spiritual
discernment have you ever heard anyone
say something along the lines of I sense
the presence of God in here or something
about him is just off something about
her being here made me feel
uncomfortable maybe even the phrase
something about it just doesn't sit well
with
me perhaps you're familiar with these
phrases or phrases similar to them they
all speak to some kind of ability to
discern things that are unseen things
that are unspoken and generally hidden
there are numerous stories about people
who felt led to go to such and such a
place at such and such a time and they
met somebody that needed help or a kind
word they would later recognize that to
be a Divine
appointment if we follow the
promotingsmoothmusic
[Music]
there was a British evangelist who lived
and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ
in the late 1800s and early
1900s and in a book written by George
Stormont called Wigglesworth a man who
walked with God there are some amazing
stories of how God worked wonders
through this
man I'd like to read a short excerpt
from this book and I pray that it will
minister to your
hearts one day God spoke to Wigglesworth
telling telling him to go to a certain
spot by the side of a street in Bradford
and wait for a man he would
send after waiting an hour and a half he
was on the point of leaving when he saw
approaching him a man driving a horse
and carriage this is the man prompted
the Holy Spirit Wigglesworth jumped up
and sat on the seat by the side of the
driver he was ordered off but stayed put
lovingly earnestly patiently God ser V
Smith Wigglesworth spoke to the driver
about his need of Jesus before they
arrived at his destination the man
yielded to the savior's
claim very shortly after that news came
that the man had suddenly been taken ill
and died and with the news came a
message that he had died trusting in the
Lord now in this short story some people
would highlight the fact that Smith
Wigglesworth was really a man who was
mightily used by God others would pick
up on the importance of obeying God when
he speaks to you because you never know
whose life you could end up
impacting however I believe that the
bigger picture in this is isn't God so
good is he not so wonderful and
loving and I say this because God LED
Smith Wigglesworth to minister to this
man shortly before he passed
away God in his love offered this man
one more opportunity to hear about the
Gospel of Jesus Christ God in his Mercy
afforded this man another opportunity to
make a decision concerning his eternal
destination so for me this story wasn't
all about being obedient to God's voice
or how God could use any one of us to
touch the lives of someone else but
instead for me this story about God's
love for a person who was lost and
heading for Eternal
damnation the dictionary definition of
discernment is simply the ability to
judge well a secondary definition
relates to spirituality and it says
perception in the absence of judgment
with a view to obtaining spiritual
guidance and understanding in other
words spiritual discernment is the
ability to see hear and understand
spiritual things that are not readily
seen heard or
understood now it's important for us to
establish what discernment is not
discernment is not intuition it's not
your gut feeling it's not a superpower
it's a spiritual gift given to Believers
for Spiritual
purposes spiritual discernment is
something provided by the spirit of God
to lead and guide you to his will it's
an intentional process by God to bring
us into cooperation with his plan for
our lives Paul in the Bible in 1
Corinthians 2:13 speaks concerning
spiritual discernment and the Bible
reads these things we also speak not in
Words which man's Wisdom teaches but
which the Holy Spirit teaches comparing
spiritual things with spiritual but the
natural man does not receive the things
of the spirit of God for they are
foolishness to him nor can he know them
because they are spiritually discerned
one important distinction in this verse
is that spiritual discernment is
intricately tied to the Holy Spirit
discernment comes from the spirit of God
it's not something that comes from being
a good judge of character it's not
something that comes from oneself it
comes from God
it's a spiritual gift just as the word
of God also says in 1 Corinthians 12:10
that to another the working of Miracles
to another prophecy to another
Discerning of spirits to another
different kinds of tongues to another
the interpretation of
tongues God gives us the ability through
the Holy Spirit to discern between
various spirits and forces in this world
at the heart of spiritual discern
discernment is spiritual warfare because
we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood but against the rulers against the
authorities against the cosmic Powers
over this present Darkness against the
spiritual forces of evil in Heavenly
places whether you believe it or not
there are spiritual forces at work
behind the scenes that we cannot
see there are forces of light and
darkness that are out there seeking to
influence the human heart for or against
God the gift of spiritual discernment
then allows the believer to discern when
there are spiritual forces at work in
the course of daily life I need you to
get that the gift of spiritual
discernment allows you to discern to
identify when when there are spiritual
forces at work good or bad so this means
means you don't walk around Discerning
that the cashier is possessed because
they gave you the wrong change you don't
walk around saying that you feel the
presence of God simply because a gospel
song comes on you are not holier than
thou if you have the gift of
discernment but my point is that
discernment is a wonderful gift and
having a spirit of discernment gives us
a weapon to use against evil forces
because we're not easily deceived we
pick up on things like a preacher saying
God but never the name of Jesus with the
eyes of discernment we look at the
gospel artist releasing a record and see
if how they live their life matches the
content of their song are they singing
Hallelujah keep my heart pure but are
they living in sin with the gift of
discernment we know that if we call on
God in times of Temptation and trial the
devil will have to flee according to
James
4:7 if we are able to open our eyes and
see that our Temptations Are Spiritual
in nature our trials tribulations and
struggles Are Spiritual in nature and
the battle for our minds and Hearts Are
Spiritual in nature then through the
power of the Holy Spirit we will be able
to resist those spiritual
forces I believe another term for
discernment is spiritual insight
you are in sight off the spiritual you
are considering what type of atmosphere
is being created by this movie by this
show or by this game is it one that
creates a feeling of excitement through
fear you consider the implication of
certain objects you bring in your home
what is the meaning of that souvenir or
gift from a friend and I'm not talking
about some innocent things like bugs or
scarves I'm talking about specific
objects that are unique to a specific
region spiritual Insight will have you
asking the question like where did that
thing come from what does it mean is it
a ritualistic object and so forth
however discernment isn't only for the
supernatural or the gifted every
believer should have a measure of the
Holy Spirit to help them discern
decision
and choices in everyday life when we are
thinking and acting according to the
spirit we are lining ourselves up with
God's will for our lives this can
obviously have implications for major
life decisions like who to marry what
house to buy or what career to choose
but it can also have an impact on
mundane daily decisions like what to
wear today or where to go to lunch for
people that are in tune with the
spirit's leadings they may find
themselves led to Divine appointments
and what I mean by that is you just so
happen to be in the right place at the
right time you miss that bus Which just
so happened to crash that day you were
off sick on the day that something
serious happens at your workplace or you
take a wrong turn and walk straight into
people who God wanted you to meet so you
can provide them with a word of
encouragement or they can bless you in
some way now why is spiritual
discernment so
important would any of us be worse off
if no one had it the holy spirit gives
it as a gift to Believers for a reason
but what is that
reason one reason is that there are
forces and powers in the world that are
beyond our line of natural
sight spiritual discernment brings us in
tune with those forces and helps us to
navigate them if we are not in tune with
God's spirit how do we expect to be in
line with God's
will it is discernment through the holy
spirit that allows us to follow God in a
way that we
should the holy spirit opens our eyes to
the truth of the spiritual realities in
every decision in our
lives God is not out there disconnected
and unconcerned about our lives if we
are willing to listen and open ourselves
up to the Holy Spirit then we will
discover that God has interest in the
ordinary and mundane of Our
Lives we will be able to discern God's
will in every aspect of Our Lives
spiritual discernment is an important
part of the believer's experience it's
important to help us to discern the
spiritual forces around us in this world
to discern God's will for our lives and
to help us follow that will each and
every one of us should pray for the gift
of discernment so that we are in line
with the will of
God several times in scripture men and
women of God are led to do something or
to go somewhere because of their
discernment of the will of God God has
not stopped speaking
today God is still speaking leading
calling us to go and to do for him
it is our task to ask the holy spirit
for the ability to hear and to
follow things are changing in this world
and we need the Holy Spirit to enable us
to see
clearly there are two Spirits in
operation in this world the spirit of
truth and the spirit of
eror 1 John 4:6 says we are from God
whoever knows God listens to us whoever
is not from God does not listen to us by
this we know the spirit of truth and the
spirit of
error so we absolutely need to pray for
discernment and perhaps if I put it this
way my message will really seep into
your
heart the devil has been deceiving
people for thousands of years meaning
that he has has
experience he has the
knowhow he has been working to deceive
the children of God since Adam and Eve I
say this not to praise him in any way
but instead I'm saying this so that you
might be realistic and recognize that if
you try and stand on your own you will
fall if you try and fight the devil's
deception on your own you will
fail we need
Jesus we need to be filled with his word
and we most definitely need an
outpouring of the holy spirit so that we
can have this discernment that I'm
talking
about Saints we need spiritual
discernment as a people who are called
to be separate from the evil of this
world we need to always have Jesus
Christ at the center of our hearts we
need him at the center of our minds and
forever on our
lips walk with discernment
Saints there's no doubt that we live in
a time in which it's very difficult to
know whether what we face in day-to-day
circumstances is just life happening or
if it's something Beyond this world that
we need to address as spiritual
warfare without the discernment of God
working in our lives we have absolutely
no no hope of recognizing the difference
between just life and the spiritual
attack of the enemy of our
soul the Bible teaches us that the Devil
comes to steal to kill to destroy but
Jesus came to give us an Abundant
Life the word also tells us to be sober
minded Be watchful your adversary the
devil prows around like a roaring lion
seeking someone to
devour but James 47 said submit
yourselves therefore to God resist the
devil and he will flee from you in every
area of Our Lives that the enemy may try
and attack us
spiritually God has made a way of
Escape but it does take discernment to
know the difference between just life
and spiritual
battles the carnal man has no hope of
knowing the difference but the person
who walks with God will be given what he
needs to both see the battle and win the
battle because he is victorious in Jesus
Christ we cannot receive the things of
God without spiritual discernment and we
cannot have spiritual discernment if we
are living as a natural man giving into
the desires of our carnal
flesh the writers of Hebrews in chapter
5:14 eloquently stated but solid food
belongs to those who are of full age
that is those who by reason of use have
their senses exercised to discern both
good and
evil in other words it takes a lot of
practice to become mature but it takes
maturity to be able to discern good from
Evil there are many other questions that
can be addressed to help us understand
whether we are living in a carnal state
or a spiritual one do we love God and
people more than we love
ourselves do we seek pleasure more than
we seek God are we content with where we
are and with what we have or do we
always want
more are we always willing to forgive
other people when they do things that
hurt us do we spend time with God in
prayer for others even those we believe
to be our
enemies the truth is that we must first
make sure we are living a life of
spiritual maturity denying our carnal
nature in his letter to the Philippians
the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians
chapter 2: 3- 4 do nothing from selfish
ambition or conceit
but in humility count others more
significant than
yourselves Let each of you look not only
to his own interests but also to the
interests of
others carnally minded people seem to
always be more troubled about the issues
they have rather than the problems or
circumstances of other
people spiritually minded people
understand that when they help the
people around them through their
difficulties God will always make a way
to get through the complications that
arise in their own personal
lives in order to protect your spirit in
order to protect your salvation and even
your peace of mind you and I need the
spirit of
discernment we need guidance from the
Holy Spirit on how to navigate this life
while protecting our faith our joy our
mind State even
everyone you come across is not good for
you they may smile at you but not
everyone has your best interests at
heart there are some people who come to
only take your peace there are other
people who are sent by the devil so that
they can drain you of your joy and leave
you tired and
discouraged some are sent to distract
you so we need the guidance of the Holy
Spirit when it comes to the people we
should allow in our lives we need
discernment when it comes to those we
allow close to us even when it comes to
the types of atmosphere we
enter spiritual discernment is something
provided by the spirit of God to lead
and guide you to his will it is an
intentional process by God that allows
us to filter the deception of the devil
and the truth of God
1 John
4:1 beloved do not believe every Spirit
but test the spirits whether they are of
God because many false prophets have
gone out into the
world this is
discernment with the guidance of the
Holy Spirit you can tell who is really
speaking from God's word and who is
speaking from a place of Doctrine mixed
with
deception and I believe saints that we
need the Holy Spirit to speak and tug at
our hearts my prayer is that the Holy
Spirit would open my eyes to every
hidden stronghold in my life and within
my family may he shine a light on every
corner that the enemy is hiding with the
aim to take me down