~Daily Devotion 14th~

The Fourth Attack on the Church

The Spirit of Pseudo-Counseling

Written By: Fuchsia Pickett

From The Book: The Spirit-Led Reader

The Next Move Of God

Friends I know this is a long devotion. But please at lest scroll down and read the section that says, "God Forget". God has actually shown me something new tonight as I did this devotion.

Also, this teaching does not say, that you should not seek counsel if needed. It says, "make sure you seek a true counselor one who knows the Counselor--our Lord Jesus--and who is guided by the Holy Spirit. A counselor who knows the Word of God, functions in the spiritual gifts of knowledge and wisdom, and follows the direction of the Holy Spirit will give sound counsel."

A fourth attack against the church came i the form of a pseudo-counseling spirit. this spirit has invaded the church from the secular world and is the most detrimental force I have ever seen claim to be Christian. Raising its head in many of our charismatic churches, as well as in other denominations, it is a humanistic counseling approach for what is called post-traumatic memory syndrome. I have personally witnessed the tragic results of this form of counseling, watching it wreck homes, destroy family relationships, and split churches.

I believe in spiritual counseling. I believe God places people in churches to counsel. A true counselor is one who knows the Counselor--our Lord Jesus--and who is guided by the Holy Spirit. A counselor who knows the Word of God, functions in the spiritual gifts of knowledge and wisdom, and follows the direction of the Holy Spirit will give sound counsel. Any other source of counsel should not be trusted.

Counseling for post-traumatic memory syndrome has found its way into the church counseling chamber. I have personally talked with pastors and other people who have been victims of this counseling approach, often perpetrated upon them by unqualified counselors.

Using this approach, someone sitting under the banner of "Christian counselor" suggest false ideas and accusations to the person they are counseling regarding something someone has done to them in the past. These accusations later work on that person's power of recall until he (or she) "remember" the past negative circumstance the counselor suggested, believing it is coming from his own memory. It is projected to the counselee's memory initially by the counselor, then retrieved from the counselee as fact.

The negative circumstance in his memory is then blamed for his present emotional problems. The counselee is instructed to face his offender, telling that person how the remembered offense has damaged his psyche and caused his present unhappy emotional state.

I understand that there has been child abuse, molestation, and other evil perpetrated on the young. But I believe this type of counseling is not the answer to help someone cope with those past problems, real or imagined.

When I went to prayer and asked my Father about this extreme counseling approach, He gave me one sentence that satisfied by spirit. He said, "My daughter, if Calvary--the death of My son--satisfied the heart of God regarding sin, why will it not satisfy the mind of man?"

The power of Jesus' blood is just as real today as it was the day He died. He is the only One who can transform us and heal us from the negative consequences of our sinful nature and past hurts. If the efficacious, vicarious, mediatorial, substitutionary work of Calvary is not enough to redeem us from our sins and heal our psyches, we have no other remedy.

These Christian pseudo-counselors say by their actions that the blood of Calvary isn't the whole answer for redemption. They believe the church does not offer what we need for complete spiritual healing. Though psychology has discovered some principles that can be helpful in understanding problems, my concern is when psychological counseling discovers the problem but denies the remedy found only in Christ. The psyche cannot restore itself. The Scriptures declare that God gives a sound mind, a supernatural work of redemption. Those who defend this extreme form of counseling insist their spiritual counseling can take a person back into the womb or to a childhood, experience that is having an emotional effect on that person today. Yet, if they fail to bring that person to the cross of Christ, they are powerless to effect healing in that life.

I know a woman who suffered greatly at the hands of such a counselor. Her counselor said her emotional problems were caused by her father, who has molested her when she was too young to remember. My friend ha=d a godly father who could not have conceived of such wickedness against his daughter. Yet, believing the counselor's conclusion, this woman went to her father's home to "resolved" this offense.

When she told her godly father that she had discovered his molestation of her as a child, he stared at her in disbelief. Shortly after her announcement to him of his "offense," he dropped dead. The shock of such a wicked accusation coming from his daughter had killed him.

That is only one illustration of the destruction this ungodly counseling spirit has caused. Where counseling for post-traumatic memory syndrome has been practice in churches, it has created divisions and resulted in church splits. I know of a church in Dallas, one of the best churches in this country, where three hundred people walked out as a result of being deceived by this pseudo-counseling. Church leaders taught that the blood of Christ and the cross were not sufficient to cleanse sins of the past.

I attended a recent conference of pastors and leaders who spent hours sharing the damage tis pseudo-counseling spirit had done in their churches. The whole premise for this type of counseling is rooted in the humanistic philosophy that mankind is basically good--it is the bad things that happen to us that make us miserable. Psychologist have done their best to get us to esteem, love, and honor ourselves. The result of this humanistic teaching is a "self" heresy. It has created a doctrine in the church today that is elevating self.

Christians who offer counseling for post-traumatic memory syndrome reject the doctrine of sanctification, which teaches us to bring our self-life to the cross and exchange it for the life of Christ. In this way, they exchange the cross of Christ for the "couch.:

Jesus taught us that if we want to follow Him, we must deny self and take up our cross (Matthew 16:24). The Scriptures clearly teach us to exchange our self-life with its carnal thinking, warped emotions, and rebellious wills for the new life we find in Christ. We are to take Deliverance from the sinful self-life will come by choosing the cross. Just listening to counsel--even godly counsel-- won't do it.

It is true that we are to love ourselves, for Jesus taught us to live our neighbors as we love ourselves. But self-absorption--the inevitable result of "self" heresy--keeps us from loving our neighbors. To love ourselves in a godly sense means we will place our carnal self-life on the cross of Calvary. WE will seek help from Christians who minister to us through the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We will find deliverance from our sinfulness thought the blood of Jesus. As the Christ-life flows through us it will set us free to love others.

Calvary settles it all. We don't have to go around with bandages on our minds or emotions for fifteen years after we are saved. Children wear bandages to get attention. I believe some immature Christians look for someone else who will agree with their complaint because they think the church doesn't give them enough attention or meet their needs. They are not serious about bringing their need to the cross to find deliverance. Such immature conduct makes them vulnerable targets for the pseudo-counselor.

As we mature in God we will discover that our own needs for attention are met as we learn to meet the needs of others. Growing up in Christ will keep us fro being victims of the pseudo-counselor's false pity, which brings destruction rather than healing to our souls.

As I knelt one night by a little girl who was repenting of her sins and receiving Jesus as her Savior, I said, "Honey, your sins have just been forgiven. Never again will God ever member your sins."

"Daughter," I heard my Father say, "when did the devil become omniscient? How does the devil know what I can't remember? If I forgot it, what makes you thin his memory exceeds Mine?" As I listened He continued firmly, "Furthermore,how can he put his hands beneath the precious blood of Jesus? I put the sins of a repentant sinner under the blood, blotting them out forever. The devil cannot touch them--you are in error!"

Too often we talk about what we used to do and discuss the past of others. By doing this we inform the devil, giving him a weapon to hurl at us--the memory of our sins. By God's grace we can push the 'Delete Memory" button and replace the past with Paul's admonition:

"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:*8)

(John 16:13) "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own imitative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."

There is a Comforter--a divine Helper, the blessed Holy Spirit--who speaks healing to our past in a moment. It doesn't take Him ten sessions to dig up our past. By yielding to His supernatural worked of cleansing, we will be truly delivered, set free to love and serve God.

Do not be deceived by the pseudo-counseling spirit. As we yield to the Holy Spirit's work of redemption and to the ministry of a godly counselor when needed, we will find the healing and restoration we need to serve effectively in the body of Christ.