Gifts of Discernment and Wisdom

I have received emails asking me the difference between the gift of Discernment and Wisdom and read those who actually do not have the gift of discernment but trying very hard to conjure it up. So, I have decided to Blog about it and I am taking part of an answer I sent to a sister in Christ in response to her email. So, if you are reading this post you know who you are.

Wisdom:

The gift of wisdom gives you insight into God’s purpose and will and shows you how to resolve the everyday problem for you and for other people. It goes without saying that you are resolving them according to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and God’s will. Mind you Solomon squandered it and solved problems apart from God as he followed after other gods. However, we can have wisdom without the gift of discernment, because the gift of discernment goes further, but we cannot have the gift of discernment without wisdom

Discernment:

Consists of what people calls word of knowledge, it also comprises distinguishing amongst spirits etc. While some people separate them, the Holy Spirit taught me they are one in the same because what we are doing is seeing through others with the very eyes of the Holy Spirit. As we grow in the Lord and walk with Him daily, the gift keeps growing as well. We have insight into the purpose and the will of God about us and other people. We can see their motives, sometimes even their thoughts etc. We really have insight on people and things that only God would know.

What makes this gift hard to live with is that you can have a friend who is very happy about an assignment for example. He or she is over the moon thinking that he is going to serve the Lord in some capacity. While he or she is over the moon with joy, you cannot tell your friend that this is actually dead works. Yet, you cannot lie and say “well I am happy for you” Another example is that you are not a leader, yet you can see all the pastor is doing wrong like being out of God’s will, totally not walking in the Spirit and the preaching does not have God in it, etc. Yet, you are forced to say nothing except praying for this pastor, you are to find the strength to keep on going there until God calls you out.

I knew a Church where the leaders got into a major conflict, yet God showed me what He was trying to achieve through this conflict in each group and it did not work because both groups were disobedient and their ego got the best of them. Even today, I am still in pain for these leaders doing Christianity with their ego right in the middle of it. Yet, I am supposed to keep it all for myself.  With all my heart, sometimes I wish I could shut if off just for a little while just to be me.  

God gave me my gift of discernment since I was a baby in the faith. Imagine being in the Church and God seemed to take away everyone, as if they disappeared, all of the sudden He singled out one of the leaders and point out things this person would never want anyone in the Church to know. (Believe it or not he is a nice guy) When He kept insisting on showing me week after week, my question to Him was “why you keep showing me that?” I did not have intimacy with God, nor did I know how to converse with the Holy Spirit. He gradually taught me and He also gave me proof that it was Him by forcing me to go to someone one a Sunday after service and told this person this is what God told me to pray for you. There were five other mature Christians there, and we were all in a circle. Everyone could not believe what they were hearing because they knew the man on a personal level and they asked me how I knew these things about him. I just replied like an idiot, “I don’t know, God just told me” and I laughed.

After I was in the wilderness for a few years with the Lord, He was breaking my stiff neck and changes me on the inside to transform me, one day, the Holy Spirit told me that He had given me the gift of discernment. What was strange to me was the fact that He waited so long to confirm that He had given to me the gift of discernment, yet He told me about my gift of Wisdom when I was approximately seven years in my walk with Him. I realized what He was doing all this time was training me to know how to use the gift of discernment and also testing me to see if I could be trusted with the gift.

I have never researched the gift up until approximately two years ago. I did it because I wanted to understand something God was not telling me which was “why me?”  I am not a leader and I am no one. – A few weeks after I started researching the gift, I could not get any answers at all and I was a little bit discouraged. Then suddenly, during my quiet time with Him one morning, the Holy Spirit made clear why, by telling me about my ministry and made it clear that my gift was mainly for my ministry. Guess what my ministry is? Working with people He puts in my path, people that have been in the church for a long time but never made it to truly become Christians. These people have lots of bible knowledge, they participate in Church services, Bible study etc. They are nice and very often intelligent and extremely educated people that we interact with day in day out yet they have never gone one step forward with God in their heart.

In my ministry I found it is extremely important that I know whether this person has ever received Salvation through an encounter with God or this person has had an encounter with God but is plainly disobedient with a stubborn heart with dull conscience, etc. Both types are difficult to work with, both type do not want to hear it.  

I find that He also blocks people that He does not want me to see. Sometimes He blocks someone He wants to use in my life, someone like a leader, and then unblock them once He finished using them.  I find it strange that some people are trying so hard to have the gift, because, when He showed me how I was going to be hated, misunderstood, misjudged etc because of my ministry, I sobbed like a baby for hours and asked Him to take it away. But, I got over it, knowing that it is not about me but about my God and I am not above my Master.  

One of the reasons I do not like talking about this gift of mine is because once people realize what you can do, they stay away from you. When it comes to leaders, if they do not stay away, they try to minimize it. Some actually think you are a total idiot for thinking you have the gift. One of the pastors who treated me that way had no idea that God showed me exactly where he was at. Because of that, this pastor has been constantly in my prayer for God to open up his heart and stop practicing Christianity with a “to do list” and also for him to learn to walk in the Spirit. Sadly, they do not realize the need to act in a certain way should tell you where you are at with God. It does not matter how much you love God and you are slowly growing, it simply means that you are still in the same frame of mind like Adam and Eve when they hid from God. It also means you have never gone forward just as you are and stand naked in front of God’s light.

Naked here does not mean without clothes but rather without our excuses, pretences, ego, pride, sin, double-mindedness, disobedient heart, lack of commitment, the lies we live and we tell Him, our stiff necks, etc. Yet, being able to stand naked in front of God and learning to live in the light of God is a major part of Salvation. God wants to restore us right here, right now and put us in the same relationship He had with Adam & Eve before the fall. Contrary to public’s opinion, this relationship is not when we die.

As I mentioned in my book Apprehended & Apprehending when God teaches us righteous judgment, we will find that we are our first customer, simply because we cannot judge people with righteous judgement for one single tree in their eyes if we have not learned to see the forest in our own eyes. In the same way if we cannot live in oneness with Him, if we cannot learn to live righteous lives moment by moment then the gift of discernment could become a curse instead of blessings. I say blessings here because God calls it such. Sometimes, as you live it out, it could be such a heavy gift that you ask yourself why is this a blessing?

In fact I asked God the same question when He was pressing me to go to someone. Since this is a long time friend that I did not want to lose and I knew my insistence would cause me to lose the friendship. The Holy Spirit answered me “I want you to go to this person because I do not want to hear ‘I did not know’ I could then turn and say to this person that I sent my servant to you” – It is funny how I realized that day, knowing that you are God’s servant is one thing, but having Him called you His servant is another thing. All of the sudden my question disappeared, I knew I could not dispute it anymore and I spent hours trying to process the fact that He called me His servant.  I ended up going to my friend, and yes the friendship is now almost non existent.  

The truth is people do not like feeling they are on display about their shortcomings. I still remember how I hated it. Every time I have to put someone on display, I am very mindful of that and every single time I see myself how I used to hate it and how it made me feel. But in equipping me for my ministry, He gave me boldness to do it with no regard for myself. It always comes down to “choosing myself or choosing Christ” or “displease men to please Christ” I would rather people hates me right now than having to face God’s wagging finger later.

Some of you want to know how I would feel if I was judged in the same way? Well, my answer to you is that I am going through it day in and day out with other people. When other people do it, I do not care and I will let God be the judge between me and them. Most of the time while they judge me, they have no idea that God shows me the spirit in them. Through my training for my ministry, God has taught me to keep a sober mind and remain alert, because in the same way He can show me someone else business, He could also turn around and do the same to me at any time. My duty is to learn to live in the light of God as He is in the light. As long as I am in the light as He is in the light, then I have nothing to worry about. I make sure I am at peace with the fact that other people can see that I am a true work in progress in Christ. I am certainly not sinless, nor that I have arrived.

We are perpetual students in the hands of God.  It is also for that reason that God made sure that I mustered the courage though the Holy Spirit and His grace, to appear before Him just as I was. I no longer need to hide like Adam & Eve did. I passed that stage with Him. For those of you who are still hiding from God, when He calls you, if feels like a strong and distasteful medicine. You dread going and you want to prolong the hiding as much as you can. In my case the Holy Spirit made it clear that I had to go and go by myself because He could not do it for me. Once you face God, you find it’s finished. He is your dad what did you expect?

I also found out, we cannot claim to live righteous lives when we are still hiding from God. These two definitely cannot be separated. The need to hide so we are not found out by others simply says that we have not exercised enough faith to go to God. Once you appear naked in front of God, you find that you have become the most transparent person and the fear of being found out is gone. God actually takes the fear away from you. All that is left to do is to live a righteous life in Him. And no, righteous here does not mean you do not have sin.

I hope I was able to shed some lights for all your questions. I know I have gone deeper in answering what is the difference between wisdom and discernment but there are too many people who are under the impression they can seek the gift but not the giver.  Some have hardly taken two steps with Him then they want the gift, to be able to discern the spirits to what end? I don’t know. Could it be that I know but it would be better to talk about it in another post?

I like Pastor MacArhtur, and he has a good post on the gift of discernment and wisdom which I found a few months ago by accident. But, this particular post of his has not exhausted the gift of discernment as I have learned directly from the Holy Spirit, but it is worth reading.

http://apprising.org/2012/02/14/john-macarthur-on-the-gift-of-discernment/

The Doctrine of Repentance – Part 12

By Thomas Watson, 1668

The Nature of true repentance

 2. It must be a turning from ALL sin.

"Let the wicked forsake his way" (Isaiah 55:7). A real penitent turns out of the road of sin. Every sin is abandoned. As Jehu would have all the priests of Baal slain (2 Kings 10:24)—not one must escape—so a true convert seeks the destruction of every lust—not one must escape. He knows how dangerous it is to entertain any one sin. He who hides one rebel in his house, is a traitor to the King. Just so, he who indulges one sin, is a traitorous hypocrite!

3. It must be a turning from sin upon a SPIRITUAL ground.

A man may restrain the open acts of sin—yet not turn from sin in a right manner. Acts of sin may be restrained out of fear or design—but a true penitent turns from sin out of a pious principle, namely, out of love to God. Even if sin did not bear such bitter fruit—if death did not grow on this tree—a gracious soul would forsake sin, out of love to God.

This is the most easy turning from sin. When things are frozen and congealed, the best way to separate them is by fire. When men and their sins are congealed together, the best way to separate them is by the fire of love. Three men, asking one another what made them leave sin: one said, "I think of the joys of heaven!" Said the second, "I think of the torments of hell!" But the third said, "I think of the love of God, and that makes me forsake sin!" How shall I offend the God of love?

4. It must be such a turning from sin—and turning unto God.

This is in the text, "that they should repent and turn to God" (Acts 26:20). Turning from sin is like pulling the arrow out of the wound; turning to God is like pouring in the balm. We read in scripture of a repentance from dead works (Heb. 6:1), and a repentance toward God (Acts 20:21). Unsound hearts pretend to leave old sins—but they do not turn to God or embrace his service. It is not enough to forsake the devil's quarters—but we must get under Christ's banner and wear his colors. The repenting prodigal did not only leave his harlots—but he arose and went to his father! It was God's complaint, "They do not turn to the Most High God" (Hos. 7:16). In true repentance the heart points directly to God—as the compass needle to the North Pole.

5. True turning from sin is such a turn—as has no return.

"What have I to do any more with idols?" (Hos. 14:8). Forsaking sin must be like forsaking one's native soil—never more to return to it. Some have seemed to be converts and to have turned from sin—but they have returned to their sins again. This is a returning to folly (Psalm 85:8). It is a fearful sin, for it is against clear light. It is to be supposed that he who did once leave his sin, felt it bitterly in the pangs of conscience. Yet he returned to it again; he therefore sins against the illuminations of the Spirit. Such a return to sin reproaches God: "What evil did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves!" (Jer. 2:5). He who returns to sin, by implication charges God with some evil. If a man divorces his wife, it implies he knows some fault by her. To leave God and return to sin—is tacitly to asperse the Deity. God, who "hates divorce" (Mal. 2:16), hates that he himself should be divorced.

To return to sin gives the devil more power over a man than ever. When a man turns from sin, the devil seems to be cast out of him—but when he returns to sin, the devil enters into his house again and takes possession, and "the last state of that man is worse than the first!" (Matt. 12:45). When a prisoner has broken prison, and the jailer gets him again, he will lay stronger irons upon him. He who leaves off a course of sinning, as it were, breaks the devil's prison—if Satan takes him returning to sin, he will hold him faster and take fuller possession of him than ever! Oh take heed of this! A true turning from sin is a divorcing it, so as never to come near it any more. Whoever is thus turned from sin is a blessed person: "When God raised up his servant, he sent him to bless you—by turning each of you back from your sinful ways" (Acts 3:26).

Use 1. Is turning from sin a necessary ingredient in repentance? If so, then there is little true repentance to be found. People are not turned from their sins; they are still the same as they ever were! They were proud—and so they are still. They are like the beasts in Noah's ark, they went into the ark unclean—and came out unclean. Men come to gospel ordinances impure—and go away impure. Though men have seen so many changes on the outside—yet there is no change wrought within: "after all this punishment, the people will still not repent and turn to the Lord Almighty" (Isaiah 9:13).

How can they say they repent—who do not turn? Are they washed in Jordan—who still have their leprosy upon their forehead? May not God say to the unreformed, as once to Ephraim, "Ephraim is joined to idols—let him alone!" (Hos. 4:17)? Likewise, here is a man joined to his drunkenness and uncleanness—let him alone! Let him go on in sin! If there is either justice in heaven, or vengeance in hell—he shall not go unpunished!

The Doctrine of Repentance - Part 11

By Thomas Watson, 1668

 

The Nature of true repentance

(4) Look upon sin in the CONSEQUENCE, and it will appear hateful. Sin reaches the BODY. It has exposed it to a variety of miseries. We come into the world with a cry—and go out with a groan! It made the Thracians weep on their children's birthday—to consider the calamities they were to undergo in the world. Sin is the Trojan horse out of which comes a whole army of troubles. I need not name them because almost everyone feels them. While we suck the honey—we are pricked with the briar. Sin puts a dreg in the wine of all our comforts. Sin digs our grave (Romans 5:12).

Sin reaches the SOUL. By sin we have lost the image of God, wherein did consist both our sanctity and our majesty. Adam in his pristine glory, was like a herald who has his king's coat of arms upon him. All reverence him because he carries the king's coat of arms—but pull this coat off, and no man regards him. Sin has done this disgrace to us. It has plucked off our coat of innocency. But that is not all. This virulent arrow of sin would strike yet deeper. It would forever separate us from the beautiful vision of God, in whose presence is fullness of joy. If sin be so foully sinful, it should stir up our implacable indignation against it. As Ammon's hatred of Tamar was greater than the love with which he had loved her (2 Sam. 13:15), so we should hate sin infinitely more, than ever we loved it. 

 

Ingredient 6. TURNING from Sin

The sixth ingredient in repentance, is a turning from sin. Reformation is left last, to bring up the rear of repentance. What though one could, with Niobe, weep himself into a stone—if he did not weep out sin? True repentance, like acid, eats asunder the iron chain of sin! Therefore weeping fro sin, and turning from sin—are put together, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning!" (Joel 2:12). After the cloud of sorrow has dropped in tears, the sky of the soul is clearer: "Repent, and turn from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations" (Ezek. 14:6).

This turning from sin is called a forsaking of sin (Isaiah 55:7), as a man forsakes the company of a thief or sorcerer. It is called "a putting of sin far away" (Job 11:14), as Paul put away the viper and shook it into the fire (Acts 28:5). Dying to sin—is the life of repentance. The very day a Christian turns from sin—he must enjoin himself a perpetual fast. The eye must fast from impure glances. The ear must fast from hearing slanders. The tongue must fast from unwholesome speech. The hands must fast from bribes. The feet must fast from the path of the harlot. And the soul must fast from the love of wickedness.

This turning from sin implies a great change. There is a change wrought in the heart. The flinty heart has become fleshly. Satan would have Christ prove his deity—by turning stones into bread. Christ has wrought a far greater miracle—in making stones become flesh. In repentance Christ turns a heart of stone—into a heart of flesh.

There is a change wrought in the life. Turning from sin is so visible, that others may discern it. Therefore it is called a change from darkness to light (Eph. 5:8). Paul, after he had seen the heavenly vision, was so different—that all men wondered at the change (Acts 9:21). Repentance changed the jailer into a nurse and a servant (Acts 16:33). He took the apostles and washed their wounds and set food before them. A ship is going eastward; there comes a wind which turns it westward. Likewise, a man was turning hell-ward before the contrary wind of the Spirit blew, turned his course, and caused him to sail heaven-ward.

Chrysostom, speaking of the Ninevites' repentance, said that if a stranger who had seen Nineveh's excess had gone into the city after they repented, he would scarcely have believed it was the same city—because it was so transformed and reformed. Such a visible change does repentance make in a person—it is as if another soul lodged in the same body!

That the turning from sin be rightly qualified, these few things are requisite:

1. It must be a turning from sin with the HEART.

The heart is the first thing which lives—and it must be the first thing which turns. The heart is that which the devil strives hardest for. Never did he so strive for the body of Moses—as he does for the heart of man. In true religion—the heart is all. If the heart is not turned from sin—it is no better than a pretense: "her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense" (Jer. 3:10). Judah did make a show of reformation; she was not so grossly idolatrous as the ten tribes. Yet Judah was worse than Israel: she is called "unfaithful" Judah—that is, "treacherous". She pretended to a reformation—but it was not in truth. Her heart was not for God—she did not turn with the whole heart. It is odious to make a show of turning from sin—while the heart is yet in league with sin! I have read of one of our Saxon kings who was baptized, who in the same church had one altar for the Christian religion and another for an idol. God will have the whole heart turned from sin. True repentance must have no reserves or idols.

The Superiority of Graces to Gifts

THE SUPERIORITY OF GRACES TO GIFTS

"But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way." 1 Cor. 12:31

"Let love be your highest goal." 1 Cor. 14:1

One man may have great gifts while destitute of saving grace. Another may have great grace, and yet possess few gifts. Which of the two is the most to be desired? The enlightened Christian who knows himself, and who has experienced the power of the Gospel, will not be long in determining. Supernatural gifts, such as "working of miracles," "speaking with tongues," "discerning of spirits," etc., which were bestowed upon some of the first Christians; and a special knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, an eloquence in conveying scriptural truths, and an aptitude to acquire languages which some Christians now possess, only tend to puff up and exalt the gifted individuals, if unaccompanied with the graces of humility, self-denial, and love. Hence gifts may be exercised by people who never will enjoy the glories of heaven.

The Scriptures are clear on this point. "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (or preached) in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, you that work iniquity."

"When Jesus had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." Among this number was "Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed him." But what did our Lord say of Judas? "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" And what did Peter declare concerning him at the election of another apostle to fill his office? "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which of these two you have chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." And what place that was, we learn by implication from our blessed Lord. "For I, the Son of Man, must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for my betrayer. Far better for him if he had never been born!" These words would never have been uttered had Judas' own place been the place where the penitent thief on the cross was to meet Jesus; "Today shall you be with me in Paradise." Judas, like Lot's wife, stands as a monument of God's wrath, and as a warning against false profession.

Grace, however humble be its possessor, though a poor diseased Lazarus, will never be rejected. Grace is the sterling coin of the kingdom, bearing the image of the Sovereign King. When knowledge shall vanish away, when tongues shall cease, and miracles are no longer needed, grace will shine with increased splendor, for glory is but grace perfected. The grace of faith in Christ, love to his name, devotedness to God, activity in his service, self-denial, and spiritual-mindedness, will then receive the smiles of the Great Judge of the living and dead. Oh! that I may daily follow after love, without which all my doings are nothing worth.

Superior gifts make a man more known to the Christian world, and, by some, to be regarded as a kind of oracle. This distinction is highly gratifying to the natural heart; and the more gratifying it is to any one, the more dangerous it becomes to his soul, because spiritual pride is fostered, and self is exalted in the place of Jesus. The graces of the Spirit are of a more silent, unobtrusive nature; they tend to make a man low in his own eyes; they lead him into retirement and spiritual communion with God, and cause him to avoid rather than court the observation of mankind. From hence it is evident that all are not Israel who are of Israel, and that there is no necessary connection between gifts and graces.

The kingdom of God consists not of gifts and ceremonies, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is not the able talkers about religion who will be rewarded at the last day, but the humble walkers with Jesus. Many, who are now despised on account of their slender capacities and weak intellectual attainments, or regarded as half Christians, because they cannot win a debate against a witty infidel, or define some mysterious doctrine of Scripture; but whose lives are the most convincing arguments for the power and truth of the Gospel, whose hope is founded on Christ alone, who strenuously oppose all sin, and labor, through the Spirit, to perfect holiness in the fear of God, will receive the plaudit, "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord!"

While the gifted, but unsound professors of religion, will be frowned into hell. This, the Great Judge himself has declared; "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Truly I say unto you, I know you not." "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away." "Many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

It is very desirable to "covet earnestly the best gifts," to increase in wisdom and knowledge, to be able to speak acceptably to others about the things of God; but still, Peter places grace before knowledge; "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," for, adds Paul, "Knowledge puffs up, but love build up."

Lord, I humbly beseech you to give me grace to be faithful. Impart unto me this invaluable blessing experienced by the early Christians, when "great grace was on them all." May the grace of Christ dwell in my heart, destroying sin and the power thereof, and exciting me to childlike obedience to your will; may the light of Truth irradiate my path, and your Spirit guide me along the consecrated way, until I reach the heavenly world, where all is light, and life, and love forever.

"Follow after Love," -delightful exhortation; as if the Apostle had said- follow after happiness and glory; follow after that, which will form your blessedness in time and eternity. "God is love," and "every one that loves is born of God." Come, O my soul, and think upon redeeming love, until all your powers are lost in this ocean of grace, this infinity of mercy. What? did the Great Jehovah condescend to veil himself in human flesh to save rebellious worms from endless woe, and can I, for whom he lived, and bled, and died, feel no concern about my eternal state? no return to Him, of grateful and adoring praise? no hatred of those sins for which he suffered? no fear of hell? no longings after heaven?

Amazing hardness-dreadful insensibility! Lord, take away this heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart susceptible of your mercies. Draw me with the cords of love, and bind my wayward affections to your Cross. Give me a weanedness from the world, that while my hands are diligently employed in the way of duty, my heart may be set on things above. Impart unto me a spiritual mind, a constant relish for heavenly employments. Let me live in the spirit of this petition; "May your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Create in me a new and contrite heart; a heart deeply convinced of its own depravity, earnestly seeking for pardon of all sin, through the precious blood of Jesus, and daily growing in holiness through the Spirit of His Grace.

Lord, increase my faith, that being united to Christ, I may become a living branch in the true Vine, a member of his mystical body, a sheep of his pasture, a child of his family, a partaker of the divine nature, an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ. Oh! how wonderful are the revelations of your love; how glorious are the privileges of your people. Lord increase my faith to lay hold on this hope set before me in the Gospel of your Son.

PRAYER: Give me, heavenly Father, I humbly beseech you, an earnest desire to do those things which you have commanded, to avoid whatever you have forbidden, and to obtain those blessings which you have promised to every true believer. Give me a single eye to your glory. May your glory be the end and aim of all my actions. Preserve me from all pride and vain-glory; and make me a little child in humility and simplicity, seeking your honor and glory above every other object in the world.

Fill my heart, O God, with gratitude, and my mouth with praise for all your mercy, grace, and love granted to one so vile and worthless. Oh! that I might every moment live for you, think on you, and speak for you; then would my heart be pure, and my conversation be always seasoned with grace, good to the use of edifying. Happy will that period be when all these obtrusive cares of life will have an end, and nothing will be found to interrupt the work of adoration through the ages of eternity. Come, blessed Spirit, prepare me for your abode of glory; wean my heart daily from this wicked world; impress the Savior's image on my soul, that when he shall appear, I may be like him, when I see him as he is.

The Way of Permanent Faith

As I was reading Oswald Chambers today, I realized I would have been very excited if it was not for the fact that I have gone through the process of what he is talking about and know the inward pain that your soul has to endure to get through this process.

Indeed during this period of time, we are so scattered inside, so hollow, so depressed by the darkness that surround us. As you go through this process, you also understand why the word wilderness suits it so well. Your pain comes from the dryness, the sun, the win and everything that encompasses the wilderness. It is so desolate all around you, in your heart, your soul and your spirit that the only thing that makes sense to your senses is the depression that the whole process is calling you to.

But, if you can keep focusing on Him while you are there, even though there is no excitement and no joy during this period, you will get through it and joy will come back again when you see how much you have grown. Through this period there is a long waiting process in between that is very discouraging. Another major point of this process is that God needs to take you to a place where you learn to abide in Him and you learn to depend on Him moment by moment for your life.

As you learn to abide in Him, you realize, the reality of you abiding in Him is so that the next part of the verse (abide in me and I in you) could take shape in your life. The whole doctrine of abiding in Him is so that He can reveal Himself to you, Christ can be formed in you as you learn to possess His mind, His likeness and all those substances that we need to take from Him. There are ways for sure you know you have gone through the process exactly the way He wanted you to.  First, you get out of it knowing full well what Paul meant when he said “for me to live is Christ”.

Another way you know you are pleasing to Him is that you realize you have become the protagonist of song of the Solomon 8:5 “Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?” Because now, you not only have learned to get to know Him, you know you can depend on Him. So, your faith is solid and your understanding of Him is on a whole new dimension which is the spiritual one as you left behind the man made idea of Him. In fact, you look back to what you knew of Him and where you are now, and you are ashamed of what you made out Christianity to be. You also make a transition from knowing about Him to knowing Him. The thing is, you find you are now ready to look at this Christian life, His way. Another thing you will discover as well is that you are in the process of being made right with Him. This process takes you beyond spirituality into your way of right living in His sight. Righteousness is being restored. (Mathew 5:6)

So, if you are depressed and your life is upside down and you feel you are fenced in, look up to Him through the pain, the sadness, the emptiness, the scorching sun of the wilderness, the coldness that is eating your body, focus on Him and lift up your soul to Him. You do not have to make lengthy prayers because He knows already. Just the fact that you can remain focused on Him and in your heart letting Him know, no matter what you want to make it about Him and give Him glory for whatever is going on right now, then, He will be pleased. Don’t make it about your feelings because joy already escaped you, He is nowhere to be found and it is all messy and scattered inside you. – But, be patient however long it lasts, remain committed to seeing it through His ways and do not allow doubt to enter your mind.

When I went through my process, even though at times I could not pray, I would make it a point to pray in my heart. At times He was so absent I felt He was not hanging onto me at all. I did not let the enemy get the best of me. I did not confer with anyone that would discourage me or prescribe some sort of diversion.  I resolved to make it about Him even if I had to die. Once in a while, He would show me that even though I could not feel His presence because of the state of my soul, but He was right there with me and actually never left me for a moment. Those tiny glimmers of hope helped me a great deal. – Be still and know that He is God!

Here is Oswald Chambers devotional for today!

The Way to Permanent Faith

04

04

2013

Indeed the hour is coming . . . that you will be scattered . . . —John 16:32

Jesus was not rebuking the disciples in this passage. Their faith was real, but it was disordered and unfocused, and was not at work in the important realities of life. The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and they had interests apart from Jesus Christ. After we have the perfect relationship with God, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of everyday life. We will be scattered, not into service but into the emptiness of our lives where we will see ruin and barrenness, to know what internal death to God’s blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is certainly not of our own choosing, but God engineers our circumstances to take us there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is sustained only by feelings and by blessings. But once we get there, no matter where God may place us or what inner emptiness we experience, we can praise God that all is well. That is what is meant by faith being exercised in the realities of life.

“. . . you . . . will leave Me alone.” Have we been scattered and have we left Jesus alone by not seeing His providential care for us? Do we not see God at work in our circumstances? Dark times are allowed and come to us through the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do what He wants with us? Are we prepared to be separated from the outward, evident blessings of God? Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve. Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. The sense of God’s blessings is fundamental

“. . . be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Unyielding spiritual fortitude is what we need.

Oswald's devotion for today is courtesy of: http://utmost.org/

The Doctrine of Repentance - Part 10

By Thomas Watson, 1668

 The Nature of true repentance

 

Question: What is there in sin, which may make a penitent hate it?

Answer: Sin is the accursed thing, the most deformed monster. The apostle Paul uses a very emphatic word to express it: "that sin might become exceedingly sinful" (Romans 7:13), or as it is in the Greek, "exaggeratedly sinful". That sin is an exaggerated mischief, and deserves hatred will appear if we look upon sin as a fourfold conceit:

(1) Look upon the origin of sin, from whence it comes. It fetches its pedigree from hell: "He who commits sin is of the devil!" (1 John 3:8). Sin is the devil's special work. God has a hand in ordering sin, it is true—but Satan has a hand in acting it out. How hateful is it to be doing that which is the special work of the devil, indeed, that which makes men into devils!

(2) Look upon sin in its nature, and it will appear very hateful. See how scripture has pencilled sin out: it is a dishonoring of God (Romans 2:23 ); a despising of God (1 Sam. 2:30); a fretting of God (Ezek. 16:43); a wearying of God (Isaiah 7:13); a grieving the heart of God, as a loving husband is with the unchaste conduct of his wife: "I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols" (Ezek. 6:9). Sin, when acted to the height, is a crucifying Christ afresh and putting him to open shame (Heb. 6:6), that is, impudent sinners pierce Christ in his saints, and were he now upon earth they would crucify him again in his person. Behold the odious nature of sin.

(3) Look upon sin in its comparison, and it appears ghastly. Compare sin with AFFLICTION and hell, and it is worse than both. It is worse than affliction, sickness, poverty, or death. There is more malignity in a drop of sin than in a sea of affliction—for sin is the cause of affliction, and the cause is more than the effect. The sword of God's justice lies quiet in the scabbard—until sin draws it out! Affliction is good for us: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted" (Psalm 119:71). Affliction causes repentance (2 Chron. 33:12). The viper, being stricken, casts up its poison. Just so, when God's rod strikes us with affliction, we spit away the poison of sin! Affliction betters our grace. Gold is purest, and juniper sweetest—when in the fire. Affliction prevents damnation. "We are being disciplined—so that we will not be condemned with the world." (1 Cor. 11:32). Therefore, Maurice the emperor prayed to God to punish him in this life—that he might not be punished hereafter.

Thus, affliction is in many ways for our good—but there is no good in sin. Manasseh's affliction brought him to humiliation and repentance—but Judas' sin brought him to desperation and damnation. Affliction only reaches the body—but sin goes further: it poisons the mind, disorders the affections. Affliction is but corrective; sin is destructive. Affliction can but take away the life; sin takes away the soul (Luke 12:20).

A man who is afflicted may have his conscience quiet. When the ark was tossed on the flood waves, Noah could sing in the ark. When the body is afflicted and tossed, a Christian can "make melody in his heart to the Lord" (Eph. 5:19). But when a man commits sin, conscience is terrified. Witness Spira, who upon his abjuring the faith, said that he thought the damned spirits did not feel those torments which he inwardly endured. In affliction, one may have the love of God (Rev. 3:19). If a man should throw a bag of money at another, and in throwing it should hurt him a little—he will not take it unkindly—but will look upon it as a fruit of love. Just so, when God bruises us with affliction—it is to enrich us with the golden graces and comforts of his Spirit. All is in love. But when we commit sin, God withdraws his love. When David sinned, he felt nothing but displeasure from God: "Clouds and thick darkness surround him" (Psalm 97:2). David found it so. He could see no rainbow, no sunbeam, nothing but clouds and darkness about God's face.

That sin is worse than affliction is evident, because the greatest judgment God lays upon a man in this life is to let him sin without control. When the Lord's displeasure is most severely kindled against a person, he does not say, I will bring the sword and the plague on this man—but, I will let him sin on: "I gave them up unto their own hearts lust, living according to their own desires" (Psalm 81:12). Now, if the giving up of a man to his sins (in the account of God himself) is the most dreadful evil, then sin is far worse than affliction. And if it is so, then how should it be hated by us!

Compare sin with HELL, and you shall see that sin is worse. Torment has its epitome in hell—yet nothing in hell is as bad as sin. Hell is of God's making—but sin is not of God's making. Sin is the devil's creature. The torments of hell are a burden only to the sinner—but sin is a burden to God. In the torments of hell, there is something that is good, namely, the execution of divine justice. There is justice to be found in hell—but sin is a piece of the highest injustice. It would rob God of his glory, Christ of his purchase, the soul of its happiness. Judge then if sin is not a most hateful thing—which is worse than affliction, or the torments of hell.

A Melancholic Day With Him!

Today I am having such a melancholic day that I felt the need to change the post.  On Easter Sunday I was having dinner with my son and his family and he asked some questions that I felt were hard for me to answer. I went on explaining to him that God is working in my life now in a way that I have no idea how to follow. I recall giving him an example of a dear friend of mine whom I know for more than twenty years. In the flesh I am trying so hard to hold on to this friend of mine, but in my heart and soul I could feel there was a work being done by another party and I am being told to take a different path. Granted, my friend is very stubborn when it comes to God and has never taken one step forward with Him. Sadly, this friend is one of those who believe once you say the sinner’s prayer whether you were pushed, bribed, intimidated, or because you wanted to err on the caution side, just in case there is a hell, then you get baptized and get yourself into a Church, well you are saved and you have a spot for you waiting in heaven no matter what.

I am the first one to be amazed at how when you are walking with God, even the trivial conversation God does not let go to waste. Since the conversation with my son, I felt so melancholic; I could not explain it and I tried my best not to ruin our time together. Little did I know God set out to make things clearer to me since yesterday. I spent the whole day where He was teaching me about 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. While I felt the study made me icky, because you cannot get into these things without being harsh, but this is one of those things that you do not choose with God because it is not about you. I had an understanding that I was being separated further which increased my melancholy because I have in place something that is more like my personal support system in the sense, when I am with these people, even though we can touch a conversation about God but I am not as absorbed with Him. These friends make me feel that for a moment I can take a break from God. To some extend I feel, I need this support because it allows me to be in the flesh and stop being so absorbed by God every minute of my life. Believe it or not when I am with these types of friends, it makes me feel like a simple human being.

This morning to my surprise I found out God is not finished with me. First of all, I was urged to go to Leviticus 17 -20 as I read these chapters, all He confirmed to me there is that He is still the same God and has never changed. Then I read Oswald Chambers devotion for today that cemented it all because of the part that He wanted to drill in my head. Oswald said: “Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.”

I cannot help being sad because one more time I am relieving the time when He took my right hand in His left hand to lead me to the wilderness. I knew I was leaving it all behind, Church friends etc. Times like that, you cannot help mourning because of the lost. It is like part of you is dying. Now, I know God is good but for now my heart is heavy and I need to mourn.

As I am writing this blog, the Holy Spirit made me understand that although I am sad because of what I am leaving behind, but there is something deeper going on. He then let me see how my heart is also heavy because I understand through my support system, I have sinned against Him and thwarted the work He needs to do in and with me. So, my need to be in the flesh to feel like a simple human being has to go.

“Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.” – This is where I failed Him and this is where I need to pick up the pace.

Therefore If Anyone Is In Christ

Romans 8: 10 “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

John 14:20 “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”

I have read many times over how people interpret the fact we should not have those “if” there in front of those sentences such as Romans 8 and 2 Corinthians 5. I am always excited when I read those who understand why these “if” should be there and I know them too, have been touched by God personally.

There is a pastor that I really like, he died a few years ago. I do listen to his commentary of the Bible. While this pastor had enough knowledge to have a very good commentary, he said this if should not be there because the minute we accept Him, we are all in Him. But, this pastor was half right. While he loved God but, there are certain things we cannot know the depth or the meaning of them unless the Spirit reveals them to us. While most Christians fight those “if” we have in the Bible, but they are all there for good reasons. This pastor was half right because the first time, I experienced what it meant to be “in Christ” it was so awesome. After the height of the experience had subsided I remember having a conversation with the Holy Spirit about it. This is what I take away. If we truly accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour through an encounter with Him, of course we are in Him.

 I have seen so called Christians making excuses for their stubbornness, hard heart, dull conscience, and the fact that they are incapable of changing after decades of calling themselves Christians. They do not think there is anything wrong with this type of mindset. In fact one of them whom I was forced to talk to because the Holy Spirit made me told me “I know I am a sinner and I am not perfect, but I know my father loves me and His grace will take me to Heaven.” I was shocked because this person has been claiming to be a Christian for about six decades. It is okay to hear someone who just received Christ utter those words because you know they are a work in progress and in due time the Holy Spirit will enlighten them. But when you hear those words coming out of people who only have a few years to live out on this earth, while they have claimed to be Christians all their lives, then you know they have been duped and defeated by Satan. You know Christianity has never been made real to them. Christians with this frame of mind and such defeated attitude have no idea what it means to be a child of God. As Children of God, there are certain expectations from us. (See 1John 3:2-3) these types of Christians are amongst those that Paul calls swindler and idolaters. They idolize themselves, they are fraudster when it comes to Christianity and they slander God’s name.

One of the beauties of growing spiritually while being taught by Him is the reality of each single word in the Bible is there for a reason. God did not say words like we find in Romans 8:16-17 to fill up blank spaces. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…”  

I found even with the gift of discernment most of the time God shows us people whom He wants us to pray for. (By the way, there is a very good explanation of the gift of discernment by Oswald Chambers from March 31 devotion, take time to read it if you can.) The rest of the time, He is telling us that it is not our business or He blocks us for reasons we might not know. 2 kings 4:27 “…..“Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” So, the apostles and the prophets knew it very well that there are things that God simply do not tell us. If you take a closer  look at 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 Paul said to us: “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

Please note that Paul’s exhortation was not just for sexually immoral Christians. It is equally important what Paul mentioned about the offender in verse 5: “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” He did not mention his soul and body. These are sombre words that we cannot afford to close our eyes and act as if we do not say them outloud they will go away. We are not to take anyone’s explanation on these words just because they make us feel better or that they are more acceptable. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to decipher those warnings because they concern our own souls. Paul could have easily said here, hand the man over to Satan because the way he is behaving is not conducive to someone who is in Christ or a child of God. Why Paul would make such a drastic statement about the man to be given back to Satan? Read what he said in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” So, in other words Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 5:9, anyone with a heart bent on practicing sin does not have his identity in Him. Any man who has never experienced a change of heart or cannot live out this Christian life as one “in Christ” has a bigger problem to deal with.

So, Paul knew very well, if indeed this man was in Christ, eventually through God’s grace he would find his way back in Him. But, if he could not find his way back to live as a child of God like we are told in 1John 3:2-3, then one must assume this so called Christian has a major problem or God is a big liar and Salvation has no power and His Word is meaningless. Granted God did not show me the full spectrum of the implications of living this life in Him. But, as I studied at His feet He taught me this word “if” is there for good reasons and we are wise to pay attention. What I studied with Him, at His feet, I have no interest in conferring with flesh and blood to find another meaning to suit someone else’s explanations just because of their earthly titles.

As I experienced what it means to be in Him, He taught me I can reap the full benefits of being in Him now because I have a different attitude and a different frame of mind. This reference He made about my new life found in Him, I knew exactly what He meant. I stopped fighting the Christian life, and I stopped trying to do it on my own. I had voluntarily made the decision to surrender to the Holy Spirit works in me. I had made the decision that He was going to become my life. I yielded to the Word of God and I felt the need to bring harmony between what I have been reading in the Bible and my life because I was yearning to let Him become all that there is of me. I reasoned to myself and I knew if I believe His word is true, then I must act like it, I must change my way and live according to what is true to the faith I claimed that I possessed. I wanted to understand from the depth of my heart what makes someone like Paul said: for me to live is Christ and to die is gain” because it was not enough for me to just repeat it like parrots. That was the frame of mind He was referring to.

From what I experienced, the only way I can explain in my own words what this frame of mind He was referring to meant, is that my new attitude toward my Christianity acted like an agent if you will, to activate what was seemed to be “dormant” or perhaps neglected or ignored. It was like I finally took the steps needed to take possession of my inheritance in Him.

This is the beauty of true Salvation, it brings with it everything else that we insist on separating from Salvation, to make us feel better and live this life in defeat. True Salvation brings with it a need to become his true followers, a need to grow spiritually, to be found in Him, to be pure of heart so that we can see Him right here on earth, and all those other things that Salvation brings into our hearts are all part of His continuous grace working in and through us to continue the good work that He started in us. If you claim to have received Salvation, then where is the aftereffect that brings all those good things with it?

The Heavenly Sanctuary - Celebrating Easter

The Heavenly Sanctuary

Hebrews 9:11-15

 

Empty tomb - courtesy of http://www.squidoo.com/easter2

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

I find the King James Version of Hebrews 9 so beautifully crafted. So my quote above is directly from the King James Version. Christ death was necessary to redeem us from the dominion of darkness. But today we can rejoice because He is seated at the right hand of the Father as our high priest of the good things to come.

I just want to shout it out to all who can hear “don’t look for Him in the tomb, He is risen.” What’s beautiful about Easter is that while He is in heaven as our high priest interceding for us, He is also equally right here on earth with us. He is equally right here in our heart. Not part of Him but to each one of who wants Him, we possess Christ in His fullness. Do you understand the beauty of walking inside of Christ? He could not be nearer to us. Yet, I have to admit it, while I myself know too well what it means to see myself inside of Him with all the protection and authority that comes with being in Christ, sometimes life gets the best of me, and I forget to live out the beauty, the power and security I have in Him.

http://www.kidsinco.com/2009/04/empty-tomb/

So this year, let’s not celebrate Easter and put it away for next year. Let’s remember for us Christians, Easter is every day as we make Christ our living God and living hope. May our lives reflect the beauty, the passion, and the truth of the empty grave.