Isaiah 9:6 - Everlasting Father

“For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given’ and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity] Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

We live in such a fast paced world and are constantly faced with decisions to make. Many are living with the consequences of decisions they made in their youth. Others are weighed down or suffering because of the actions of others that now affect their lives. I imagine psychologists and psychiatrists are over booked because of the needs in this day, the scarring that remains in the souls of an abused and abusing people. The abused becomes the abuser, the unloved become the unloving. Even those who come from a loving environment might fall prey to the enemy’s tactics as a persons insecurities are enforced by the enemy’s lies that their lives are worthless and will amount to nothing. How many of us have heard the enemy’s voice and thought it our own, convinced that our mistakes and inabilities add up to our lives being worth a big fat zero, just taking up space in this world and having no purpose. Oh, dear people, that is a lie coming straight from the pit of hell! You are fearfully and wonderfully made! God knew your frame before you were born! He had a purpose for your life and it was written down! And His thoughts towards you were many, vast and precious! (Psalm 139:14-17) Glory to God! And He knows your sufferings and from the depth of His love He sent One to redeem you. And not only One to redeem you, but One to counsel you through all of life’s trials. He sent His very best, He sent His Beloved Son Jesus. Thank You Father!

You see, God knew that it would be difficult for man to accept His love and His desire to set man free from sin. Many who call themselves Christians because they have verbally said that they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and believe that He is the Son of God and that He was raised from the dead are still weighed down with lack of self worth or guilt and shame. Others cannot let go of their pride having overly compensated for hurts in their lives, building walls to close others out, seeing their strength being superior to others. For many, they see their works as being credited as making them one worthy of accepting salvation through Christ Jesus. Even mature Christians lose sight of why Jesus came, getting caught up in striving to be like Jesus without that personal relationship with Him. While this is true, that we are to become like Jesus, that is not what motivated God to send Him. It was God’s love for us, that while we were yet sinners, He sent His Son to redeem us back to Him; “For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It’s not because we deserved God’s love but because He first loved us from the very beginning. And His heart’s desire is that we come to know His love.

Jesus, our all in all. That is what God has given us through His Son. As we look to Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor we can go to Him with our hurts, our sense of inadequacy, our short-comings and our failures. Jesus has walked the earth and knows the trials and temptations that come our way. He is no stranger to suffering, rejection, false accusations or even sickness! He even knows what it feels like to be separated from God because of all of the sins He bore for our redemption. And He is the Wonderful Counselor because He overcame every one of them, glory to God! He is waiting for us to go to Him so He can show us how to overcome them as well! He speaks to us from first hand experience and He speaks from a heart filled with love, mercy and grace. He, like His Father, desires to see our hearts healed from the pain that abides in it so that it can become filled with His heart, His love. When this happens God’s love can flow through us as we saw it flow through Jesus unto us bringing His living waters to a dry and dying world. We need His counsel. We need His wisdom and His healing touch to flush out the hurts of this world and the weight of guilt and shame.

Because God so loved us He gave us His Son. The word ‘gave’ is defined as such: “To transfer freely (what is one’s own) to the permanent possession of another without asking anything in return.” God didn’t give us Jesus because He wanted us to ‘pay Him back’. He gave us Jesus because He loves us! Anything we give back to God is only because He first gave it to us! We cannot give Him love had it not been that He first loved us. Yet it is this very love that motivated God to create man in the very beginning. And it is this same love that gave Jesus to us as our all in all. As our Wonderful Counselor Jesus can help us reach the full potential God have given us through Him. Through Jesus we can become whole of spirit, body, mind and soul and it doesn’t cost us a penny. Jesus paid the price. Now, how many counselors do you know today who would do that if it were not for Christ Jesus in them?

Thank You Jesus! May we trust in You fully so that we can bring our concerns, our hurts and troubles before You knowing that the counsel we receive from You far exceeds anything this world has to offer, in Your name we pray. Amen and amen.