Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Gift of Discernment

“God's Spirit has shown you everything.  His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God.  You are the only one who knows what is in your own mind, and God's Spirit is the only one who knows what is in God's mind.   But God has given us his Spirit. That's why we don't think the same way that the people of this world think. That's also why we can recognize the blessings that God has given us.

Every word we speak was taught to us by God's Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people.” I Cor. 2:10-13 CEV



Christians operating with the gift of discernment will know error and evil when confronted with it.   To do something about it takes courage!

You will become a “whistle-blower” against Satan and he’s not going to like that!   He does not like to be exposed when deceiving others with fraud, con artist, charm and counterfeit miracles.

Christians with the spirit of discernment are not very popular with the ones who are in the wrong.   There will be temptations to step back, perhaps lay low and “let sleeping dogs lie”.   The trouble with that is the dog is NOT sleeping, and unless evil is stopped when it starts, it has a way of spreading.

Discernment is a course-changer.   Things may seem to be going well and all seems right and then enters the person with the gift of discernment.    They say, “Something is wrong…  It smells bad…  It doesn’t feel right…  It’s wrong because….”  There is a certain authority that comes with this gift that makes the bearer of the gift better able to stop the ‘wrong’.  Then others can step in and re-evaluate.

Anyone with this gift has to walk a fine line.   They are compelled to expose heresy, false doctrine and counterfeit work of Satan.   This must be done in a spirit of love.

Have you felt a special responsibility to protect the truth of God’s Word by exposing that which is wrong?

Has your sense that a person’s teaching was from God, Satan or man’s flesh been confirmed as correct?

Are you usually aware of people who pretend to be someone they are not?

Someone who is gifted in discernment can find where evil lurks in good things and where the Holy Spirit is working when things are going wrong.

“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.   For there are many false prophets in the world.   This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God.   But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God.  Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.”    I John 4:1-3  NLT

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