WEBVTT 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:05.720 That someone gives you attention does not mean they have good intentions. 00:00:05.720 --> 00:00:12.000 There are many with itching ears yet immature hearts. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.560 Grace and peace to you all, people of God. 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:22.720 You're all welcome to this Partners Service here at the God's Heart TV studio. 00:00:22.720 --> 00:00:27.640 Before anything else, let us pray together. 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:36.560 Father, we thank You for each heart connected to this service today. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:45.880 We pray that whatever spiritual barrier hindering 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:54.640 their understanding would be removed today, in Jesus’ mighty name! 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:06.280 Lord Jesus Christ, help us to give undivided attention 00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:11.640 to what You have to say to us today 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:19.320 through Your Holy Word and by Your precious Spirit, 00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:25.200 in Jesus’ mighty name we pray. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:34.760 And the people of God said, “Amen!” 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:37.920 Glory be to God! 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:42.120 A couple of weeks ago, there was a young lady who I spoke to. 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:46.880 And I'm not going to disclose the specifics of her situation, 00:01:46.880 --> 00:01:50.520 but as I was speaking to her, 00:01:50.520 --> 00:01:56.000 the only way I would put it, is that the Spirit of God prompted me 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.240 to give her a godly rebuke. 00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:08.400 ‘Godly rebuke’ because she shared her situation and had been attending 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:12.920 Interactive Prayer Services and was not someone that had just joined 00:02:12.920 --> 00:02:15.400 for the first time. She was going to church. 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:21.720 She was adopting so many godly things. But there was a clear area of her life 00:02:21.720 --> 00:02:27.520 where she was unrepentantly living in sin. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:34.400 And yet she was still questioning why certain aspects of God's promises 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:40.520 were not being fulfilled in her life, whereas there was a clear 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:47.040 area of her life where she was living in sin. 00:02:47.040 --> 00:02:51.800 And I was speaking to this young lady and I said to her, 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:56.720 “Look, my sister, sometimes the truth is bitter, 00:02:56.720 --> 00:03:01.800 but if I'm to help you, I have to speak forth the truth.” 00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:04.040 And I rebuked her. 00:03:04.040 --> 00:03:11.160 You cannot expect spiritual benefits to self-inflicted trials. 00:03:11.160 --> 00:03:15.720 You can't expect God's grace and mercy to cover you 00:03:15.720 --> 00:03:25.800 when you are consciously, knowingly, living in a way of life that is contrary to His Word. 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:30.400 I didn't say it maliciously. I didn't say it with judgment. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:33.000 I said it with righteous anger 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:39.400 because how can we just come before God 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:50.880 to receive His mercy if we don't identify the areas of our own lives 00:03:50.880 --> 00:03:53.560 which are not pleasing to Him? 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:58.720 And after I spoke to her, she said something that really touched me. 00:03:58.720 --> 00:04:02.720 She said, “Brother Chris, I want to thank you 00:04:02.720 --> 00:04:12.600 because this is the first time in my life that someone has spoken to me like this.” 00:04:12.600 --> 00:04:21.560 Even that alone pains me that someone could be going to church, 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:25.280 engaging in godly activities, 00:04:25.280 --> 00:04:31.720 yet they didn't have someone, or perhaps they were not open to someone, 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:38.840 or they were not accountable to someone, who could speak the truth. 00:04:38.840 --> 00:04:46.920 And this young lady said, “I want to thank you for loving me enough to rebuke me.” 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:51.520 This is someone I have not met before. I don't know the person personally. 00:04:51.520 --> 00:04:54.960 We just spoke on the phone. She reached out for prayer 00:04:54.960 --> 00:04:59.120 and I realised, in her case, what she needed was not prayer; 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:02.280 she needed someone to tell the truth to her. 00:05:02.280 --> 00:05:08.440 Now, how she acted on that message is between her and God. 00:05:08.440 --> 00:05:13.200 One thing is to acknowledge the truth, another thing is to act on it. 00:05:13.200 --> 00:05:17.560 But I reflected after this conversation. 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:30.840 I reflected deeply that one of the greatest challenges we face today is that, too often, 00:05:30.840 --> 00:05:43.880 we share our problems with those who are spiritually ill-equipped to help us. 00:05:43.880 --> 00:05:46.640 And this is what I want to talk about today: 00:05:46.640 --> 00:05:53.200 Be careful of who you confide in. 00:05:53.200 --> 00:06:06.720 If you are with someone at home, tell that person, “Be careful of who you confide in.” 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:13.560 Be careful of who counsels you. 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:15.480 Be careful! 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:29.480 Life itself is full of challenges, but carnal counsel makes them far more challenging. 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:38.280 There are already challenges that we go through in this journey of life. 00:06:38.280 --> 00:06:42.880 “In this world there will be trouble,” Jesus said. 00:06:42.880 --> 00:06:48.120 Being a Christian doesn’t make us immune to challenges, 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:55.880 but carnal counsel makes them far more challenging. 00:06:55.880 --> 00:06:58.360 What do I mean? 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:12.160 We often disclose our problems to those whose advice worsens them. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:19.680 Irrespective of intentions, carnal counsel is dangerous. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.600 Be careful of who you confide in. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:30.880 There must be discernment before disclosure. 00:07:30.880 --> 00:07:36.520 In the case of the young lady that I just referenced, 00:07:36.520 --> 00:07:39.400 as we finished that conversation, I wrote something down 00:07:39.400 --> 00:07:44.480 and I want to share it with you. It was very simply this, 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:55.920 carnal counsel directs us to blame; godly counsel directs us to change. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:03.120 The light of God's Word directs us to the areas of our lives 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.760 where we need to change, 00:08:05.760 --> 00:08:13.840 but the darkness of this world directs us to the things that we need to blame. 00:08:13.840 --> 00:08:19.200 We blame that person. We blame our family. We blame the government. 00:08:19.200 --> 00:08:25.560 We blame circumstances. We blame witchcraft. 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:35.360 We are quick to blame because we so often receive advice 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.160 from the human point of view in the face of our problems. 00:08:41.160 --> 00:08:43.000 This is what I want to talk to you about. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:48.160 Be careful of who you confide in. 00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:55.440 Be careful of who counsels you. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:59.960 Ask yourself at this point, 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:06.840 when confronted by challenges, who do you confide in? 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:17.120 Do you have accountability with those who possess spiritual maturity? 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:25.200 It is a question for self-examination because in the journey of life 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:31.840 we go through challenges, we face problems, 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:36.720 we encounter difficulties. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:46.080 What kind of advice are you receiving in the face of your challenge? 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.520 I'm going to take you to a Biblical story 00:09:49.520 --> 00:09:56.360 which emphasises the importance of this truth. 00:09:56.360 --> 00:09:59.360 I hope you have your Bibles with you. 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:09.840 Turn with me to 2 Kings 4, and this is the account of the Shunammite woman. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:16.000 Let’s read together the opening verses, 2 Kings 4:8, 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.840 “Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:26.160 where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. 00:10:26.160 --> 00:10:31.760 So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food.” 00:10:31.760 --> 00:10:34.800 Verse 9, “And she said to her husband, 00:10:34.800 --> 00:10:54.760 ‘Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. 00:10:54.760 --> 00:11:00.520 Please let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, 00:11:00.520 --> 00:11:06.320 and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, that whenever he comes to us 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:11.240 he can turn in there.’ And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:15.960 to the upper room and laid down there.” Let's pause there. 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:22.600 I want you to recognise, first and foremost, that the Shunammite woman 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:27.480 had a revelation of who Elisha was. 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:33.400 “I know this is a holy man of God.” 00:11:33.400 --> 00:11:38.520 The basis of their relationship was spiritual. 00:11:38.520 --> 00:11:46.120 And because she had the revelation of who he was spiritually, 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:56.400 she had the confidence to confide in him when calamity later struck her family. 00:11:56.400 --> 00:12:05.440 If a relationship is based on natural things, it can be interrupted by natural things, 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:11.280 it can be interfered with by natural things, natural circumstances. 00:12:11.280 --> 00:12:20.600 But if the basis of a relationship is spiritual, nothing natural can separate it. 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:24.840 In the verses following, Elisha said to his servant, 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:29.760 ‘What can I do for this lady who has prepared this place for me?’ 00:12:29.760 --> 00:12:37.760 And his servant mentions that she does not have a son, a child. 00:12:37.760 --> 00:12:41.040 Elisha calls her and prophesies to her 00:12:41.040 --> 00:12:48.880 that by this time next year you will have your own child - you will have a son. 00:12:48.880 --> 00:12:55.920 What prompted the Shunammite woman to help Elisha 00:12:55.920 --> 00:13:04.080 was spiritual revelation, not material expectation. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:08.200 Her motive was not transactional. 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:14.360 “If I do this for this man of God, God will give me a child.” 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:20.840 No, that was not her intention; that was not her motive. 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:25.560 But because she gave with no conditions attached, 00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:29.280 God gave her the desires of her heart. 00:13:29.280 --> 00:13:32.640 Oh, thank You, Jesus! 00:13:32.640 --> 00:13:38.840 She did not provide the place for Elisha with a selfish motive. 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:45.040 “Oh, if I do this, this man of God can speak well for me before the king. 00:13:45.040 --> 00:13:47.880 This man of God can pray for me for a child. 00:13:47.880 --> 00:13:51.680 This man of God can do this for me. So let me do this for him.” 00:13:51.680 --> 00:13:54.720 That was not her intention. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:57.880 She had a revelation of who he was spiritually, 00:13:57.880 --> 00:14:03.920 and God prompted her heart to prepare a place for him. 00:14:03.920 --> 00:14:14.400 If you seek God only for what you can get, 00:14:14.400 --> 00:14:24.120 it is a sign that you are unprepared to get what you seek. 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:29.760 Think about that, people of God. 00:14:29.760 --> 00:14:35.200 If you are giving to God's work 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:41.840 only because of what you are seeking from God, 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:49.920 “If I do this for the ministry, perhaps God will do this for me,” 00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:52.600 that should not be your motive. 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:55.040 God knows your needs. 00:14:55.040 --> 00:14:58.920 He knew the need of the Shunammite woman. 00:14:58.920 --> 00:15:04.520 And when she gave with all her heart, God gave her the desires of her heart. 00:15:04.520 --> 00:15:09.360 God blessed her beyond her wildest imagination. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:13.320 Even she said to Elisha, “Don't deceive me, my Lord. 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:16.480 Is this real? Is this true that I will have a son?” 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:20.760 That was not her intention. That was not her motive. 00:15:20.760 --> 00:15:25.560 But when she gave on the basis of revelation, 00:15:25.560 --> 00:15:31.920 she received more than her dreams. 00:15:31.920 --> 00:15:35.040 It's a lesson because 00:15:35.040 --> 00:15:40.320 it is very common today for people to fall into the trap 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:46.880 of attaching material expectations to spiritual service. 00:15:46.880 --> 00:15:49.680 There are also some people 00:15:49.680 --> 00:15:56.040 who give motivated by the guilt of their sin, 00:15:56.040 --> 00:16:03.240 believing that their gift will somehow cover their wrong. 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:12.200 But if sin is before you, only repentance can restore you. 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:22.080 If your situation is caused by sin, no amount of money can restore you. 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:34.440 No amount of nice advice from the human point of view can rescue you. 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:42.920 If sin is before you, only the Blood of Jesus can restore you. 00:16:42.920 --> 00:16:51.240 So stop looking for a scapegoat and start looking to the Lamb of God 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:54.920 who takes away the sins of the world. 00:16:54.920 --> 00:16:58.120 The world may point us to the outward cause. 00:16:58.120 --> 00:17:01.760 The Word of God points us to the inward cause. 00:17:01.760 --> 00:17:09.840 That's why it's so important to receive godly counsel. 00:17:09.840 --> 00:17:12.240 Let's continue in this story. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:20.000 God blesses the Shunammite woman with a son, with the desires of her heart. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.720 What a wonderful testimony! Glory be to God! 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:29.040 And from verse 18, let me read on to what happens. 00:17:29.040 --> 00:17:31.200 “And the child grew. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:35.160 Now, it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:39.280 And he said to his father, ‘My head, my head!’ 00:17:39.280 --> 00:17:42.560 So he said to a servant, ‘Carry him to his mother.’ 00:17:42.560 --> 00:17:44.160 And when he had taken him 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:54.400 and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.” 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:58.320 Calamity struck. 00:17:58.320 --> 00:18:06.840 A glorious testimony suddenly turned into a calamity. 00:18:06.840 --> 00:18:09.000 How could it be? 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:14.000 The son promised from God, given by God 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:19.040 at a young, tender age, taken away. 00:18:19.040 --> 00:18:25.120 But I want you to observe the response of the Shunammite woman 00:18:25.120 --> 00:18:32.880 to this clearly distressing, painful circumstance. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:40.200 Verse 21, “And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:43.560 shut the door upon him, and went out.” 00:18:43.560 --> 00:18:50.400 Take note, her very first action was to consider the things of God. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.560 “Then she called to her husband, and said, 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:55.480 ‘Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, 00:18:55.480 --> 00:18:59.280 that I may run to the man of God and come back.’ 00:18:59.280 --> 00:19:02.240 So he said, ‘Why are you going to him today? 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:04.480 It is neither the new moon nor the Sabbath.’ 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:08.560 And she said, ‘It is well.’” 00:19:08.560 --> 00:19:16.080 Whereas, it was not well! 00:19:16.080 --> 00:19:21.120 There was a terrible situation on the ground. 00:19:21.120 --> 00:19:26.280 But at that point she said, ‘It is well.’ 00:19:26.280 --> 00:19:30.480 “Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, ‘Drive, and go forward; 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:34.120 do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.’ 00:19:34.120 --> 00:19:37.840 And so she departed and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. 00:19:37.840 --> 00:19:43.480 So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant, Gehazi, 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:45.240 ‘Look, the Shunammite woman! 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:50.160 Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:51.800 Is it well with your husband? 00:19:51.800 --> 00:19:57.160 Is it well with the child?’ And she answered, ‘It is well.’” 00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:04.600 Verse 27, “Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, 00:20:04.600 --> 00:20:07.080 she caught him by the feet, 00:20:07.080 --> 00:20:10.320 but Gehazi came near to push her away. 00:20:10.320 --> 00:20:17.520 But the man of God said, ‘Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, 00:20:17.520 --> 00:20:22.280 and the Lord has hidden it from me, and has not told me.’” 00:20:22.280 --> 00:20:27.840 I want us to learn a valuable lesson from this story. 00:20:27.840 --> 00:20:37.480 Because the Shunammite woman had a revelation of who Elisha was, 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:48.680 she had the confidence to confide in him when this terrible tragedy struck her home. 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:57.360 She was in deep distress but she was not overwhelmed emotionally to 00:20:57.360 --> 00:21:03.360 the point where she disclosed her problems to people 00:21:03.360 --> 00:21:07.600 that God had not sent to her. 00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:15.320 You know, when we react emotionally, when we are overwhelmed by emotions, 00:21:15.320 --> 00:21:22.440 it tends to leave us vulnerable to bad advice. 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:28.480 The Shunammite woman was not pretending when she said, “It is well,” 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.200 even though it was not well. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:36.000 But she did not disclose her problems 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:41.280 to those who were not in a position to help at that moment. 00:21:41.280 --> 00:21:45.480 She was in deep distress, yes, 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:54.760 but she took the decision of faith to go and receive counsel 00:21:54.760 --> 00:22:01.280 from someone she knew God had sent to her life. 00:22:01.280 --> 00:22:05.240 I want to challenge you all, people of God. 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:09.600 Sometimes we need a word that challenges us, 00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:17.360 stirs us, stirs our spirits to self-examination and perhaps to repentance. 00:22:17.360 --> 00:22:25.000 When problems strike in your life who do you confide in? 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.080 Or let me put it like this - 00:22:27.080 --> 00:22:33.880 are you confiding in someone or complaining to someone? 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:36.480 Because there's a difference. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.360 You confide in someone when you seek solution. 00:22:40.360 --> 00:22:44.920 You complain to someone when you seek sympathy. 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:52.560 Are you looking for attention or solution? 00:22:52.560 --> 00:22:58.240 It's a question for us to reflect on because 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:07.480 that someone is ready to listen to you does not mean that person loves you. 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:14.640 There are many with itching ears yet immature hearts. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:22.840 That someone gives you attention does not mean they have good intentions. 00:23:22.840 --> 00:23:27.240 Are you complaining to someone for attention 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:32.760 or confiding in someone for solution? 00:23:32.760 --> 00:23:39.960 Because if you are more interested in sympathy than solution, 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:47.240 you will likely sacrifice your principles on the altar of your problems. 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:49.560 What do I mean? 00:23:49.560 --> 00:23:56.680 In the face of our problems, we receive advice, we receive counsel, 00:23:56.680 --> 00:24:03.360 we receive guidance that makes our problems worse. 00:24:03.360 --> 00:24:10.800 We may hear what we want to hear, but it doesn't solve the issue. 00:24:10.800 --> 00:24:13.120 This is a problem when you surround yourself 00:24:13.120 --> 00:24:17.520 only with people who say what you want to hear. 00:24:17.520 --> 00:24:21.280 You don't address the issue. You delay it. 00:24:21.280 --> 00:24:22.880 You postpone it. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.560 It ends up being built up. 00:24:25.560 --> 00:24:29.400 And as it builds up, it weighs you down. 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:34.880 This is the problem of receiving advice 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:41.680 from people who are not spiritually equipped to help that issue. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:45.160 Why is it common for us to divulge our problems, 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:49.080 to disclose our problems, to those who are not equipped to help us? 00:24:49.080 --> 00:24:55.360 Because it is common for complaints to reach the ears of the carnally minded. 00:24:55.360 --> 00:25:02.200 We are quick to complain to those who are not in a position to help us. 00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:04.200 But learn from this woman. 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:08.360 Look, she didn't deny her problem, 00:25:08.360 --> 00:25:13.120 but she knew at that moment her husband was not in the right place to help her, 00:25:13.120 --> 00:25:16.400 the servant of the man of God was not in the right place to help her. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:19.440 To them, she said, “It is well,” whereas it was not well. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.040 But when she reached Elisha she poured out her heart. 00:25:24.040 --> 00:25:29.880 And if we read the story, you continue on in the verses, 00:25:29.880 --> 00:25:33.840 a glorious miracle happened! 00:25:33.840 --> 00:25:39.120 Elisha followed her, prayed for the lifeless son lying on that bed, 00:25:39.120 --> 00:25:43.840 and there was a resurrection. What a glorious testimony! 00:25:43.840 --> 00:25:49.040 You can see this message is burning in my heart, because it's so sad 00:25:49.040 --> 00:25:55.200 to see how many people worsen or prolong their problems 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:58.560 by receiving bad advice in the midst of them. 00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:02.280 We share our problems, not only with those who cannot help us, 00:26:02.280 --> 00:26:08.280 but with those who will use what we share with them against us. 00:26:08.280 --> 00:26:16.080 Often, because we are emotionally overwhelmed, we lose self-control. 00:26:16.080 --> 00:26:20.920 Let me be clear here. 00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:25.520 This is not in any way an encouragement to isolation. 00:26:25.520 --> 00:26:29.280 There are some people whose attitude is when they face a problem, 00:26:29.280 --> 00:26:34.160 they pretend that there is no problem, they deny the existence of a problem. 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:40.600 No, denying your problem is often fuelled by pride, not faith. 00:26:40.600 --> 00:26:45.560 A problem hidden is often pride-driven. 00:26:45.560 --> 00:26:49.120 What you hide tends to reveal your pride. 00:26:49.120 --> 00:26:53.720 I am not talking about denying a problem, pretending that there is no problem, 00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:57.600 I am talking about taking the problem to the right place. 00:26:57.600 --> 00:27:04.520 She wasn't in denial, but she was not desperate to the point 00:27:04.520 --> 00:27:09.200 where she disclosed her problem to the wrong kind of people. 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:14.880 This is a message to each and every one of you today. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:19.720 Be careful of who counsels you. 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:23.440 Be careful of who you confide in. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:29.640 And be careful of how you counsel others. 00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:32.920 Oh, this is another point, people of God. 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:35.080 I could ask the question to you also. 00:27:35.080 --> 00:27:42.200 Not just, “Who do you confide in?” but, “Who confides in you?” 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:49.760 Never dilute the truth out of sympathy for someone's situation. 00:27:49.760 --> 00:27:54.840 Never water down the truth 00:27:54.840 --> 00:28:06.520 because of selfish ambition, or material connection, or biological familiarity. 00:28:06.520 --> 00:28:11.240 Don't reduce the standard of accountability due to familiarity. 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:17.640 The benchmark for accountability is spiritual - spiritual maturity. 00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:21.320 It is the truth that sets us free. 00:28:21.320 --> 00:28:26.800 Even if someone is unwilling to act on that truth, 00:28:26.800 --> 00:28:29.880 don't be discouraged from telling them in love. 00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:33.960 Don't just become a dustbin for someone to complain to 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:36.480 without telling them the truth. 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:41.080 It is the truth that sets us free. 00:28:41.080 --> 00:28:50.800 Godly counsel in the light of God's Word paves the path for solution. 00:28:50.800 --> 00:28:56.520 Carnal counsel, influenced by the darkness of this world, 00:28:56.520 --> 00:29:06.160 simply leaves us going in circles. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:10.440 This is my message to you today. 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:15.320 Be careful of who you confide in. 00:29:15.320 --> 00:29:21.360 There are some situations we face in life that we are not meant to handle alone. 00:29:21.360 --> 00:29:26.160 Look, some situations you personally can take to God and overcome. 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:32.080 There are some issues in life where you can't just go through it alone. 00:29:32.080 --> 00:29:36.000 That's why we are one another’s strength. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:39.600 That's why there's power in godly fellowship. 00:29:39.600 --> 00:29:44.840 That’s why the community of the Body of Christ is so important, 00:29:44.840 --> 00:29:47.920 so we can help each other, strengthen each other, 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:50.800 speak the truth to each other. 00:29:50.800 --> 00:29:59.600 But have you identified those God has sent to you? 00:29:59.600 --> 00:30:04.520 Have you identified those God has sent you to? 00:30:04.520 --> 00:30:09.960 I pray that this message prompts us 00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:17.760 to examine our reaction in the face of our challenges. 00:30:17.760 --> 00:30:20.720 How do we respond? 00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:22.640 How do we react? 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:25.240 Who do we turn to? 00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:28.400 What kind of advice do we receive? 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:33.240 What kind of counsel do we receive? 00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:39.440 Let us take this warning to watch and pray, 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:48.160 to discern before we disclose, and to be careful of who we confide in. 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:56.560 May God bless His living Word in our hearts, in Jesus’ mighty name.