Discernment of Spirits

So to get in line with what I'll be talking about, I'd recommend that you begin to study the different categories of "spirits". I could try to list them off here but to me, there are only two truly important spirit categories; that is the Spirit of God and the spirit of man. You need discernment for both, for the first to know the thoughts, the actions and the way the wind blows of God, and the second for the sake of knowing what God has stored in you, and in others. Part of the responsibility we have here on earth is not only to unpack our birthright but to also unpack the birthright of others.  You need discernment to be able to see into a portion of the birthright people have within them.

I currently work with a school of people who practice prophesying frequently. The topics are broad and plenty, and the methods are few and concentrated. From what I can tell one of the easiest questions to ask God when you want to prophesy over someone is "what do you want to say to this person, Lord?" Sometimes, if you've grown further in trusting your heart with the Lord, you'll already have something about the person on your heart before you even know you are going to prophesy over them. This comes first and foremost with the discernment of the thoughts of the spirit of God. Yet there are certain things that you can ask God, and as you continue to grow in trust of His voice for you, you'll know when He answers questions and when He leaves it up to you to decide. There's an infinite expanse of questions you're able to ask, and I'd definitely recommend things akin to "what do you want to do in this person's life about work? About their business?  About their spirit? About their walk with you? To me, the most helpful way that I've found to get to know God's voice is just by expecting an answer when I ask a question. Reflecting on the kind of person I have tended to be over the past while has been a person who mainly talks in questions. If you know me, you'll know that that tends to be the case. There are lots of different types of questions, but there's no real spirit attached to each category, just the questions that the spirit asks. These questions can be asked by any other entity though. 

On the other hand, discerning the spirit of a human is a far more other-worldly subject, and the ministry I owe the most revelation and appreciation toward with this is Arthur Burk with Sapphire Leadership Group. They have been into ministering to the Human Spirit far longer than even I've been around, and as such have an expanse of materials with layered approaches to blessing, loving, and unpacking what God has placed in us. Furthermore, he's one of the most biblically grounded preachers I believe I've listened to, without all the systematic theology that often gets attached to those proficient in the Bible. Part of the reason I love the Bible in the first place is because of the sheer amount of mystery that it contains. If you can explain to me why the Israelites ran in 2 Kings 2, I'd probably give you a hug, and maybe even send you a blessing. Then again, if you want a blessing, just ask.

All this to say that there are things that have helped me with discerning the human spirit, and this ministry has been the biggest contributor by far. But I'm working on becoming proficient on my own, and if you do go down this road you'll learn that it's not just some on-ramp and then you're going. It's a very long country road with bends, and winds, curves, and places where you must slow down to avoid the cars coming from the other side. Your discernment grows the more you travel the road, but just as if it were an infinitely long road in an infinitely grand mountain range, you'll never travel the same mile twice. As such, handling the road with the intuition you receive from driving the car is just about the only thing you can count on. That and being able to see ahead much farther in some cases, and being willing to look ahead to other curves in the distant future that will eventually get hidden behind the next curve. 

Beloved, I call your spirit forward and bless you with the foreknowledge and intuition to look ahead at the curves that are coming on your road. I bless you with a comfortableness and familiarity in your mode of transportation, and I bless you as you continue to grow in confidence with handling the road with the necessary skill and forward motion to continue your momentum. I bless you with knowing when to take a side road off the main route, and when to continue on the path that you had been on. I bless you, spirit, with the ecstatic joy that you may have in the process of your driving. In the name of Jesus, I bless you. Amen.

Kingdom Debt Collectors

The concept plays in hand with the fact that Jesus both paid all of our debts with a king's ransom, and that he spent his life so that everything that was taken from us by being in debt to the enemy was to be collected by the angels of the Lord. Yet there are also certain debts we have to God, as He has embezzled certain things from the treasury of Heaven and stored them into us in secret. 

Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. 

I think this proverb captures the idea quite nicely, and as such a "matter" is not just an idea or a concept, but a real gem, a treasure that you can hold and interact with. It's also the word used for phrases, words. Words that God has spoken for, and about, His kings. Take into consideration that if Kings are glorified debt collectors, all we are really doing is discovering what we are in debt to our God for, and claiming it as our own as we discover who God says we are. However, rather than building anxiety and terror into us for being in debt, we discover that we can grow in awe and wonder at what God has created, and instead thank Him and stay in a place of gratitude as we unpack the things He's placed inside of us.

Let's take it a step further, collecting these debts is your kingdom, God-given, duty. Each of us has this one duty, yet there are many different mediums of which you will be able to find treasures God has embezzled. The medium of art, land, time, community, nature. There are so many things that God has hidden in every circle of society, and purposes to each of these gems that He has placed in them. Holy, good, and whole purposes that are ultimately fulfilling. There are also people designed to discover the different matters that God has placed in different places. I'm beginning to think that the church itself isn't supposed to be its own sphere of society, but that it is to be so integrated into the culture of the world that it is indistinguishable from the boundaries that we have around it today. Not to say that the people wouldn't need to be holy, but other than gems in the community that we're still discovering in the church, we need to understand that as the church we are to discover gems in every portion of the world and subdue it as we learn the principles and God-given purposes to each and every particle of the world around us. 

I used this language to make it a little mischievous on purpose. Mostly because it makes me laugh and I enjoy the sense of mystery behind it, and to me, God hasn't truly stolen from anyone, He just hid what He made from what He made. He has every legal liberty to do that, yet the embezzlement property would technically imply that He's stealing from Himself. That's a concept that you can expunge biblically, yet this is not the post for it. Look forward to the next one where that is talked about.

For now, take some time with the Lord, be silent before Him and enjoy His presence, Beloved.