Discernment

Hebrews 5:14 ESV

“But solid food (deep spiritual truths from God) is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

The spirit of discernment comes from the infilling of the Holy Spirit of God. It enables us to discern between truth and a lie, sound doctrine and the doctrine of man, and between good and evil. Discernment is crucial in this life. To be able to test by the spirit of God all that needs to be received or what needs to be thrown out.

Jesus in Mark 8:15 said to the disciples, “…Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” This leaven in this context was the false teachings of the Pharisees and the horrible madness of Herod. Paying attention to these things would have infiltrated their minds and eventually got into their heart.

We have the same problem today with information and misinformation. Who influences our thinking? Who are we listening to? What information is infiltrating our minds on a daily basis? Does it line up with the Words of God? Does the information that we receive on a daily basis build up or tear down? Does it heal or does it hurt? All information should be processed through the channels of God and His Words. Does the information that we receive glorify God or disrupt the kingdom? These things need to be asked on a daily basis.

Prayer:

Father, as you have supplied us with the spirit of discernment by Your Holy Spirit, teach us to filter all information through You and Your Words to see what we need to retain and what we need to reject. Evil comes in small packages Lord, but when opened up, it will destroy completely. We have the spirit of discernment, we do not need to ask for it again, we just need to be reminded to use it daily Lord, Amen!