Bible Study Spiritual Discernment

[Edward]

This thread was about discernment of spirit, and my remarks are in that context. Which it to say that evil spirit encourage us to make an idols! They can be pretty creative about how they go about influencing us, and since we do battle with the dark forces of this world, then they are working to influences us!! So How? How are they working to influences us in the wrong way?

Romans 15:4
4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.../(NKJV)

Luke 24:44-45
44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.../

If you have a desire for alcohol they are going to encourage you to drink and get drunk to mess you us. If you have a desire for money, they are going to get to seek that over seeking the Lord. So what if you have a desire to read the Bible? Are they not going to get you to make it about seeking the Bible instead of the Lord? Yeah - that is it.

So consider what is written and lets take a closer look at it:

Ok, let's take a look, shall we?

2 Timothy 3:14-17
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.../

Acts 17:11
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.../

Joshua 1:8
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.../

So we don't have to worry about idolizing the scriptures. We are commanded to search the scriptures daily and to meditate on them day and night. We can not be led astray by doing this. For the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth.

John 16:13
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:.../

When we read the scriptures The Holy Spirit comes to us and speaks. He gives understanding. He gives revelation. Right? That is the Holy Spirit's job. He will not fail. He is a big boy and will tell you to, don't read so much, don't idolize, and anything of that sort if needs be. (So far I have not heard those things from Him. I have heard, read more read the scriptures...).

If a non believer gets the desire to seek the Lord, can't they just seek Him and find Him???

He said He stands at the door and if anyone hears His voice and opens the door He will come into them and eat with them and them with Him (Rev 19:20)

Yes they can! The thief crucified beside Jesus proves this idea. I can't find anywhere in scripture that says to forgo the scriptures though.

So why don't we just tell them who have a desire to seek Him, to just seek Him and listen to Him? Who told us that would not work - that we actually have to point them to the Bible instead of Him so they can find Him? That is not according to the Bible, because it is not according to Him and what He said in the Bible!!

Because a lot of those folks will be lost souls so are unlearned about the Kingdom of God and perhaps even do not know how to pray. So supposing they may have a dark spirit in them causing them discomfort (which is why the (need) the scriptures to become learned or at least be pointed in the right direction?

How many testimonies of people have we heard (do we need to hear) about people who went to a motel to kill themselves or whatever and picked up that Gideon Bible and opened it...and one thing led to another and they walk out alive and saved?

So we should point them to personal relationship (Him), AND the scriptures. That is the way. That is what we are to do.

Now the first words I heard from Him were "Read Your Bible", so don't we think that if we get them to talk to Him, He will get them to read their Bible?

That's a mighty interesting question. But let me ask you, has the Lord ever told you to not encourage anyone to read their Bible? Or, where have you read this in scripture?

I'm guessing no. So where did that idea come from?

Continued....

 

[Edward]

I believe that the word of God (scriptures) are nigh impossible to idolize. How? The Holy Spirit will lead us into ALL truth.

Uh-oh, I'm reading scripture too much...Uhhh, no. (Search the scriptures daily). The Lord has never told me to not idolize the scriptures or talk as if there is a great danger in reading them too much!

He did tell me to not fast too much, that I need my strength.
He did tell me to read more.

When I've heard testimonies of Brothers, and they were recounting how in a certain season of their life they began studying the scriptures 12 to 14 hours per day....they did not lead into something bad where idolization creeped in. They recounted testimony of, one day, Jesus walked through the wall into their room, that the Heavens were opened to them and stuff like that. So it seems clear to me that...there is no danger in reading scriptures or in reading them too much or anything of the sort. That Bible is the book of truth my Brothers & Sisters. And on this planet...we can't get enough truth!

 

[Edward]

I mean - If someone has a desire to find the Lord don't I just tell them that He is there knocking with His voice (like I read in the Bible) so all they have to do is hear His voice and open up to Him?

So why should you read the Bible and not them? Are you immune to this idolization? Will the Holy Spirit who leads you into truth drop the ball with them? I think not!

 

[K2CHRIST]

So why should you read the Bible and not them? Are you immune to this idolization? Will the Holy Spirit who leads you into truth drop the ball with them? I think not!

This thread is on discernment - Isn't the Lord going to tell them to read their Bible??? Yes or No - Is He going to tell them to red the Bible or not?

So am I turning people to Jesus Christ or to the Bible?

And the point is that we all battle with the "spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)

The the rich man battles with a spirit of greed. The homeless man might battle against a spirit of drug or alcohol abuse. So what about the Christian man dedicated to reading the Bible?

Money has a purpose! Alcohol has a purpose. Drugs have a purpose. Your Bible has a purpose. God make them all for a purpose. The devils pervert the purposes.

If a person had a desire to seek the Lord Jesus Christ, they should then seek the Lord Jesus Christ!! He is there for them right now, at this very moment!! Abram did not have a Bible but knew the Lord and followed Him. Indeed, the authors of the Bible made it clear that He is indeed there for anyone. They just have to seek Him!

So a religious spirit, perverts the things of God, making it about them instead of about our Lord Jesus Christ! And that is the type of "spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places".

This is not a discussion about whether we should or should not read and study the Bible. We should do that! This is a discussion about discernment of spirit going on between people dedicated enough to our beliefs that to read and study the Bible. So what type of evil spirit is going to attack us? A religious spirit, right? And that religious spirit is going to get us making it about the things of God (eg. the Bible, the Church, the Christian traditions...) instead of making it about Jesus Christ!

So we, battle with evil spirits that tell us the Bible is alive, instead of Jesus Christ is alive! That is a way the evil spirit pervert the message we have! WE HAVE THAT BATTLE!

So I am not saying you have it but not me. I am saying we have that battle, and I am discussing it. WE like to things like the Bible explains itself, but the Bible is not a "self" and so can not take action. It is our Lord Jesus Christ who explains the Bible to us through His Holy Spirit.

So we should have said Jesus Christ explains the Bible.

But considered - If we look at the difference between saying the Bible explains itself and Jesus Christ explains the Bible a thought tend to come to us telling us it is the same thing. Who gave us that thought - that the Bible explaining itself and Jesus Christ explaining the Bible is the same thing???? The two things are not the same thing and the difference is actually extremely important! It is written that they will all be taught of God, but Jesus Christ is God. So we operate by hearing with faith, because that is how we get the Holy Spirit.

Paul went over this with the Galatians, did he not? He wrote to them:

Gal 1:6,7 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Reading the Bible is not another gospel, but if we make it about reading the Bible instead of seeking the grace of Christ our Lord, then "there are some who are disturbing you"!! That is discernment of spirits, and a problem covered in the Bible - the Bible which we read and studied, right? But did we get the Lord to explain it to us?

So Paul really only wanted to know one thing, didn't he?

Gal 3:2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

We all received that Spirit by hearing with faith, right? So why would we think to tell someone with a desire to seek the Lord to work at reading the Bible? Shouldn't we just get them hearing the Lord by faith??

Oh - then someone comes back saying that reading the Bible is hearing the Lord - but who was that someone? Reading the Bible is not hearing the Lord by faith!! Hearing the Lord Jesus Christ via His Holy Spirit means I hear that small voice inside me that tells me Jesus Christ is Lord, my Lord, and that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, went to the cross for me, and rose again for me, so that I need to listen to His instructions for me personally. That small voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit who comes with the words from God that belong to the Son. He tells me to read my Bible at times. He also tells me how to go about my work, how to go about my life, how and what to do and when - if I seek the Lord and listen to what His Spirit says to my spirit.

So the spirits saying to lean on my own understanding are not the Spirit who tells me to seek Jesus Christ and listen to His words for me! That doesn't mean I don't battle with those spirits telling me to turn back to works according to my understanding, and drop the Spirit of God who tells me to listen to Jesus Christ because He is Lord. I battle with them, and they have their effect. So I need to listen to the Lord and I need to be better at that!

A pastor and friend of mine died yesterday. He was a man I loved, though not just me. As a pastor and man who knew the Lord well. He had his battles and one of them was that he ate too much. Though I too know the Lord I have that battle. This morning, my Lord via His Holy Spirit was talking to me about this and how I need to loose weight and quit listening to spirit who encourage me to eat too much - which is to say that He talked to me about discernment of spirits. The Bible does does wisdom concerning eating too much, but much more about religious spirits. If we don't battle with flesh and blood, who then was behind the Chief Priest, Pharisees, and Sadducees who had Him taken captive and put on the cross? Religious spirits, right?

 

[K2CHRIST]

I believe that the word of God (scriptures) are nigh impossible to idolize

Who told you that the Scriptures are the "word of God" Don't we read in the Bible that Jesus Christ is the Word of God and also that if we don't listen to Him that then the line on line of text will be the word of God to us so that we might be taken captive and go stumbling backwards. So where did that thought "

I believe that the word of God (scriptures) are nigh impossible to idolize

come from? Jesus Christ is the Word of God and God and so it is impossible to idolize Him. But the Scriptures as writings, are inanimate. They are writings made for a purpose! That purpose was that we might seek Jesus Christ as the Word of God, meaning that we might seek Him to listen to Him who has the words of God for us!! And it is written that "who ever believes in Him "

Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Jn 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
So the word of the LORD to them will be, "Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.

Is 28:14 Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,

If we don't listen to Him and thus make it about Him being the Word of God to us, then the line on line of text will be the word of God for us - and that so we go stumbling backward, snared, and taken captive - but if captive then taken captive by who?

Are we really believing and thus seek Jesus Christ, or have we put our faith in our understanding instead of His. What or who do we say we believe?

 

[for_his_glory]

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

What Jesus taught from the Father verbally to His disciples are those inspired recorded words we read in the Bible, 2 Timothy 3:16.

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

We have been abiding in Christ from the first time we confessed Him as our Lord and Savior through the washing of His blood, through the Spiritual rebirth and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as God renewed our spiritual inner man. John 3:5-7; Romans 10:9, 10; 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The words in the Bible bring life lessons as we apply those inspired words to our Spiritual walk through the Holy Spirit who teaches us that which is already written. We do not go to school without taking our text book with us to study from as the teacher explains that which is written for our learning. The Bible is much more than ink on paper as it reveals history, poetry and most importantly God's salvation through Christ. The Bible being the inspired word of God as He had the Prophets and disciples to write is our instruction in righteousness and Godliness as we develop our relationship with Christ and learn how to draw closer to Him. The Bible is not to be idolized as in worshipping it like an idol, but is to be taken off the shelf, dusted off and read as we pray first and ask the Holy Spirit to help teach us.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

How do we know truth from error? Are not all Pastors Anointed to preach? Why do Pastors contradict each other? Should they not all preach the same gospel? I have asked these questions as I am sure many have. The thing is not everyone who calls them self a Pastor or a teacher of the word of God have been called and anointed and sealed by God's Spirit to take His word out into the world. They are not Spiritually equiped as they preach traditional doctrines of man and refute the doctrines of Christ.


1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

That anointing is the indwelling Holy Spirit who is the only one that can teach us all truths. Man says, then why does everyone have a different teaching as they claim the Holy Spirit teaches them? The answer is not everyone has Spiritual ears to hear nor do they take the time to hear what the Holy Spirit teaches in all truths as many do not know how to Spiritually discern the voice of God's Spirit. If you say to yourself, "I think I am hearing" then you need to be still a little longer in order to know what the Spirit is speaking.

 

[K2CHRIST]

The words in the Bible bring life lessons as we apply those inspired words to our Spiritual walk through the Holy Spirit who teaches us that which is already written. We do not go to school without taking our text book with us to study from as the teacher explains that which is written for our learning.

Yes - absolutely! God had a purpose for having the Bible written. It is like a text book that the Holy Spirit uses to teach us. Then discernment would tell us that the Bible is not alive, but out Lord Jesus Christ is alive and active and He sends His Holy Spirit to bring His words to our spirit. So the Word of God we preach is found in our heart and on our lips because it comes from the Holy Spirit to our spirit

The Bible is much more than ink on paper as it reveals history, poetry and most importantly God's salvation through Christ.

Well - the Bible is the most important 'ink on paper" you can read, but it is still just ink on paper!! Let us not forget that. It is not God, it is writings "ink on paper" from God. We don't glorify the Bible! Jesus Christ is worthy to be praised!

The Bible is not to be idolized as in worshipping it like an idol, but is to be taken off the shelf, dusted off and read as we pray first and ask the Holy Spirit to help teach us.

Correct again! We don't idolize the Bible. We do study the Bible because the Lord Jesus Christ is our Teacher and He sends the Holy Spirit, who according to the Bible (Jn16) does not speak on His own initiative but as He hears He speaks. He takes the words of God which belong to the Son (All things the Father had are given to the Son, which includes the words of God for us) and He the Spirit of God gives those words to our spirit. And considering that is not the Lord going to tell us via His Holy Spirit that we need to read and study the Bible? The first words I heard from Him were, "Read Your Bible!"

Therefore I point people to Jesus Christ knowing He is going to tell them to read their Bible and go over it with them. If I find someone who has not read their Bible, then who are they talking to. But if I find someone making it about turning people to their Bible instead of turning people to Jesus Christ, who are they listening to. This is a thread on discernment of spirit - so this needs to be discussed on this thread.

How do we know truth from error?

The short answer is that we need to find out what our Lord has to say about it! There is a bit more to it than that though, because Satan will come as a spirit of light, pretending to be the Holy Spirit. Therefore it is not a surprise that we find tests in the Bible, and other bits of wisdom on discernment of spirits.

1 Jn 4:1-3 has a very specific test that we are supposed to use. You must have ears to hear to use it, though, because you are going to have to hear whether the spirit talking to you is confessing the Jesus Christ came in the flesh or not. I know Christians who like to use 1 Cor 12:3 for the test they use. Again you need to have ears to hear, because you are going to have to hear whether the spirit talking to you is confessing Jesus Christ as their Lord, and that test is not "spirit" specific. It should be good for people also, but if someone is saying the Bible is God talking to them, are they then confessing Jesus Christ as their Lord? A Lord is someone telling you instruction! I hear my Lord Jesus Christ telling me instructions. That is not all He tells me. As noted above He is also my Teacher. And it all comes via the Holy Spirit speaking His words to my spirit.

Another thing I had seen which is in the Bible is that with practice hearing I get better at discerning what is from the Holy Spirit and what is from evil spirits. You learn lots of little things from practicing using your spiritual senses! For one; Evil spirit are called dark forces, because they want to keep you in the dark (spiritually speaking) and they like to operate in the dark (spiritually speaking). That is that the Holy Spirit like to tells you about the things going on around you in the spiritual/heavenly realm! Where as evil spirit know they are better off if you don't know what is going on around you in the spiritual/heavenly realm. So evil spirits tend to be "quieter" and hard to hear from. They are more like to come across as a feeling when they talk to you

That anointing is the indwelling Holy Spirit who is the only one that can teach us all truths.

Yes, absolutely! We have access to the Holy Spirit - still with ears to hear we can hear other spirit. Paul wrote in Rom 7 about the principal that evil dwells in us also. So the instructions to test the spirits, and the explanation that we don't battle with flesh and blood but with the dark spiritual forces of this world.

Therefore, we seek the Lord Jesus Christ and we know we find Him like it is written, that all those who seek find. Still we also test the spirits to make sure we indeed are hearing from the Holy Spirit. And we practice hearing throughout the day so that with practice we become better at discerning good from evil spirits! After all, Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords and concerning angels are they not all ministering spirits sent by the Lord to those who will inherit salvation? So having spiritual ears to hear means we can hear from our Lord Jesus Christ because He send His Holy Spirit. It also means we can hear from those evil spirits who like to stay hidden, because Jesus Christ lights up what is going on around us in the spiritual realm. And we can hear from the ministering angels that He often sends to us who will inherit salvation.

So use discernment!! Test the spirits, like instructed!! And practice using your spiritual senses!! This is all explained in your Bible and the Holy Spirit will go over the Bible with you, and a whole lot more also! The Lord wants to help you with your life - entire life - and not just with understanding the Bible!! He will even help you every time you turn to the right or to the left if you are willing to listen to Him! (Is 30)

 

[K2CHRIST]

When we read the scriptures The Holy Spirit comes to us and speaks. He gives understanding. He gives revelation. Right? That is the Holy Spirit's job. He will not fail. He is a big boy and will tell you to, don't read so much, don't idolize, and anything of that sort if needs be. (So far I have not heard those things from Him. I have heard, read more read the scriptures...).

I like all the Scriptures quoted, but perhaps not your interpretation of them!

For example - Does the Holy Spirit alway come and speak to everyone concerning the Scriptures?

It is not the Holy Spirit's job to come to someone whenever they read the Scriptures!! You forget the the Holy Spirit is sent to us! His job then is to go where asked, and He is not asked by the Scriptures, He is sent by the Father and Son! And they send the Spirit when you seek the Lord!

If what your interpretation was correct then Jesus would not been able to tell the Pharisees and religious leaders of that time that they did not hear His voice, because they too studied the Scriptures. If you are right then the Holy Spirit came and talked to them when they read the Scriptures, but that did not happen!!!!!!!

Yes - the Holy Spirit will not fail to do what is asked of Him, but you assume that you know what is asked of Him!

And yes, if you seek the Lord Jesus Christ, He will send the spirit with the words He has for you - not that you know what words He has for you. Still - you need to seek the Lord Jesus Christ! Seeking the words of the Bible is not the same things as seeking the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. While the Lord will most certainly have you reading the Bible at times, He is not limited to doing that only! Yes - He will teach you, but perhaps He has not taught you about people making an idol of the Bible, but that is clearly in the Bible

When Jesus told the Jews they searched the Bible because they thought that gave them eternal life, they had clearly made an idol of the Bible, because we all know that only God can give us eternal life. So their thinking their study of the Bible was giving them life was in fact making the Bible their god!

And yet despite them doing all that study of the Scriptures Jesus also told them: "“And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. Yet we know the Holy Spirit comes with the voice of God, and you said the the Holy Spirit always came when people read the Scriptures! So either the Holy Spirit was not doing His job, or you got the wrong understanding of His job, or perhaps He is not the "Big Boy" you give Him credit for? No - the Holy Spirit can accomplish what He is sent to do, so He was not sent to those people who were studying and seeking through the Bible for eternal life - so He doesn't some to anyone reading the Bible, but He is sent to those seeking the Lord and His voice!

So the question we need to ask ourselves is: Are we seeking Jesus Christ and what He has to say to us, especially when we read the Bible. Or perhaps are we just thinking that if we read the Bible the only spirit who might talk to us about it is the Holy Spirit? You read that Satan quoted verses even to Jesus, with his interpretation of them, right?

We need to use discernment! We need to test the spirits! We need to be taking all thoughts captive to Him. We need to quite assuming things like 'if I read the Bible the Holy Spirit is going come and interpret it for me.' Don't assume that. Don't think that is His job. His job is to do what He is asked, not what you think.

 

[Edward]

If what your interpretation was correct then Jesus would not been able to tell the Pharisees and religious leaders of that time that they did not hear His voice, because they too studied the Scriptures. If you are right then the Holy Spirit came and talked to them when they read the Scriptures, but that did not happen!!!!!!!

How can that be? The Holy Spirit had not yet been given to them. Jesus said He had to go and then the Comforter would come. So they did not have the benefit of the Holy Spirit yet.

 

[K2CHRIST]

How can that be? The Holy Spirit had not yet been given to them. Jesus said He had to go and then the Comforter would come. So they did not have the benefit of the Holy Spirit yet.

Yeah - and yet Anna and Simeon had heard from the Holy Spirit and knew who Jesus was when He was just a child! So even then there were those seeking the Lord for what He had to say to them and those seeking the Scriptures and searching them for eternal life!!

Have we not read that who ever believes in Him? Yet we go back and say we believe in the Scriptures. If indeed a person does actually believe what they read in the Scriptures they seek Jesus Christ as the Word of God!!

Jn 5: 46,47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

So they were seeking the Scriptures, studying the Scriptures, and searching them for eternal life, but they were not actually believing the very writing they said they believed in, because they did not believe His words!!! They said in their heart that the writings of Moses were His words. We are not doing that, are we. We are able understand that Moses wrote what he did, not only by the command of the Lord, but so that the people would understand that the Word of God we preach is near us!

Deut 30:14 “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

Still, even after the cross we find Christians getting messed up and going back to leaning on their own understanding of the writings instead of hearing by faith. And who is it that was messing them up? Again, we are talking about discerning spirit, right?

Gal 1:6,7 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ

The Scriptures are not another gospel, but there are some (religious spirits) who 'distort the gospel of Christ' and make is a gospel of the Scriptures! Those evil spirit, looking to turn us away from Jesus Christ, try to get us leaning on our own understanding of the Scriptures instead of hearing by faith!

Gal 3:2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Now there was something written on this thread about the Holy Spirit coming and talking to us when we picked up the Bible and read it, but in fact we receive the Spirit of God when we seek our Lord Jesus Christ and try to hear by faith what He has to say to us!!! The Galatians were getting that mixed up because there were "some" working at disturbing them. So Paul wrote to them explaining this. Paul really had only one thing he wanted to find out from them and that was "did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?"

Consider: I can pick up my Bible and read and not go about "hearing with faith"! On the other hand I can go shopping at the grocery store and go about "hearing with faith" and get the Holy Spirit sent to me with the words from my Lord Jesus Christ concerning what groceries I should buy.

Therefore, hearing the Lord Jesus Christ is not connected to read the Bible but to seeking our Lord Jesus Christ and hearing what He has to say to us - and that mean about what He has to say to us concerning all areas of our life! Isaiah put it like this:

Is 30:21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

You understand that both Moses and Isaiah, along with the other writers of the Old Testament hear from the Christ via the Holy Spirit, don't you? Yes there was a short time when Jesus came down out of heaven and took on flesh and spoke to people in audible sound waves, but the Bible describes that time as being an instant, though it was more like 30 years. Aside from that time He spoke to us through His Spirit. We have access to the Spirit of God, but we get that access by seeking our Lord Jesus Christ and hearing by faith what He has to say to us. Then He sends His Spirit with His words for us personally. So the Words of Jesus Christ are spirit because they come from the Holy Spirit!

Jn 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life

The words spoken to the prophets of old were not spoken to us, they were spoken to them! They wrote them down so that we could read and understand that we need to seek the Lord and hear from Him and what He has to say to us via the Holy Spirit! So while the words the prophets wrote might be considered words of God they are not the Word of God we are preaching!!! We are preaching a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ via the Holy Spirit! We find His words in our heart and in your mouth, just like Moses explained! So not on the pages with ink on them that we call the Bible, but the words from the Holy Spirit spoken directly to our spirit!

He can talk to you about the Bible, or He can talk to you about the groceries to get at the store. He can talk to you about going to church and what church to go to, or He can talk to you about going to work and what work to do. He can quite literally tell you when to turn to the right or to the left. He used to take me to yard sales on Saturday morning primarily so that I would just get used to hearing Him telling me when to turn right or when to turn left!!

There is a day to hear from our Lord Jesus Christ, via the Holy Spirit, and that day is "Today"! Everyday called "Today" we need to hear from Him, and how often does He voice even come across as an audible voice. He never speak with sound waves because God is spirit, but He can of course come across with enough power to make us think that. Still, He talks to us "Today" via what we often call "The Small Voice" and that is the Word of God we are preaching!!

Still - test the spirits because the Spirit of God is not the only spirit about!

 

[Edward]

When we start calling the sacred writing the Word of God, when His name is called the Word of God then we start making it God instead of writings! That then is compounded by when we start saying or writing things like the Bible speaks about itself, because the Bible neither speaks nor are the writings a person to be referred to as a "self". Then we find where Christians are saying the Bible is alive, because we told them it was the word of God and it is written the word is alive and active.

It would see that both of us are right to an extent. But there seems to be two words in the New Testament for "word". They are, Rhema and Logos.

Now we all know and agree that Jesus is actually named "Word", right? As in John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Word is, one of His names, at least, lol! But what's in a name? As it turns out, Name, is actually a very deep word in itself which succinctly means, character. A word study on, name, could be a entire thread itself.

So John 1:1's use of the word, Word turns out to be G3056 Logos.
In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds..../
This is but a small portion of this Word's usage and deserves more research on your own to digest it all. But we seem to agree on this your point already so, good.

Now flip over to Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.../(KJV)

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.../(NKJV)

This usage of word denotes a spoken word. From the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, Jesus, Abba...as you wish for the are three and yet they are three and they are one. It is Who speaks to you when you read the scriptures for instruction!

Now concerning the scriptures, which I am fond of referring to as, the word, we see that it takes us in Strongs, to G1124 Grafa

2 Timothy 3:16
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.../(KJV)

G1124
Outline of Biblical Usage [?]

1. a writing, thing written
2. the Scripture, used to denote either the book itself, or its contents
3. a certain portion or section of the Holy Scripture

Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
γραφή graphḗ, graf-ay'; from G1125; a document, i.e. holy Writ (or its contents or a statement in it):—scripture.../(Strongs)

All of this should make it clear that the Bible is extremely important to us and not to be taken lightly. We could say, the Word was then He spoke the words and then He gave them to be transcribed into a handy text for us. Has Jesus not spoken all of the words in the Bible? Has He not given us, this, His words for our instruction and reproof? Yes He has.

John 16:1
16 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.../(KJV)
:nod

So good morning, and have a Blessed day in Christ!

 

[K2CHRIST]

It would see that both of us are right to an extent. But there seems to be two words in the New Testament for "word". They are, Rhema and Logos.

Now we all know and agree that Jesus is actually named "Word", right? As in John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Word is, one of His names, at least, lol! But what's in a name? As it turns out, Name, is actually a very deep word in itself which succinctly means, character. A word study on, name, could be a entire thread itself.

So John 1:1's use of the word, Word turns out to be G3056 Logos.
In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds..../
This is but a small portion of this Word's usage and deserves more research on your own to digest it all. But we seem to agree on this your point already so, good.

Now flip over to Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.../(KJV)

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.../(NKJV)

This usage of word denotes a spoken word. From the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, Jesus, Abba...as you wish for the are three and yet they are three and they are one. It is Who speaks to you when you read the scriptures for instruction!

Now concerning the scriptures, which I am fond of referring to as, the word, we see that it takes us in Strongs, to G1124 Grafa

2 Timothy 3:16
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.../(KJV)

G1124
Outline of Biblical Usage [?]

1. a writing, thing written
2. the Scripture, used to denote either the book itself, or its contents
3. a certain portion or section of the Holy Scripture

Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
γραφή graphḗ, graf-ay'; from G1125; a document, i.e. holy Writ (or its contents or a statement in it):—scripture.../(Strongs)

All of this should make it clear that the Bible is extremely important to us and not to be taken lightly. We could say, the Word was then He spoke the words and then He gave them to be transcribed into a handy text for us. Has Jesus not spoken all of the words in the Bible? Has He not given us, this, His words for our instruction and reproof? Yes He has.

John 16:1
16 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.../(KJV)
:nod

So good morning, and have a Blessed day in Christ!

I really like the above post, but it also shows the basic problem.

Now you mentioned "two words", but wound up with three words.

The three words are Logos, Rhema, and Graphe

Now, by reading what you wrote it seems that you are telling people that "Graphe" is used in Heb 4:12 - it is not! In Hebrews 4:12 Logos is used!! And as you mentioned "Logos" was used by John as the name "The Word" of the Christ at the start of his gospel. So it is not the Scriptures which are alive and active, but Jesus Christ who is alive and active. You didn't make that clear, in fact you obscured it by writing "Now flip over to Hebrews 4:12" - It read as if you agree with Jesus being called the Word in Jn 1:1, but are telling your readers to "Now flip over" there thinking to something else, but Jesus is the Word referred to in Hebrews 4:12, and if a person needed more proof of that they only need to read the next verse Hebrew 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

So many times I have seen Heb 4:12 presented as if that verse talks about the Scriptures, when obviously in context it mean Jesus Christ, because the Scriptures are not a person so as to be referred to as "His". And from what you wrote, it at the very least seems you are wavering on the subject, like someone who was thinking that you could just flip your thinking to both Jesus Christ and the Scriptures being called the Word of God.

Which brings us to the other two words. Rhema means an utterance. You see that in Romans 10 where it is written that faith comes by hearing and hearing by a word from God, or Christ depending on which translation you read. That is to say we get faith by actually hearing an utterance from Jesus Christ, the Son who is the Word of God because He owns the words that God has for us (Jn 16). The Holy Spirit takes the words that He (Jesus Christ, the Word of God/Logos) owns, because the Father gave Him all that the Father has which includes the words of God, and the Holy Spirit speaks them to our spirit. The Spirit does not speak on HIs own, but as He hears He speaks. So the Holy Spirit acts like a living telephone line to us. All that means is that the Holy Spirit gives us the Rhema words (utterance) from our Lord Jesus Christ and that is how we get faith.

Now let go to that third word, Graphe. It is what is used to mean the Holy Writ - the Scriptures - your Bible, and I could not where it is ever translated "Word" in the Bible!!! It is however often translated "Word" by the preachers, teachers, and religious leaders in Christians churches!! So they are not actually going according to the Bible like they say they are. They might make a big deal about going by " The Word of God" meaning the Scriptures, but ironically the Scriptures (the Graphe in Greek) are not called "The Word of God"

So since this is a thread on discernment of spirits - Why are they doing that? Why did you write ""Now flip over". We don't need to flip over our thinking to the Bible being called the "Word of God" that is the name for Jesus Christ!!

Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

What we actually need to do is flip our thinking back to where is lines up with the Holy Writ!! That is to say - we need to start calling Jesus Christ the Word of God because He is the One who has the words of God for us!!

That does not mean we don't need to study the Graphe!! Those writings have lot of value in them. For example they can be used to reprove someone who is calling the Graphe "The Word", because they do not call the Graphe "The Holy Scriptures" the Logos "Jesus Christ". They actually explain that He, Jesus Christ, is the Word of God. They actually explain that He is alive and active and that He is "living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" just like it is written in Heb 4:12

Yet someone (evil religious spirit) try to turn us away from our Lord Jesus Christ to the things of God, like the Scriptures - and those spirits are pretty tricky about it. The brought confusion into our Lord's church by using His name "The Word of God" for His Holy Writings!! How did we miss that? Did we forget to test the spirits?

 

[K2CHRIST]

This tread was about discernment of spirits. Of course the devil uses lot of ways to mess us up. The first way is to get us to doubt that our Lord is there. The first words we read from that snake were "Did God really say?" That is to say that Satan tries to get us to doubt that we can hear from God. God had told Adam and Eve not to eat of one particular tree in the garden. So mess Eve up Satan started by trying to get Eve to doubt that the Lord had spoke to them. Please note: that it was about Eve reading something the Lord had told others, but they could hear from the Lord. Jesus is called "The Word of God" because we can hear from Him today. So the first way the snake of old tries messing us up is to get us to doubt that we can hear from our Lord. And so it is that God made our salvation about believing in Jesus Christ, and believing in Him means you believe He can and does talk to you. So His name is called the Word of God.

Satan, using that same strategy he used in the garden, comes saying to us, "Did God really say? He can to that by pointing to the Bible and telling us that God said, but He does not say things to us "Today". So Satan tells us today that God doesn't speak to us today. It is ok by Satan if we believed that God spoke to people thousands of years ago, so long as we don't believe He can speak to us "Today". So the Bible can be the Word of God, but if you start thinking Jesus Christ is the Word or God so that you actually go to Him and listen to Him, then you now believe in Him and Satan looses, because you are now saved by faith.

Now Satan then might raise up someone not testing the spirit in another way, so that they say and do things not like those people who wrote the Bible. - And let us not forget that those who wrote the Bible did hear from the Word of God! That is how they got what they wrote. So if you are going to be like them you listen to Jesus Christ, via His Holy Spirit. Otherwise you are not like them!!! So we listen to Him, and He tells us to read our Bible, but it is not the line upon line of text that we know as the Word of God, unless of course we don't listen to Him. In that case the line on line of text has to be the Word of God to us because we don't actually listen to Him. Isaiah explained that:

Is 28: 12,13
...“Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
So the word of the LORD to them will be,
“Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.

So if we are calling the line on line of text "the word" why is that - according to the Holy Scriptures?

It is because we would not listen!!!

 

[Edward]

Why did you write ""Now flip over". We don't need to flip over our thinking to the Bible being called the "Word of God" that is the name for Jesus Christ!!

I had us in John 1 reading and was going to Hebrews so meant flip over to Hebrews in your Bible. My intent had nothing to do with oh flip your thinking. aybe I should have said turn to, lol.

Did I misquote one of my references? I had 4 windows open, 2 BibleGateway and 2 Blueletterbible and was clicking back and forth. I thought I had it straight. I'll take a closer look at it and check that out.

But I digress, don't I? Discerning Spirits. Filling ones head with the (scriptures) of the Lord, gets into your mind, then overflows into your heart, and it makes it easier to bring your heart and your spirit into unification so you can open your heart and spirit to the awareness of the presence of God. He is always there, so all we have to do is pay attention to Him and perceive His presence.

Oh, and Grafa is the word "scriptures" not word. So...two, not three.

 

[K2CHRIST]

I had us in John 1 reading and was going to Hebrews so meant flip over to Hebrews in your Bible. My intent had nothing to do with oh flip your thinking. aybe I should have said turn to, lol.

Did I misquote one of my references? I had 4 windows open, 2 BibleGateway and 2 Blueletterbible and was clicking back and forth. I thought I had it straight. I'll take a closer look at it and check that out.

But I digress, don't I? Discerning Spirits. Filling ones head with the (scriptures) of the Lord, gets into your mind, then overflows into your heart, and it makes it easier to bring your heart and your spirit into unification so you can open your heart and spirit to the awareness of the presence of God. He is always there, so all we have to do is pay attention to Him and perceive His presence.

Oh, and Grafa is the word "scriptures" not word. So...two, not three.

Ok - you were flipping pages? - with "windows open"? on Bible Gateway - doesn't sound like flipping pages but ok.

The two words mentioned at the beginning of your post were Logos and Rhema - then you brought in a third word Graphe / or Grafa because Graphe is pronounced Gra - fay .

Logos means "word" in a general sense. Rhema is an utterance. Graphe is Holy Writ - your Bible.

Logos is used in John 1 as Word meaning Jesus Christ, and also in Heb 4:12 also as word meaning Jesus Christ.

Rhema is used as 'word" in Romans where it is written that faith comes by hearing and hearing by a word of God or Christ depending on the translation.
Graphe is used as 'Scriptures' in 1 Tim where it is written that all Scriptures are good for study, reproof, etc.

I looked and could not find anyplace where Graphe was translated as "Word"!!

So why do people who are so intent on following the Scriptures call the Scriptures "The Word of God" when the authors of the Scriptures did not do that?????

We have to use discernment of spirits because evil spirits want to turn us away from God!! That can be done in lots of ways, but one way is to turn us to the things of God instead of God. We would call that a religious spirit, because it make our religion our god, instead of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You wrote two things which don't match up:

Filling ones head with the (scriptures) of the Lord, gets into your mind, then overflows into your heart, and it makes it easier to bring your heart and your spirit into unification so you can open your heart and spirit to the awareness of the presence of God.

Filling your head with the Scriptures does not mean you are going to have the Word of God on your heart!! Seeking Jesus Christ so that He sends His Holy Spirit to talk to you spirit is how you get His Word on your heart!!

If what you said was true the Pharisees and Jews of that time in general would have had the Word of God on their hearts. But they didn't know Him! He told them that they didn't hear His words! He also told them that they were searching the Scriptures thinking in them they had eternal life as opposed to coming to Him!!

Do you not see that they were thinking like what you wrote and it was not working for them!! They got the Scriptures into their mind and still hung Jesus Christ on a cross!! They were not aware of the presence of God at all, and He was standing their in the flesh right in front of them!!!

Now you also wrote:

He is always there, so all we have to do is pay attention to Him and perceive His presence.

Yes!!! That is correct!! He is always there, so all you have to do is seek Him and pay attention to Him and you will start perceiving His presence!! That is call hearing by faith. You can do that while reading the Bible, and I recommend that, or you can do that while shopping in the store, and I also recommend that. You can also do that while at work, and I recommend that. You can do that while in the shower, in the car, and all though out the day! That is called living by faith!! The Bible tells us to do that! So it is worth while reading the Bible to find out how to go about our life, and by that I mean to find out the we need to seek Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is not the only spirit around. There are angels that serve Jesus Christ and are they not all ministering spirit sent by the Lord to those who will inherit salvation? Of course they are, and so we not only have a King, but a Kingdom. Still, there are also those powers, principalities, and dark evil spiritual forces, so we test the spirits (just like is written in the Scriptures) and practice listening so we learn a bit about discernment of spirits and the presence of evil spirits also!

There fore again we see that we today are often like those Jews and Pharisees of the past, who searched the Scriptures thinking that would give them eternal life and enable them to know the presence of God, but they fail to understand that He is always with them to it is as simply are seeking Him, and making sure it is Him! That is done by hearing with faith, not your study of the Scriptures.

Your study of the Scriptures is then like studying a text book. You can study a text book and go to class or not go to class. Of you can not study the text book and still go to class or not go to class. If you go to class without studying the text book you are going to know the Teacher but He will give you poor grades and possibly some punishment to help make you a better student. If you don't go to class, even if you studied the text book, then you don't know the Teacher and Jesus said He would tell many that He never knew them.

He once explained it to me like this:

WHAT TEACHER DOESN’T PUT A BOOK IN FRONT OF HIS STUDENTS TODAY; YET NOT JUST A BOOK BUT OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCIES, VISUALS, AND OTHER MATERIAL? FOR I TELL YOU TRULY, IF THEY ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME THEY ARE NOT MY PUPIL, THEY ARE NOT MY STUDENT; I TELL YOU TRULY, THEY ARE NOT MY DISCIPLE UNLESS THEY ARE HEARING FROM ME. SO DON’T TELL THEM TO READ THE BOOK, THEM TO TAKE THE CLASS!”


Some say "read the book" I say "take the class", because you have to know the Teacher to be His disciple, pupil, student. Sure, the class comes with a textbook but you can study it with the Teacher of without the Teacher - and He doesn't just use the Book to teach you! Have you not gotten dreams, visions, and other material that He goes over with you?

Frankly, since I have come to know the Lord personally I find it just silly to think that the Bible is the Word of God we preach. Clearly He is the Word of God we preach, just like those who wrote the Bible preached Him! Did we not notice while reading our Bible that the prophets of old wrote "The word of the Lord came to me saying."??? That is what He does - The word of the Lord (Jesus Christ) comes to us saying things to us. Everyday called "Today" He comes to me saying things to me. He usually starts saying things to me when I wake up, even before I get out of bed. He continues telling me things when I get into the shower. So when an hour later I sat down in my chair where I pray the Lord's prayer and have a Bible handy, we already have a number of conversations.

As far as the Bible goes, He often has me look at a couple of verses, but the day is about knowing Him, not the Bible. He sometimes has me posting on a Christian Forum, and that often causes me to look at a few more verse, but it is never about the Bible, but about doing what He askes. Before posting this long thread, I was doing some work for my business and thinking about going to bed when "The Word of God came to me saying" that He want me to go post. So why do Christians who are supposed to be listening to Him, think the Bible is the Word of God, since they should be listening to "The Word of God" coming to them and saying things to them, like the prophets of old did?

 

[Edward]

Filling your head with the Scriptures does not mean you are going to have the Word of God on your heart!! Seeking Jesus Christ so that He sends His Holy Spirit to talk to you spirit is how you get His Word on your heart!!

Maybe not for those people who only read four verses per sunday as the pastor speaks a message but for others who read them much more it certainly will. When you read the scriptures your spirit will start to resonate at the same frequency as the holy Spirit thus opening up your self to become aware of the Lord's presence.

You see, what we put into our mind is what we think about. What we think about and dwell upon, we connect with. What we connect with gets into our heart. What it in our heart is what we speak of. What we speak about is who we are and who we become.

Out of the abundance of the heart the man speaks. As a man thinks in his heart...so is he.

You can read your Bible 16 hours a day and you would never be in danger of idolizing it and not finding the Lord. You would only find our Lord. This is because of the Holy Spirit. When you read that text beyond cursory examination it is like turning on the call light for the nurse except it is the Holy Spirit which will come and teach you and guide you through it. The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and is our guide to finding the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit does not drop the ball ok? That's His job.

It's people who drop the ball and refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit's promptings. Usually because of pride, love of the world and what it offers, their favorite sins and so forth.

Let's face it, if you study Mein Kumpf for 16 hours a day then that is what will be in your heart and you will die in your sins. If you study scriptures for 16 hours a day then you will get it in your heart. Which is why Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts diligently. It goes, mind, heart, spirit, Holy Spirit, Jesus, The Father. Jacob's ladder was not a ladder eztended from the heavens to the earth! It is/was from the earth, to heaven. Eh?

So I didn't contradict myself. Perhaps you just forgot that the Holy Spirit is dynamic and alive and still does His job whether people are aware of Him or not.

So read your Bible Brothers and Sisters. As much as you can and have time for. Make time for it.

 

[Edward]

So why do Christians who are supposed to be listening to Him, think the Bible is the Word of God, since they should be listening to "The Word of God" coming to them and saying things to them, like the prophets of old did?

I do agree with this and think it's on the money.

Also, I'm pretty sure I havent messed up the differentiation of the word of God, and the Word of God. In print, (even your Bible I believe) follows the grammatical rule of capitalization of names. So go look at John 1:1 and see how Word is repeatedly capitalized? That's because it is talking about Jesus Him self. In many other scriptures word is not capitalized which tells us that it speaks of all of what the Lord has spoken, and this my friend includes the scriptures.

And what He says...is worth writing down.

 

[Edward]

Ok - you were flipping pages? - with "windows open"? on Bible Gateway - doesn't sound like flipping pages but ok.

Oh come on Brother! Ok. I thik where this came from is from me having heard so many messages from so many different Pastors and Teachers over time, that it's impossible to not pick up on similarities of things many of them say, while presenting their message and walking the listener through the steps of the presentation of what they're saying. Many times it involves different scriptures and they say...let's turn to John chapter 1 verse 1 or lets flip over to Hebrews 4 shall we, and stuff like that. And that my Brother, is what that sentence meant. I kid you not!

I am no evil genius which seek to lead men astray from the Lord here! And I will say Brothers & Sisters, don't believe me! Do your own homework and see what it says for yourself.

And you can't tell me that a bunch of Rabbis got together and conspired to conceal a summary of the Gospel of Christ inside of a genealogy found in Genesis 5. That type of thing just does not happen by accident in the natural realm. It happened, because it is the word of God.

So can we move on now, shall we?

How I learned to be able to discern the still small voice of the Lord was a season when I had began to feel a twinge of conviction that shouldn't I be being led by the Spirit like scripture instructs us to? All the time? Every day? Every moment? I think that's what it means!

And I thought, how do you do that? I wake, pray, read, morning routine. Connect with God in the morning, and that is good. To be filled with the Holy Spirit before going to work. But I noticed, if I overslept, I spent less time praying if at all. I had to go to work, deal with the world. You just can't be aware of God when you're on a rooftop trying to test 460 volt electrical circuits to a big fat cooling unit!...(or can you?). There must be a way.

My solution was when ready to finish my morning prayer and am at my Amen where I usually turn my back on the Lord and get up to go to work...to rise and continue the conversation and actually invite Lord Jesus to go with me to work, and walk out the door talking to my friend which sticketh closer than a Brother and talk to Him whle driving to work, then I would leave Him in the truck when I went into the shop or a customers house or whatever ( :blush ), and we would talk after I was finished and driving to the next call. And let me tell you, this took a childs faith to believe that the Lord was actually answering me while we talked. At first at least. I still wondered why I had difficulties at work though. I mean what could be better than driving around talking with my Lord most of the day?! Of course things would be better, right? Except...not so much, lol.

The Lord didn't like being left in the truck. He did want me to bring Him in the jobsite tooI just didn't think I could do it and stay focused upon my work. I even went out to the truck a couple times when facing perplexities in my work to ask Him for His help, lol. Which He gave me! (that's a whole 'nother testimony!) He never did tell me exactly where the problem was with that unit, He just fixed it for me. No parts, lol.

Remember, prayer is a dialogue. It is two way. You talk and have conversation inside of yourself with the Lord. Conversation with a friend. There are questions, answers, interjections, and changes of subject! But...that voice...that thought...am I hearing voices?...is that you Lord?...how do I know for sure?...
What was the question? Does it make sense? Does it follow the train of progression of the conversation? Wel...it could, so, childlike faith here...it was God, Ok, now respond to that. Respond to Him. And after a while it becomes a full blown conversation. I kid you not. It's like He turns up the volume a little, I think because we are willing to receive it as such and believe it. It becomes obvious that it is real because the Lord will even change the subject on me and has several times to a more important topic to Him. (I pray not as I ought to sometimes), lol.)And you get used to the Lord's voice hearing it so much. And how He talks.

One day I asked Him to teach me to discern between Good and evil and He said, practice discerning His voice speaking to me through His word, other people, and the world. Look up Edward, for thy redemption draweth nigh.

One day I was driving and my mind was wandering. I turned on the radio. Found a radio message from some evangelist, I forget who. It finished. I flipped around and some secular song I remember was playing so I left it on and was listening. The Lord suddenly tells me that He'd like it if I turned the radio off. I did. Well it seems that, we talk a lot more when there's no distractions.

And when He finally got it into my head that I can invite him onto job sites with me too, that I can still work fine with Jesus standing beside me and His Spirit leading me.

So while it may be a difficult thing to learn to believe the discerning of Spirits and the presence of the Lord, it is quite actually very easy to do. It gets easier.

The scriptures are all very true. We are born again. Christ in us. We are in Christ. Christ is literally, inside of us. The kingdom of God is spread out upon the earth It is an unseen parallel dimension and realm. No one can get away from God and He is inside everyone, even sinners. Oh He will leave you alone to your own will if you ignore Him long enough but if you draw closer to Him then He will draw closer to you.

 

[Edward]

Walking in the Spirit or being led by the Spirit if you will is actually as easy as, when you go inside of yourself to think, simply speak to the Lord instead. Over time I began to notice that He speaks a lttle differently than I do. I think like I speak for the most part. Nut they way He speaks is decidedly different to it became easier to discern when it was Him speaking to me. ...for me to discern His voice, the still small voice.

He used to ping my spirit when I was watching a video which was true. Not so much anymore because I have learned his dialect so to speak. That sounds just like something the Lord would say. Why? Because it was the Lord speaking to me, that's why. The Lord can speak to you from other people. Practice discerning when it happens.

It goes like this for instance...Humble Soul or whoever: blahblahblahblah<snippet of ultimate truth>blahblahblahblah...and so forth. (Just for example). Something that really speaks to you and relevant to application in your life. Or is the answer to a question I had asked in prayer and so forth.

If Christ be in me...is He not in you? Can He not speak to me through you? Of course he could, and does!

You know what happens when you take the Lord to work with you? Even into the jobsite?! You have the mind of Christ. I understood hat the Lord IS the customer. I work for Him, not the homeowner. We work, as unto the Lord.
AND, The Lord is my helper at work also. and a helper with the quality of a Master in my own trade, better than me.
And the days I worked in churches, he was the owner of the building and flock also! So He is everything in everything to me.

Those days working in churches were like being at rest with no problems whatsoever. Christ within me and beside me, working for Him, with Him, for His people! Giving Him the glory, (thanks Lord!!!) because...I rested those days, lol.

And in doing this I realized that it was becoming easier to discern good from evil. Because we are then not leaning upon our own understanding but upon His. It's like the spidey sense has been sharpened.

Discerning of spirits is largely learning to discern the voice of the Lord within you and within others. Cultivate this.

 

[K2CHRIST]

I am no evil genius which seek to lead men astray from the Lord here!

This thread is not about you!

It is about discernment of spirits!!

We, including me, don't battle with flesh and blood! You!

We battle with the dark forces of this world!!

So we need to use discernment concerning evil spirits (not you but evil spirits)

Spirits put impressions on our spirit. We have those coming to us regularly, whether we recognize it or not!!!!

So discernment of spirit is a recognition that indeed there are spirits, both good and evil, who are influencing us!

The person who is not recognizing this is the person who is not discerning between the good and evil spirits!

When I wrote:

Ok - you were flipping pages? - with "windows open"? on Bible Gateway - doesn't sound like flipping pages but ok.

I was pointing out that what you said didn't really make sense - so where did it come from????

Gen 3:11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Jn 18:34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?”

There is a question that comes up when talking to the Lord and the question He puts to you is about who you are hearing from? Since we tend to operate in the flesh we often don't understand the question. If we were to start using our spiritual ears like we should we would understand the question.

Who then did tell Adam and Eve they were naked? It was not the Lord! Had they not always been naked before the Lord. Yet suddenly they were hiding from the Lord because they were concerned they were naked before the Lord. The Lord knew who had be talking to them, but they did not know. So he asked them a question hoping they would consider the question and what was happening!

And when Jesus answered after Pilot asked Him if He was King of the Jews, Jesus tried to get Him to consider where he was hearing that. It is in fact something we really only become aware of from listening we our spiritual ears. We of course can read about it, but still the real awareness come from the spiritual realm. Pilot was in fact mocking Jesus and that because evil spirits were influencing him.

Now if you try and point this out to someone, you do it so that they might consider and seek the Lord Jesus Christ for more understanding. If they don't seek the Lord then they will surely be strongly influenced again by those dark forces we all battle with! Those evil spirit are accusers. They accuse us the saints and we take offense to accusation. Then if we still don't seek the Lord for understanding we then come into agreement and accuse others.

Look - We don't say flip the pages when there are no pages to flip. If we are pointing out different places where Logos is used in the Bible we reference the different places. If at that point everyone has a physical bible in hand we might ask them to flip the pages, but not when we are writing on a forum. Then we just reference the next verse we want to discuss.

In the original example there were two words: Logos and Rhema. They both are translated "word" in your Bible. And then there is a word "Graphe" which is not translated "word" in your Bible, and it mean Holy Writ. That mean our Bible is the Holy Write, the Scriptures, and not the word!

So who has been telling people the Bible is the Word of God???

Remember - This is about discernment of spirits and not about flesh and blood people! So who has been telling us to call the Bible "The Word of God", which happens to be the name of Jesus Christ, according to the Bible?

I am not asking this to accuse people. I am asking this so that people might consider and start discerning the spirits that are talking to them!!