Reference Verses for This Study…

1 Kings 3:9 ESV

“Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

Philippians 1:9-11 ESV

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Romans 12:2 ESV

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

James 1:5 ESV

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

John 7:24 ESV

“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

1 Thessalonians 5:21 ESV

“But test everything; hold fast what is good.”

1 Corinthians 2:1-16

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

“1 And I, when I came to you, brothers,[a] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony[b] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[c] but in the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

    nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.[d]

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

One day when I was walking around the side yard of my house I stepped over something that only caught my eyes because it striked at me. You may have guessed it, it was a snake, and not just any snake but a poisonous copperhead snake and by the grace of God I stepped right over it without being bitten. Before this incident happened, I had heard of copperheads, but never saw one in real life before. I hadn’t even researched them so I had no idea what a copperhead even looked like, but I can guarantee you I do now! I have wisdom about copperhead snakes that will help me to avoid them in the future.

When I was thinking about spiritual discernment this incident popped up in my head because when you know what to look for, you know what to avoid. So how do we know what to look for? The Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom to discern between good and evil and right and wrong. We should ask God for wisdom and discernment because when we are aware of the trappings of this world, we can avoid them by the grace of God and live lives that have a lot less disappointments, hardships and just overall bad experiences.  I encourage you today that as you grow in your relationship with God, pray to receive spiritual discernment and wisdom. There are many situations in my life where I look back and think I really wish I would have avoided that situation, but when we stay connected to Jesus and strong in prayer we begin to know the character of God and are familiar with His heart and His ways so we can begin to know what pleases Him and what does not. When we are closer to God the things that go against Him and His ways become a lot more obvious to us. As we grow in our walk with the Lord, we are being made more and more to reflect the Lord Jesus and His ways. We should not be conformed to this world, but have the mind of Christ and live accordingly and that is made possible by staying connected to The Lord, reading His word and staying alert in this fallen world.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)

“8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”