The Lord has impressed on me the great need for discernment in the body of Christ. There is so much coming at us from so many directions. We can call it a spiritual and mental barrage. I will, with the Lord’s help, being looking into verses that talk about this topic and sharing them in a series.
First off, what is discernment? In the original Greek it means to test, try, approve.
With so much spiritual counterfeit going around we desperately need the Lord’s discernment. This will only come with the aid of the Holy Spirit. This is not a mere academic understanding.
In the first instance of this Greek word (dokimazō) Jesus said:
“Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?”
Think about it. The religious people opposing Jesus had read the scriptures about the coming Messiah all their lives. But most rejected Him because He didn’t come as expected. First off, He came from Nazareth and they said “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” So Nazareth clearly did not have a reputation of producing good people, let along the Messiah.
As a result most missed it. They lacked the spiritual discernment to see past that and other things.
Not all missed it tough. At one point Jesus asked His disciples who people said He was. Peter responded that He was the Messiah. Jesus replied “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus went on to say that the church would be built upon this revelation. Peter had obtained spiritual discernment.
It is vitally critical that we have this spiritual discernment in our age. We need to test the many situations that come into our lives. We are in a time of great knowledge and acceleration.
Lord, as we go forward we ask for this discernment in greater and greater portions. We do not want to be as the hypocrites you described and discern earthly things but miss you. In Jesus’ name.
The need for discernment – Pt.1
By Roderick Breem
The Lord has impressed on me the great need for discernment in the body of Christ. There is so much coming at us from so many directions. We can call it a spiritual and mental barrage. I will, with the Lord’s help, being looking into verses that talk about this topic and sharing them in a series.
First off, what is discernment? In the original Greek it means to test, try, approve.
With so much spiritual counterfeit going around we desperately need the Lord’s discernment. This will only come with the aid of the Holy Spirit. This is not a mere academic understanding.
In the first instance of this Greek word (dokimazō) Jesus said:
“Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?”
Think about it. The religious people opposing Jesus had read the scriptures about the coming Messiah all their lives. But most rejected Him because He didn’t come as expected. First off, He came from Nazareth and they said “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” So Nazareth clearly did not have a reputation of producing good people, let along the Messiah.
As a result most missed it. They lacked the spiritual discernment to see past that and other things.
Not all missed it tough. At one point Jesus asked His disciples who people said He was. Peter responded that He was the Messiah. Jesus replied “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus went on to say that the church would be built upon this revelation. Peter had obtained spiritual discernment.
It is vitally critical that we have this spiritual discernment in our age. We need to test the many situations that come into our lives. We are in a time of great knowledge and acceleration.
Lord, as we go forward we ask for this discernment in greater and greater portions. We do not want to be as the hypocrites you described and discern earthly things but miss you. In Jesus’ name.
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Archives
Categories
Tags