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
i am increasingly finding
that the lines are being blurred more
and more
there are too many things being
presented as good
when they are in fact evil
there are too many people who have a
godly appearance
but their intentions couldn't be further
from god
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
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
here's an exercise to do
take a moment
be honest
and think about everything
that stands against god's word
look at how the things of the devil are
being normalized today by society
by entertainment by music
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witchcraft
is being normalized in today's society
as though the bible doesn't say come out
from among them and be separate says the
lord
do not touch what is unclean
and i will receive you
look at how fornication and adultery is
being normalized
as though the bible doesn't say
god will judge the sexually immoral and
adulterous
just
really take a step back
look at what is being normalized today
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is god's idea of marriage reflected in
entertainment today
is god's idea of living faithfully
loving your neighbor keeping your heart
with all diligence
is that being reflected in the world
today
paul in the bible in 1st corinthians 2
verse 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 first corinthians 12
verse 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 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
saints
pray
for discernment
pray for discernment because these lines
are not just being blurred outside of
church
but in the church too
how many people are wearing the label of
christianity
but they aren't living a life
dedicated to jesus christ
how many preachers are standing behind a
microphone and saying everything but
the name of jesus christ
first john chapter 4 verse 1 says
beloved
do not believe every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they
are from god
for many false prophets have gone out
into the world
that's why we need discernment
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 the era
first john chapter 4 verse 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 era
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 experience
he has the know-how
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
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you