From His Heart

Speaker 1

Do you need a counselor? Well, guess what? The Wonderful Counselor is here today on From His Heart.

Speaker 2

Do you ever feel like you're going a little crazy? You can get so overwhelmed with issues and situations and problems and pressures, especially around Christmas time, that you can feel like you are losing it.

And so we just live lives of quiet desperation. Oh, if there were just a counselor, someone that we could go to that would understand, someone who could really help us.

There is. He's the Wonderful Counselor and he wants to help you and help me.

Speaker 1

What does the name Wonderful Counselor tell us about Jesus? Well, you'll be encouraged by today's message of hope as Pastor Jeff Shreve reveals the heart of Jesus and how he can work miracles in your life when you bring your problems to him. This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, and today's lesson is entitled "The Wonderful Counselor is Here." It is from Pastor Jeff's timely series for this holiday time called "What a Beautiful Name: Isaiah's Description of the Promised Messiah."

In this series, Pastor Jeff is going to explore the beautiful names of Jesus and how he can change your heart and bring peace to your life. Pastor Jeff has also contributed to the writing of a beautifully moving daily devotional book for next year. It's called "The Heart is God's Home." It's our thanks for your crucial gift of support this month to From His Heart, a vital end-of-the-year gift as we hope to reach oh so many more this coming year.

You can get your copy when you make your gift today by calling 866-40-BIBLE or going online to promiseheart.org. More on the book later. Now, though, open your Bible to the book of Isaiah, Chapter 9. Here's Pastor Jeff to begin the series, Isaiah's description of the Promised Messiah, and the first message: "The Wonderful Counselor is Here."

Speaker 2

Isaiah the prophet began his ministry around 740 B.C. and had a long ministry of over 50 years. In his writing in Isaiah chapter 9, he gives us some names. The Lord has lots of names, and he provides us with some names concerning this one who will come. Isaiah 9:6 states, "For a child will be born to us." We celebrate the child being born and talk about the nativity scene, the infant story. A child will be born to us. A son will be given to us. That's the infinite sacrifice. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, and the government will rest on his shoulders. His name will be called and will be proclaimed: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The very first name he gives us is the name Wonderful Counselor. Not just any counselor, but the wonderful Counselor, the counselor who works wonders, the counselor who works miracles. I heard about a man who went to see a high-priced counselor. He was a psychologist. He went into his office, and they exchanged pleasantries. The psychologist asked, "Well, how can I help you?" The man replied, "Well, I don't think you can help me. I've been to psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, and counselors from the east coast to the west coast. They all tell me the same thing: I can't be helped because I'm crazy."

The doctor said, "Well, tell me your story." So the man began to tell his story. The psychologist had his pad and was listening intently, taking notes. About 20 minutes into it, the man got up and said, "I'm leaving. You're incompetent. You don't know what you're doing. You can't help me at all. I'm leaving." The doctor was taken aback and said, "Hey, wait a minute. You said I'm incompetent. I don't understand this."

The man explained, "Let me tell you why I said that. I've been in your office now for 20 minutes. I'm wearing two watches on my wrists. They're two identical watches, one on my left hand and one on my right hand. As I've been talking to you, I've been gesturing and raising my hands. Not one time have you said anything about me wearing two watches. I would figure even a novice would know that you need to say something to somebody if they're wearing two watches. You didn't say anything. You're supposed to be a trained professional; therefore, you're incompetent. I want my money back. I'm leaving."

The doctor responded, "Well, hold on. Time out, time out." He said, "I've been taking notes. I want you to read what is on the top of my notepad." He handed it to the man, who read it and saw that it said, "Patient is wearing two watches."

Speaker 2

And he said, see, I knew as soon as you got in here that you were wearing two watches.

And he said, and furthermore, I know why you're wearing two watches.

And at that, the guy got excited. He said, really, I've been to all these doctors. You can tell me why. Why am I wearing two watches?

He said, well, it's because you're crazy. You told me that when you first came in here.

Speaker 2

Do you ever feel like you're going a little crazy? I mean, we live in a crazy world. Our world is so crazy we can't figure out the difference between a boy and a girl. That's how crazy our world is. But in life, you can get so overwhelmed with issues and situations and problems and pressures, especially around Christmas time, that you can feel like you are losing it. You are just being spread so thin. And you can get worried and bothered and stressed about so many things. If you're not careful, you can get down and depressed about your life, about your failures and faults and financial condition.

It was Henry David Thoreau, the 19th-century author, poet, and philosopher, who said this: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." The mass of men, and especially men, especially males. Because we live lives of quiet desperation, we don't feel we're struggling with issues and problems and difficulties and frailties and faults in our own character. We don't feel like we have anyone that we can share them with. And so we just live lives of quiet desperation.

Oh, if there were just a counselor, someone that we could go to that would understand, someone who could really help us. There is a counselor. He's the wonderful counselor. And he is here by his Holy Spirit. He wants to help you and help me.

Now, when Isaiah told us that his name would be called, would be proclaimed, it's not so much that people would see him on the street and say, "Hey, wonderful Counselor." It's not that his name means that; his name proclaims that that's who he is. He is the wonderful counselor. And because Isaiah calls him the wonderful Counselor, there are four wonderful assurances that we glean from the name the wonderful Counselor.

Assurance number one: Jesus is the wonderful counselor, and he knows about our problems. See, you might go to a counselor, and you have to tell him your problems because he doesn't know about your problems. But the wonderful counselor knows all about your problems before you ever open your mouth. Because the eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good.

Speaker 2

When the Lord met Moses at the burning bush, remember he called to him, "Moses, Moses, here I am." He says, "Take your shoes off because the place on which you're standing is holy ground. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And he says to him in Exodus, chapter three, verse seven, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters. For I am aware of their sufferings." They'd been slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. The Lord wasn't indifferent to their plight. The Lord wasn't unaware. He was aware. He knew. And he knew the suffering that they were going through.

And the Lord knows today what you're going through. There might not be another person in your life who really understands what you're going through, but the Lord does. He knows. He's seen it. He's seen your sufferings, your grief, your pain, your sorrow. That's what that word means. Some of you cried yourself to sleep this week. The Lord saw that. He saw every tear. He knows.

But not only does he know as the wonderful counselor, wonderful assurance number two, he cares. He knows and he cares about your problems and your struggles and your trials. First Peter, chapter five tells us this: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares upon him because he cares for you." Casting all your anxiety upon him, all your worries. Why? Because he cares for you. Literally, it matters to him concerning you. And the Lord says, "Not only do I know, but I care. And when you are hurting, I hurt for you."

See, we deal with difficult situations. The Lord knows and the Lord cares. We deal with difficult people at work, or maybe in the neighborhood, or maybe even in your own home, depending on difficult people. The Lord knows and the Lord cares.

And then we deal with every single one of us. We deal with what the King James calls besetting sins. The New American Standard calls it the sins which so easily entangle us. They're different for different people. Many in this room, the sin that so easily entangles you is the sin of lust for others. The sin which so easily entangles you is the sin of insecurity and constantly comparing, and you don't ever match up, and you just feel like you're so less than. For others, it's pride. For others, it's greed. For others, it's bitterness. There's somebody that hurts you and you refuse and can't seem to get past the fact of what they did. And you're carrying this bitterness toward that person.

Well, what do you do with all that? Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15 says this: "We do not have a high priest speaking of Jesus who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin." The Lord sympathizes with our weaknesses, with our faults, with our failings, with those sins which so easily entangle us, which we struggle against and we seem to fail and fail and fail. We get the idea that God just must be so sick of me because I can't ever seem to get a handle on this area or that area. And I keep falling to drugs, to alcohol, to pornography, to this, to that, to the other.

Hey, he sympathizes with our weaknesses. He's been tempted in those areas. He's been tempted to be bitter. He's been tempted to lust. He's been tempted to be greedy. He's been tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. The Bible says in Hebrews 2 that he's able to come because he's been tempted. He's able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. So he knows and he cares.

Speaker 2

And he wants us, thirdly, to come to him with our problems. To come to him.

Hey, I know what you're going through. The wonderful counselor says, I see it and I feel for you in this.

And here's what I want you to do. I want you to come to me and I want you to talk to me about it.

Speaker 2

Truth of the matter is, many of us don't come. James, chapter four, verse two says this: "You have not, because you ask not." You don't come to me. You're dealing with this problem, this difficulty. Maybe it's external, maybe it's in a situation. Maybe it's with a person. Maybe it's internal, something you're struggling with, some sin you're struggling with. But here's the thing: you're not coming to God to help you. You're not coming to the wonderful counselor. And the Lord says, "You have not, because you ask not."

Now, David was a man that the Bible describes as the only man in Scripture who is called "a man after God's own heart." One of the things that made David different from everyone else, as far as that goes, is that he had such a tender heart toward God. He said in Psalm 62, verse 8, "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us." So trust in him. Have confidence in him. Be bold with him. Because he's a refuge, he's a shelter, he's a safe place.

See, when the Lord says, "I want you to come to me," you come to the wonderful counselor. And you know that the wonderful counselor is a safe place. It's safe to share everything with him. Lots of us don't like to share things. We don't like to share things with people. We don't like to share things with him. We definitely don't like to share the sins which so easily entangle us. Why? Because we're ashamed of those things. So we don't want to share those things.

But, hey, David—a man after God's own heart—did some terrible things. He lusted after Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, had sex with her, and then had Uriah the Hittite, her husband, killed because Bathsheba ended up pregnant. David didn't know what to do. Everyone would know that Uriah was out fighting a war, and there was no way he could be the father of this child. It was going to come back on David. So he ended up having Uriah killed. He told the general Joab to put him in the heat of the battle and then withdraw everyone else. That was David—the man after God's own heart. He did those terrible things.

But what did he do with all of that? He brought it to the Lord. He shared it with the Lord—all the ugliness, all the sin, and all the terrible things. He shared that with the Lord. And all throughout the Psalms, when he had things coming at him and people coming at him, what would he do? He'd cry out to the Lord because he knew the Lord was a safe place.

Speaker 2

I've counseled enough people over the years that I know there's a recurring question when they come in. Now, Pastor Jeff, this is confidential, right? I'm getting ready to tell you some things about me, and I'm afraid that this will get out. It's like the old Brett commercial. They told two friends and they told two friends and so on and so on and so on. You know, small towns are known for gossip. And so if somebody's gonna come in and share some deep, dark secrets, they wanna know. This is confidential, right? This is safe. Is it safe for me to share my heart here?

It's safe for you to share with the Lord. He's a safe place. And David shared early and often. It says in First John, chapter 4, verse 18, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves punishment. And the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love because he first loved us." There's no fear in love. When you understand, God loves me. He loves me when I'm doing good. He loves me when I'm doing terrible. He just loves me.

And if I share with him some terrible, horrible thing that I did, or some thoughts that I've had that have been awful, he's not going to stop loving me. Because Romans, chapter 5, verse 8 states, "God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." When we were separated from God, he died for us. How much more, as his own son, his own daughter, will he not love us no matter what?

Speaker 1

So.

Speaker 2

It’s safe to share everything with him. And it's necessary to share everything with him. It's critical to share everything with him. If you want to build a close relationship with the Lord, you have to share with him.

See, sharing creates vulnerability, and vulnerability creates intimacy with God. If you just share surface stuff with God—safe stuff in your mind—you might think, "Well, this is safe. There’s no sin attached to this. There are no bad motives that I have attached to this." So, you might decide to talk to God about these safe things.

In the safe zone in our minds, we think everything is safe, but that’s just a surface-level relationship with God. You have to get down and start sharing some deeper things. When you do, all of a sudden, you deepen your relationship with him.

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Why?

Speaker 2

Because you're sharing secrets with him. You're sharing shattered hopes and shattered dreams and all the pain and all the failure; you're sharing all that with him.

But see, here's what most people do. Guys especially do this. And ladies, this is what we talk about at man up. Ladies tend to be better at sharing than men. Men don't seem to want to share too much because that makes us vulnerable, and we don't like to be vulnerable. And so we typically don't have very many people to share with or anybody to share with.

And that's why Thoreau said the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. No one to talk to about what we're struggling with. And the truth of the matter is, most men are struggling with the same things. And so I think, well, nobody else has this problem. And the guy next to me is thinking, well, nobody else has this problem. The guy next—nobody else has this problem. All three have the same problem if they would just share with one another.

But here's what we try and do. We try and man up, just buck up, bucko. I mean, just pull yourself up by your bootstraps, get a stiff upper lip. You can handle this.

Speaker 2

There was a song that Was written.

Speaker 2

By two guys, they were brothers.

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One of them was named Felix Lloyd Powell. He was from Wales. He was serving as a staff sergeant in the army during World War I. He and his brother wrote a song to encourage the troops. It was called "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile."

And that's how the lyric went: "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile. What's the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile. So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile." What do you do with troubles? Well, you don't have to share 'em; you just pack 'em up. You just put 'em in the knapsack, you just stuff 'em in there, and you just put on a smile, and everything will be fine.

They wrote that song, and it was a huge hit. Soldiers would march to that song. It was deemed one of the most encouraging songs written in that era. That's what Felix Lloyd Powell and his brother wrote in 1915.

You know what happened in 1942? Felix Lloyd Powell.

Speaker 2

Was overwhelmed with problems and financial pressures and he put on his uniform, took a gun and blew his heart out.

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You know what that tells me? There are some things that you can't pack up that I can't pack up, that we can't just stuff away and act like, well, this is no big deal, I can handle this, I'm a big boy, I can do this.

Cause you can't. I can't. No one can. David couldn't. You gotta get that stuff out. If you try and bury those hurts, it's like burying toxic waste. It's gonna leak out and it's gonna poison and it's gonna ruin.

Hey. It's critical to share everything with the Lord.

Speaker 1

This has truly been an important caution against keeping all our hurts to ourselves and not taking them to the Lord. We need to continually be in Christ and beside Him as well to ward off this tendency to try to fight the devil on our own. How do you do that? Well, a chief weapon you can use in that battle is to discipline yourself to have some quiet time with God each and every morning or any time of the day. And that would be a great way to start the new year too.

To help you do that throughout the year, Pastor Jeff participated in the creation of a new 365-day devotional book for 2026. It's called *The Heart is God's Home*. It is a quality keepsake book with a beautiful faux leather cover, and it'll help you sync up your heart with God's heart. When we ask the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts, we'll desire His ways. 1 John chapter 4, verse 4 says, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" to help you draw near to Him. This daily devotional will keep Him first in your heart, in your thoughts, and in your actions.

It's also our thank you gift for your support to From His Heart this month of any amount. This is a crucial time for us financially to get the support we need to be able to go and to grow in 2026. Pastor Jeff is strictly a volunteer for this ministry and receives no income from it. Would you pray and consider a special year-end gift this month? We would so much appreciate it. When you do make that gift, we'll send you the book *The Heart Is God's Home*, a daily devotional that you'll learn to grow by.

Call 866-40-BIBLE to get yours, 866-40-BIBLE, or go online to make a secure gift at fromhisheart.org. God bless you for joining with us in this mission to reach the world for Christ.

I'm Larry Nobles inviting you to join us tomorrow for part two of the message called *The Wonderful Counselor* from Pastor Jeff's series *What a Beautiful Name*. That's on Friday when Pastor Jeff Shreve will share real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart here on From His Heart.

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From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more. Go to fromisheart.org.