Counsel and instruction are important and critical for us. Proverbs tells us that in all that we get, we are to receive understanding. While you are acquiring things, make sure that you get understanding to assist you as you use them. Psalms 1:1 tells us,  that a blessed man meditates on the law of The Lord day and night. In  other words, it does not matter how you may be feeling at the moment. You may be on the mountain or in the valley. Whatever condition you may be in, you will be blessed when you are meditating on the law of  The Lord. The counsel of God keeps me through the eb and flow of life. Understanding is the ability to appropriate wisdom. God gives us wisdom, but its s our responsibility to seek out the proper counsel and instruction we need to maintain and sustain the blessings that come from God. The word instruct is a compound word. Two words are combined that make up the word instruction. They are inward and structure. It is literally the ability to rework the structure within you. It is important at times to rework  your thought processes and emotional responses. There are things in life that we must learn to do. Recognize and validate the teachers in your life. Who has significant influence in your life? Who are the individuals attempting to speak a word of counsel to you? Do not listen to everybody about everything with equal intensity. This is a great skill to master.  When it comes to the inward structure of your life, you must be particular about who you give access. This requires discernment that must be developed. No voice should be louder than the voice of The Lord. Not even your own voice.

Psalms 1:1 tells us that we are blessed when we do not walk in the counsel (word, understanding, structure) of the ungodly. Counsel and instruction are incredible tools that we have at our disposal that will save us years of time. A book can be read  in one hour that took fifteen years to live, learn write and distribute. If I can internalize the content, I will receive from counsel or mentorship, what would have taken me years of mistakes to learn and assimilate on my own. Who gives you counsel? What instruction do you take? We are always listening to someone. If we spend hours of precious time on various social media platforms or with too many individuals who are constantly speaking into our lives, our thinking will become clouded or crowded. The Bible says that there is safety in a multitude of counsellors. We live in a time where it is customary to celebrate our intellectual independence. While it appears that there is merit to this, that is not always the wisest position to take. It is beneficial to cultivate the ability to listen well. It is imperative that we learn to discern the voices that speak into our lives. You cannot allow every voice to have equal volume in your life. You will become like a ship tossed in the waves. Do not always seek the opinion or instruction that will result in the greatest happiness. Look for the voice that encourages health. An instruction that seems to make you the happiest at the moment may seem best. However, a happy person going in the wrong direction can end up in a catastrophic situation. You can actually experience a negative emotion while you are headed in the right direction. It is God’s desire that we be healthy in every area of our lives. The blessed man walks in the information and the law of the Lord. He meditates on it all the days of His life. Take advantage of the wise counsel in your life. You will not be able to ever really calculate the value .

In Psalm 1:1, scripture teaches us not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. It goes on to say that the blessed man is a man who meditates on the law of The Lord. That word law means word, instruction, or counsel. The blessed man knows the difference between the world’s counsel, the world’s logic and God’s counsel or logic. If you read through the book of Proverbs, you will discover that it is not so much about getting blessing or things. It is about mentorship, wisdom, counsel or understanding regarding your management of what you have been given.  This takes wisdom that comes from above. You can have all the passion in the world for something, but if you are constantly listening to every bit of input, then your thoughts will become crowded or clouded. When your thoughts become clouded, there is so much information, everything seems blurred. Crowded is when every voice has equal access. The voices that you listen to should be appropriate to relationship. Whose counsel are you listening to? Would you give the same access to your pastor, your plumber, or your mate? We are a composite of our past experiences and our present choices. Our experiences and our decisions are often predicated on the opinions and advice we are hearing at the moment. Social media is not a place for affirmation or information. Sometimes we need true friends. Tune your ear to God’s voice above all others. Choose counsel wisely. When you do, you will be a blessed individual, with the ability to sustain and maintain every blessing from God!

Pastor Scott continues with this inspiring series on the blessing of Abraham. You have been blessed to be a blessing! This series has been archived with a word of encouragement that will change your life! God wants to bless you! Believe! Receive! Belong!

Pastor Scott Frazier continues with this life changing series based on the beautiful truth of what God has made us. So much has been conferred upon us as believers. There is more to being a child of The Most High God than salvation for an evelasting reality with Christ. If this was in fact, all there ever was, it would be more than enough indeed. But God...who is rich in mercy and limitless in His love for each of us, has favored us to become a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. He has made us to be kings and priests. We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We are blessed to become blessings. The blessing of Abraham is upon us. It is through him that all the families of the earth are blessed. If you truly believed that, would you live differently, live with faith and expectancy and live boldly? Meditate on these truths each day. Let them become part of your spiritual DNA!! Don't choose to live beneath the inheritance that God desires to share with you. God has more in store!! Accept it. Believe it! You belong to Him. That is great news!!

We are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, and a holy nation. This all started thousands of years ago, with a man named Abram, before he was even a follower of God. In  Genesis chapter twelve and verse one, we are told that God directed Abram to go to a land that He would show him. His name would be great, and he would be both blessed and would be a blessing. God would bless those that blessed him and curse those that cursed him and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. In the New Testament, Jesus arrives and connects us to this promise. This is part of our heritage. Once again, it is not by works rather it is accomplished because of His word. Our entrance to belonging is through believing. We are part of the family of Abraham. We were never to be isolated. In Galatians 3: 6, the Apostle Paul tells us that we are counted as righteous because of our faith. It further indicates, that looking forward, the Gentiles would also be made righteous in the same manner. It is due to faith alone. At least once a day we should boldly confess “I am right in His sight!” It really does not matter if the rest of the world agrees with us or they do not. It only matters that He has declared us to be “right in His sight!” Therefore, all who put their faith in Christ receive the same blessing that Abraham did, because of His faith. That is the GOOD NEWS!! If we are born of faith, then we are heirs to the promise!

We are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, and a holy nation.  This all started with a man named Abram before he was even a follower of God. In  Genesis chapter twelve and verse one, we are told that God directed Abram to go to a land that He would show him. His name would be great, and he would be both blessed and would be a blessing. God would bless those that blessed him and curse those that cursed him and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. God wants more than just forgiveness extended toward us.  He wants us to walk in His divine favor and blessing! God loves family and connection. Galatians chapter three and verse six informs us that God counted Abraham as righteous because he placed his faith in God. In the same way, the real children of Abraham are those who put their faith in God. That is why we refer to him as, “ the Father of faith.”  Abraham believed God. Likewise, we access God by believing in His Son. This is what assures us that we belong to Him. Today,  If you will choose to believe, then you will immediately be part of His family, and the nation which God identifies as holy and set apart.

We are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, and a holy nation.  God has always desired community. In Genesis, He told Abraham that he would make him the father of many nations. God wanted a family so much that he was willing to sow a seed which was His only son Jesus. He would eventually become the first born of many sons. The church is no second-class citizen within the economy of God. Peter declared in the New Testament, that we are a holy nation. That word “holy” means separated, or other than. We are an “other than” nation. In order to track our lineage spiritually, we will have to go back to Genesis chapter twelve. In verse one, we are told that God directed Abram to go to a land that He would show him. His name would be great, and he would be both blessed and would be a blessing. God would bless those that blessed him and curse those that cursed him and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. It is imperative that we understand that God desires connectivity. He desires family. We are the fruit of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The Son of God came so that we could both believe and belong. God’s desire is that we would belong in the family, in the house and in the nation. This is the good news of the gospel. When you believe, you will always belong!

We have been considering the various truths surrounding how God has made us. In scripture we find that He has made us righteous. He has made us acceptable. He has made us to be more than conquerors. He has made us to be a royal priesthood and a chosen generation. We are kings and priests unto our God. It is important to know that we have access to God and authority in our world. If all we have is access, then we can pray and worship, but we have no authority over our circumstances.  God has put a word of power in our mouths. We can change our atmosphere. We can speak, and the anointing of God will shift our circumstances. The king and priest can flow together. The word of the Lord tells us that we are to speak the truth in love. The king and the priest are evident in that admonition. We are to speak the truth. That is to administer what is just in a situation. To do so in love is an attribute of the heart of ministry. We must decree the truth, but it is not harsh. In Proverbs the writer tells us that truth and mercy come together. Jesus was full of grace and truth. The king speaks of truth (the lion), but He was also grace (the sacrificial lamb). God has given us the privilege to bless and the authority to see it manifested.

What does it mean for us to be both kings and priests unto our God? There were typically two incredibly unique offices in the Old Testament, occupied by two different people in two different locations. The only exception was with David. How wonderful it is that God has torn down the walls of exclusivity. When Jesus was crucified, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. Now we have access unto our God. We no longer need animal sacrifices as a substitute. We are not required sacrifice an animal once a year and hope that this particular sacrifice would be sufficient. The annual sacrifice rolled the sins of the people away for one year and one year only. Aren’t you glad that Jesus did not just roll away our sins for the year, rather He dealt with sin once and for all? The writers of Hebrews tells us  that we can now have boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies, because Jesus has paid the ultimate price. This does not mean we have a right to be arrogant with God, rather we have the freedom to enter His presence because Jesus made the way for us. In the Old Testament, only one person could enter the Holy of Holies each year and that was the High Priest. But because of the finished work of Jesus, we each have equal access to the Holy of Holies, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us. It is a new way for a new day. Thanks to Calvary, we can all with boldness and confidence enter into the presence of God, the Most Holy Place. Today, enter into His presence with thanksgiving and into Hs courts with praise. He wants you. He is waiting for you there!