Hosanna Restoration Church

I considered titling this devotion, “Who you talking to”, but settled with this. Scripture declares that there is wisdom in many counselors, not “all” counselors. We need to be cautious of what kind of wisdom we seek. When these leaders and elders wanted to put a stop to talk about Jesus, they put Peter and John out and talked among themselves!

They refused to pay attention what Peter said under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They refused to consider the miracles of Jesus and of these Holy Spirit filled followers of Jesus. They were so set on their own way that they were completely blind to the truth. There was even a time in the 5th chapter of Acts when Gamaliel, one of their own, gave them good advice, but they would not hear him either.

As I was pondering this, the Lord pointed out to me that importance of the conferences we have. We need to consider our conversations, not only who they are with, but also what they are about. And no matter what we may be thinking or feeling or what anyone is saying or suggesting, we must ultimately take the counsel of God above everything else. God always has an opinion and He shares it whenever we are interested in hearing it. The truth is, we often say we asked God about something, but in many instances we do not take the time to hear what he is saying.

We need to guard ourselves against wrong counsel. If we are tempted to rob a bank, we should ask a policeman, not another thief. The thief will try and tell you how to get away with it, the policeman will point out the error of it. This sounds foolish I know, but it is a clear example of what we can be fooled into if we are not careful.

God went a little deeper with this and pointed out the need to be aware of the conversations we have in our own minds! We need to think faith as well as speak it. We have the unique ability to reason things out. We can play both sides of the issue in our mind in order to come to a conclusion. However, we can get caught up in vain imaginations when we allow the devil to plant a seed that exalts itself against the wisdom of God. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who does not care if they are wrong or not, they are doing it their way? It is much like a conversation with an intoxicated person who thinks they can drive. Their mind and their body are impaired but they don’t see it. In a sense, this is what happens to us in the spiritual realm. We can be so deceived that we will not believe the truth when it is staring us in the face.

These leaders acknowledged the miracle, but refused to allow it to convince them of the truth. As we enter a new year, are there things God has been speaking to us about that we have wrongly conferred against. Start this New Year ready to give God the first and the last say in all things. If we do, we will have a very blessed year.