Seeing Through the Fog

In order to detect counterfeit bills, those in charge of doing so really only do one thing.  They spend hours, days and months with the real thing. Some would suspect they spend hours, days, weeks and months with the fake stuff to determine what is real and what is counterfeit.  Yet, the fake keeps changing while the real remains constant (for the most part).  They take in all of the sensory details of the real bills. The smell, the look, the feel, the sound and yes even the taste.  They study every aspect of that which is real to determine what is false.  They can then easily spot the fake. The fake is always exposed by the authentic.

 

They enemy of our souls is constantly on the prowl, trying to sell the church and the individual believer a falsified message, and a counterfeit savior. Things that seem real are in fact utterly false.  He purposefully creates a thick fog so it becomes more and more difficult to navigate our way through.  He does this in many ways, yet many times we as believers are not hip to His schemes because we lack the discernment. The believer’s lack of discernment causes chaos in the church.

 

This chaos can have many different faces, but the same root- the enemy. He knows the sad truth: we as believers are not testing the spirits as 1 John 4:1 calls us to do. Many times, we blindly listen to sermons, and blindly invite people into our lives that are actually placed there for our downfall. We don’t think of these things and so are duped. We must engage in discernment by spending so much time with the genuine that it becomes easier to spot the fake.  There are however some whom God has gifted to see through the fog much quicker and with much more ease than others.  This is the gift of discernment.  Although all of us can live in this gift, others have it to a heightened degree.  So, What then is the gift of discernment?

READ 1 Corinthians 12:10b and 1 John 4:1

These passages explain the gift and a small view into what discernment looks like.  Let’s unpack this gift a bit further.

Discernment is Sight Through the Spiritual Fog

   The gift of discerning (or discernment) of spirits is the special ability to know with assurance whether certain behaviors purported to be of God are in reality divine, human or satanic.  (Peter Wagner)

            Things done in the name of God are not always of God.  These false happenings are very well hidden in plain sight.  The imagery of a wolf in sheep’s clothing comes to mind.  So many times the sheep’s clothing seems so real and so authentic that no one questions it. Yet, it is one of the most dangerous enemies of the individual believer and of the Church.  Sadly, we are not often taught to operate in the spiritual realm to see through the mist that the human, fleshly realm can create.  We are content to stay in the natural.  This may be due to ignorance or fear, or even both.  Many times, we choose to be ignorant out of a false sense of safety.  Yet, this is a purposeful fog, sent by the enemy.  The person with the gift of discernment can almost instantly tell the genuine from the false.  They are the ones who are to warn the church of false teaching, false prophets, and false friends within a church.        

In a church I know of, there were two ladies who ended up being wolves in sheep’s clothing.  These two women were excellent at playing church.  They sang the songs, they appeared to live the Christian life, but the enemy had purposefully placed them in that church and then in the pastor’s family to cause division. They slowly found a voice of leadership within both places.  They were used to manipulate the hearts of the people against the pastor as well as get the pastor’s wife in a place of disquiet within her marriage.  There were a few people in the church who felt a bit uneasy about these ladies, but said nothing to the pastor or anyone else. Soon, the damage these ladies had done was complete.  The church and the pastor’s wife were demanding for separation as these ladies quietly then left to continue this evil work in another church.

The gift of discernment is hard to live into because it takes great courage.  Had the few people who felt uneasy came forward in boldness and knew why it was they felt uneasy; namely God was warning them to warn the church, much of the loss within this church may have been avoided.

Using discernment requires humility, boldness and courage.  Many times the person with discernment is the only one able to see through the fog and have clear sight into what the enemy is up to.  They must then step out, knowing this is a gift they have, pray into receiving proof, and then come forward with the truth. This person can tell if someone is demon possessed or simply acting out.  This person has the ability to distinguish between lies and truth. They are gifted with the God-given ability to detect whether something is of God, the flesh or the enemy.  We need people like this to step up and step out into their gifting. Discernment also plays into the realm of brokenness

 Discernment is Sight Through the Fog of Brokenness

            People are broken.  This is a fact that I think all people from all walks of life can confess. Many times people are broken and continue to be broken but don’t know why.  Many chalk it up to depression, or some other mental illness.  These can and are legitimate, but there can also be (and many times there is) a spiritual component.  The person with discernment can see through this murky fog and expose the enemy’s weapons causing brokenness. Certain demonic spirits are unleashed from the enemy to attack us and play on our weaknesses and fears.  When we give into these demonic spirits and step into the brokenness they are leading us towards, we give them access to our hearts and it is they who continue to keep us in the bondage of our sins and brokenness. The Spirit realm exists and it’s time we realized it. The person with discernment can see and then name with accuracy the spirit that is causing and encouraging the brokenness.  They can detect when a spirit is influencing words and actions. There is caution however, where we are to TEST EVERYTHING.  If someone has this gift and jumps in nonchalantly discussing these spirits and past pains, it will not go very well.  Sensitivity is key. Discernment requires a sensitive heart. Let me share an example.

In Paris, we met an amazing woman who had an amazing heart and love for us crazy Americans.  I had never met this woman before in my life, but I sensed sexual brokenness.  She was a friend of a member of our team and I couldn’t shake the feeling she had a spirit of sexual brokenness. As I pondered this, I thought it might have been prostitution that caused the spirit of sexual brokenness to be attached, so I tested it with the member of our team who knew her.  She said no, not prostitution but rather rape. She then began to cry because this lady only just told her this last trip.  God then used that story to speak to this woman’s heart that He knows her story. This could’ve gone very badly if I assumed this woman was a prostitute and the stated that.  Testing is very crucial to these supernatural gifts.  I was correct in the spirit of sexual brokenness but wrong about the cause.

 

  There are also spirits that manifest themselves in the manner of people similar to the horribly broken people in the Bible. For example, the person with the spirit of Jezebel is a person that emasculates men or purposefully draws a person into sexually deviant sins.  The spirit drives such a person to weasel into ones life for the purpose of leading them into sexual sin. The spirit of Jezebel can and does feel like that of a spirit of sexual brokenness and it takes a person with practice in the realm of discernment to decipher the two.

There are also many other spirits similar to the spirit of Jezebel that always go after certain areas of brokenness- pride, envy etc.  They can be named by the weakness they are attempting to exploit (i.e. the spirit of pride).

When it comes to dealing with the spirit or spirits we sense or can call out, it is key we seek God’s guidance on what to do with it next.

 One Sunday at a church service I was attending, there was a guest worship leader that came to bless the church.  She was an amazing musician and very talented in leading a group of people to sing aloud in song.  When we were worshipping, I sensed a spirit of pride and showmanship emanating from this woman.  It bothered me so much I stopped worshipping and sat down.  I was determined to talk to church leadership and let them know what I sensed.  However, God rebuked me. As I was sitting there he spoke to my heart about allowing this spirit to hinder my worship. I was allowing her spirit of pride to try and bring a spirit of pride to me.  I then heard His voice in my “knower” say: “I revealed this to you so you can pray a covering over my people.  Pray the spirit of pride doesn’t attach itself to them”. When God reveals something to us in our “knower” using the gift of discernment, we must seek Him to know what to do with it and not assume we know.

 

God reveals to people with this gift some of the inner workings of people’s brokenness.  Because of this, discernment can be abused for the purposes of manipulation.  Discernment’s abuse comes in the form of manipulation. We must reject using this knowledge against people.

 

How do you know if you have this gift?  Many times when you hear something, or meet someone, God will cause you to feel very weird.  You will get a feeling in your stomach or heart that something is off or dangerous.  Pray into that and ask God to reveal what it is he’s trying to say.  As you live into it, you will be able to more quickly decipher what is being emanated.  Then ask God what He desires you to do with this gift.

           

 We need people of discernment. If this is your gift, bless the church and step out in it!

Enthusiasm Vs. Ecstasy

Enthusiasm Vs. Ecstasy

1 Corinthians 12:1-3

  Most of my life, I didn’t really know my Grandma who lived in California. It was hard to as a young child living so far away to really know my grandma. Even as I got older, because of the already distant relationship it has been difficult to really know her. I do remember her gifts however. My grandparents won the lottery in 1984 and were millionaires. She always gave the best gifts. When we would go visit, we always looked forward to the gifts she would give us. I know I didn’t even really think about her- but the gifts she’d give me. My focus was on getting the big-ticket items I always wanted but couldn’t get from my parents. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized the flaw of my youth. I had wasted precious time enjoying the gifts and completely forgetting the giver. I no longer seek her gifts. I try to seek her for who she is, but in her old age this has been tough as well. It’s hard for me to admit, but I missed the best years of my grandma’s life seeking after what she could give me, rather than seeking her for herself. She is my last living relative and because of my youthful ecstasy of the gifts, I missed the enthusiasm of her life.

I’m afraid with many of the things God gives us, we tend to do the same to Him. We enjoy the things he’s given us and they end up becoming more important than Him. We may pray for a job, or a good grade in a class and once we get it, we stop praying. Like I was with my grandma, we are with God.

We don’t pray to know Him; we pray to get what we want. The believers in Corinth did this and many times we do as well. The gifts became more important than the Giver. The Corinthians were asking about the gifts and how they were doing in them. I believe in their arrogance, they wanted to be told they were the most gifted church on the block and that they should just keep doing what they were doing. However, Paul said: before we even discuss the gifts, know that: The gifts are not about the gifts, but about the Giver of those gifts! Paul answers their questions about the gifts by answering the question of- How can we seek the Giver and not the gifts?  Paul goes right into the issue at hand. And gives the first answer to the question of seeking the giver and not the gifts. He states that they should

1.Embrace Education and not Ignorance (vs. 1)

 

The Corinthians it seems asked Paul about the gifts. As I said previously, my guess is that it was for the sake of being patted on the back and lauded as the church that “gets it”. They were not coming to the table asking questions necessarily for the sake of answers but more for a sense of being praised. In their arrogance they remained completely ignorant. They lost their teachability and Paul had to consistently beat down their over-inflated ideal of themselves. We can see that in the Corinthians lives as well as our own that. Ignorance is the child of arrogance. We become so arrogant in what we know, we actually become ignorant. Paul then sarcastically stated: “I don’t want you to be uniformed” it could even be read, “I don’t want you to remain uninformed”. He is saying that unless they heed what he is about to say, they are uninformed about the issue they asked about. He doesn’t deny their experience in the Spiritual gifts. He doesn’t say the way in which they are manifesting is wrong even; he simply discusses theological understandings as well as spiritual discipline that they were simply lacking in. He lets them know: There is ignorance in this church and I desire to enlighten you. They needed to humble themselves to once again become teachable. They needed educated, but they also needed to submit to the education.

I think in our lives, we tend to do the same with God. We may have a sense that we know it, or we are good to go and don’t need any more instruction, but my friends we truly do need to remain teachable all throughout our lives. Without embracing constant education from the Spirit, mentors and the pastors over us, we will remain ignorant in many places of our lives.

I’m sure many of us in this room have differing opinions on the spiritual gifts. This causes us to think we know what we’re talking about when it comes to them. I implore you to prepare your heart to be challenged in the weeks to come because: We don’t always know what we think we know. Let us learn to love the Giver and not the gifts. Let us learn from the Source of Life and not pretend we’ve got this under wraps. Let me state too, that I FULLY BELIEVE that the gifts are for today. This whole series will be done with this thought process in mind. This has come to me by way of education and experience. I don’t pretend to know everything about the Spiritual gifts and so I too am on a learning curve with you, but I do know with conviction that they are for today. May we, in order to seek the giver, desire to be teachable and submit ourselves to His instructions so we do not remain ignorant. After Paul encourages them to be open to education in order to know the Giver, he then reminds them, and us that in order to seek the Giver, and not the gifts we ought to seek

 2. Seek to be Led by His Words, not our Wants (vs. 2)

   In this verse, Paul laid down the sarcastic smack down to the Corinthians, particularly those who came form Pagan backgrounds. He reminds them of how they were wrong before in following these dead and mute gods. They followed blindly gods that didn’t speak, live or interact with the people worshiping them. They couldn’t. In this too, he purposefully reminds them that the God they now worship is a God who speaks. The Lord is not mute, but delights in speaking to His children. These followers were doing whatever they wanted with the gifts, as they did when they worshiped the mute gods. They had no direction with their pagan gods, and so were allowed to indulge in their flesh. Here, they are not, God speaks and gives guidance and direction. Paul reminds them to heed His voice.

I think many times, we are like the Corinthians. We tend to use our gifts for our desires and wants and we do not heed his voice.  For many years, I abused my gift of preaching as a means to becoming known. I was seeking my name to be known, and not God’s name. I dreamt of large crowds listening to me preach and became deeply desirous of these opportunities for my own recognition. God however, did not allow it until I began to change my wants to the Words He was speaking. I had to remain teachable and humble to see I was not doing for God.Whether it is a material gift from the Lord or a spiritual gift from Him, we can tend to do with it what we want and don’t even consider how He would desire us to use it.

      When we listen to His voice, we can most effectively and properly use the Gifts he’s given us.

After Paul encourages them to be open to education in order to know the Giver, and after he reminded them, and us that in order to seek the Giver, and not the gifts we ought to seek His words, he then moves into another issue that must be dealt with in order to seek the Giver and not the gift. We are to

3. Choose Enthusiasm, not Ecstasy

   Now, I know this point is a bit confusing, but bear with me in this, it will be fully explained. The Corinthian church was neglecting to glorify Christ with what was given them. Soards states: “The Corinthians were getting caught up in the thrill of the emotional experience, rather than seeking to glorify God.” The gift became so important, that they were completely cutting God out of the equation. They were so infatuated with themselves and their gifts that they began to think they were the originators of their gifts, rather than seeing them as gifts. This is why he stated: “…no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says: ‘Jesus is accursed’”. They may have a manifestation, but it becomes man made (and thus powerless) when the person manifesting the gift fails to glorify God in the gift. Don’t get me wrong, God can still use it, but it is no longer what it should be. This being caught up is ecstasy and not enthusiasm.

Let me be clear here too. God can manifest Himself any way he wants to. I have experienced Holy laughter, being slain in the Spirit and other such manifestations of the Spirit. I know many people doubt these to be genuine, but I know them to be, because it was for His glory. We cannot define what is and isn’t from God in such manifestations simply based on how it is expressed. We can however see if it is glorifying God or man. That is where we must look. We also must look within and see if we are using our gifts (spiritual or carnal) for our purposes or His. Are we getting caught up in the thrill?

Ecstasy is the effort to “stand outside” oneself to grasp onto a vital power that provides one with an extraordinary experience. Enthusiasm is the result of one’s being indwelt by the power of God so that one’s quality of experience is transformed.

So, in choosing enthusiasm we are essentially: Looking for God’s face and not His hands. We are not focusing on what God can give us, but seeking Him for Himself. This is why Paul stated: “…no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” It is genuine enthusiasm that affirms Christ’s lordship, but ecstasy that creates behavior contrary to the Lordship of Christ. The Spirit births confession that Jesus is Lord!

May we seek to be teachable and Hear His words, now our wants. May we be people who choose enthusiasm in the gifts and seek His Face, not His hands. As we go through the rest of this series, we will see how the Corinthians could be caught up in the gifts. God gives great gifts! They can be so amazing that we are tempted, to like the Corinthians, choose ecstasy and do what we want and praise ourselves. May this be the guideline through which we look at the gifts- seeking the Giver and not the gifts.