Discernment

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RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#1
Sep 20, 2012
9,635
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#1
I was derailing another thread (or following a little sidetrack) where someone had said Godly discernment was a challenge. I answered that it wasn't a challenge, but a gift, and that the challenge was in getting Christians to believe that. But as I thought about it some more, I saw what a unique gift it is. It is the only one (that I recall) that we are told to actually practice, in order to hone it. Which really elevates it to the realm of a skill (some translations even use that word). And so while all the other gifts are a relatively spur of the moment thing, the gift of discernment is ongoing, and on-call. And we are told to call on it frequently enough that we are intimately familiar with it. Like a carpenter and his hammer.

Receive the gifts of the Spirit. But beyond that, practice the skill of discernment. Hone it like you do your sword.









Thoughts?
 
notuptome

notuptome

Senior Member
#2
May 17, 2013
15,050
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#2
Practice it like the men at Berea. Nobility in discerning the truth from Gods word.

For the cause of Christ
Roger
 
A

Ariel82

Guest
#3
#3
1 Kings 3:9
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

Psalm 19:12
But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

Psalm 119:125
I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

Proverbs 10:13
Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense.

I've found scriptures where we ask God for discernment, but I don't see where it is listed as a "gift". I think God gives us discernment the same way He gives us patience: which is by testing of our faith.

Discernment is the ability to know the difference between good and evil. It is the MEAT of a mature Christian, but many people do not even drink the milk..............


HEbrews 5
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk isunskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 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.


 
RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#4
Sep 20, 2012
9,635
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#4
1 Cor 12 actually lists it as discernment of spirits, the correlation being that spirits are behind most all good and evil. Together with words of knowledge and wisdom, they form a group of gifts which are revelationary in discerning good from evil.

And you're right. There's far too many drinking the kool-aid who need to need to get started on the milk, so they can then mature into the meat.
 
T

The_highwayman

Guest
#5
#5
RickyZ said:
I was derailing another thread (or following a little sidetrack) where someone had said Godly discernment was a challenge. I answered that it wasn't a challenge, but a gift, and that the challenge was in getting Christians to believe that. But as I thought about it some more, I saw what a unique gift it is. It is the only one (that I recall) that we are told to actually practice, in order to hone it. Which really elevates it to the realm of a skill (some translations even use that word). And so while all the other gifts are a relatively spur of the moment thing, the gift of discernment is ongoing, and on-call. And we are told to call on it frequently enough that we are intimately familiar with it. Like a carpenter and his hammer.

Receive the gifts of the Spirit. But beyond that, practice the skill of discernment. Hone it like you do your sword.









Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Are you speaking about general discernment or the gift of discerning of spirits Found 1 Cor 12?
 
RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#6
Sep 20, 2012
9,635
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#6
The two are kinda related, again being that spirits are behind most all good and evil (the flesh can lean towards evil independent of spirits, other than it was a spirit that caused the flesh to fall). And there are really two charges, 1 Cor 12 specifies discerning spirits where as Hebrews 5 expands that to discerning all good and evil. Where Heb 5 talks about honing one's senses, it's spiritual senses that's being discussed. So really, discerning spirits and general discernment are two sides of the same coin. One goes with the other.
 
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The_highwayman

Guest
#7
#7
RickyZ said:
The two are kinda related, again being that spirits are behind most all good and evil (the flesh can lean towards evil independent of spirits, other than it was a spirit that caused the flesh to fall). And there are really two charges, 1 Cor 12 specifies discerning spirits where as Hebrews 5 expands that to discerning all good and evil. Where Heb 5 talks about honing one's senses, it's spiritual senses that's being discussed. So really, discerning spirits and general discernment are two sides of the same coin. One goes with the other.
Click to expand...
I was taught the gift of discerning of spirits is just that, the Holy Ghost gives you the ability to see or hear into the spiritual realm. This gift allows you to see in the demonic, angelic and to see what kind of spirit is causing a human to act the way they are. This gift is not given to allow you to judge anyone or discern their emotions, or if a pastors sermon is right or wrong. The reason is this gift is supernatural as are the other 8 gifts of the Holy Ghost and does not work in your natural mind, emotions or intellect, it is a peek into the spiritual realm. The example of this gift is found in 2 Kings 6.17 and Acts 16.16-19

I was also taught the gift is not to be confused with general discernment that comes through the wisdom of the word as you already stated that is found in Heb 5. General discernment is the ability to naturally discern between good and evil, but does not include the gift of discerning of spirits, which allows you to see or hear in the spiritual realm.
 
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Ariel82

Guest
#8
#8
I agree, general discernment is gained through abiding in the Spirit and should be with you always once gained.

However being able to see into the spiritual world is different because it is a gift that you don't always have, just like God's gift of supernatural healing.
 
Joidevivre

Joidevivre

Senior Member
#9
Jul 15, 2014
3,838
271
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#9
It is seeing/hearing into the spiritual realm and sometimes you can discern the presence of angels. Sometimes you can discern the activity of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes you can hear music. And it is very very different than the discernment that comes through the wisdom of the Word.

I have walked into a store, and discerned the presence of evil, and left that place quickly. I have also discerned the presence of the Holy Spirit in a place.

To exercise myself in this as we are taught to do is to keep my awareness open to the spiritual world that is all around me. And to believe that the Holy Spirit gives me the ability to do this. Even this gift of discernment is received through faith.

This is not easy to put into the correct words, and even what I wrote might be picked to pieces, which is a shame. But it is very real to me.
 
T

The_highwayman

Guest
#10
#10
Joidevivre said:
It is seeing/hearing into the spiritual realm and sometimes you can discern the presence of angels. Sometimes you can discern the activity of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes you can hear music. And it is very very different than the discernment that comes through the wisdom of the Word.

I have walked into a store, and discerned the presence of evil, and left that place quickly. I have also discerned the presence of the Holy Spirit in a place.

To exercise myself in this as we are taught to do is to keep my awareness open to the spiritual world that is all around me. And to believe that the Holy Spirit gives me the ability to do this. Even this gift of discernment is received through faith.

This is not easy to put into the correct words, and even what I wrote might be picked to pieces, which is a shame. But it is very real to me.
Click to expand...
when you discern the presence of evil or peace and do not see or hear anything it is general discernment gained from walking with the Holy Ghost and being in the word.

I was working a prayer line and came to a woman who wanted pray, she smiled at me and a voice from her mouth said: "She is our ours and she does not want anything from Jesus, man of God, so keep on walking!"

Her eyes said something different, her eyes were good and according to Matt 6.22 her body is then full of light.
We took authority in the name of Jesus over the 4 evil spirits oppressing her and she was delivered immediately.
I saw all 4 evil spirits leave the sanctuary. This woman was a Christian , but had been oppressed and bound by fear, envy, jealousy and contention.

This is an example of the gift of discerning of spirits.
 
C

CRC

Guest
#11
#11
Family members need to show wisdom and discernment, for these qualities will build up a household. Says Proverbs 24:3, 4: “By wisdom a household will be built up, and by discernment it will prove firmly established. And by knowledge will the interior rooms be filled with all precious and pleasant things of value.” Wisdom and discernment are like fine building blocks for successful family life. Discernment helps Christian parents to draw out the feelings and concerns of their children. A discerning person is able to communicate, to listen and gain insight into the feelings and thoughts of his or her marriage mate.—Proverbs 20:5.
 
RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#12
Sep 20, 2012
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#12
I disagree, they are different manifestations of the same gift. Highwayman, your words when you discern the presence of evil or peace and do not see or hear anything it is general discernment. What is it you are discerning when you discern the presence of good or evil? Is a person/place/thing inherently evil on it's own? Or are you discerning the spirit behind the evil person/place/thing? You may not hear it, you may not see it, but you know it's there because you can sense it in your spirit. That's why Paul said to practice it, to hone it, to make it a skill. So that you don't have to have the grand visions to sense by the Holy Spirit the presence of hidden evil.
 
J

Jackson123

Senior Member
#13
Feb 6, 2014
11,769
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#13
I believe Discernment as a spirit gift is different with natural discernment.

I know stealing is bad. It is natural discernment.

When Joseph told Firaun that the dream he had is from the Lord, I believe this is spirit discernment.
 
Blain

Blain

The Word Weaver
#14
Aug 28, 2012
19,211
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#14
I believe spiritual discernment is in fact a gift, a gift some are more in tune than others. it isn't just being able to hear sense and interact with the things of the spirit whether good or bad, you require spiritual discernment to read and understand the word not how we interpret it but how it is from Gods mouth. Spiritual discernment is knowing what God is saying to you and how he speaks to you. God speaks to us in any way imaginable music ppl dreams even movies, ppl put his voice in a box by secluding it into the word only and many don even understand the word to begin with. there are many interpretations but only one true one but many do not know it so they don't hear his voice clearly.

spiritual discernment is understanding these things and writing them on their hearts. some of you speak of how many haven't even drinken the milk but how many of us have drinken the milk ourselves and more importantly are we even aware of it? I see the many debates here in cc I see brother attack brother sister against sister ppl using scripture as a weapon as if they understand it. There is only one interpretation one way to be a Christian and many of us fail to discern what that is. I ask myself in all these heated debates how does this glorify God? What would Jesus say about all this? I am not saying all this to judge but to remind us what we may have forgotten
 
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SoulWeaver

SoulWeaver

Senior Member
#15
Oct 25, 2014
4,889
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#15
Discernment and discerning of spirits are two different things. Discerning of spirits is not a "skill".

Discerning of spirits is a gift of the Spirit that appears only in 1 Cor 12:10, and it is not given to every man or on every occassion, but as God gives. It allows one to supernaturally know about presence of spirits - demons (and sometimes even which demon is it) or God and His angels. It serves to warn His sheep of evil, promote deliverance or cause us to glorify God.
Discernment is similar to wisdom and it appears in various places in the Bible, it is a sense of choosing good rather than evil, and can be cultivated through reading the Word of God and putting it into practice.
 
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JesusLives

JesusLives

Senior Member
#16
Oct 11, 2013
14,551
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#16
Many years ago at Christmas time I had gotten a big Christmas tree (fake) and had put bells that jingled on it. Was late at night and I heard bell jingling and thought I am going to have to kill the cat....not literally just make it stop playing with the bells on the tree. I was going to make the cat stop but this overwhelming fear came over me and instead I dropped to my knees and started to pray.... The angel of the Lord encamp about them who fear Him and He delivers them. I kept repeating this until the bell stopped ringing and then went to bed and to sleep.

The next morning I got up and went to throw out some trash and the only cat we had was outside coming toward me to come into the house. This scared me a little again as there was no cat playing with the bells on the tree and even to this day I feel there was an evil presence in the house that night messing with the bells on the tree and God removed it for me. Shortly after that I got rid of the big tree and bells.
 
P

Pax

Guest
#17
#17
Blain said:
I believe spiritual discernment is in fact a gift, a gift some are more in tune than others. it isn't just being able to hear sense and interact with the things of the spirit whether good or bad, you require spiritual discernment to read and understand the word not how we interpret it but how it is from Gods mouth. Spiritual discernment is knowing what God is saying to you and how he speaks to you. God speaks to us in any way imaginable. there are many interpretations but only one true one but many do not know it so they don't hear his voice clearly.
Click to expand...
I totally agree with you that heated debates might not serve to glorify Jesus Christ. Indeed, Spiritual discernment is knowing what God is saying to "us" in a way that is unique to every individual as most have alluded to the fact that one needs to hone the skill. Most of us we are mostly found wanting to influence and dominate in a discussion forum.

I believe what ever source of influence that makes one to comment on a "thread", "Discernment" as a spirit of influence has made one to do so.
 
E

Eva1218

Guest
#18
#18
Love it! Yes, Discernment is GOD teaching us in the Spirit spiritual things as it applies to earthly things. :")

Blessings!!!!!!!
 
RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#20
Sep 20, 2012
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#20
I met a woman a while back that, while she exhibited a heart of gold, I still sensed an evil around her. I didn't see it, or hear it, but I knew in my spirit it was there. As we continued to interact I came to find that she was heavily into kabbalah, a practice I particularly abhor because it literally blinds people to the truth with the truth. As we talked about it and I prayed over her, these evil spirits did become 'visible' and audible to me. The story of one such incidence can be found here http://christianchat.com/blogs/rickyz/6579-vickis-story.html.

Evil is evil. All evil has a spiritual source. Discernment of evil is the discernment of evil spirits, whether it be just a hunch that evil is present or a full blown vision of them. 'General discernment' (is there anywhere in the Bible that actually uses that term?) is just a lesser manifestation of spiritual discernment. It is ALL spiritual discernment.

And again, we are told in Hebrews 5 to practice it, to hone it into a skill. Not just some of us but all of us. We will dearly need it in the coming days, in all of it's manifestations.
 
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