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And God said unto Solomon, "Lo! I have done according to thy word, - lo I have given unto thee a wise and discerning heart, so that like thee hath been none before thee, and after these shall rise up none like thee."  1 Kings 3:12, Rotherham.

        This prayer of Solomon which God so graciously answered, is truly becoming the prayer of His people in these days. With such confusion everywhere, teaching that sound true according to the letter of the Word, and yet not witnessing to the Spirit within us, we find ourselves crying out for the ability to be able to discern and to know the way wherein we should go.
        The Psalmist declared, (77:6), "I commune with mine own heart; and my spirit made diligent search." This was more than a sensing after the flesh, to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. It is more than just an emotional reaction, or the studious reasoning out of the intellect. It was an inner, spirit working, making a diligent search. We are learning what this means, to go beyond the sense realm, and the soul realm - to probe in our spirit for answers that only HE who dwells within us by His Spirit can give to our spirit, until we know. We find a passage of scripture, Genesis 8:6-12, quite illustrative of this.
        "And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more."
        First he sent forth a raven, which is an unclean bird, and perhaps typifies the thoughts of the carnal mind. The questioning went out, restlessly moving to and fro until it found something eventually to light upon. A raven will accept most anything to settle on, a dead branch, a floating stick, a dead carcass. It is amazing some of the debris which the carnal mind will accept as a place to land, and rest upon. Enough said.
        Next Noah sent forth a dove - symbolic of a pure spirit. And if correct, we have been told that the dove is one bird without any gall; no bitterness, just love. So the dove went out looking for a resting place, and finding none, returned to the ark. Noah put forth his hand and drew her back into the ark. How often it has been, when we have been in the midst of some people, and you reach out to see if there be an affinity, a spiritual oneness with any there, and it is as if your spirit was searching, but because there was none with whom you found a spiritual kinship, it is as if your spirit returns to you, and you just inwardly withdraw, put up your guard against that which is about you, for the Spirit of the Lord indicates you need to be ON GUARD. Whatever is said, sung, done - no matter how many signs and wonders appear, no matter how many dreams they tell, or visions are shared, because your SPIRIT found no resting place, you do not get "taken in" by all the supposed spirituality. Nor will you share with them the inner secrets and mysteries which He has quickened to you, lest they be marred, ripped apart, or trampled underfoot by unsanctified ones.
        After so long a time, again Noah sent forth the dove, and as long as there was light, revelation in common to share, the dove stayed out, until evening, and as the light began to wane, the dove returned- but with an OLIVE BRANCH. This speaks much to us. First, in all of us the light is limited, "for we know in part, and we prophesy in part." (1 Corinthians 13:9). As long as we stay in the light of the revelation we have, there is precious sharing together with others "of like precious faith." But as evening comes, i.e. when they go beyond their light and understanding, and begin to share out of the carnal mind, some of their own natural reasonings and conclusions, your spirit simply returns to you, witnessing that it is time to quit giving yourself freely to that sharing. There is no condemnation in this. We simply recognize on what level we are finding fellowship, and we would guard against that which would defile our spirit. The areas of darkness in us, or in our brethren, will be taken care of in due time, as HE increases the light within.
        But you will also find your spirit returning WITH AN OLIVE BRANCH. This is so precious to us, and we find a dual application. The olive branch certainly prefigures ISRAEL, for Israel has been likened unto a good olive tree (Romans 11). How glorious it is as from time to time your spirit reaches out and finds another true Israelite. You witness in your heart those whom God has quickened as to their identity in Israel, they know who they are, and you know who you are, and you find an affinity - you find an olive branch, one of your kinsmen.
        But the olive branch is also used as a symbol of peace. "Into whatsoever house ye enter, just say, Peace to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall return to you again." (Luke 10 5-6). How many times have we ended up disquieted in ourselves because we stayed too long in a place where there was no peace, and we did not discern that fact, and left ourselves open to that agitation and unrest. If we discern in our spirit that "the son of peace be there," our peace will rest comfortably, and we can flow together accordingly. But if you sense in your spirit that all is not at peace, there is an uneasiness, then you can take heed, and beware. These are excellent lessons in discernment, and vitally needed in these days.
        Certainly there is discernment in all three realms, spirit, soul, and body. We do not mean to imply that we need some tremendous spiritual discernment in all these earthy things. There is a proper discernment for every level, and it does not require a spiritual revelation to discern if one tomato is ripe and another is green. We have the senses of touch, taste, see, smell, feel, and they reach a proper conclusion. But because we would LIVE IN THE SPIRIT, ever sensitive to Him, should there be poison in that tomato, undetected by our own natural senses, then HE can prompt us within - and whether He tells us why, or not, we can throw that tomato out, or not buy it, or whatever the case may be. Oftentimes God does not give total understanding on why we need to hold back it is enough just to sense His promptings, and obey, trusting, believing that HE knows what is best for us.
        A proper mental understanding, able to read, write, and think, and one can discern if the paper you are about to sign is correct, and as you understand it to be. Yet, if there is something more hidden therein - because we would LIVE IN THE SPIRIT AND WALK BY THE SPIRIT, suddenly there is an inner prompting of our spirit- be careful, all is not as it seems. He may cause us to see what is subtle and concealed. Or, He may just witness within that we have to stop, not go through with the deal, and you might not always be able to give answer for this inner knowing- but "obedience is better than sacrifice," and there will come a day when you look back and say, THANK GOD He kept me from that.
        Many have experienced, as we also have, that the Spirit within will give you a figure, a fair price to pay for an item - and if it can be agreed upon by the seller, you feel "peace" about making the purchase. But if your terms cannot be met, you have no peace, and are restrained from completing the transaction. LETTING PEACE RULE is one of the beautiful principles of learning to discern.
        Colossians 3:15, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts." This word "rule" comes from the Greek word "brabeuo" meaning: to act as judge or president. Weymouth reads, "Let the peace which Christ gives settle all questioning in your hearts." The Amplified: "(Act as umpire continually) in your hearts deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds.
        Pondering this "peace principle" one morning, it just seemed as if the Spirit was holding conversation with my thoughts: The Word does not say, let revelation be the umpire, to rule in our hearts. This was a thought to consider. progressive revelation is needed today, in fact it is an imperative necessity But how often do men cry to God for revelation to decide, settle issues, and if there is no revelation, then they are at a loss to know what to do. Or, again many will seek for a "prophecy" to answer the question. But God does not always speak by just the manner we demand, nor is it wise to run across the land seeking prophecies.
        Revelations are the illuminated unfolding of truth, a Spirit quickening of divine principles which can become the undergirding foundation and guideline for our life, providing that stability and knowledge needed to follow onward.
        Prophecy is a blessed God-given gift for "edification, and exhortation, and comfort." ( 1 Corinthians 14:3). When the Spirit gives this utterance it serve to strengthen and build up our faith, and confirm that which He has already made known to us, often only inwardly, so that perhaps we haven't even voiced it yet. It can even be for exhorting one to move out and dare to believe God for the victory which He has promised, and which we were hesitant to act upon.
        But for day by day decisions, what should be the ruling principle? "LET THE PEACE OF GOD RULE IN YOUR HEARTS" Inner tranquility is the necessity of our day. When we are agitated within, it matters not how calm, cool, collected we appear outward, still our decisions will lack that assurance and settled confidence which can withstand the future onslaught of doubt. God is teaching Hi people that the victory is WITHIN, not on the outside. So Jesus prayed, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (John 17:15). And Peter declares that these are being "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed, in the last time." (1 Peter 1:5). Praise His wonderful name!
        Beyond all the discernment needed for our day to day individual walk in natural things, we surely need to be able to discern the marks of the bestial system, so as to keep ourselves from becoming entangled therein. To speak of the anti-christ realm about us, look not for the writhing of serpents, or listen for the, roaring of a lion - but consider and perceive the cunning subtleness which the world uses to ask loaded questions, and give promise of wisdom. Inferences of doubt, barbed with negativity and condemnation. And inferring that they have a wisdom you don't have, which if you follow them, they will impart to you.
        Too many are willing to settle for a refined and exalted animal nature, thinking it to be the very ultimate for this body - promising longevity and immortality to THIS BODY ONLY which is patterned after the beast of the field. Only the Spirit of God within can cause your spirit to discern the error of that so called "life message" which seeks to escape death. No matter how thick or thin you slice it, baloney is still baloney. This body needs to be CHANGED before it can be clothed upon with immortality. The corruptible must PUT ON INCORRUPTION, and not until it has been changed, fashioned anew like unto HIS glorious body, will it also become immortal. Longevity for this flesh was never meant to be our final state. Man has done everything he can to immortalize this old body - and preachers have been caught up in the snare, till they have tried to baptize them into immortality, or used some other ceremony, form, command, etc.
        So long we have hidden our eyes, tried not to impute any charge against others because we do not want to say "they are wrong, and I am right," etc. and tried to walk so carefully that we have not even allowed sin to be called sin, and error to be recognized as error. Yet "there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:24). Therefore we are being brought to that place where we earnestly pray for an heart able to discern. And while we shall not be overly hasty to declare our discernment to others, unless He bids us tell it, yet we need to KNOW THE WAY WHEREIN WE SHALL WALK, and not be deceived by these many errors of the day.
        "But these, as natural brute beast, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption....sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you... for when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." (2 Peter 2:12-13, 18-19).
        There are so many things stated in this passage, which the discerning heart is able to see in many of the religious hucksters of our times. But one phrase especially catches our attention: "sporting themselves with their own deceivings." "Sporting" is the Greek verb "entruphao" - to live in luxury, to revel in. They deem it their right to live a luxurious life off the money they get from those whom they lead astray into false doctrine. Their hearts are trained in covetousness, lust, greed, and their doctrines are for prosperity so that they might ensnare others - alluring them through the lusts of the flesh also.
        Like ostriches, with our heads in the sand, we have refused to acknowledge the open, flagrant manifestations of the flesh, and then allowed the Spirit to work in us a separation from such a system. People will excuse and excuse until it no longer appears to be evil to them - worn down by continual exposure to sin, until we simple ignore it. We have no desire to try and stir up consciousness of sin and negativity. Many are far too devil conscious now, in a negative way that produces no LIFE. What we do desire is a divinely implanted urgency for HOLINESS. Such a longing within for purity, that HE will give us an heart able to discern that which is unholy, and then the courage to get up and away.
        For those who are quickened by the Spirit, there is a quick discernment of that which rules BY FEAR, and which is not of God. Since this is so common we need not amplify it at length - they prophesy troubles upon you if you do not give to their work, or attend their many services every time the door opens, and how the blood of the heathen is on your hands if you do not support their program to save them. Surely God's elect are coming to know that is NOT OF HIM. It is so contrary to the truth HE is causing them to KNOW by the Spirit, that truth is causing them to discern the utter bondage of man's kingdom building program.
        But what needs a keener discernment, is when "with much fair speech she caused him to yield, with THE FLATTERING of her lips she forced him." (Proverbs 7:21).
        "Meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips." (Proverbs 20:19).
        "He shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries." (Dan.11:21)
        How often has this happened even on the most natural basis. By the time they had heaped so much flattery on you, how well you did the job, how necessary you were for the cause, so indispensable, they had you talked into doing something you had neither time nor energy to accomplish, and it was hard to fulfill your promise. Snared with flattery.
        When God has drawn us out, separated us unto Himself, making it clear that we are to flee Babylon, "come out of her, My people." And then someone comes that feels they are called to start another group, and they begin to butter you up, how your talents are needed, your revelation is needed to bring a balance, you can be that solid one which will spur the new ones onward, and on and on they go with your flatteries - until, unless you discern what's happening, you are caught up with "their vision" and compromising your own God-given vision.
        We are not, let us make it very clear, we are not saying you should not be  part of some group, nor attend meetings, etc. What we are saying is, we must discern GOD'S WILL FOR OURSELVES, and not allow flattery to ensnare us into a course of action that is not directed of Him. Simeon "came by the Spirit into the temple," (Luke 2:27), not because someone flattered him on how essential he was to the service.
        Might even go on to point out, some will use flattery to cause you to share your deeper revelations with them, only so that they can use it against you, and turn and rend you with it later. As a leech they will draw out of you that I strength and vitality, until you are weary and exhausted. Subtle indeed is the warfare, but God is helping His elect discern when to just keep silent.
        Another area for consideration is the need for discernment of that which leads into "will worship." "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using; after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show if wisdom in WILL WORSHIP, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh." (Colossians 2:20-23).
        There are those who would exercise their will over others - to give the rule or what to touch, taste, do, not do, etc. and all their humble followers worship according to their will. Sometimes this is carried to the extreme, as we had in the "Jones Town" horror of a few years ago, when the will of one man led a multitude into mass suicide. Sometimes it is only worship according to the will of the man who says, bow, stand, raise your hands, praise the Lord some more, sit, be quiet, etc. It is true, a leader in a service, when yielded to the holy Spirit, can lead in worship as the Spirit gives the direction, but when it is not the HOLY SPIRIT leading through the individual, it can easily become just "will worship" according to the will of man. Yet there is a deeper desire in God's elect to truly begin to worship Him IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH, an we are beginning to discern when it is not "in spirit" nor "in truth" but only the form and ritual promoted by the will of man.
        Beyond all the physical lusts and desires of the flesh of the bestial realm, beyond all the soulish marks of flattery and will worship, or fear control, we also would briefly touch on the need for discernment of the spirit realm. This brings us to the edge even of familiar spirits. Parallel with the true, is the false, the counterfeit. In many of the "deliverance ministries" which we have seen in the past, there has been that true working of His Gifts of the Spirit, in a word of knowledge, a word of wisdom, and there has also been that which was a psychic counterfeit, or even by a familiar spirit. Once, after a certain ministry had revealed many things about an individual, and yet there was no true deliverance nor victory, I asked the Lord, "Why?" and He revealed so very clearly that it was an "anti-christ ministry." Anti - Greek, INSTEAD OF, and instead of being a holy Spirit ANOINTED ministry, it was by a familiar spirit, and therefore would bring no true and lasting deliverance. It was a painful lesson, and yet it taught some much needed discernment.
       "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God." (1 John 4:1).
       Such will manifest themselves as PIOUS ONES, even giving their bodies to be burned, talking much about love, and their concern for souls, but when they are challenged with the truth and the fullness of Divine Love, there is a violent reaction to the truth, and they rise up to fight. A "fighting spirit" gripped the disciples once, and Jesus said to them, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save." (Luke 9:55-56). Lord, give us an heart able to discern (to be continued).
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(1) Prinzing, Ray and Doris "Gospel Echoes"  Boise, Idaho 83705, P.O. Box 5822

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