Discernment is not optional for the believer, it is mandatory!
Discern - test, examine, prove (whether genuine or not) Dokimadzo (G)
Lord tests mind, heart, & soul.
Discernment protects.
Discernment provides.
Discernment prepares.
Discernment takes time.
Process is married to obedience.
22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” 25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. (Mark 8:22-25)
Jesus heals a blind man... & at first after Jesus spits on his eyes, the man see's men like trees walking.
Then Jesus puts His hands on his eyes again and he was FULLY restored.
There is a process to healing.
It's not just getting 1 touch for certain areas we need healing in.
Real discernment is knowing the difference between good & what is God.
It can feel good, but just because it feels good doesn't mean it's God.
1. Times & seasons
54 Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. 55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. 56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how *is it* you do not discern this time? (Luke 12:54-56)
3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot *discern* the signs of the times. (Matthew 16:3)
2. Good & evil
9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” (1 Kings 3:9)
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 is unskilled 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. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
3. Holy & unholy
23 "And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. (Ezekiel 44:23)
4. Righteous & wicked
18 Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him. (Malachi 3:18)
5. Knowledge
25 Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary; Rebuke one who has understanding, and he will discern knowledge. (Proverbs 19:25)
6. Spirits
4 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. (1 John 4:1)
7. Thoughts, heart & mind.
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. ( 2 Corinthians 10:5-6)
11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:11-13)
How to sharpen your discernment?
1. Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)
2. Word of God (Hebrews 4:11)
3. Intercessory Prayer (Jude1:20)
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Don't forget to grab a forgiven shirt!
