Pastor as Counselor
How is this Washing, Purging,
or Purification to be done? It is through the counseling by the word of YAHVEH.
The Hebrew
word hcf ya>as , means “to advise,
counsel, consult.” Used throughout the history of the Hebrew language,
this verb occurs in the Hebrew Old Testament approximately 80 times. Ya>as is found first in Exodus.
18:19, where
Jethro says to his son-in-law Moses: “I will give thee counsel, and
YAHVEH shall be with thee.” The word is found only one other time in the
Hexateuch, and that is in Num. 24:14: “I will advise you” “I will let
you know”; “let me warn you”; “I will
warn you”).
The Hebrew noun yo>es
“counselor.” Perhaps the most familiar use of this root is the noun form
found in the messianic passage, Isaiah. 9:6. On the basis of
the syntax involved, it is probably better to translate as familiar
“Wonderful Counselor” as Wonder-Counselor or “Wonder of a Counselor.” The neb
When a new believer comes to the Messiyah, he or she needs direction as
to the benefits of their new belief. Too many believers never acquire a good
understanding of what can be or what is the ultimate goad of the redeemed
community.
Revelation 31:2 “To him who overcomes I will
grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne. The job of the Pastor is a one on one ministry,
the type and magnitude of the counsel required, is usually dependant on the age
of the believer.
The older a new believer is, directly effects, the amount of old
habitual that needs to be dealt with. There is an old Jamaican saying that says
that it is easer to bend a tree when it is young than when it is old. Or you
can’t teach old dog new tricks. How true these saying are even though there are
exceptions to the rule.
The deeper and longer one indulges in sinful actions the more Grace is
required to renewed that individual. This is why the Laver is the only Altar in
the Tabernacle that has no dimension. It takes different amounts of water or
counseling to clean each person. Put is this way, the dirtier you are the more
water is require to clean you up.
We cannot expect a fourteen-year old youth to require as much Nouthetic
counsel as a thirty five year old prostitute. This type of counsel, should take
the new believer back to the root cause of the problem. Example if a new
believer has a problem with eating; the root cause could be a previous
rejection as a young person. The Pastor or counselor must be in essence a very
good listener. He must never counsel from his pointer of view, but from the
point of view of the Word of YAHVEH. The pastor must take the counselee backed
to the Wonderful
Counselor who is our Messiyah and cover him with the Blood and apply the water
over the situation. The wounds of the new and even old believer are many and
numerous, and require a very special person for this position.
Ezekiel 34:4 “The
weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor
bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was
lost.
There are many in the Body of the Messiyah that are weak in
faith for whatever reason, whether it be emotional, physiological or spiritual
it needs to be addressed. The bindings up of the wound is usually by the
anointed, by pouring in the clean oil on the wound and give it the time needed
for it to heal.
In the New Testament we heard of the parable of the Blind man
being healed by the Messiyah. It was a gradual process. After the first session
of counseling by the word, Jesus asked him what did he see, he said that He sew
men as trees. After the second session he was asked again and the man finally
saw men as men. The Parable of the sower and the seeds demonstrate that people
have four kinds of heart: stony, rocky, thorns, and good ground. A heart of
stone has a hard heart, which the word has no effect on it. Others have some
rocky parts, past problems that need to be dealt with. Some have cares of life,
but those who are good soil are those whose heart has been well prepared, and
will bring forth some 30, 60 or 100 fold. The heart of stone is someone who has
not accepted the Word of YAHVEH, the heart with rock and thorns is one who has
accepted the Word of YAHVEH; but he or she had not been cleansed from the
hindrance to the word. This is the essence of the role of a Pastor.
Armed with this information, today’s church should reconsider
their position as ministers. I should not and cannot plant a field unless the
ground is well prepared. This is why YAHVEH in His wisdom gave us the
Tabernacle of Moses, with the five Altars laid out in the shape of the cross,
and He admonishes us to take up our cross individually and follow The Messiyah.
Counseling
is the work of the Pastor and the Holy Spirit. Any effective counseling cannot
be done apart from these two agents of Yahushua. The Holy Spirit is called in
the Greek ParacleteCounselor who is a gift from The Messiyah
Yahushua, for the purpose of comforting the saints. The Spirit of Wisdom and
the Spirit of Counsel are to too main function of the Pastor.
Counseling to the Body of Messiyah
is a necessary step in the regenerating process that helps to bring an unsaved
person to full maturity. It is the second Altar in the Tabernacle in the
wilderness, and the second stage in the process of the cross. It is the only
Altar where water is used.
The Holy Spirit working through the
Pastor is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, all holiness start from this
activity in the lives of the new convert. This process must be carried out as
soon as possible after conversion; this is similar to the Children of Yisrael
leaving Egypt , they cross
the Red Sea in six days. This work is in
preparation for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, which is the Seven Spirit of
Isaiah 11:2 and Revelation 5:6.
The Holy
Spirit is the only source of all genuine personality change that involve the
sanctification, purification, cleaning or regeneration of Man.
Galatians 3: 1 “You stupid Galatians! Who have
put you under a spell? Before you very eyes Yahushua the Messiyah was clearly
portrayed as having been put to death as a criminal! Want you to know from you just this one
thing: did you receive the Holy Spirit by legalistic observance of the Torah
commandments or by trusting in what you heard and being faithful to it? Are you
so stupid? Having begging with the Holy Spirit’s power, do you think you can
reach the goal under you own power?” Why is the
church without power today, we have been trying to do things our way.
Jeremiah
2:13
“For
My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of
living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no
water.
Why are today’s ministries and believers
being referred to secular psychiatrists who will never be able to deliver any
lasting result, or discover the secret to self-control. Self control is one of
the fruits of the Spirit. Without the Seven Spirits of YAHVEH there can be no
fruit, without the cleansing of the Word there can be no Spirit, without
accepting of The Yahushua the Messiyah there can be no cleansing by the word.
The Holy Spirit ordinarily affects
His character-logical work in the lives of believers through grace by the
ministry of the pastor. The Pastor uses the Word of YAHVEH, with the Spirit of
Counsel and the Spirit of Might as the principal vehicle through which He
brings about all lasting changes. How
can counseling whishes is removed from the Holy Spirit, be expect to effects
the sort of permanent changes that our Creator desires.
The intensity, inconsistency and tension
created by the lack of this ministry in today’s churches are felt nearly by
everyone. The fear of these people grows out of secular mental health
propaganda, frustrated about not knowing how to deal; handle or address
permeates this problem.
It is time for the Body of The Messiyah to
reexamine their stand on the Five-Fold ministry. The most important aspect in
this reexamination should be an honest consideration of the role of the Pastor
in the Five-Fold ministry and its relation to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of YAHVEH
with us; He is a part of the YAHVEHhead, not a force or a law; He chooses His
own times, means and occasions for doing His work. This fact should not
discourage counseling, but rather it should encourage it since we knows that He
operates outside of time and space. That is to say, the Holy Spirit works when
and where and how He pleases. The Pastor and counselees alike must respect the
sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. Client expectation and Pastoral promises must
be made within the scope and authority of the Holy Spirit.
The pastoral abilities lie in the
seven anointing of the Spirit; in particular the Spirit of Counsel, in the
Spirit of the fear of YAHVEH. This should be of grave concern to the Pastor; he
cannot be sloppy about the way in which he counsels. The Holy Spirit works in
conjunction with the Pastor who properly exercises the Anointing of the Spirit;
this is because the Holy Spirit is chosen by The Messiyah to work through a
human agent called The Mighty Hand of YAHVEH; a fact that has been clearly
demonstrated by giving gifts of ministry to His church.
The use of a human agent in counseling
does not nullified the work of the Holy Spirit; On the contrary, it is the
premier means by which He works. Paul elucidate in Galatians three, that human
activity which neither acknowledge nor draws upon the power of the Holy Spirit,
seeks to circumvent Divine authority, therefore are void of the power of
effecting true change.
The Holy Spirit expects the Pastor
to use His Word, the Holy Scripture, to counsel; He gave it for such a purpose
as this. To be lead by the Spirit simply means to be lead by the Spirit of the
Word. The point that needs to be illustrated is that The Holy Spirit empowers
the Word as the principle means by which the believer can grow in
sanctification. Counseling cannot be effective in any sense of the term apart
from the use of the Scripture.
The mere fact that the Holy Spirit
is the heart of counseling implies that the Holy Scripture is the soul. This
fundamental relationship in itself should be decisive for any believer who intends
to be involved in counseling. Counseling without the scripture can only be
expected to be counseling without the Holy Spirit.
When an unbeliever comes to The Messiyah
he or she comes with all their filthy rags; this includes all past worldview.
If this pattern is not broken, his or her behavior will continue unchecked, and
still a person in bondage to their past. Depending on the nature of that
worldview, if it is demonic in nature, his or her behavior eventually will
become so deviant that in the end society will institutionalize him or her. One
might ask why there are so many problems in today’s churches with sex abuse.
The problem is simple! The lack of the true purpose of the office of the
Pastor. Many today have risen to the rank of ministers, but have never been
through the process of sanctification, much less progress to maturity.
True
Pastoral counseling in its fullest sense, is simply an application of the means
of sanctification. The prerequisite for sanctification is the Holy Spirit’s
work in that person’s life by removing the unfruitful part of our lives. The
goal of counseling is the renewal of the image of YAHVEH that is progressive in
nature. This began when the Holy Spirit reestablishes communication between the
spirit of man and the Spirit of YAHVEH. This process is called putting off the
old man with its old patterns, and putting on the new man with its new biblical
pattern.
However counseling is not only for the new believer, but also
for those who are striving for the ultimate in Christendom that is the position
of over comer. Let’s observe some supporting scripture.
From the abundance of the above scripture, we see that YAHVEH
considered washing to be very important. That is why for someone to become
ritually clean he or she has to be washed
The ministry of the Pastor even though it is recognized by
today’s churches, needs to return to what it was originally designed to be; it
should not be sub servant to any other ministry, but the second step in
ministry to the Body of the Messiyah. The following scripture, can best
describe the state of today’s ministry.
Jeremiah 2: 13 “For
My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of
living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no
water.
Jeremiah 10: 21 For the
shepherds have become dull-hearted, And have not sought YAHVEH; therefore they shall not prosper, And
all their flocks shall be scattered.
Blessed are you
Hashem our YAHVEH King of the Universe, who has chosen good Pastor and has delighted
in the counseling by the Words of Adonai, which were spoken in truth. Blessed
are you Hashem our YAHVEH who has chosen the scripture and the Five-Fold
ministry as His servant and Yisrael the church and the Pastors of truth and
righteousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment