Developing spiritual discernment...

Chapter Forty-seven:

Webster's Dictionary defines discernment as "the quality of being able to understand clearly; the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure."  God wants to give all believers and followers of Christ the ability to discern, so that we can apply it to all areas of our lives.

One obvious reason God wants us to use discernment is to help our fellow brother/sister in Christ.  When we sense something is not quite right, we must make sure that we are using our discernment properly.  For instance, when you recognize that someone you know is doing something wrong, has accepted a false teaching or is not growing spiritually, it has been shown to you so that you will pray for the individual, not so that you find fault with them.  Oswald Chambers said, "When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede."

Another reason we are to use discernment is so that we are able to tell when something is spiritually wrong and are able to recognize error in what we are being taught in order to warn others. Discernment is that insight, that wisdom, that understanding that enables a Christian believer to see not only what is true, but also what is false. 

Discernment also allows us to be more in tune with the unseen spiritual realm that is around us on a daily basis and affects not only our own lives, but those people the Lord would have us pray for or minister to. The story of Elisha and his servant in Second Kings, Chapter 6: 8-17 is a good example of how God opened one man's eyes to the spiritual realm around him.

Scripture tells us in Philippians 1: 9-11 that, "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,  filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God."  This describes how the Holy Spirit wants to enable us to see things as they truly are, clearly and correctly.

 A. W. Tozer warned us, "In our constant struggle to believe we are likely to overlook the simple fact that a bit of healthy disbelief is sometimes as needful as faith to the welfare of our souls...I would go further and say that we would do well to cultivate a reverent skepticism. It will keep us out of a thousand bogs and quagmires where others who lack it sometimes find themselves. It is no sin to doubt some things, but it may be fatal to believe everything..."

Unfortunately, even the most sincere Christian can be in error, so it is our duty to test what is being said.  It is simply verifying that what we hear or read lines up with the Word of God. However, remember that there are people who purposely promote falsehoods and lies in the hope that believers will believe and accept them.  We are warned of this in Second Timothy 3:13, which tells us, "But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." We must become a people of discernment so that we distinguish the true things of God from the lies and deception. Otherwise we may end up following  false teachings and not realize it. 

So, how does one develop spiritual discernment?  Just like any other skill, it needs to be developed, honed and sharpened. If you want to begin developing your sense of discernment, then you must develop a very close relationship with the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit is often underutilized in a believer's life.  It may be because the believer was never taught much about the role the Holy Spirit is to play in his/her life.  Or, it may be because he/she does not want to allow the Holy Spirit to really lead and direct their lives. All believers have the ability to develop  discernment, though obviously it is more highly developed in some because they have simply put the time and effort into developing their relationship with the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

I would like to encourage you to not give up in this endeavor.  When I started out developing discernment, I did make a few mistakes at first.  I thought I had heard something from the Holy Spirit and it turned out to be just my own thoughts/ideas.  It was humbling, but I knew I was in a learning process. Even though I made some mistakes I was determined to persist and not give up.  After all, if it is a skill that needs to be developed, honed and sharpened then I could not expect to do it exactly right the first few times.  It is like anything new that you try.  It may not work the first few times but God will honor your persistence.

A month or so later I knew that I was finally making ground in developing hearing from the Holy Spirit.  It happened in rather an odd way...you will understand when I explain what happened.  I was with some friends and we were all praying for their son who had a rash on his arm that the medical doctors could not cure.  They had tried many medicines and were not even able to say what caused it.  So he was left to deal with it on his own.  As we were praying that God would either heal him or give his doctor wisdom on how to help him, I kept hearing the word "mustard" in my spirit.  For those of you who do not know what mustard is, it is a condiment like ketchup that many put on hamburgers, and other food items.  

Anyhow, during our prayer time I absolutely refused to say that I kept hearing the word "mustard" out of fear that I was going to be wrong again and was not really hearing from the Holy Spirit.  I have to admit, I was also concerned about what my friends would think were I to speak up, so I stayed quiet.  Later on, as we were standing talking and sharing some refreshments, I unintentionally laughed out loud, thinking about the "mustard".  They persisted in wanting to know why I had laughed and I finally told them how this silly idea of "mustard" came into my mind when we were praying.  I thought they would start laughing too, but the parents got a serious look on their face and said that nothing else had worked so they were willing to try it.  I felt bad for them because I felt they had reached the point of desperation and here I had them going to the store to buy mustard to put on their son.  I felt like a real idiot.

I saw the parents about two weeks later and they were so excited to see me.  They had gone home, put mustard on their son's rash and now it was completely gone!  Needless to say, this excited me tremendously because I knew I HAD heard from the Holy Spirit.  Some ingredient in the mustard helped with the rash and even his doctor had to admit that it cured it.  So you see, be open to what the Holy Spirit tells you, because even at times when it sounds absolutely absurd and you are scared to say anything, it may just be the Holy Spirit telling you what to say for that moment or situation.  I learned after that day to be less reluctant to hold back on what I felt the Holy Spirit was saying to me and from then on I grew in my ability to hear and discern what the Holy Spirit was saying.     

God reveals things to us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not only the "comforter", but is also the "teacher". To the degree that we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, to that degree we will develop discernment. Unfortunately, it is in our fallen nature to want to hold back part of ourselves.  We will often say we want all that God has for us, that we want the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us, but we set unspoken limits as to how far we are really willing to go and what we are willing to give up in this life.  These limits we set are what stops us from receiving all that God wants to do in us and through us, and the Holy Spirit is restricted because we insist on retaining some of our own independence. 

It is extremely important that you remember that discernment comes from the Holy Spirit and is not something that we can develop by ourselves.  In today's false spiritual climate, many are teaching that we all have this hidden so-called goodness, godliness and creative power within us and that we just have to get in touch with it. This is simply not Scripturally sound. It is only the Holy Spirit that can give you true discernment. 

 It is also being taught that if people are following God by practicing love, justice, and inclusion, then they are all truly following the same God, even if they happen to be on different paths. Then there is the false Jesus that is being lifted up to usher in as many people into various false gospels as possible. Jesus is being re-packaged, if you will, as someone who is so loving and understanding that He would never stop anyone from entering Heaven.  After all, how could a God who is love not embrace and accept everyone? What they do not think about is that God has many attributes, and one of them is love.  But another one is justice.  We cannot focus on one attribute of God to the exclusion of the others.  If we do, our theology becomes lopsided. We must view God in His entirety, even if it goes against what we would like to think and what we are more comfortable with.

These are just some examples of the false teachings that are out there. This is why the apostle Paul urgently cautioned Christians that another Jesus, a different gospel, and a different spirit would be promoted, and the undiscerning would accept him. He warned us that a false Jesus would arise and would fool a world that is looking for a Messiah for all faiths and persuasions. 

So, as you can see, it is very important that you develop your discernment skills with the help of the Holy Spirit or you can unknowingly be caught up into false teachings. Remember, Satan is the great deceiver, and his false teachings will try to mimic the true Gospel message as best as he can, short of his admitting that accepting Christ is the only way to Heaven (Acts 4:12). He will offer  other ways that sound good but are outright lies. But to the undiscerning, it will sound true and they will blindly follow.

If you are willing, you can grow and become so in tune with the Holy Spirit that as soon as He prompts you, you become alert to what is going on around you. With the Holy Spirit working in you, you will become more sensitive to things in the spiritual realm, better able to discern when the enemy is at work,  capable of identifying lies and false teachings, and more skilled at knowing what God wants you to do.  Keep in mind that you not only need to be discerning, but you also need to be watchful. Stay on your guard so that at the slightest hint of something being wrong, your "radar" goes off.  God is looking for watchmen on the walls who will warn His people and protect them from the enemy.

As you walk daily with God and study His Word, ask Him for wisdom and guidance so that you can develop stronger discernment. And, most importantly, allow the Holy Spirit to work through you in a stronger way.  First Thessalonians 5:19 warns us,       " Do not quench the Spirit." This means do not turn away from that still, small voice you hear within you, be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit wants to say or reveal to you. 

A word of caution is needed here. You need to ask yourself this very serious question: To what degree do you want to be able to discern things?  God will only show certain things to those who walk close with Him, who are humble, and are truly open to the Holy Spirit working in them and through them.  If you should pursue this, be prepared to have your relationship with God change.  You will be held accountable for what He reveals to you and how you use that information.  

People throughout history who have had strong discernment, and have been used by God, often found that their own personal walk with God was challenged, even ridiculed by others, and sadly the attacks came not just from the  enemy but also from other believers.  Are you prepared for this? As you go deeper with God, you will sadly begin to see how many people have allowed themselves to become deceived and many will not be open to your trying to get them back on the right path.  You will become more aware of spiritual beings and how they operate and manipulate mankind. While discernment is a very necessary part of the believer's walk, it can also be burdensome to the one who possesses it.  This is one area of your Christian walk where you really need to consider the cost of what you are asking for.

 
Recommendation:  I would recommend that if you are reading this chapter because you want to learn how to develop discernment, then you should also read Chapters 44- 46, titled "Testing the Spirits: Parts I - III".  These chapters give very valuable information on what to look for and how to discern whether what you are seeing or hearing is truly from God and gives tips on how the enemy tries to deceive.