Discerning of Spirits
…to another discerning of spirits;… - 1
Corinthians 12:10c KJV
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| Source: Google Images |
This gift, as its name – “Discerning of spirits” –
suggests, deals primarily with the spirit realm, more specifically with
revealing the different entities that inhabit that realm. In simple terms it is
the ability to distinguish between spirits, it is the ability to accurately
identify different spirits. While the Word of Knowledge deals
with the past and the present and the Word of Wisdom deals
with the present and the future, this gift deals with the present – what is
actually happening at the moment. I like to think of it as being a present
continuous tense gift.
Now before we venture any further into understanding this
gift of the Spirit, its purpose and how we operate in it, it is important that
we grasp the basics of the spirit world and our interaction with it.
As we all know, God is the creator of all things visible and
invisible and He is a spirit being, that simply means
God doesn't have a physical body that can be accessed by the five
senses like ours. Jesus made this plain when He said:
24 God is spirit, and his
worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” – John 4:24 NIV(emphasis
added)
God is also rightfully called the Father of spirits.
9 Moreover, we have
all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much
more should we submit to the Father of spirits and
live! – Hebrews 12:9 NKJV(emphasis added)
Even though God is everywhere present at once
(Omnipresent) He has chosen to dwell in the spirit world we call Heaven.
God created all the angelic hosts and theirs ranks and they dwelt in His
immediate/manifest presence, if you will, doing His bidding. However, later on
some of the angels joined Lucifer’s rebellion against Him but others, many
others, I might add, remained loyal to Him.
The angels who remained loyal continued to dwell in Heaven
while the rebellious ones were cast out of Heaven, they are commonly referred
to as fallen angels or demons. These fallen angels also live in the spirit
realm. Now in case you are wondering why we are taking time to revisit the
spirit realm, let me assure you that the importance of the knowing the spirit
world cannot be overemphasized simply because, this physical, material world
that we live in is heavily influenced and in some cases even controlled by what
is going on in the spirit realm.
We may not be able to access the spirit realm with our five
physical senses of touch, taste, smell, seeing or hearing, but it is a real
world nonetheless, and in fact realer than this
physical one. Doesn't the Word of God rightfully say
what is seen is
temporal but what is unseen is eternal? (2 Corinthians 4:18)
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| Source: Google Images |
So, we too having been created in the image of God are
spirit, have a soul and live in a body; our spirit is the only part of us that
can access and function in the spirit realm and from there influence our soul
and eventually our body in this physical world. Now when we are born of God, we
have His Spirit in us and so we live in this physical world but at the same
time we (our recreated spirits) are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, the
spirit realm far above all principalities and powers. (Ephesians 1:20-21,
2:6)
>>> TO BE CONTINUED
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