Discerning Good & Evil

The gift is called discernment. In secular circles, intuition, a sixth-sense, instinct, a gut reaction, are expressions used to describe a feeling of knowing a truth within the being of a person, as a form of precognition, informing them of something ominous and conversely, something pleasant, on the horizon. Christians call this knowing, the gift of discernment, the detecting and labelling, or discerning, the difference between good and evil: the key is to be bolstered and blessed by good, and to never buckle under the influence, presence, temptation, and or imposition, of evil. 

Override. An override is a tendency to run roughshod over discernment; to run it down and out, so that the knowing confident voice, becomes a raspy whisper, and eventually, isn't heard at all. Deathly silence replaces the wisdom and knowledge of understanding, comprehending, grasping; where once there was truth detecting and a capacity to embrace said truth, there is nothingness, accompanied by a vulnerable susceptibility to deception. 

To hear God's voice and ignore it, or have it willfully replaced by human voices, is to put one's self in harms way. We humans are so self-absorbed, so inclined to petting and massaging our own egos and that of others, that we lean toward worldly ways, and away from God's life affirming instructions! Discernment be damned is the attitude, with the inner voice of a two year old child declaring: I will have what I want, when I want, whenever I want, with whomever I want, for as long as I want, no matter the outcome, which will of course, be great and make me happy! Look around you dear reader, can you see the two year olds driving their cars, shopping at the mall, eating next to you at the restaurant, working at the desk kitty-corner to yours? 

I am going to do what I ought not do, but I am going to do it anyway, which is to state, that I do believe 80% of people are completely godless, meaning they do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and they do not live a Biblical life. There are perhaps 10% of the populace that are comme ci, comme ca; they are the middle of the road people that are neither good nor bad, they aren't a yes, or a no ... we can count on them to be mushy people that haven't an opinion about much, or really anything at all. Their blandness has them blending into the background of life, and for want of an opinion on important matters, they are subject to the strong winds of change, blown about as they are, untethered to the Rock. There is a remaining perhaps 1% that will hear the Word of God and come to a saving grace knowledge of him, and that leaves 9% that utterly, totally, belong to God Almighty in name, and in their very being, completely unashamed to call themselves Christians, and the sons and daughters of the King of kings, Lord of lords. 

Which section, apportioned above, albeit a rather rascally report on my part, do you belong to, dear reader? 

• Are you part of the crowd, belonging to the 80% majority that is completely godless, meaning Jesus Christ does not rule or reign in your life, and you neither hear nor heed the Voice of discernment so as to have it govern your existence?
• Are you a middle of the road type, that is neither hot, nor cold, neither interested nor disinterested ... just floating leaf like on the surface of a stagnant and dying pond, one of many lifeless humans content to feel and do little in the world; an easy going member of the 10%? 
• Perhaps you are part of a very rare and wonderfully enlivened group, a single in a small sea of the 1%, that can hear the voice of reason speaking to your mind, and engaging your heart, while quickening your spirit. You are discerning between good and evil, and it is becoming evident to you that something is changing in your soul, and that God is more real to you with every intake and exhale of breath, with every thudding heartbeat in your breast, and every glance heavenwards. In your minds eye, you see Jesus walking the earth, preaching the Kingdom. You see him healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf, sending demons to inhabit swine, and raising the dead to life. You see him dying on the cross, your sins soaking him in his own blood, and you see him clothed in majesty, risen from the grave ... 
• Lastly, are you one that belongs to the group of 9% that know, beyond doubt, that Christ died for their redemption, and that you are saved by grace ... that there is nothing and no one, save the Saviour, that could secure your salvation? Do you profess to the death, that God is God and the Holy Ghost and the Son are One, and that God Almighty rules and reigns, and righteously so, in your mind, in your heart, in your very being? Do you long to live Biblically, with God's commandments being first and foremost as the deciding factors in your life decisions? Are you a Christian, through and through, forsaking all else if need be, to cling to him in this life and forever more in the forever after? 

As I continue in my bold assessments and pronouncements, I state this: the 1% that are awakening, that are discovering and discerning the Truth, of Who Jesus is, are the very reason we are still here, dear one. God is long suffering, wants none to be lost, and he is giving believers time to witness, and soon to discern people, time to know the living God that died for the sins of the world, that he wants reconciled to himself as adopted family members. The end of the world is in the works, but we will not see it until the cup of inequity is filled, and the roster of the saved, those listed in the Book of Life, has all names written therein, permanently. It is a fait accompli in heaven, but you and I have yet to live out our days, and see judgment day fruition. 

The spiritual realm can only be denied by those that refuse to see God, demons, the Devil, and of course, their own sick and wayward souls, prone to carnal pleasures and indulgences. Souls starved of spiritual bread and wine, become wanton. Discerning good and evil is a gift from God, and if you ask for God to lead you in The Way, he will indeed, grant you the gift of knowing for your sake, and the sake of those that look to you for guidance. 

Psalms 32: 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye

Isaiah 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left

Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

May God love you and keep you, dear one, and may you be a discerner of good and evil, with the Spirit of God indwelling and enlivening your soul.