ICS Daily Devotions
Seek First His Counsel Always
Romans 8:14-16 (NKJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
We often say, “let me pray about it”, but do we really know what we should do afterwards?
While God speaks primarily through His Word during our quiet time, He also speaks to us through the work of the Holy Spirit by leading, prompting, and bringing Scriptures into our remembrance. When we choose to seek God’s counsel, He will speak clearly to us because He wants to lead, guide, comfort, exhort, rebuke, correct, train us in righteousness, and direct our steps.
Therefore, apart from seeking confirmation through the Word, we also need to train our inner man to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading so that we can live a surrendered life where our decisions are based on His counsel. It will happen when we consecrate our lives to Him through prayer because prayer and consecration work hand in hand.
Because we are born again, the Spirit of God will bear witness in our spirits by giving us peace in our hearts when we need to make a decision. A lack of peace means we will have an uncomfortable feeling and the decision won’t sit well with us even if it makes logical sense. In fact, being led by the Spirit of God in this way is a very important form of protection for us.
Unfortunately, many Christians disconnect from God the moment they leave church on Sunday, living independently from Him the rest of the week. They often seek His hand rather than His face and leave God out of their decision-making process because they want to pick and choose what to believe, and which part of their lives they give authority over to God. However, this is never God’s intent for us. God is a jealous God who wants 100% commitment from us as He is 100% committed to us through the covenant commitment—He is faithful despite our faithlessness. We, on the other hand, tend to stray from Him whenever we get busy, and take matters into our own hands when we are faced with an adversity or tribulation. However, God should not be our last resort. Instead, we need to develop a consistent reliance on Him and intentionally choose to lay down our lives and rights to live life the way we want.
When we consecrate our plans and purposes fully to God, He will take full responsibility, but if we make decisions on our own, we are the ones to take full responsibility and reap what we have sown in the flesh. Therefore, God must not be an afterthought but be the first person we seek counsel from in life’s major decisions because He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
Sermon Series: Are You Ready for Something New in Your Life?
