes the veil from off our eyes, we cannot properly understand the Word of God. We must be led and inspired by the Holy Spirit when reading from the Bible, lest we cleave to error, thinking that it is truth.
Oh, my precious sisters, I exhort you to live up to your privileges that the Bible speaks about. God’s Word is so precious—don’t take it for granted. Love it, cherish it, and be wholly guided by it alone.
Your servant for Jesus,
To the glory of God,
Skye Erickson