In light of the horrific events in Christchurch on Friday, we made the decision to hold back additional blog pieces, other than the Yearly Bible Reading plan, until today.
By Pastor Dan
We’ve made it to another Saturday, by God’s grace!
This week has been a great blessing to me as I’ve gone about preparing for my first sermon in the biblical text of the Book of Ephesians this coming Sunday [This will now be this coming Sunday, in light of the Friday tragedy]! What a privilege it is to have the Word of the Lord in our hands and in our language! What a joy it is to be able to study God’s Word both personally and corporately!
This week I don’t plan to say so much (this could provoke a “yay” or “nay” on your part). However, I thought this particular quote was a helpful reminder of both the importance and the tone of what actually takes place when we go through the journey of biblically counselling another person:
“The Puritans, by the way, referred to the counseling ministry as “soul
work.” They spoke of the minister’s responsibility as “the cure of souls.”
They understood that the only reliable help for the human soul is the in-
fallible truth of Scripture applied by the Spirit of God. They knew that the
only genuine, effective, or permanent cure for the soul’s maladies is the
transformation wrought by God’s grace in the heart of a believer.”
Biblical counselling is “soul work”, or “the cure of souls” whereby the mature-Christians seek to direct the eyes of another person to the infallible truth of God’s Word in the Bible with the confident and expectant hope that God the Holy Spirit will open their eyes to it, and apply it into their life!
In effect, biblical counselling is the work of a humble servant of God who recognises the power and good-pleasure of God to transform the lives of men and women as they encounter Him in truth in His written Word!
This is a work of God’s grace, and without the inner-working and illuminating ministry of God the Holy Spirit, the biblical counsellor would labour in vain. But, praise the Lord, we know that our labour in Him is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58)!
May the Lord be pleased to work in and through our lives for His own name’s sake as we seek to biblically counsel those whom the Lord brings into our lives for this very reason!
Amen!