Spiritual DiscernmentSample

The Gift of Discernment—Part 2

Our foundation for the gift of discernment is firstly looking to see what God is doing. As we learn to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit, we will also begin to discern when there are other things at work which are not of God. From this place, we need an awareness that we live in a spiritual world, and there is a very real enemy at work.

Jesus confronted and cast out evil spirits numerous times in scripture, accurately discerning what was happening. But Jesus’ ministry wasn’t just about deliverance in this sense—He came as the deliverer, to seek and save the lost! Jesus distinguished the difference between the times when people needed deliverance from an evil spirit, and other times when people needed a different facet of His ministry. He spoke with grace and truth. He ministered life and healing. He brought freedom and redemption. Jesus only did what He saw His Father doing, and we are called to do the same. Therefore, we need caution in this area of discernment. We do not presume there is a demon behind every situation or see something attached to every person. This is simply not the truth and can be very damaging.

The gift of discernment is all about us co-laboring with Christ. Anything in the spiritual realm that God reveals to us is simply so that we can partner with what the Holy Spirit is doing. We must be regularly in prayer and the Word so that we have greater understanding, not just in regard to what we discern, but of how to respond.

Spiritual discernment is recognizing what stands in opposition to God’s purposes and identifying the characteristics of Jesus Christ that will remove it.

When it comes to the discernment of demonic spirits, we never study anything about witchcraft or the occult. I want to emphasis this strongly! Scripture is very clear that we have been raised with Christ, so we should set our hearts and minds on things above, not on earthly things. Remember the analogy of recognizing counterfeit notes! Jesus has all power and authority over the enemy, which He has also given to us as believers, so let’s keep our focus and our words in the right place so that He gets all the glory.

Of course, there is so much more to the gift of discernment, but this is really just an overview, so let’s try to wrap this up.

If you are growing in the gift of discernment, make your primary focus what the Holy Spirit is doing. Let’s be in prayer and the Word, and exercise love and care for the body of Christ. And let’s keep growing in spiritual maturity so that we are a blessing to the Church.