We live in an hour where there has never been more of a need for discernment. Yet there is such a lack of discernment in the earth. People can’t seem to discern the patterns of the enemy. They can’t discern his spiritual traps that get them into a mess. Imagine a spirit realm in which hell is having a hay day because of what the powers of darkness are doing but it is going undetected by the believer. The reason that you can see somebody serving God for years and then suddenly the enemy wipes them out spiritually is because of a lack of discernment. If you cannot discern your enemy you cannot destroy him. Anything that you can expose by the power of the Holy Spirit you can also expel!
1 Corinthians 12:4-10 says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”
1. DEFINING DISCERNING OF SPIRITS
There is a gift of discerning spirits that is available to every blood-bought believer called discernment. You need to be able to discern if God is talking, the devil is talking, or if you are the one talking in your mind. The weapon called discerning of spirits is the supernatural ability to detect the realm of the spirit and its activities! It implies the power of spiritual insight and supernatural revelation of the plans and purposes of the devil and his forces. This is a special Holy Spirit ability to properly discern what is a human spirit, demonic spirit, angelic spirit, or the Holy Spirit. Discernment can look at a person, a situation, or an atmosphere and immediately know that something is not right or this situation requires action or the intervention of God .
The word discernment in Greek means the act of judging a situation. It also means the ability to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, or to examine. When we hear people say that they made a poor judgment then that would be considered a lack of discernment.
Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “Discernment is not the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong; rather, it is telling the difference between right and almost right.”
2. UNDERSTANDING HOW THE ENEMY OPERATES
Discernment is not some optional aspect of your spiritual walk with Christ. Discernment is critical in the last days. Please take the time to watch the video podcast to gain more understanding about 3 primary manifestations that must be discerned about the devil.
John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
1. TEMPTATION
The first manifestation of the enemy is Temptation. The Bible calls satan the tempter!
Matthew 4:3-4 says, “Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Matthew 6:13 says, “And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
To watch in Greek means to stay awake, alert and to be vigilant.
To pray in Greek means to interact with the Lord by switching your human wishes or ideas for His wishes as He imparts faith into you. Faith means a divine persuasion from God. Discernment will not manifest if your prayers do not consist of a faith that focuses on God’s will being done and not your will. You must discern the temptation of the enemy.
To tempt you means to persuade, entice, or convince. It also means to be tried or to be put on probation. The enemy wants to know if he can take you out through the spirit of temptation where you fall to the desires of your flesh instead of walking in the Spirit. God is never the tempter! You must discern that the enemy is presenting the temptation of sin in an attempt to separate you from a holy God.
James 1:13-15 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
2. ACCUSATIONS
Secondly, the kingdom of hell will not only unleash the power of temptation as a weapon against your life but also the spirit of accusation. Satan is an accuser!
Revelation 12:10 says, “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.”
If you don’t fall into temptation satan will even lie on you and bring a spirit of accusation against your life. You must be able to discern when the enemy is accusing your life. Accusations always lead to division in the body of Christ. The enemy will accuse the leadership in an attempt to divide them from the flock. He will also accuse the flock in an attempt to divide them from one another and from the leadership. Spiritually mature Christians can discern that the spirit of accusation is sent on assignment from hell. The word accuser in Greek means that the enemy is a prosecutor against your life.
You have to discern that some of the warfare that you face is the kingdom of hell making an attempt to use the spirit of accusation to take you out spiritually. Discernment will apply the blood of Jesus against the spirit of accusation. The enemy watches for unity to develop in the body of Christ. Once he sees that there is a sudden surge of
supernatural power through unity that is creating a contagious hunger for a move of God then he will begin trying to divide the body of Christ with the spirit of accusation.
3. DECEPTION
Finally, the enemy will use the spirit of deception to try to take you out spiritually. You must discern his weapon of deception.
2 Corinthians 11:3 says, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Matthew 24:3-4 says, “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.”
Apostle Paul warns that he fears lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by His craftiness so our minds may be corrupted from the simplicity of Christ! Jesus warns that deception will be the primary sign of His return in the last days. We must have discernment concerning the spirit of deception. Deception will cause someone to believe a lie over the truth and speak that lie as if it were the truth. Deception will cause you to think that you are right when you are really wrong. We must be sure to stay in the Word of God and be a doer of the Word of God in the last days so that deception does not destroy us.
James 1:22-25 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
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