Consider people whose line of work is to detect fake money. Do they know what is fake by handling what is fake? I believe that the best way to have the discernment to know what is fake from true is to handle the genuine article. So much so that you know it's texture taste feel look.
Should we be like this as believers. Knowing the truth in the word so much and having the inner anointing of the Holy Spirit teaching and leading and guiding us into all truth that the minute false teachings and fake things come to you RIGHT AWAY your spirit discerns and is sharp to know that something is amiss. Even if this thing ' appears " to be the real deal. Deep in your spirit you know that this is not of the Lord.
May we be so burdened about our own sensitivity as believers. How quickly is the Lord able to get through to us regarding all the things that we see here on the forum. What do you believe you need to be doing as a believer to sharpen this kind of function of your spirit?
Ty
sandy
2007-12-09 08:09:58 · 12 answers · asked by Broken Alabaster Flask 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Brother tommy.. the word reveals that " he who is joined to the Lord is ONE spirit" ( Corinthians)
The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirits. This spirit that we have is one that is joined and mingled with the Holy Spirit. But the point of my question though brother is along the verses that brother Bible believer posted. Of knowing and handling the Word. Being familiar and constituted with the Word and the speaking of the Teaching Holy SPirit in our spirit as the Anointing. I really appreciate this aspect of our christian life and this is not somethign that should be so strange to us but we should be those who are very familiar wiht our spirit which is indwelt and One with the Lord. We need to be in touch wiht the " inner life' God does not want to be so objective to us.. He wants to be very subjective and experiencial. PRiase the Lord that He has joined Himself to us and is one wiht us in spirit.
2007-12-09 10:33:34 · update #1
Amen Sister Charlotte:)
I agree with you. The genuine article is the WOrd in our hand and the Holy Spirit as the Anointing teaching us and leading us into all that is true. I believe that this is why many fall to cults. I had a cousin who married a young lady from teh JWs and gave up having that relationship with the Lord. I believe that, had he been weightier in the word and sensitive to the HOly SPirit's speaking in his being that he may have been preserved from taking that way.
The burden of me even posting this question all my brothers and sisters is to impress us not to be " second hand hearers" but to be those who feed and drink of the sincere word for ourselves. HANDLE IT. TOUCH IT. EAT It in spirit ... The Lord is here to fill and dispense us with all truth and reality day by day as we " study to show ourselves approved... be an unashamed worker. rightly dividing the word of truth" Ty Bro George for those verses:)
IN Christ
Your sister
sandy
2007-12-09 23:55:17 · update #2
Hello there sister Leslie:)
Ty for posting:)
I stand with you on a point you made regarding not seeking spiritual " things' but seeking theLord. Seeking the Giver and you have the gift. He is our greatest gift.
But this question was more along the lines of getting into the word and giving the Lord a richer vocabulary to speak back to us. His sheep know His voice..
Take for example I give you ABCDE and tell you to build a vocabulary on that. You can say. BAD CAD DAD DAA DEC .. limited right
By getting into the word and being familiar and constituted with it has a way of storing up the word in our being, " Hiding it in our hearts" This actually gives the Lord such a way to speak to us. TO guard our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus by letting His word dwell in us richly in all wisdom. What we are all sharing is part of the normal growth and function of a christian who is learning to walk and have their being in and according to the Spirit.
Ty so much for this angle and balance
2007-12-10 00:02:36 · update #3
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
We have got to keep our "SWORDS" sharp by knowing the word of God.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
We can not do this with out first the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost.
1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
John 14:26
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
(Christ in you the hope of glory)
As far as discerning spirits this can not be done with out the Holy Ghost either.
1 Corinthians 12:6-11
6And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
2007-12-09 09:10:18 · answer #1 · answered by Old Hickory 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
To pass on a lie is to become part of the lie itself.
And so how do you know if anything given to you - is truthful or not?
You discern the truth in anything - just the same as for anything else. The same rules applies, etc etc.
You don't act any different when deciding a certain car, house, TV, is suitable for you or not. The same for a religion - and for that which is inside the religion, to know whether that is truthful or not?
Something that is genuine and consistant, is genuine throughout - consistancy reveals it's genuiness.
The spirit within you knows what is genuine - if you will listen to it. (This is not the Holy Spirit as such, but your own spirit - and everyone has this, no matter whether they believe or not believe - because we are always the same, as each other - no one is higher or lower, etc).
In "Seconds from Disaster" - looking at the Titanic, the programme looks in detail upon the rivets holding the ship together, whether they failed when the ship hit the iceberg, causing water to enter the ship. They performed a test upon a replica of the hull and it's rivets to see how much pressure it could withstand before breaking. It broke earlier than expected making them think this is why the ship ultimately sank.
I do say this applies to religion and Christianity as well - in which you have to look at it's component ideas, and test each one - that they must withstand critical analysis and thinking, such that they can be verified - if not, then the basic fundamentals of Christianity is not sound. This equally applies to other religions as well - that they too, fail such analysis. And it is not strange that non-believers prefer to look elsewhere than at organised religions and their institutions. And they always outweigh the believers...
2007-12-09 16:26:52 · answer #2 · answered by TruthBox 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Good morning Sandy and all... :)
The more you read God's Word and study it, the truths are placed within your heart where no-one can steal it from you and you are able to discern untruths or discrepencies within what others are trying to portray as "God's Word".
Personally, the Lord has taught me to ask Him about anything I have questions about within His Word within the Bible, and of anything I may hear or read each day...then, to "test the spirits" to make sure it had been God whom had answered before I am to allow anything to take root within me as "truth".
If a person gets in the habit of doing this, they are saved a LOT of time in the long run because, the more you DO this, the better you will recognize our Fathers "voice" and a person is less likely to be "fooled" by satan or one of his agents upon our earth....at the very least, not for very long. :)
Psalm 32:8 is a Scripture that has been close to my heart since I was very young, as it was what the Lord kept telling me He would do. :) "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye". KJV :)
I also believe that asking for and having the FULLNESS of the Holy Spirit is something much needed in Spiritual Warfare and in having a healthy discernment, but it also marks us as having a full commitment to our Lord and marks us as belonging to Him.
***By the way...alarm bells are ringing within me from the moment I read your question...had tried to ignore it and had to come back...
Tommy, forgive me...you had spoken true about discerning who's "spirit" you were sensing from this question.
Seems I have been away too long from here...time to plead the blood more often, lol
Have a GOOD DAY ALL! :)
2007-12-10 10:00:51 · answer #3 · answered by ForeverSet 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes and Amen.
Psalm 34:7-8 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
8. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
The spirit of the lawless one is in the world. We as believers MUST be filled with Gods Spirit to know the difference. Good question sister, this could be a lengthy subject at bible study.
Peace
2007-12-09 18:15:16 · answer #4 · answered by ? 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
I don't seek to sharpen any spiritual function. I seek Jesus. I went through seasons where I sought the gifts of the Spirit and I was concerned with functions/giftings/designations. I'm getting older now and I'm more concerned with relationship to Jesus. I trust Him better now than I used to trust. I trust Him within my spirit. I know now that I know little, I know less than I used to know- but what I know serves me better and has stood a test of time. I value being dependent on the Lord more than I value being strong. I'm not trying to make a semantic argument/statement. I just used to value strength more and now I value Him and let Him worry about my strength. His Spirit is in charge of me and gives me discernment and whatever I need - when I need it!
2007-12-10 05:58:41 · answer #5 · answered by LeslieAnn 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hi Sandy, I believe that we need to be praying for God's wisdom. We need to read His written Word and ask His Spirit to teach us. And always examine if the teaching exalts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as the subject of God's redeeming love for us.
Charlotte
2007-12-09 18:35:56 · answer #6 · answered by 4HIM- Christians love 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Isiah 8:20; Psalms 119: 11. You confuse knowledge with discernment Read I Cor. 2: 10, 11 and 12.
Discernment is a prophetic gift given to those who are prophets from birth; or in the diversity of gifts to the church as seen in I Cor.14: 23-25. In this hour it should be working in gatherings of believers; although few are operating at this level. Note that discernment operates in others by the Holy Spirit and not by "your spirit" Your spirit discerns the things of your spirit and even this spirit (your spirit) will one day return to God who gave it.
The spirits of the prophets are not their spirits but are yet subject to them. Read I Cor. 14: 32.
If you will go back now and read I Cor. 12 you should see at once that situations you are dealing with in your question are somewhat out of line when it comes to discernment by the human spirit.
You are attempting to work with your spirit, and asking others to do likewise, when this has nothing to do with my spirit, your spirit or their spirit. Again, I Cor. 12:4 ... there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit.
Bottom line. We need to know the difference between our own spirit and the Holy Spirit. Any discernment is best exercised in humility by keeping your spirit out of the way. For Christians to attempt these things in their own spirit is witchcraft.
2007-12-09 17:36:54 · answer #7 · answered by Tommy 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
We know what and who is the Truth when we let the Holy Spirit to guide us.
2007-12-09 19:57:13 · answer #8 · answered by Nina, BaC 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Day after day, generation after generation people are looking for proof of God and God said I'm not going to give proof of my existence, you either trust that I am who I say I am or you wait until the end of the age and we'll settle-up then.
2007-12-09 16:39:58 · answer #9 · answered by Owl 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Most important thing is to keep taking in accurate knowledge ofGod keeps one sharp.
2007-12-09 20:07:32 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋