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 sticks. 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 is 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 seven
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 twenty fours
Speaker 2: is stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment.
Speaker 2: Imply there that a right judgment is not made simply
Speaker 2: by appearance. That's when judgement becomes a problem, when it's
Speaker 2: it's you only looking at the the most surface part
Speaker 2: of the issue and making a judgment, trying to jump
Speaker 2: to a quick conclusion, rather than really understanding what's taking
Speaker 2: place and why. And this becomes a huge part of discernment,
Speaker 2: understanding and making that conclusion, or judging things properly. You
Speaker 2: know this by testing things, by examining everything as first
Speaker 2: Thessalonians five twenty one says, examine everything carefully, hold fast
Speaker 2: to that which is good. We talk about that constantly
Speaker 2: on the program, to test all things, holding fast to
Speaker 2: that which is It's okay to examine, to probe, to
Speaker 2: ask questions, even about your own faith because in doing so,
Speaker 2: it shows one its value and that you care about
Speaker 2: it enough to know the question to be curious. But two,
Speaker 2: it's it's you not just giving into the surface. As
Speaker 2: John seven said, You're not judging by mere appearance. You're
Speaker 2: trying to make the right decision and the right judgment,
Speaker 2: and that comes from examining everything, looking at all sides.
Speaker 2: How many times on this very program does someone call
Speaker 2: up about a job situation that's a tough decision, and
Speaker 2: oftentimes there's moving involved, more money involve, less money involved,
Speaker 2: changes to the family lifestyle. These things should all be
Speaker 2: looked at when you want to come to a conclusion
Speaker 2: or using proper discernment as to what that decision should be.
Speaker 2: Good discernment, although can be craft at ability that can
Speaker 2: be honed for speed or to be more efficient. That
Speaker 2: it shouldn't be something you rush into. Just like looking
Speaker 2: at the appearance of something or scratching at the surface
Speaker 2: of a concern a situation, you don't want to rush
Speaker 2: into things. Proverbs nineteen two says that it's not good
Speaker 2: to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and
Speaker 2: miss the way, because these things are important. Every little
Speaker 2: bit of an issue is part of what you should
Speaker 2: be looking at, examining why is this knowledge so important,
Speaker 2: why is taking the time so important? Because ignorance can
Speaker 2: bring destruction. It's not just a lack of knowledge. Ignorance
Speaker 2: is the absence of more tools that knowledge that will
Speaker 2: help you make the proper decisions that will help you
Speaker 2: through that road of discernment. Hoseiah four to six is
Speaker 2: my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, that kind
Speaker 2: of ignorance that leads you to a bad decision, or
Speaker 2: leads you down a bad road or something not healthy
Speaker 2: or productive. It is what you are trying to steer
Speaker 2: away from. When you deal with discernment, you're dealing with
Speaker 2: getting all of the information you can, placing it in
Speaker 2: front of you and examining it, not being surfaced, but
Speaker 2: going below and truly analyzing and dissecting what's beneficial for you,
Speaker 2: what's beneficial for the whole, for the family, for the
Speaker 2: group or community. Even when people start to separate themselves
Speaker 2: and just think selfishly is when greater problems arise. The
Speaker 2: things that I command of you, or request or even
Speaker 2: demand in scripture are not just to be some sort
Speaker 2: of control freak. It really comes down to knowing what's
Speaker 2: best for you, knowing what's best for the whole, and
Speaker 2: asking you to participate in these things or not to participate,
Speaker 2: as the case may be, so that so that you
Speaker 2: can be a part of the whole, not in some
Speaker 2: strange metaphysical sense, but truly knowing that you are to
Speaker 2: communicate worship with one another, spend time with one another,
Speaker 2: and even be held responsible for the decisions each person makes.
Speaker 2: This is why discernment is so powerful, so potent, so important.
Speaker 2: Don't get lost in just your way. In this sense,
Speaker 2: in Hoseiah that an entire people are destroyed due to
Speaker 2: lack of knowledge, true discernment becomes most valuable. The importance
Speaker 2: of discernment cannot be understated. Nowhere can it be overstated.
Speaker 2: The importance of being able to discern how you deal
Speaker 2: with any situation or any decision or choice in life
Speaker 2: is important. However, often people will look beyond scripture and
Speaker 2: not really understand that the majority of your decisions can
Speaker 2: be understood and applied to the things of Scripture. It's
Speaker 2: funny how God does that right and throughout scripture it
Speaker 2: points to ways and understanding and tools to be used
Speaker 2: when discerning don't look at the surface things. Don't judge
Speaker 2: by appearance. Test everything. Hold fast to that which is true,
Speaker 2: which you can know. Judge using your spiritual knowledge based
Speaker 2: on scripture. Know the difference between judgment as far as
Speaker 2: criticism versus judgment, as far as discernment, that ignorance can
Speaker 2: bring destruction. So to educate, educate yourself, show yourself approved
Speaker 2: is imperative. True discernment is is kind of a big
Speaker 2: picture thing, not just what's in front of you, but
Speaker 2: observing everything around you. This is an interesting verse. Matthew
Speaker 2: sixteen three says, and in the morning there will be
Speaker 2: a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.
Speaker 2: Do you know how to discern the appearance of the
Speaker 2: sky but cannot discern the signs of the times? And
Speaker 2: this verse is asking you to pull away from from
Speaker 2: just those things that you're seeing or understanding, and using
Speaker 2: them as tools to understand the bigger picture, not just
Speaker 2: the storm in front of you, but what the season
Speaker 2: is or the sign of the times, often a reference
Speaker 2: to things that are to come. And you're to discern
Speaker 2: things by God's standards. You know, the difference to immerse
Speaker 2: yourself in God's word is the key John eight fifteen sixteen.
Speaker 2: You judge by human standards. But if I do judge,
Speaker 2: my decisions are right because I am not alone. I
Speaker 2: stand with the Father who sent me. I have much
Speaker 2: to say in the judgment of you, but he who
Speaker 2: sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him.
Speaker 2: I tell the world that relationship of understanding between that
Speaker 2: which you read and known scripture, and that how that
Speaker 2: in which you use to apply to everyday life scripture
Speaker 2: will help guide you into discernment Hebrews four twelve. The
Speaker 2: Word of God is living and active. It judges the
Speaker 2: thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Bernadette, Welcome to the
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ Show.
Speaker 1: Hi, thank you.
Speaker 2: I'm well how can I help you?
Speaker 1: My last friend lost son a few years ago and
Speaker 1: a median coming talent how and she's wanted to She's
Speaker 1: trying to pray to see this's okay to so and
Speaker 1: talk to the ABC the Median Show and hopefully Sym
Speaker 1: I can reveal some things about how gun and the
Speaker 1: app and like, how do you feel about it?
Speaker 2: Well as far as and I'm sorry to hear that
Speaker 2: she lost his son, and I know that that when
Speaker 2: somebody loses somebody some so close to them that it's
Speaker 2: it's completely natural to want to reach out or to
Speaker 2: have communication with them. Again, However, I believe that our
Speaker 2: taking advantage of people in pain, and I think it's disgusting.
Speaker 2: I think that it is kind of the worst of
Speaker 2: the worst when it comes to pilfing money from people
Speaker 2: I put them up with, like the the fake evangelists
Speaker 2: and all of that that are looking to gain riches.
Speaker 2: The sad part is that a lot of people don't
Speaker 2: know that in scripture it says specifically to stay away
Speaker 2: from these types of things specifically, And you can give
Speaker 2: her this verse if maybe it will help her. It's
Speaker 2: chapter eighteen of Deuteronomy, and I'll read it to you,
Speaker 2: but we'll start in verse ten. It says, there shall
Speaker 2: be not found among you anyone who makes his son
Speaker 2: or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination,
Speaker 2: or one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens,
Speaker 2: or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or a
Speaker 2: medium or spiritists, or one who calls up the dead.
Speaker 2: For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord. Also,
Speaker 2: and there's other verses as well that talk about that
Speaker 2: God and the reason why is that these people, if
Speaker 2: they serve God, have gone on to be with God.
Speaker 2: And who are you anyone on this planet to interrupt
Speaker 2: that if they're with God. And so people get selfish
Speaker 2: and want to experience these people that were in their
Speaker 2: lives again. And that's perfectly normal to have that desire.
Speaker 2: What's not good or healthy is to act on that
Speaker 2: desire and go to spiritists or mediums or psychics to
Speaker 2: do these things. And another interesting story that might be
Speaker 2: helpful is Second Samuel twelve twenty five. But you can read,
Speaker 2: you know, starting at verse fifteen if you like. But
Speaker 2: this is the story of David losing the sun. And
Speaker 2: the interesting thing is is that David was, you know,
Speaker 2: on his face the whole time, praying and for this
Speaker 2: child and fasting and all of these things. And so
Speaker 2: intense was this act that David wanted this child to
Speaker 2: live that the servants didn't even want to tell him
Speaker 2: when the child had died. So they figure, well, we'll
Speaker 2: just you know, leave him alone. We don't if he's
Speaker 2: this intense about praying, fasting, trying to keep that child alive,
Speaker 2: then I don't want to be the one to tell him, Well,
Speaker 2: David picks up on this, sees that they're whispering, and says, hey,
Speaker 2: did the child die? They say yes, and he gets up,
Speaker 2: cleans himself off, cleans himself off, and then goes to eat.
Speaker 2: And people were like, well, you know, just seconds ago
Speaker 2: you were praying without ceasing and fasting and all this intensity.
Speaker 2: And David responds with this, while the child was still alive,
Speaker 2: I fasted and wept, for I said, who knows? The
Speaker 2: Lord may be gracious to me that the child may live.
Speaker 2: But now that he has died, why should I fast?
Speaker 2: Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him,
Speaker 2: but he will not return to me. And what's powerful
Speaker 2: about that is that David knew that when you have
Speaker 2: the opportunity to pray for someone while they're still living,
Speaker 2: you should always pray intensely. And if you are so
Speaker 2: moved too fast, anything you can do. But once the
Speaker 2: person is gone, they are gone. And the world continues
Speaker 2: to give you these excuses and false hope that there's
Speaker 2: going to be some connection. This world is made of
Speaker 2: of the vessel of flesh and the spirit. But when
Speaker 2: the flesh dies, the spirit goes on to eternity. Whether
Speaker 2: that's eternal presence with God or the eternal absence of God,
Speaker 2: which is called hell. And people don't always get that
Speaker 2: through their head. And imagine this, that concept of being
Speaker 2: with God in heaven and somebody calling you back to earth.
Speaker 2: Why if you think about these images of parents that
Speaker 2: are so clean to their children that they don't ever
Speaker 2: want them to grow up or graduate. And I don't
Speaker 2: mean the normal sense of sadness as you see a
Speaker 2: child going to each new stage and oh, I remember
Speaker 2: when they did this, or I remember, that's normal. But
Speaker 2: somebody who physically would try and keep their child from
Speaker 2: graduating high school because they're going to go on to college.
Speaker 2: Could you imagine something so vulgar? But imagine now somebody
Speaker 2: who's graduated from this earth, although on earth it's sad,
Speaker 2: but graduated from this earth and gone on to be
Speaker 2: with God, being held back by a loved one trying
Speaker 2: to get them back here to earth. You can't do that,
Speaker 2: And I know that it seems noble in some sense,
Speaker 2: and then ah, well I want to keep them alive. No,
Speaker 2: that is not good. It's unhealthy. You will never grow
Speaker 2: past it. You will never grow past the initial pain
Speaker 2: and mourn in a healthy, proper light, understanding that there
Speaker 2: is a limit to the time that's spent on earth.
Speaker 2: That's what makes it precious. And I think that the
Speaker 2: psychics and these mediums and spiritists do a tremendous disservice
Speaker 2: as much as they will claim, well, you know what,
Speaker 2: I give closure, No, you continue to open wounds for
Speaker 2: your own gain, and most of them are horrible to boot.
Speaker 2: If I hear one more bad psychic say there's someone
Speaker 2: in your life with who has a J in their name,
Speaker 2: I'm seeing a J, I'm seeing an R. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 2: And they pray on the fact that there's so many
Speaker 2: people that are in pain that want to believe these
Speaker 2: things that they continue to perpetuate it. As a matter
Speaker 2: of fact, just recently, you know, the entire concept of
Speaker 2: astrology got turned on its head because of the rotation
Speaker 2: of the Earth changing how things work, and it has
Speaker 2: been changed for some time. So essentially, if you grew
Speaker 2: up thinking that you're you know, a Capricorn, you're not,
Speaker 2: or an Aquarius you're not, or a Leo you're not.
Speaker 2: Because everything's shiftedilation was added and all kinds of members
Speaker 2: of the zodiac have actually been removed over the years
Speaker 2: and added over the years, and all of these things,
Speaker 2: and yet people still adhere to these things because nobody
Speaker 2: wants to be accountable to consequence. Life has consequence, life
Speaker 2: has death. There are things that you will experience in
Speaker 2: life that aren't always pleasurable. And I'm fascinating that people
Speaker 2: will take things like astrology, or take things like spiritists
Speaker 2: and mediums and psychics and put all just all in
Speaker 2: put the entirety of who you are there because God
Speaker 2: is unchanging. And to them, that's just it's too much
Speaker 2: to handle. That scripture stays the same, that God stays
Speaker 2: the same. He says, I'm the same yesterday, today, and
Speaker 2: always I say that I'm the Alpha and the omega,
Speaker 2: the beginning and the end. There's no change in those things.
Speaker 2: And people don't like that. People constantly call this show
Speaker 2: trying to trying to find a loophole or or see
Speaker 2: if it's changed. Hey, has this changed over the years? No,
Speaker 2: still believe that.
Speaker 3: Eh like that?
Speaker 2: So they want something that's kind of well, give me
Speaker 2: what I want when I want it, make me feel good,
Speaker 2: and it doesn't always feel good. And Bernadette, I'm so
Speaker 2: sorry that your friend lost her son, But please do
Speaker 2: what you can to persuade her not to participate with
Speaker 2: psychics and mediums. And they come by and really feed
Speaker 2: on those that are in great pain. And why doesn't
Speaker 2: she learn to to really, as we talk about on
Speaker 2: the show, be the curator of the museum of her
Speaker 2: son and teaching people about him and the wonderful things
Speaker 2: he did and who he was and all these things
Speaker 2: instead of trying to reconnect because God frowns upon that
Speaker 2: and it's not possible to boot Rick, Welcome to the
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ Show.
Speaker 3: Oh for me, that's you.
Speaker 2: How can I help you?
Speaker 3: I'm just a truck driver out here, but I listened
Speaker 3: to your show quite a bit on Sunday.
Speaker 2: Now, Now, why would you say that? Why would you
Speaker 2: say you're just a truck driver?
Speaker 1: Wow?
Speaker 3: Because that's that's where, that's who I am.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you're feeding people and you're bringing goods to them,
Speaker 2: and you're doing all kinds of things. We love all
Speaker 2: the truckers that listen to the program. So I'm happy
Speaker 2: to have you. How can I help you?
Speaker 3: I was just curious because I had a like almost
Speaker 3: like a spiritual wakening back in about nineteen seventy six,
Speaker 3: where I was searching for all through all different kinds
Speaker 3: of religions, and I was into drugs and that sort
Speaker 3: of thing, and and I just got an awareness that,
Speaker 3: you know, the Christian Christ was real and and but
Speaker 3: I just had a real struggle because of the drugs
Speaker 3: and everything in my past life. But there's no way
Speaker 3: that somebody can be If you don't accept Christ before
Speaker 3: you die, then there's no way you can accept Christ.
Speaker 2: Right, well, technically that point of death. He talks about
Speaker 2: two deaths, and it talks about and this is where
Speaker 2: the concept of being born again comes in. People think
Speaker 2: it's like a denomination or a type of Christian But
Speaker 2: every Christian, Catholic or otherwise has to be born again
Speaker 2: or be gotten from above, a scripture says. And so
Speaker 2: this talks about that concept of two deaths, and the
Speaker 2: two death would be one the physical death, but the
Speaker 2: spiritual death would be the separation from God. It doesn't
Speaker 2: mean that you cease to be, although there are fringe
Speaker 2: groups that believe that there are that you just stop being.
Speaker 2: Mainstream Christianity in this particular show does not believe in
Speaker 2: soul death or anything like that. So spiritual death would
Speaker 2: mean the concept that you're being separated from God, and
Speaker 2: you're being separated of God from God because of the
Speaker 2: choices you make here. So if you choose to reject
Speaker 2: God unto the point of death, then yes, you don't
Speaker 2: have time to repent.
Speaker 3: Well, what happens if you say you you didn't die
Speaker 3: physically and you died spiritually, Well, you're not dying.
Speaker 2: You're dying to yourself. You don't die spiritually. Your spirit
Speaker 2: is everlasting at this point. It's just the determination is
Speaker 2: whether it's everlasting in heaven or everlasting apart from God,
Speaker 2: which is called hell. Right, So are you saying if
Speaker 2: you had if you repented from something, rick, if you've
Speaker 2: turned away from those things and you did you when
Speaker 2: you were moved to say okay, there is a God.
Speaker 2: Christ is that God, and I will serve him. You
Speaker 2: are repenting from the things that you've done.
Speaker 3: Repenting, like repentance, is a change of heart or a
Speaker 3: change of mind.
Speaker 2: Right, Yes, it's turning. The word actually translates to me
Speaker 2: turning away from So you've moved away from your old
Speaker 2: ways and you're a new creation in Christ and you're
Speaker 2: continuing to be pureful on process.
Speaker 3: It has. It's been something that I've done immediately. It's
Speaker 3: like something that's taken quite a few years.
Speaker 2: Everything wonderful takes time, right, everything, Like I haven't.
Speaker 3: Given up everything all at once, you know, like I
Speaker 3: I gave up drugs, and then I gave up alcohol,
Speaker 3: and then I gave up chasing woman and all that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff. And it's just been a slow process.
Speaker 3: And I've been working on my how I treat people.
Speaker 3: And have you ever heard of AA? Yes, of course, asnonymous.
Speaker 3: I went through that program, and that's where I kind
Speaker 3: of feel that I really connected with God.
Speaker 2: Well, we hear that a lot on this program. A
Speaker 2: lot of people when they go through the twelve steps
Speaker 2: find that in the process of finding the you're powerless
Speaker 2: against many things, do find God. Unfortunately, some of them
Speaker 2: don't find me, but they eventually come around and find,
Speaker 2: you know, something that they call God, and that's not
Speaker 2: always helpful.
Speaker 3: But yeah, well I went in with the already convinced
Speaker 3: that you were real. So when I was there, that's
Speaker 3: who I When they said higher Power, that's that's who
Speaker 3: you know, I automatically thought Christ. Right, Well, I want I.
Speaker 2: Want you to think of a passage There's this passage
Speaker 2: that I want you to take with you today, and
Speaker 2: that's a Hebrews twelve two where it talks about that
Speaker 2: God is the author and finisher of your faith. And
Speaker 2: the reason why I want you to take that with
Speaker 2: you is I want you to think, rick that not
Speaker 2: only are you in this process and then things that
Speaker 2: you're changing your saying I'm removing this from my life,
Speaker 2: of removing that from my life, but to know that
Speaker 2: God ultimately is not only the author the beginner of
Speaker 2: your faith, He's also the finish sure of your faith.
Speaker 2: And that God walks with you in a partnership of
Speaker 2: refining you. And so it's not just your burden, but
Speaker 2: that God is with you through that process refining. Just
Speaker 2: like you know fire to metal refines it, and that
Speaker 2: all you do is that is that God gives you
Speaker 2: that God given fire. That dross comes to the top,
Speaker 2: like when you're purifying metal, all you need to do
Speaker 2: is you need to scrape that off and continue to
Speaker 2: move on with the process. But trust that God is
Speaker 2: the author and the finisher of your faith.
Speaker 1: Kfi Am sixty on Demand