GRANT ME A DISCERNING SPIRIT, O LORD

DAY:  SEVEN.

MARCH 13, 2019.

THEME: GRANT ME A DISCERNING SPIRIT, O LORD.

TEXT: JOHN  2: 24-25.

“But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man.” (KJV).

INTRODUCTION: Discernment is a revelational gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a supernatural ability to identify the nature and character of spirits, seen and unseen. It deals with all spirit beings: demonic, human, angelic or godly.  A knowledge of this gift can help reveal whether the manifestation of a spirit is good or bad.  Every believer needs at least a quantum of the gift for day-to-day living.

Lack of a discerning spirit would make a Christian fall into error more often than not for inability to decipher between true and false, good and bad, right and evil, and so on.  If we must kick strange spirits out of our homes, churches and communities, we need men and women with the spirit of discernment.

Jesus displayed the spirit of discernment by avoiding the deception that was in the heart of the people because He possessed the ability to discern the thought and intent of men (John 2:23-28).  He had to escape from the people who planned to make Him king (John 6:14-15).

Some Old and New Testament examples of the gifts of discernment are:

1. Isaac needed the ability to discern between his two sons at the time Jacob impersonated his brother Esau. He lamented in confusion and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands of Esau (Gen. 27:22).  At that time Isaac was physically blind, but the gifts of discernment would have guided him.  He unfortunately gave the blessings to Jacob instead of Esau.
2. Nehemiah, for a flash of discernment when Tobiah and Sanballat attempted to lure him to attend a meeting with the help of some opposing Jews and their prophets. Read Nehemiah 6:1-14.
3. In the New Testament, the case study of Peter with the family of Ananias and Sapphira readily comes handy (Acts 5:3-6).
4. A final example was the case of Simon the sorcerer who deceived Philip and got himself baptised, but could not deceive Peter who discerned the strange spirit in him (Acts 8:14-25).

Finally, anyone who desires this gift must be willing to seek for the gift through knowledge of the word of God. He must constantly pray for this gift, as Solomon requested from God (1 Kings 3:9-12).   We must daily be receptive to its (gifts) development within our hearts.

PRAYER: 

My Father and my God, giver of all good gifts, I desire and long for the gift of discernment; to enable me choose between good and bad, truth and lie, and between righteousness and evil.  Help me to be strong and faithful to You all the days of my life, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.