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