Was Creating Emotions God's Big Mistake?

Why wouldn’t I feel bad when life is so full of trouble?

How Would Your Feelings Change if You Saw the Hand of God in Every Situation?

“I tried to understand but it was painful, until I….” (Psalm 73:16-17) Until you did what? I need to know, because I have this pain in my heart and I don’t know how to get rid of it. Asaph the psalmist knew how to have his emotional and mental pain resolved. It was simple. It was easy. It is a step I can take every day, and my emotional and mental pain can also be healed by the Wonderful Counselor!

Watch Mark Virkler's one-minute introduction to this message.

Why I stopped trying to be my own therapist Asaph was in a downward spiral. He had tried to obey the Lord and what had he gotten for his troubles? A chance to watch the wicked grow fat and rich and happy while he got nothing but misfortune and suffering. It was frustrating, depressing and taking a toll on his faith. He was becoming envious, angry and bitter, questioning why he even tried to stay pure and whether God really cared about him at all. And the more he thought about it all, the more he tried to think himself out of his funk, the deeper into it he went (Ps. 73). Sound familiar? Fortunately, Asaph knew he wasn’t the best person to counsel himself. He knew that his own observations and conclusions were hopelessly inadequate for true understanding and healing. And he knew where to go for a better perspective – a perspective that would overcome his negative emotions, heal his heart and put a song of praise and thanksgiving in his mouth instead of complaints: “It was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God…With Your counsel You will guide me…” Asaph knew enough to stop trying to counsel himself and seek out the Wonderful Counselor.   I won't be convinced that it's all going to be okay Are you ready to stop trying to “counsel” yourself, to talk yourself out of whatever painful emotion is eating away at your heart? Are you ready to admit that logic and reasoning are never going to take away your depression? Are you ready to give the Wonderful Counselor a chance to finally replace the negativity and darkness in your spirit with joy and light? I have stepped from self-counseling to heavenly counseling, not only for myself, but whenever I counsel others. Can anything beat direct counseling from My loving Heavenly Father? How could I possibly improve on that? When we step from self-counsel to heavenly-counsel we enter into peace. With all the troubles in the world surrounding us, you can live in faith, hope and love, and I will teach you how. God has changed me and I will explain step by step how He did it. And yes, it will work for you too. This new counseling approach takes practice. Why not practice receiving wonderful counsel? Life becomes richer, easier, more fun and more fulfilling.   Listen in on some sessions with my Wonderful Counselor The Lord spoke to me: Let’s laugh as we do this. People like to laugh. You are calling them to laughter. Laughter heals the heart. A merry heart does good like medicine. Have you taken your medicine yet this morning? It should be taken three times a day. So make sure you get your three belly laughs in each day, for without them, you could get sick. (Prov. 15:13; 17:22)   Laughter is at the heart of the gospel  It’s all about living in the mindset of faith, hope and love, and that sure can’t be done without laughter. Laughter heals. Anger destroys. Laughter sets one free, fear entraps. Laughter lets you experience joy and hope for your future. Hopelessness brings the darkness of gloom into your heart. So laughter is surely at the heart of the gospel. It produces the heart realities I spoke of: faith, hope and love. These three abide forever. They will never perish. They are the fuel upon which you are designed to run. (1 Cor. 13:13) Only true laughter comes from above Come laugh with Me. For apart from Me there is NO TRUE LAUGHTER. There is the laughter of this world which is weak and fake and transient. It is not of Me. It is not from the heart. It is not based on eternal things. It is shallow, fleeting, and temporal. It is not of Me and it does not heal the heart. So come, laugh with Me saith the Lord of Hosts. (Ps. 2:4; Eccl. 3:4) God sits in heaven, laughing I sit on my throne in heaven and I laugh. I laugh at the foolishness of foolish men. I laugh at the devices of evil men who think they will remove Me from their midst. Have they accomplished that yet? They have been trying for thousands of years, and have they succeeded? No! And again I say unto you no! They have not. More people are alive today who believe in Me and My heaven and My miracles than ever before in the history of My world. So have they won? Have they succeeded? Have they accomplished their goal of ridding society and their lives from My presence? NO, and again I say NO! They have not, and they WILL NOT! (Ps. 2:4; Isa. 9:7)   Who is worried about the wicked? So do not fret yourself about evil doers for they shall not succeed. They shall not prevail for they are fighting against the Most High God. They are fighting against Me. Do you think mere man has a chance to win over his Creator and his Sustainer? No, I think not, saith the Lord of Hosts. For I give them the very breath they breathe. I fill their hearts and minds with fear or with faith. I confuse them or give them clarity of thought. I raise up their enemies against them or I grant them peace on all sides. How can this kind of a God lose any battle with mankind? He cannot. I will not lose. So fret not yourself because of evil doers. (Ps. 37:1; Prov. 16:7; Isa. 13:17)   Who is inadequate? And you feel you are so small and inadequate, that you cannot accomplish that which I have called you to do. Well, of course you can’t in yourself, but since it is MY destiny which I have called you into, it will be accomplished through the strength of MY Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. It will not be accomplished through the puny efforts of man. It will be accomplished by the strength of the Lord of Hosts. I will prevail! I will equip! I will accomplish! I will conquer! It will be My victory in and through you, saith the Lord of Hosts. So trust in Me and do not look to your own devices. I will supernaturally prepare a path for you to walk on. It will be the work of My hand so that no man can take the glory. (Phil. 4:19 Jn. 6:63)

God loves our weakness I use the weak things of this earth to confound the wise. So do not be wise in your own conceits. Be wise in the strength of the Lord. Learn of Me and My ways, so that in your weakness, you may be made strong. Know that by the power of MY strength the battle is won, the victory is received, the gift is given. It is not of man, least any man should boast. (Ps. 71:16; 1 Cor. 1:27; 2 Cor. 12:9-11)   Short arms? So boast in the Lord and in the strength of His right arm. Because His arm is not so short that it cannot save. His hand is not so weak that it cannot deliver. Make sure your sins do not block My strength from flowing, for then you will have wisdom and then you will experience success (Gal. 6:14). Behold I have spoken. Behold it is to be done. Yes, Lord! How was that for wonderful counsel? Do you feel better? I know I do! You just received wonderful counsel from the Wonderful Counselor Himself. For another powerful example of receiving direct revelation on the surprising role laughter can play in spiritual warfare, check out this blog post by my daughter Charity!

A short, easy read that will change your life Counseled by God breezes you through numerous Bible stories, inspiring you to receive wonderful counsel by hearing God’s voice through two-way journaling. Your life can be successful. You can send the gloom and night fleeing from you and behold the Morning Star arising (2 Pet. 1:19). Experience the fullness of His glory enlightening your heart and banishing all darkness away.   Stop wondering “How does God see this situation?” You can know the answer! His light will flood your heart and mind as His perspective guides you. No longer a slave to the news or to satan’s darkened thoughts of how bad everything is. My King of Glory has come! I see His light. I bask in the warmth of His love. I celebrate His kingdom here and now.   Experience the kingdom His kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). You can have these. These are gifts from Him in the midst of a troubled world. You can be set free. Every thought can be taken captive to your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Prayer of thanksgiving: Thank You, Lord, for counseling my heart. I am free. Those whom the Son sets free are free indeed! Once again, You have set me free.

Practical, Outrageous and Worth $1,000,000

“The course, 'Pure in Heart' (former title of 'Counseled by God') is worth a million dollars to me. It moved the issues of life from the theoretical and theological right down into the heart. In the second chapter Mark made this outrageous statement that every accusative thought is of the Accuser, and every positive, life-giving, up-building thought is from the Holy Spirit, the giver of life. I realized that 80 percent of my own thinking was negative. It so smote me in my heart. I prayed, 'God, this is completely unacceptable - completely! I cannot go through my life with 80 percent of my mind yielded to the enemy, to the Accuser!' ... I remember responding, 'Oh, God, You know I need You to help me with this one, I need You to give me a jab every time my mind starts to be negative and critical about people because I don't want to do this, Lord.' I knew I didn't have the resources and the self-discipline to get on top of it. I was afraid to promise Him that I would stop. I needed a miracle that would transform my heart and thinking, so my thoughts could be positive and life-giving.”

Dr. John Arnott, a CLU graduate
Founding Pastor of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
(from "The Importance of Forgiveness" pages 7,8)