We really learn from actually spending time with our Lord Jesus Christ; and that means having conversations back and forth just like spending time with any person means have conversations. We learn from those conversations.
So, in general; what do we learn.
The first thing you learn is that He really is there. That's called having faith in Him. If we are not spending time talking back and forth with Him it is easy to wonder if He is indeed there with us. Maybe He did die or is in a far -off place called heaven- which is not what we are preaching (See Rom 10)
Another thing is that you learn the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, is not the only spirit around. So, you wind up realizing that not only is our Lord Jesus Christ there around us, that evil spirit and also the Kingdom of God is around. Therefore, simply by practicing using your spiritual sense you pick up some discernment.
Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
And the Lord, via His Holy Spirit bring us His words, teaches us things. You find out that He is the Teacher. It seems He pretty much is always teaching you things. He not only teaches you via the conversations with Him, but as Lord of lord and Creator, He uses lots of other things to teach you. The religious person is probably thinking 'Oh yeah, He uses the Bible' - well yes He does but if we really get to know Him He uses other things more than even the Bible, though expect Him to use the Bible. He really seems to like setting up and using circumstances, a lot more than the Bible. As Creator, He tends to us all His creation, from the physical things you see around you to the spiritual things you don't see around you. He will send angels from His Kingdom to minister to you, and being the Creator, God, and the One with the plan for you, He will also use those rebellious spirit (demons) of this world to teach you things also - like what not to do. He will use dreams and vision. Still, no matter what He is using to teach you we need to remember that our understanding and knowledge about what He is doing still comes from listening to what He says!! That means listening to Him!!
Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Another thing you find out is that because He is God He is a whole lot smarter than you. It is not even close. The angels in heaven that He sends to minister to you are a whole lot smarter than you, and they tell you that even they thinking is not even close to His. I would compare us to dogs and cats relative to people, but that is giving us way too much credit. So when listening to Him don't expect you can out smart Him! Still, He askes that you come and reason with Him. You are not going to ever be right in your reasoning, but you will learn from talking to Him and listening.
Another thing is that He like to use parables and sayings. Parables and sayings are good tools for a teacher to us, to help their students get some understanding and you will never find anyone like Him when it comes to using parables and sayings.
There are so many which He has given me that I loved. I wrote down some:
WE HEAR WISDOM, BUT IS IT THE HEARING OR THE ACTING UPON IT THAT MAKES A MAN WISE?
YOU DIDN’T MAKE ME AN AWESOME GOD, BUT YOU CAN MAKE ME AN AWESOME GOD.
In the above two little sayings He gave me; I want to note that - encouraging people to seek Him and what He has to say to them is getting the to seek Wisdom! Wisdom is one of the names of God. So, we need to act on hearing Him not just think about it. You will find out that you of course did not make Him awesome, but you can testify about Him and thereby making Him awesome God in people's mind. I guess the little saying from Him say that shorter and better than this last paragraph.
Going back to discerning of spirits; One of the things the Lord taught me from the Bible was the importance of knowing what the first words recorded in the Bible from that snake were.
The first words that snake said were, "Did God really say?" Even if and as you read what I post there is likely to be a spirit saying to you "did God really say". We are saved by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and that means we can hear from Him - so it should be obvious that those evil dark forces in this world are going to start by getting you to doubt that God is there to speak to you. The evil spirits will use other things too, but you can figure that is how they are going to start, and they are around whether you know that or not. Our battle is with the dark spiritual forces of this world!
Another thing: I tend to say that God is weird!! He is weird to us for a couple of reason. The one, being that He is just so much smarter than us that He will seem weird to us. The other reason is that God is spirit and God, and we are just people walking about in this flesh of ours. As high as the heavens are above the earth (spiritually speaking) so are His thoughts above our thoughts. So, if you start listening to Him, remember that. We read about this alot in the Bible, but still don't really get it because we can't think outside of our box, which is our flesh!
Sometimes people write me about hearing or not hearing God's audible voice. People - God is spirit so He talks to us though His Holy Spirit - not sound waves. I remember a couple of times I heard Him so clear that I thought I was hearing sound waves, but I never did - and neither did the people in the Bible.
Jesus Christ, even while in the flesh and using sound waves, told the people then things like:
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.
And also, Jn 8:43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.
Sure - they could hear the sound waves that came from Him being in the flesh, but that didn't mean they could hear His words that come through the Holy Spirit! And it is not that they didn't have ears to hear. Just like you have fleshy ears, you also have spiritual ears, but if you don't believe that God is spirit and wants to speak to you, then you are not going to use those spiritual ears of yours!!
Probably the thing Jesus said most was, "Do you have ears to ear"
Of course your do, but He was talking about your spiritual ears and getting you to use them. He was speaking in a saying/parable that you needed to consider! It is just sounded weird, but it actually makes lots of sense. Still, people think the Bible is the Word of God we are preaching and not His small voice with find in our heart because that is where our spiritual ears are, spiritually speaking. Not our physical heart, but that spiritual place we find love inside us, and God is love. Look there for the words God has for you please!
So, in general; what do we learn.
The first thing you learn is that He really is there. That's called having faith in Him. If we are not spending time talking back and forth with Him it is easy to wonder if He is indeed there with us. Maybe He did die or is in a far -off place called heaven- which is not what we are preaching (See Rom 10)
Another thing is that you learn the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, is not the only spirit around. So, you wind up realizing that not only is our Lord Jesus Christ there around us, that evil spirit and also the Kingdom of God is around. Therefore, simply by practicing using your spiritual sense you pick up some discernment.
Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
And the Lord, via His Holy Spirit bring us His words, teaches us things. You find out that He is the Teacher. It seems He pretty much is always teaching you things. He not only teaches you via the conversations with Him, but as Lord of lord and Creator, He uses lots of other things to teach you. The religious person is probably thinking 'Oh yeah, He uses the Bible' - well yes He does but if we really get to know Him He uses other things more than even the Bible, though expect Him to use the Bible. He really seems to like setting up and using circumstances, a lot more than the Bible. As Creator, He tends to us all His creation, from the physical things you see around you to the spiritual things you don't see around you. He will send angels from His Kingdom to minister to you, and being the Creator, God, and the One with the plan for you, He will also use those rebellious spirit (demons) of this world to teach you things also - like what not to do. He will use dreams and vision. Still, no matter what He is using to teach you we need to remember that our understanding and knowledge about what He is doing still comes from listening to what He says!! That means listening to Him!!
Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Another thing you find out is that because He is God He is a whole lot smarter than you. It is not even close. The angels in heaven that He sends to minister to you are a whole lot smarter than you, and they tell you that even they thinking is not even close to His. I would compare us to dogs and cats relative to people, but that is giving us way too much credit. So when listening to Him don't expect you can out smart Him! Still, He askes that you come and reason with Him. You are not going to ever be right in your reasoning, but you will learn from talking to Him and listening.
Another thing is that He like to use parables and sayings. Parables and sayings are good tools for a teacher to us, to help their students get some understanding and you will never find anyone like Him when it comes to using parables and sayings.
There are so many which He has given me that I loved. I wrote down some:
WE HEAR WISDOM, BUT IS IT THE HEARING OR THE ACTING UPON IT THAT MAKES A MAN WISE?
YOU DIDN’T MAKE ME AN AWESOME GOD, BUT YOU CAN MAKE ME AN AWESOME GOD.
In the above two little sayings He gave me; I want to note that - encouraging people to seek Him and what He has to say to them is getting the to seek Wisdom! Wisdom is one of the names of God. So, we need to act on hearing Him not just think about it. You will find out that you of course did not make Him awesome, but you can testify about Him and thereby making Him awesome God in people's mind. I guess the little saying from Him say that shorter and better than this last paragraph.
Going back to discerning of spirits; One of the things the Lord taught me from the Bible was the importance of knowing what the first words recorded in the Bible from that snake were.
The first words that snake said were, "Did God really say?" Even if and as you read what I post there is likely to be a spirit saying to you "did God really say". We are saved by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and that means we can hear from Him - so it should be obvious that those evil dark forces in this world are going to start by getting you to doubt that God is there to speak to you. The evil spirits will use other things too, but you can figure that is how they are going to start, and they are around whether you know that or not. Our battle is with the dark spiritual forces of this world!
Another thing: I tend to say that God is weird!! He is weird to us for a couple of reason. The one, being that He is just so much smarter than us that He will seem weird to us. The other reason is that God is spirit and God, and we are just people walking about in this flesh of ours. As high as the heavens are above the earth (spiritually speaking) so are His thoughts above our thoughts. So, if you start listening to Him, remember that. We read about this alot in the Bible, but still don't really get it because we can't think outside of our box, which is our flesh!
Sometimes people write me about hearing or not hearing God's audible voice. People - God is spirit so He talks to us though His Holy Spirit - not sound waves. I remember a couple of times I heard Him so clear that I thought I was hearing sound waves, but I never did - and neither did the people in the Bible.
Jesus Christ, even while in the flesh and using sound waves, told the people then things like:
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.
And also, Jn 8:43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.
Sure - they could hear the sound waves that came from Him being in the flesh, but that didn't mean they could hear His words that come through the Holy Spirit! And it is not that they didn't have ears to hear. Just like you have fleshy ears, you also have spiritual ears, but if you don't believe that God is spirit and wants to speak to you, then you are not going to use those spiritual ears of yours!!
Probably the thing Jesus said most was, "Do you have ears to ear"
Of course your do, but He was talking about your spiritual ears and getting you to use them. He was speaking in a saying/parable that you needed to consider! It is just sounded weird, but it actually makes lots of sense. Still, people think the Bible is the Word of God we are preaching and not His small voice with find in our heart because that is where our spiritual ears are, spiritually speaking. Not our physical heart, but that spiritual place we find love inside us, and God is love. Look there for the words God has for you please!
