Discernment (Part 2)

As we said last time, time has come for us to discern the times and seasons that we are in, and what God wants with and from us. The moment you start to discern that the times and seasons of God have come, though the enemy will come to steal, kill and destroy, you will be unstoppable. What is in you and the season you are in cannot be hindered. You will watch Herod self-destruct, and Pharaoh and his army be swept away by the waters.

The worst mistake you and I can make is to sit in Egypt and miss out on a time of getting out. When they put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, they discerned that it was time to move on. When the time comes for you to get out, you will be unstoppable; but you have to discern this time. Discern the time for getting out, for harvest, for sowing, for investment, for success etc. Do not get comfortable with the status quo, or remain in the comfort zone. Discern the times and seasons, and move on with God.

When dogs are surrounding a car that is parked in the parking lot, they do not bother with it. But when the car is started, the dogs start barking instantly. The moment you are in the comfort zone, no one will be bothered. But the moment you will take a step of faith, spending more time with the word, in prayer, in fellowship and so on, expect the dogs to start barking, as the kingdom of darkness is stirred up. As long as it is of the Lord, leave the dogs barking, and move on. When you get that job, promotion, harvest or financial breakthrough, people will start talking, saying all manner of things, but do not bother with them; do not be concerned with what people are saying. Leave them alone, receive what is yours, and move on.

Discernment is a principle that makes the children of God be different and stand out from the rest of the world. May the Spirit of God awaken a powerful spirit of discernment in us, to know where we are, who we are with, the relationships we are in, what we are doing and are supposed to be doing and so on. When we start to discern, we stop making mistakes. When you walk in discernment, you will be led by the peace and grace of God in your heart, and get out of situations that are not godly or friendly, or get in some that are.

When you are in that situation where you cannot see any physical manifestation of what you have believed God for, but you still have peace, be still, you are in God’s plan, and it is coming.

In the times we are living in, there is so much falsehood in the pretense of discernment.

Acts 16:16-18

Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." ¹⁸ And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour.

This lady was using a spirit of divination, to make her people and the people get close to her so wealthy, because she used to tell fortunes. There are some people even today who do fortune telling, reading palms, interpreting stars and horoscopes and so on. These use divination, operating with familiar spirits, to tell people about their lives. They open up their souls to receive from the spiritual realm. If you are operating in the spirit of God, you can stop these spirits from reading about your life and operating, like Paul did. No matter how many people are following someone operating in a spirit of divination, if you are walking in a spirit of discernment, you can tell out what is true and godly from what is not. If you lack the word of God, you will be fooled and taken advantage of. When you do not obey the truth of the word of God, you will fall into the enemy’s trap.

In this season that the word of God is so true and clear to us, we should never allow ourselves to miss out on God.

Picking up from where we left last week on the three things we need to have discernment in this life, let’s look at two more areas where we should always have discernment in:

2. Discernment of friendships and God’s gift in our lives

1 Samuel 16:55-58

When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this youth?" And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know." ⁵⁶ So the king said, "Inquire whose son this young man is." ⁵⁷ Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" So David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

1 Samuel 18:1-14

Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul ⁴ And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵ So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

⁶  Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷ So the women sang as they danced, and said: "Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands." ⁸ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?"  ⁹ So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

 ¹⁰ And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul's hand. ¹¹ And Saul cast the spear, for he said, "I will pin David to the wall!" But David escaped his presence twice. ¹²  Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

 ¹⁴ And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him.

God wants us to discern relationships that will help us draw closer to Him. In the first text, if David did not discern the gift of God in him, it would not have brought him to the palace. Like him, discern the gift of God in you, as this is the gift that will catapult you to the palace. Do not struggle to get anything; take longer time to discern the gift of God in your life, as it is what will usher you to where the kings and princes are seating, and cause you to dine with them. When David discerned the gift of God, and went to play music for Saul, God was using this opportunity to train David to be a king. There was a bigger picture than just playing music. There is more to the picture than you just leading praise and worship in your church, or utilizing that gift that God gave you.

Since there was a bigger picture to David and the gift of God in him, even when Saul failed to appreciate him, and started to chase him down seeking to kill him, David still pursued the gift of God in him. While y ou are serving in that gift that God put in you, and no one seems to notice you, just keep pursuing it, as the gift will take you where God wants you to be. Patiently pursue the gift, seeing the big picture.

In the second text, we see Jonathan coming in to the picture. Just like Jonathan helped David to work with the gift of God in him, discern the people God has brought in your life to help you use the gift in your life. God wants to use these people in your life to help you get where you are supposed to be, where He wants the gift He put in you to take you. Take time to discern those people in your life who God brought there to help you, so that you know who to walk with. When the time for them is over, let them go. If it was not for Jonathan, David would have been killed prematurely by Saul. Discern the relationships you get in.

Divine relationships are brought of God, and when He brings them, he puts in us a discernment spirit in us to help us be fruitful in the relationships, make the best out of them, and when the brook has dried it’s time to move on. As we learnt much earlier, there are three types/ levels of relationships comrades, congregants and confidants. If Jesus is our teacher, and He had only 3 confidants, we cannot be above Him and have more confidants. A spirit of discernment will help us choose confidants. The other level of relationships we talked about is that of comrades, who are three because of what you do for them and do it back to you. They are not as close as the confidants. The other level is congregants, who are further away in proximity than the other two levels. Take time to discern and define how far you can go with the relationships in your life, and how much time to spend with them.

Discern the stage of every relationships you go in. there are six levels of every relationships, with congregants, comrades and confidants. Each relationship will go through:

1.      Contact: Every relationship, whether it’s at confidant, comrade or congregant, starts with this level.

2.      Communication: What is that friend about, what do they talk about most, what do they do, who is this person in your life?

3.      Cooperation: After you get contact and start communicating, you start cooperating, doing things together. Let us eat meat together, walk together, play together etc.

4.      Conflict: Peter was Jesus’ confidant, but they had conflict on various occasions as recorded in the Bible. In every relationship, you will have this stage. It is very delicate, and defines whether the relationship will move on or not.

5.      Choice: after conflict, you have to make a choice whether to move on with the relationship, or part with it. It is a choice whether to try make it work, or leave it out.

6.      Covenant: After Peter had a conflict with Jesus, even denying Him, He made a choice to move on with the relationship, and entered into a covenant, moving on with Christ’s mission on earth, preaching and living for Him.

A time has come that we stop loosely getting in relationships with people. Be careful how you get into relationships.

When it came for a time to choose a king for Israel, if Samuel would have gone with the physical eye, he would have missed out on an opportunity to anoint the right king, David. Because he had discernment, he chose David.

Have you discerned the relationship you are in, and

Study 1 Samuel 16, 17 and 20. Better yet, study the whole of 1 Samuel.

Eli, despite being a priest, in 1 Samuel 1, could not discern what Hannah wanted. There are still servants of God who do not discern what their followers need. By the fact that Eli could not discern the things that were happening in the temple were not of God and stop his sons or rebuke them, Samuel had to be born to replace him. Discern the people you relate with, as such will help you to your destiny, or keep you from it.

The relationship you are in will either crush your destiny or usher you into it. When you walk in discernment, you will know whether to stop a relationship, or go on with it.

For you to grow in discernment, you will require:

• Experience. Since David had a relationship and experience with God, he could stand before Goliath. The experience you’ve had with God will cause you to walk in power and walk in victory in your destiny.

• Godly counsel. This will teach you to understand the things of the spirit much more. Prov. 1:5, Is. 11:2-3. Godly counsel can help you grow. 

• Deep yourself in the word of God.

Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The word of God is a discerner. If you want to discern spirits talking to you, learn to deep yourself in the word of God. You’ll grow deeper in discernment, if you learn to stand by the word of God. How much do you want to grow in discernment, you will have to make a deliberate choice to grow in the word of God. How much time do you spend with the word of God in a day? The more time you spend in the word of God, the more you will be safe from deception and even operating in a spirit of divination yourself. If you want to discern diviners and spiritists from a far, get in the word of God.

Discernment is conditional. You have to seek it. You have to deliberately make a choice to operate in it, continuously.

Further reading:

Hebrews 5:12-14, Ezekiel 11:19-20, John 6:63, Romans 8:14.   

Amen. 


-- Pastor Mary Mugo. 


(22/06/14 Sunday Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)


Pastor Mary is the Senior Pastor at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.