Spiritual Discernment

DISCERNMENT is the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure. Natural discernment is making a determination or drawing a conclusion about some observation involving a natural, physical, emotional, or relational event or a combination of any or all of those factors. The assumption is that everything can be understood through natural discernment.

Spiritual Discernment differs from natural discernment in that conclusions drawn from the same observation are not solely reliant upon natural wisdom and intelligence but on spiritual revelation through the Holy Spirit. And so the conclusion a Christian draws from any particular event may not and often is not the same conclusion as the natural man. The natural man, without the Spirit of God, is incapable of understanding life from a spiritual perspective.

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 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. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. - Matthew 16:1-4

I was recently asked to watch a short video on the determination of when Jesus was really born. The author of the work focused on that natural phenomenon and human activity to "figure" it out. He was careful not to question the deity of Jesus - just the celebration of His birth on the 25th of December. Jesus was confronted by the religious leadership of the day. They wanted a sign - They were talking to THE sign from heaven. Jesus spoke to the about their lack of spiritual discernment - they were religious. They knew the scriptures from a natural perspective - the wisdom of man - but they did not understand the scripture from a spiritual perspective - the wisdom of God. And even when they saw the sign of Jonah, Jesus rising from the tomb (from the belly of the earth not a whale) after three days, they denied that it was a sign. It didn't fit with their understanding.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. - Isaiah 55:8

The disciples struggled with the same problem - looking to the world for spiritual answers is the "go to" for mortals - looking to the natural to explain the supernatural. Jesus asked the question (BTW He never asked any question He did not already have the answer to)

How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. - Matthew 16:13-14

Then Jesus challenged their understanding of who He was and is - after hearing who the world was saying He might be.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:15-17

Jesus said that spiritual truth and discernment comes from God - through the Holy Spirit - and not through the reasoning of men. That is what made Peter different from the other disciples and the religious leaders. And from us, very often.

So how do you get spiritual discernment - intimate relationship. With whom? God the Father. Being one with Him and Jesus. Do you recall Jesus' prayer in John 17?

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. - John 17:20-23

With spiritual discernment our view and response to world events is very different. That perspective is called having a Christian World View. That view is not limited to, but includes, moral issues. When you were born again you received a spiritual nature. That nature must be nurtured and should be primary in the way we look at life. The Spirit of God teaches us spiritual truth and give us spiritual insight - if we are yielded to the Spirit and serious about our faith beyond "getting a ticket to heaven".

I want to close this with a prayer of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 1.

[I, Paul, pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. - Ephesians 1:17-21

That is my prayer for you as well.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it.  Let your light shine and give God the glory.  

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone