Speaker 1: You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand discernment.
Speaker 1: We have people call up every single week talking about discernment,
Speaker 1: and it's an important question and each case may pose
Speaker 1: a different look at the word and the action of discernment.
Speaker 1: But today I want you to think about the day
Speaker 1: to day circumstances that you have to judge, both spiritual
Speaker 1: and physical, and how to fine tune yourself to that
Speaker 1: place of good discernment, that place of having the sense
Speaker 1: of an old cow and eating the hay and leaving
Speaker 1: the sticks. Sometimes it's it's not always as cut and
Speaker 1: dry as you'd like, And to develop the ability to
Speaker 1: sift through things is a it's a great tool. So
Speaker 1: today I want to talk about what scripture has to
Speaker 1: say about discernment. Often, discernment is talked about in scripture
Speaker 1: as judging, having the wherewithal to make a decision between
Speaker 1: two or more options or things. But that word judge
Speaker 1: or judgment takes on a negative connotation sometimes and people
Speaker 1: get the word confused. One Corinthians two fifteen says, but
Speaker 1: he that is spiritual judges all things. Matthew seven to
Speaker 1: one says, judge not lest you be judged and people
Speaker 1: get caught up in that, and the believer looks around
Speaker 1: and says, okay, I'm not supposed to judge. And unfortunately
Speaker 1: the world looks at this and they remember only the
Speaker 1: parts of scripture that they can use in some sort
Speaker 1: of defense of their own ways and actions. They remember
Speaker 1: this and they say, look, see it says, don't judge.
Speaker 1: But you need to learn to know the difference when
Speaker 1: scripture uses the word judgment and how it's meant. Does
Speaker 1: it mean discernment or does it mean criticism? The Late
Speaker 1: Great New Testament scholar F. F. Bruce pen this judgment
Speaker 1: is an ambiguous word in Greek, as it is in English.
Speaker 1: It may mean sitting in judgment on people or even
Speaker 1: condemning them, or it may mean exercising a proper discrimination.
Speaker 1: In the former sense, judgment is depreciated. In the latter sense,
Speaker 1: it is recommended. So knowing the difference of when to
Speaker 1: of what discerning is, and if you're in judgment or
Speaker 1: in criticism versus you're actually analyzing a situation, discerning when
Speaker 1: something is good for you or bad for you, or
Speaker 1: good for the situation or bad for the situation. You
Speaker 1: need to look deep into things it's very easy to
Speaker 1: get to that place where where you kind of just
Speaker 1: look at the surface. You concern your things yourself with
Speaker 1: the things that are our surface or topical, rather than
Speaker 1: digging deep. Tewod Corinthians ten to seven warns against this.
Speaker 1: It says that you are looking only at the surface
Speaker 1: of things that doesn't have benefit. John seven twenty fours
Speaker 1: is stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment,
Speaker 1: implying there that a right judgment is not made simply
Speaker 1: by appearance. That's when judgement becomes a problem, when it's
Speaker 1: it's you only looking at the the most surface part
Speaker 1: of the issue and making a judgment, trying to jump
Speaker 1: to a quick conclusion, rather than really understanding what's taking
Speaker 1: place and why. And this becomes a huge part of discernment,
Speaker 1: understanding and making that conclusion or judging things properly. You
Speaker 1: know this by testing things, by examining everything as first
Speaker 1: Thessalonians five twenty one says, examine everything carefully, hold fast
Speaker 1: to that which is good. We talk about that constantly
Speaker 1: on the program to test all things, holding fast to
Speaker 1: that which is good. It's okay to examine, to probe,
Speaker 1: to ask questions, even about your own faith, because in
Speaker 1: doing so, it shows one its value and that you
Speaker 1: care about it enough to know the question to be curious.
Speaker 1: But two, it's it's you not just giving into the surface.
Speaker 1: As John seven said, You're not judging by mere appearance.
Speaker 1: You're trying to make the right decision and the right judgment,
Speaker 1: and that comes from examining everything, looking at all sides.
Speaker 1: How many times on this very program does someone call
Speaker 1: up about a job situation that's a tough decision, and
Speaker 1: oftentimes there's moving involved, more money involve, less money involved,
Speaker 1: changes to the family lifestyle. These things should all be
Speaker 1: looked at when you want to come to a conclusion
Speaker 1: or using proper discernment as to what that decision should be.
Speaker 1: Good discernment, although can be craft at ability that can
Speaker 1: be honed for speed or to be more efficient. That
Speaker 1: it shouldn't be something you rush into. Just like looking
Speaker 1: at the appearance of something or scratching at the surface
Speaker 1: of a concern a situation, you don't want to rush
Speaker 1: into things. Proverbs nineteen two says that it's not good
Speaker 1: to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and
Speaker 1: miss the way, because these things are important. Every little
Speaker 1: bit of an issue is part of what you should
Speaker 1: be looking at, examining is this knowledge so important? Why
Speaker 1: is taking the time so important? Because ignorance can bring destruction.
Speaker 1: It's not just a lack of knowledge. Ignorance is the
Speaker 1: absence of more tools that knowledge that will help you
Speaker 1: make the proper decisions that will help you through that
Speaker 1: road of discernment. Hoseiah four to six is my people
Speaker 1: are destroyed for lack of knowledge, that kind of ignorance
Speaker 1: that leads you to a bad decision, or leads you
Speaker 1: down a bad road or something not healthy or productive.
Speaker 1: It is what you are trying to steer away from.
Speaker 1: When you deal with discernment, you're dealing with getting all
Speaker 1: of the information you can, ping it in front of
Speaker 1: you and examining it, not being surfaced, but going below
Speaker 1: and truly analyzing and dissecting what's beneficial for you, what's
Speaker 1: beneficial for the whole, for the family, for the group
Speaker 1: or community. Even when people start to separate themselves and
Speaker 1: just think selfishly, is when greater problems arise. The things
Speaker 1: that I command of you, or request or even demand
Speaker 1: in scripture are not just to be some sort of
Speaker 1: control freak. It really comes down to knowing what's best
Speaker 1: for you, knowing what's best for the whole, and asking
Speaker 1: you to participate in these things or not to participate,
Speaker 1: as the case may be, so that so that you
Speaker 1: can be a part of the whole, not in some
Speaker 1: strange metaphysical sense, but truly knowing that you are to
Speaker 1: communicate worship with one another, spend time with one another,
Speaker 1: and even be held responsible for the decisions each person makes.
Speaker 1: This is why discernment is so powerful, so potent, so important.
Speaker 1: Don't get lost in just your way. In this sense,
Speaker 1: in Hoseiah that an entire people are destroyed due to
Speaker 1: lack of knowledge, true discernment becomes most valuable. The importance
Speaker 1: of discernment cannot be understated, nor can it be overstated.
Speaker 1: The importance of being able to discern how you deal
Speaker 1: with any situation or any decision or choice in life
Speaker 1: is important. However, often people will look beyond scripture and
Speaker 1: not really understand that the majority of your decisions can
Speaker 1: be understood and applied to the things of Scripture. It's
Speaker 1: funny how God does that right, and throughout scripture it
Speaker 1: points to ways and understanding and tools to be used
Speaker 1: when discerning. Don't look at the surface things. Don't judge
Speaker 1: by appearance. Test everything, hold fast to that which is true,
Speaker 1: which you can know. Judge using your spiritual knowledge based
Speaker 1: on scripture. Know the difference between judgment as far as
Speaker 1: criticism versus judgment, as far as discernment, that ignorance can
Speaker 1: bring destructure. So to educate, educate yourself, show yourself approved
Speaker 1: is imperative. True discernment is is kind of a big
Speaker 1: picture thing, not just what's in front of you, but
Speaker 1: observing everything around you. This is an interesting verse. Matthew
Speaker 1: sixteen three says, and in the morning there will be
Speaker 1: a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.
Speaker 1: Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky,
Speaker 1: but cannot discern the signs of the times? And this,
Speaker 1: this verse is asking you to pull away from from
Speaker 1: just those things that you're seeing or understanding, and using
Speaker 1: them as tools to understand the bigger picture, not just
Speaker 1: the storm in front of you, but what the season
Speaker 1: is or the sign of the times, often a reference
Speaker 1: to things that are to come. And you're to discern
Speaker 1: things by God's standards. You know the difference to immerse
Speaker 1: yourself in God's word is the key John eight fifteen sixteen.
Speaker 1: You judge by human standards. But if I do judge,
Speaker 1: my decisions are right because I am not alone. I
Speaker 1: stand with the Father who sent me. I have much
Speaker 1: to say in the judgment of you, but he who
Speaker 1: sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him.
Speaker 1: I tell the world that relationship of understanding between that
Speaker 1: which you read and known scripture, and that how that
Speaker 1: in which you use to apply to everyday life scripture
Speaker 1: will help guide you into discernment Hebrews four to twelve. Well,
Speaker 1: the Word of God is living in active. It judges
Speaker 1: the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Eric, Welcome to
Speaker 1: the Jesus Christ Show.
Speaker 2: Yes, hello, I've got a very serious question for you.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'll give you a very serious answer.
Speaker 2: What is the meaning of our being here? And the
Speaker 2: reason I'm asking that is I ran to a crisis,
Speaker 2: lost everything that I had. I had a business, had
Speaker 2: a nice truck, I had lots of toys, everything like that.
Speaker 2: It all went down. So I was just like, what
Speaker 2: am I going to do now? So what I ended
Speaker 2: up doing I talked to an old friend of mine,
Speaker 2: came back to where I grew up, and I tried
Speaker 2: to start a charity to help save the lives of
Speaker 2: dogs and cats. Fifteen thousand are being utilized every year,
Speaker 2: and nationwide it's three or four million every year, and
Speaker 2: these are innocent lives. So I tried to certin charity,
Speaker 2: you know, to try to change that, and I got
Speaker 2: such a negative response from people. It just shocked me.
Speaker 1: What what do you mean by negative response?
Speaker 2: I talked to people on the phone and they said
Speaker 2: they empathized with the situation, but they did nothing to
Speaker 2: help me help these animals. So, I mean, I ended
Speaker 2: up having to shut it down, get a job, and
Speaker 2: I've been struggling ever since to just try to make,
Speaker 2: you know, a living for myself while this is going on.
Speaker 2: So what I'm wondering is, I mean, I totally devoted
Speaker 2: everything that I had to stop this evil that's going on,
Speaker 2: and I got absolutely no support from anybody.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, there's a lot of charities and a
Speaker 1: lot of good causes out there, wouldn't you agree here?
Speaker 2: Of course?
Speaker 1: Okay, there's a lot of and people are bombarded by
Speaker 1: them on a daily basis, and many people have already
Speaker 1: through the maturity their decisions had in their lives have.
Speaker 1: You know, they already have charities that they work with
Speaker 1: or and sometimes they can't do anything. And something that
Speaker 1: is your passion may not be other people's passions as well.
Speaker 1: And the whole point I would imagine the purpose of
Speaker 1: doing this is not only to stop it, but to
Speaker 1: make people aware of it so that it eventually stops
Speaker 1: as well. So it's not like just making it stop
Speaker 1: in that one moment. It's that building awareness is part
Speaker 1: of the purpose of any charity work or anything that
Speaker 1: is noble is to build that awareness first. And there's
Speaker 1: no one around saying that you didn't do that. As
Speaker 1: far as the meaning of life, and I know that
Speaker 1: that was your first question, but it was more of
Speaker 1: a segue into your life situation. I will tell you this,
Speaker 1: it's quite simple, Eric. The meaning of life is to
Speaker 1: use your gifts and abilities along lines of excellence to
Speaker 1: the edification of yourself and the edification of into the
Speaker 1: glory of God. That's it. And that doesn't say anything
Speaker 1: about success. That doesn't say anything about you're going to
Speaker 1: make money, and it doesn't make anything say any of that.
Speaker 1: It just means you're called to utilize those gifts and
Speaker 1: abilities in a way that's beneficial to yourself and to
Speaker 1: others in a healthy way, and that it glorifies God.
Speaker 2: So how do I project that to other people? I mean,
Speaker 2: we're talking about something that's a very serious problem, and
Speaker 2: it's something that people can help with, but.
Speaker 1: They choose not to.
Speaker 2: And it's I mean, how can you see something that
Speaker 2: horrible and not do something about it? I know, I
Speaker 2: know people have their own limitations, but the response I
Speaker 2: was getting was so discouraging. It was just unbelievable.
Speaker 1: How many charities do you donate to?
Speaker 2: Eric? Myself? I don't have the means right now to
Speaker 2: do that.
Speaker 1: Okay, so they may not have the means either.
Speaker 2: Well, that's that's not true. I mean in terms of
Speaker 2: the people.
Speaker 1: I mean, I e, how many how many charities do
Speaker 1: you donate your time to?
Speaker 2: Eric? Well at the well? I full time to the
Speaker 2: one I started?
Speaker 1: Okay. So there's there's there's limitations in all things. And
Speaker 1: I know that people get on their pet causes and
Speaker 1: this is your focus and it should be and you
Speaker 1: should be passionate about it and you should want to
Speaker 1: see things done. But there are there are hundreds of
Speaker 1: thousands of charities, both both large and small throughout the
Speaker 1: United States, UH and the globe that need attention, and
Speaker 1: your main goal above all else is to articulate this
Speaker 1: need in a way that motivates, motivates people of like
Speaker 1: minds or interests to participate. If you didn't do that,
Speaker 1: there's only one of two things happening. One they're not
Speaker 1: interested and won't be interested, or two you didn't aticulate
Speaker 1: it well enough for them to understand the need. So
Speaker 1: both of those can be addressed with. If the person
Speaker 1: isn't interested, you tip your hat and you move along
Speaker 1: to the next And if they are, would be interest,
Speaker 1: but you're not provoking that or lighting that fire, then
Speaker 1: you need to look at the way you're setting up
Speaker 1: and explaining the need and what's going on. Those are
Speaker 1: the only real options. It's very easy to put it
Speaker 1: on the rest of the world and say, well, the
Speaker 1: rest of the world doesn't have love in their heart
Speaker 1: for these things. That's not true because there wouldn't be
Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of charities to boot, there wouldn't be
Speaker 1: all these things around. You can't just you sound like
Speaker 1: you're pouting, like you didn't get it your way the
Speaker 1: way you expected it. And I don't think that that's
Speaker 1: the healthiest way to do it.
Speaker 2: The thing that disappointed me was just the sheer level
Speaker 2: of just non response. It was just ex floored me.
Speaker 1: I mean, did you look to see if there was
Speaker 1: any other charities working towards that goal at all, either
Speaker 1: in the area or.
Speaker 2: In another There are tons of them everywhere.
Speaker 1: Then how come you didn't sign up with one of theirs?
Speaker 1: How come you didn't go and volunteer and participate in
Speaker 1: an organization that was already started Because they.
Speaker 2: Don't go to the root of the problem. They're treating
Speaker 2: the symptom. As an example, there are people that I
Speaker 2: know that have fifteen dogs or cats in their house
Speaker 2: and try to save their lives, but doesn't stop where
Speaker 2: these animals are coming from. And so there's there's nobody
Speaker 2: out there that's really solving the problem.
Speaker 1: But maybe they went And I'm with you on that,
Speaker 1: because there's nothing more frustrated than people putting band aids
Speaker 1: on things that need to be amputated. But Eric, the
Speaker 1: bigger concern here, Eric, is that maybe maybe they've tried
Speaker 1: going down that path. Maybe they've gone down the path
Speaker 1: you've gone down and found it to be unproductive. And
Speaker 1: they said, Okay, we're going to work backwards now, and
Speaker 1: we're going to try and triage the situation and help
Speaker 1: where we can, and then work our way back to
Speaker 1: a better understanding.
Speaker 2: So that people are never ending.
Speaker 1: You know, life is that way.
Speaker 2: Rescue organizations save two thousand animals a year in Tucson,
Speaker 2: and fifteen thousands still get killed every year and the
Speaker 2: number keeps rising.
Speaker 1: But that's an education issue as well, because you have,
Speaker 1: you know, movies coming out that have you know, puppies
Speaker 1: in it or chihuahua's in it, and every child goes
Speaker 1: that runs out and says, mommy, daddy, I wanta dalmatian,
Speaker 1: I wanna a chihuahua, and the parents don't have the
Speaker 1: fortitude to say no, that that having an animal in
Speaker 1: your in your focus and in your care is a
Speaker 1: huge thing and it's an undertaking and it's not about
Speaker 1: they're here for you. It's about your here for them,
Speaker 1: and it's education. But it starts at that most simple
Speaker 1: level that every time a movie comes out with animals
Speaker 1: in it, that's when you should be flying, and that's
Speaker 1: when you should be educating, that's when you should be talking.
Speaker 1: There's there's a process to it. Eric, that's powerful and
Speaker 1: that will work. All you're telling me is that the
Speaker 1: process you tried didn't work. It doesn't mean that it
Speaker 1: won't work. You know, you walk out in the middle
Speaker 1: of the movie and they all have bad endings. You
Speaker 1: have to play this one out. And just because it
Speaker 1: didn't happen overnight doesn't mean that it won't That the
Speaker 1: problem didn't happen overnight. Eric, this is you.
Speaker 2: Have to find a different path to the root of
Speaker 2: the problem.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think your passion is right on. I mean,
Speaker 1: you definitely have a passion and that passion comes from God.
Speaker 1: To be that focused, laser focused and desiring to to
Speaker 1: do something like this is huge and I commend you
Speaker 1: on that. But that doesn't mean every way you go
Speaker 1: to execute it is the right way. You see people
Speaker 1: do this all the time. People execute things poorly all
Speaker 1: the time. So you go back and you say, well,
Speaker 1: that didn't work. Whatever it was you were doing didn't work.
Speaker 1: So now point two is uh, finding out why you
Speaker 1: think it didn't work and and go back to education.
Speaker 1: Education is always going to be the key. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: muscling this situation is that's been growing for a long
Speaker 1: time and it's not just in Arizona, it's all over
Speaker 1: the place. So uh, trying to muscle that you're you're
Speaker 1: gonna lose. There's because ignorance is a pretty strong beast,
Speaker 1: and it's out there everywhere in hordes, and.
Speaker 2: It goes to a fun it goes to a fundamental process.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I'll pay a quick story here.
Speaker 2: I was riding my bicycle home. I stopped at a
Speaker 2: fast food place and there was a bird that was
Speaker 2: sitting on a rail and it didn't budget didn't fly away.
Speaker 2: There's obviously something wrong with it. Long story short, I
Speaker 2: was riding away and I said, I can't just leave
Speaker 2: this bird here, right, So I tried to get help.
Speaker 2: I was on a bicycle and I needed to take
Speaker 2: this thing five miles away. I tried to stop six
Speaker 2: or seven people, even got a police officer to try
Speaker 2: to help you with this little injured animal. Even the
Speaker 2: police officer would.
Speaker 1: Not help me because it's not it's not in their language, Eric,
Speaker 1: it's not in their language.
Speaker 2: That But that's really what my problem.
Speaker 1: But you're you're you're stamping your foot saying you don't
Speaker 1: believe like I do. And that's not that's not a healthier,
Speaker 1: productive way to do it. They'll look at you like
Speaker 1: your nuts. That cop is you know, on the on
Speaker 1: on call for all kinds of different things and sees
Speaker 1: heinous things every day and says, you're you're really gonna
Speaker 1: stop me to go take care of that bird right now.
Speaker 1: That's not gonna motivate anybody. You can't just stomp around
Speaker 1: and say you've got to you've got a care. That's
Speaker 1: not how it works. You know, the the the early
Speaker 1: Church didn't go around stopping saying you have to believe.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, when uh, the Church in
Speaker 1: its youth had leaders, had people that that you know,
Speaker 1: were kings or leaders, governmental leaders that became Christians and
Speaker 1: then felt, oh now people have to believe and started
Speaker 1: for forcing it on people. You got pollution and polluted Christianity,
Speaker 1: which is you know, part of the garbage that exists today.
Speaker 1: There's there, there's the pure line is is tossed out
Speaker 1: because there was so much ugliness and forcing of people
Speaker 1: to believe the Inquisition, these types of things ugly. It
Speaker 1: doesn't produce faith or Christianity. It produces an ugly heritage
Speaker 1: of forcing people to believe and you can't do that.
Speaker 1: You have to woo them with information and desire to
Speaker 1: let them see the problem, own the problem, and cure
Speaker 1: the problem. Angel. Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show.
Speaker 3: Hello, Holy host, thank you for.
Speaker 1: Taking my car my pleasure. What's on your mind?
Speaker 3: Well, I don't I don't know my Bible very well.
Speaker 3: I recommitted my life to God last summer, and I
Speaker 3: did read the Bible. I read through the whole Bible
Speaker 3: this year. But you know, I believe it's going to
Speaker 3: take lots of study before I unders you know, understand
Speaker 3: it better. My question is, and I've had some friends
Speaker 3: that our non Christians asked me this, also, what is
Speaker 3: the difference between your soul and your spirit? You know,
Speaker 3: because it's used in the spiritual world and the secular world.
Speaker 3: And I'm really curious and I really would like to
Speaker 3: know what the.
Speaker 1: Difference is between those two. Yeah, it gets into a
Speaker 1: lot of sticky theology. So I'll go through that quickly
Speaker 1: and then point you to some scripture. Uh, the word
Speaker 1: actually translates to mean the breath of life. And when
Speaker 1: you deal with the word soul, Now there's a couple
Speaker 1: of different views theologically, and this is where people get
Speaker 1: kind of caught up. There's something called dichotomists and trichotomists. Okay,
Speaker 1: the dichotomists hold that the soul and the spirit are
Speaker 1: two same names, you know, are two names for the
Speaker 1: same thing. And they think that that basically it comes
Speaker 1: down to the diconomists is just what it sounds like
Speaker 1: it means. It means that you believe that there is
Speaker 1: the body and the soul, and the soul and spirit
Speaker 1: are kind of the same thing. Well, there's a different
Speaker 1: group that are trichotomists that believe that there's actually three parts,
Speaker 1: that there's the body, the soul, and the spirit. So
Speaker 1: theologians go back and forth and debate this all the
Speaker 1: time as to if the soul and the spirit are
Speaker 1: two different things. I will point you to a couple
Speaker 1: of verses, including Hebrews four to twelve, which is interesting.
Speaker 1: Listen to these words very quickly, For the world of
Speaker 1: God is living an active sharper than any two edged sword.
Speaker 1: It penetrates even to divide soul and spirits, joints and moorrow.
Speaker 1: It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. So
Speaker 1: there it sounds like it's separating the two or that
Speaker 1: they at least can be separated. So some theologians believe
Speaker 1: that the soul is the essence of humanity's being, their beingness,
Speaker 1: and it is essentially who you are, and the spirit
Speaker 1: is the aspect of humanity that connects with God that
Speaker 1: makes it possible to have a relationship with God. So
Speaker 1: those are some ideas. I will also recommend looking at
Speaker 1: first Corinthians to eleven, James two twenty six, Colossians one
Speaker 1: point nine, also Colausians three sixteen, and maybe that'll give
Speaker 1: you a little place to start and to look around.
Speaker 1: But keep in mind, this is one of those things
Speaker 1: that that theologians do kind of argue back and forth
Speaker 1: because of the way it appears in scripture. Sometimes they
Speaker 1: seem interchangeable. But ultimately the truest understanding is that when
Speaker 1: it's speaking of the spirit and when it's speaking of
Speaker 1: the soul, it is referring to the immaterial part of
Speaker 1: the body, the immaterial, that facet of your humanness that
Speaker 1: is separate from the body, and that's what goes to
Speaker 1: be with God, and that's what defines and makes that
Speaker 1: relationship possible. So I pray that helps and that you
Speaker 1: can go and do some more studying. I love the
Speaker 1: fact that you're studying Angel and that you're getting into
Speaker 1: the Word of God. Keep in mind it is a journey,
Speaker 1: don't expect it to end soon. And to spend the
Speaker 1: time to ask those questions, to learn, to poke around
Speaker 1: to you know, good word studies is always helpful. Learning
Speaker 1: and getting lexic and a good concordance that you can
Speaker 1: go back and forth and study words is always helpful.
Speaker 1: It brings scripture to life and lets it breathe a
Speaker 1: little more.
Speaker 2: Kf I am six forty on demand