What is Spiritual Discernment?

I took my daughter to a music store the other day to get her some stuff. I call it stuff because I am musical illiterate and don’t know a B flat from a flat B.  She is gifted and reads music and plays a variety of instruments. She and the clerk got into a big discussion about something having to do with a song and they were talking about notes and chords and keys and things. He looked at me and said, “I take it you are not a musician?” Apparently he noticed the deer in the headlights look on my face.

Although they were speaking English it still sounded foreign to me and I think that is similar to what the Apostle Paul was trying to get across in his letter to the church at Corinth. He had been there years earlier and stayed for about a year and a half preaching Christ to them. After he departed some people began to doubt some of the things he had told them and questions began to arise about this new doctrine of “saved by grace.” After moving on to Ephesus and hearing of their issues, he wrote them a letter explaining what he had told them earlier and telling them the problems with the doctrine were coming from those who were unbelievers and thereby causing doubt for the believers. He said this to them; [i]A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them.

You and I live in an unbelieving society that has no idea what saved by grace means. The majority live their lives not thinking about life after death or hoping for the best in the end. The Gospel is a foreign language to them. Before sharing Scripture with them tell them how you came to understand it first. They have more than likely heard of Jesus but until they come to know Him His words will make no sense to them.

 

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[i] 1 Corinthians 2:14 (Gods Word Translation, GW).

Labels Stick

Acts 9:21 (New King James Version, NKJV).

Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

I have a Coors beer bottle in my office. It sits on the top shelf with some flowers in it. The label is scratched up and some of it is missing. I found it one day in a ditch across the road in front of our church. I was walking the property and saw the end of up sticking up. I was going to pass it by and then I had an idea; a Holy Spirit inspired idea. I dug it out of the dirt and took it into the janitor closet and washed it inside and out. The next Sunday I put some flowers in it and used it as an illustration of my life. The Lord dug me out of the dirt, washed me inside and out, and then used me for His purpose.

That beer bottle fulfilled its purpose as a beer bottle but I found a new use for it. Now the label will always give it away that it used to be a beer bottle, but now it’s a flower vase. None of us have any worse past than the Apostle Paul the Christian bounty hunter. His reputation preceded him everywhere he went. Some never believed that he had “fully changed.”

If people still label you as whom you were before Christ just remember they labeled Jesus first. “Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.”

Church House Christianity.

The Acts of the Apostles: Chapter 1, Verse 8 (New King James Version, NKJV).

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

There was once a farmer who had some very smart ducks on his farm. One day they decided to have religious meetings. The leader quacked, “We can meet in the abandoned chicken house,” so they all followed him into it. Eventually it became a weekly gathering. One Sunday morning all the ducks waddled over to the chicken house. They waddled up the ramp and took their places. A little duck choir assembled and quacked out a few hymns. When the little duck preacher came up he told them, “We are ducks! We are above the land animals! God has given us wings!” Then all of the ducks quacked, “Amen, we have wings, Amen!” Then he told them, “We can fly!” God has given us the ability to fly above the barnyard!” All the ducks began to jump up and down and flap their wings quacking, “We can fly! We can fly! We can fly!” Feathers filled the air as the duck choir quacked out praise songs! After the service ended they all waddled back out of the chicken house, waddled back across the barnyard, and waddled back into the pond.

Happens weekly all across the world. Born again Christians meet to worship and praise and honor our Lord and God. We get excited hearing of His mercy and grace and we enjoy experiencing His presence among His people. We sing and pray and worship the Lord in the assembly. Then after the closing prayer we head out to the parking lot, get in our cars, and drive back into society. We waddle back into life after being lifted in the service by the Spirit of God.

Did you know that when Jesus said the power He would give us by way of the Holy Spirit was not just to preach the Word or ask people if they are saved? A witness is one who can testify to a truth he or she has experienced firsthand. What would happen if we took that same Spirit into the restaurant with us after church? What effect would it have on others if we had that same Spirit in the checkout line at the market or department store? What if someone in the waiting room at a doctor’s office saw that we were a Christian rather than us having to tell them? Hmmm. Something to think about today.

To Proud to Change?

 

Proverbs 5:12 (New Century Version (NCV) 

Then you will say, “I hated being told what to do!  I would not listen to correction!

Let me tell you a parable about pride. Before the day of radar technology a U.S. Navy warship was headed to harbor one foggy night. A crackling voice came over the radio to the operator, “You need to divert your course 45 degrees north, as you are on a collision course with us.” The operator immediately called the Captain. “Tell them to divert their course 45 degrees to the south to avoid the collision, we are on course,” ordered the Captain. The voice on the other end said, “Cannot do that, you must change course.” Intimidated the Captain told the radio operator to tell them, “No, you will change course! We are a United States Navy Warship and you will change course!” After a moment the voice came back over the radio and said, “We are a lighthouse; your call.”

I cannot tell you how many times in my life that I have had to swallow my pride. Let me put that a different way; how many times I have had my pride shoved down my throat. King Solomon warned us that we do not want to get to the end of our life only to wish we had followed good instruction. What is it about our human nature that causes us to want things our way even to the point of fighting for it? Does it somehow make us inferior to others to admit we are wrong and they are right? You bet it does! At least we think so in our egotistical human mind. Take for just one example the speed limits on the highways. “Seventy miles per hour, why I can run eighty safely on this road. Who posted this limit anyway?” Of course we have our reasons for going faster and the state never took those into consideration. Perhaps the Trooper will.

We just do not like to be told what to do; even if our life depends on it. Most will gladly obey the guy who tells us to exit the building because it’s on FIRE! Of course some will have to smell the smoke or see the flames first before being convinced. Are there things you need to change in your life today? How you treat others, how you feel toward someone, maybe think you know more than they do? If so consider the words of the lighthouse attendant; “it’s your call.”

Rejected and Resented

Luke 15:30 (New King James Version, NKJV).

But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’

You and I have been raised in a culture that places emphasis on winners and losers. We even call those who we think have no chance of winning underdogs. Under – dogs? Really?  I mean, does that term represent someone who is lower than a dog? Anyway, the gist of this message today as I believe God would have me focus on is rejection. Losers are rejected by the majority of winners. Other terms like success and failure are also associated with winners and losers. Our culture goes even further and distinguishes between rich and poor as being winners or losers. Some even think what you look like determines whether you are a winner or a loser; or else we would not have beauty pageants. It is all about acceptance and rejection. Most of us like to be accepted. We did not want to be chosen last to be on a team. We generally do not want to be looked upon as uneducated or ignorant. A person’s worth should not be determined by categorizing them as a winner or a loser. Jesus went right to the heart of rejection by men in His parable of the rebellious son, the resentful son, and the father that loved them both.

“My brother does not deserve all this attention. You are making him out to be some kind of hero. Have you forgotten he took money out of your bank account and wasted it? Now he comes crawling back smelling like a pigsty and you make over him like he is royalty! He made his bed, let him lie in it! He chose his path, leave him to walk in it! He’s a loser!” That is what the resentful son is really saying to the father. Jesus drew a contrast between the love of God for sinners and the love of man for them. The resentful son should have felt the same way about his brother coming back as the father did; if he really loved him.

What a story. This is a story of acceptance and not rejection. A story that many need to hear today. They have been rejected and resented by everyone from parents, to siblings, to neighbors, to schoolmates, to coworkers, and yes, even by churches. They are the wrong ethnicity, or the wrong gender, or they dress wrong, or they smell wrong, or they are to smart or to dumb, or they have tattoos, or body piercing, or they have blue hair or gray hair, or they are not pretty, or they are to pretty, or they are to old, or they are to young, or they come from the wrong side of the tracks, or they are to fat or to skinny; get the picture? Jesus wants them; He accepts them; and so should we if we love them as He does.  

Air Comes With It

1 Corinthians 2:12 (New King James Version, NKJV).

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

We have an eight year old niece that is the daughter of my wife’s brother. She recently went shopping with my wife and wanted to buy some balloons that came with a small pump to inflate them. When she got up to the counter my wife gave her the money to pay for them. As the cashier rang them up she asked him, “Does the air come with this pump?”

Have you ever stopped for a moment and thought about all the things that we take for granted that God has freely given us? You more than likely have at some point. Life itself is the free gift of God. Everything that has life is of God. He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity (John 1:4 GODS WORD Translation, GWT). From the microscopic life forms to the giant Redwood trees and from ladybugs to giraffes; God gave life to it all. There is no life that He did not create; All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made (John 1:3 NKJV).

Aren’t you glad today that God does not charge us for the food He provides, the water He gives, and the very air we breathe? We pay people for access to it but they did not pay God for it. Compressed air can cost money but air itself is free. Take away air and living things die. If you have ever had breathing problems you can appreciate a deep breath but if you have never had issues then chances are you have taken each single breath for granted.

The cashier was stunned when our niece asked him if air came with the pump. He had never thought about it apparently. If you are ever asked that question you can now answer it confidently; yes, yes it does, and it is free!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! (Psalm 150:6).

He Is Hallowed

Luke 11:2 (NKJV, New King James Version).

“Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”

 The word for today is hallowed. The word means high above, set apart as holy, reverence. I would say it means “better than us; far better than us.” Our idea of hallowed is an egotistical maniac. One who thinks of himself better than anyone else. A know it all that thinks he is it! Someone that thinks he should be worshiped. Most of us have issues with people that think that way. However we should realize that God is that way; He knows He is better than we are, He is a know it all, He wants to be worshiped! If we have an issue with that then we have slipped into the pool of pride.

Here is why God is hallowed. Even though He is far above us in every way, He still wanted to have a relationship with us! Not in the sense that He sees us as just pawns that He can use and abuse; certainly not. He considers us His greatest creation. A species so special to Him that He breathed a part of Himself into! In all His Greatness (Glory) His desire was to love us, even before we came to know who He is. The Hallowed God that thinks so much of His created beings that He would go as far as making Himself a Servant in order to show us His sincere love for us. Even to the extent of taking upon Himself the blame for our sins. Doing the unthinkable for a species of beings that are so unthankful, uncaring, and so undeserving of such an action. The only One True God which said that He, “Did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

Therefore Jesus said to call Him Hallowed. He created us, He provides for us, He protects us, and He gave His only Begotten Son to die for us so that we can be with Him forever. Why wouldn’t we want to worship Him? So the next time we pray let's acknowledge Him as being better than we are; because He is!