“Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to
faultfinding”.-Corrie Ten Boom.
This quote struck a chord in my heart this afternoon
so I had to write. I’m not even finished the blog I was supposed to be writing
lol. This is a lil piece on discernments proper use. The very condensed version
lol.
God’s plan for gifts
was not for us to use them for our selfish benefits. His plan is that we as a
body use our gifts for the Glory of His name, the building of His Church, and the
destruction of the forces of evil. After
one receives the Baptism of the Holy Spirit the working of the gifts from the Holy Spirit should follow.
I believe sometimes even before you receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
some of your gifts are at work just not on a complete level. This is not say that you do not need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. You need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to operate fully. I mean why wouldn't you want His spirit poured our on you and in you. Why limit what God has for you. If you don’t
have the Baptism of Spirit seek God He will give Him freely. My hope is that those who are
reading have already been baptized by the Holy Spirit. My purpose for writing
is to encourage you as a Spirit filled believer to use your gifts properly;
especially discernment/prophecy.
In 1Corinthians 12:8-10
Paul lays out what some of the gifts of the Spirit are
8 For to one is given the word of wisdom
through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same
Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by
the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy,
and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of
tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.Paul reminds us the Gifts
of the Spirit are all from the same Holy Spirit and if they are from the same
spirit they should work in the same Spirit and not against each other. With
the gift of Discernment (distinguishing of spirits)/Prophecy you have to be
careful. I put the two together because you will find they work together. Discernment
is the ability to be able to perceive or see of what spirit a person or thing
is acting under; is it genuine or of false pretense, of God or not of God. 1Thesssalonians 5:21 21But examine everything (use judgment) carefully; hold fast to that which is good. Prophecy is not just telling the
future but being able to proclaim the Word of God from His written word or from
His mouth. You will not always hear an audible voice. He will just use your
voice to speak. Both of these gifts go together.
There are pitfalls with these two gifts because of the flesh. People will use their gift to find
fault, expose an individual, or to glorify themselves. The person may feel the
urge to feel right. When God gives revelation concerning a matter it is not so one can expose and have the upper hand; even
though, sometimes it is for public exposure. There is a difference between making
judgments and condemning. When God gives a word concerning a person’s spirit, disposition,
or whatever one should not automatically jump up and proclaim it or gossip
about it with others. God gives insight to strengthen not to tear down. You
must ask Him what to do with what has been given. He does not always want you
to confront an issue by going to the person and telling them how bad they are
doing or how blessed they are. Most of the time all He wants you to do is pray.
And through prayer He will direct you and guide you through the matter if necessary.
Or maybe He wants you to confront the person but beware of how to approach them;
But he who is spiritual appraises all things…1 Corinthians 2:15.
Consulting someone who is of a mature faith is extremely helpful. God definitely
uses more than one person, at the same time or on different occasions, to speak
His truth.
I have seen instances where God had given a
person insight and their first instinct was to run and tell the person. The person was not ready to receive the Word from God and pretty much told the word barer to shove it. When dealing with people you have to pray about the
matter. Sometimes God answers on the spot and other times He wants to prepare
their heart as He prepares your heart to trust Him to give you the words to say.
Other times the person will not receive it just because of the issues in their
hearts. It could also be these people are not spiritually mature so they will not receive
you and who you are. “I ask that when I am present I need not be
bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some,
who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.”- 2Cornithians 10:2. You do not have
to prove anything to anyone. If they do not receive
what the Lord is saying pray and continue in ministry as instructed.
Praying that God removes a person should only
be done if there is an actual hindrance and that person won’t let go of it. And
if they are a hindrance to ministry don’t worry about it God will remove them.
You should never feel the need to move a person when God reveals something to
you; especially if they are like your pastor or boss lol. This has to be discerned
properly, it is why prayer is soooooo important. In extreme cases there are
issues that have to be dealt with immediately, but the Holy Spirit will let you know what to do in those
cases and how to act upon it immediately. God will also put a person in your
life to see how you will react and to weed out any issues you may have. He
wants you to pray for that person and not against. And like I said He will
remove the hindrance one way or another; just make sure you are not the hindrance.
God does not need our help He chooses to use us for His glory.
If a person has a
mature understanding of their gift it hurts to see others not receive what God
has given you to bless and help them. Prayer will make you able to withstand
the hurt and not dwell on the situation and still pray for the people. That is
why I cannot understand why a prophet would rejoice in the failures of brothers
and sisters in Christ. It’s like really, you’re happy that you were right about
that person’s secret drug habit and happy you kicked this person out of the ministry
(this is hypothetical lol) what did that accomplish? How is the Kingdom God
built up? Our gifts should always be used for God's glory and the building of His Kingdom.
Having the gift of discernment/prophecy
can also be a weakness, especially in relationships. Be prayerful when engaging
in a relationship with opposite sex (really all people) so that you can guard your heart. What you
see for their future may not be where they are at and they could probably do
more damage to you. Yes look at what they will be, but also where they now
spiritually. Are they giving themselves to God or are they just doing whatever.
I just thought I throw that in there. You do not want to be taken advantage of for
your compassion and concern.
Pray pray pray pray
read read read pray fast fast fast pray and read. I cannot say it enough. With
any gifting you must cultivate it through prayer fasting and reading first. In
these last days it is important God’s people have spiritual discernment. Satan is a copycat and is
good at it because he always makes a mockery of the things and people of God.
And I hate him and what he does with a passion. The Church has to be aware of
his devices and be able to discern his presence. I’ll give you a clue he is
usually in the Church services lol. I have seen to many times where the people
of God thought it was the Spirit of God and it was some other unclean spirit
e.g. workings of the flesh or demons. It was painful to watch the people of God
entertain it, “worship” with it or just didn’t care. In those situations all you
can do is pray and cast it out which is what we should be doing any way. We
need discernment not so we can be special but so we can fight this spiritual war. Our war is not with people, especially not the people of God. Our war is with the forces of Satan and his demons. During these last days we are going to see many things attempt to come against
the people of God. We have to pray and be focused so that we will not be deceived.
Keep the altars of prayer open in your life. Be diligent be sober minded. Intercede
when God gives you insight. Prayer is a weapon against hell and the things that
oppose God. If Satan can keep you from praying than he has won victory over
you. And you let him. Satan wants us to gossip and
tear down our bothers and sisters. Repent. Satan hates us and we should hate him. So
let us counteract the powers of hell by praying always 1Thes 5:17. Prayer, Unity,Holy Ghost power,
spiritual insight.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do
not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the
flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are
destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge
of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6
and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is
complete.
2Corinthians 10:3-6
2Corinthians 10:3-6
Ok I am done…… sort of….. but I’ll stop here