Wonderful Counselor

Dear Friends,

In this season of anticipation we prepare to welcome Jesus, Messiah!

Before reading my Christmas letter below, I’d like to remind you of an opportunity to review 2024 with a few others on January 11, 2025. If you would like to participate in a guided personal debrief of your year, please join us at my home in Loveland from 9:00 AM – noon. You will have time to sit without interruption and assess what God did, how you responded, and how to move into a new year. There is no cost for this event. Please contact me if you are interested in attending (or have questions regarding) this very valuable time.

Several of you received my Christmas letter via snail mail, but for those of you who haven’t, I hope that these thoughtful words will draw you nearer to the Wonderful Counselor.

I often struggle to know what’s best. You, too? I tend to settle for what is merely good. But Father God wants the best for each of us, and He is willing, waiting, and ready to offer the counsel we need.

These are some things for which I need His counsel:

• How do I manage my time, giving allowance for margin and rest?
• How do I parent my children (including adult children) in the way that suits them best?
• How do I intentionally leave a legacy with my grandchildren?
• How should I steward the finances God has given me?
• How can I use my home and belongings to serve others?
• Which life-giving rhythms are missing from my life, and how can I incorporate them into my schedule?
• What does my body need in order to become healthier and maintain health?
• How can I delete repetitive mental narratives that drain life from me, and retrain my thought patterns?
• What steps do I need to take to heal from my wounded heart?
• How do I navigate the present political climate with grace and peace?

Can you relate to these? To know the difference between what is good and what is best, we need a counselor … a Wonderful Counselor who will:

• listen attentively
• respond with wisdom
• provide insight and understanding
• outline practical steps
• encourage us with hope
• walk through the process With Us

A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And He will be our Ruler. He will be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

— Isaiah 9:6 (Good News Translation)

Wonder-ful

I wonder about the word “wonder”. The Oxford dictionary defines “wonder” as a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. The Hebrew definition indicates miracles. Wonder-full = to be full of anticipation for the miraculous to happen! The result of this kind of expectancy defies explanation.

When we heed Jesus’ wonderful counsel, we can expect that unexplainable miracles of the heart will occur! The magnitude and glory of what He has done and what He wants to do fill us with wonder.

Do you know what sweet counsel is? You have gone to your Master in the day of trouble … and you have poured out your heart before Him. You have laid your case before Him, with all its difficulties … and you have felt, that though Christ was not there in flesh and blood, yet He was there in Spirit, and He counseled you. You felt that His was counsel that came from the very heart. But He was something better than that. There was such a sweetness coming with His counsel, such a radiance of love, such a fullness of fellowship … all at the same time.

— Charles Spurgeon

Jesus’ counsel causes us to wonder at His wisdom. Jesus’ counsel causes us to reverence His God-ness and His goodness.

This Christmas season, may you worship the Wonderful Counselor with Silent Wonder, Radical Amazement, and Affectionate Awe. (Brennan Manning)

May you seek His perfect counsel; may you trust His perfect heart.

Merry Christmas, Mary Jean :)

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Ways to partner: Give online at getthewordout.cc/give · Venmo: @Mary Jean Powers / Get the Word Out · By check: Get the Word Out, 4210 Vulcan Creek Dr. Unit 208, Loveland, CO 80538.