Discerning Spiritual Operations

► OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson the student will be able to:

- List the principles one must use while discerning

- Explain the operation of comparing spiritual with spiritual

► STUDY GUIDE LESSON In every encounter, you must listen spiritually. Start by listening to yourself. Some saints have blind spots and blind sides to their behavior because they never hear themselves. Consequently, they do not see how others perceive them because they never stop to listen to themselves. In order to learn how to listen to others, you must listen to yourself and seek to bring to light those blind sides in your mind, character and speech that oppose righteousness. Study the following principles of how to listen with spiritual ears.

1. LISTEN FOR CONTENT

Let us say you are in a counseling session and you need to deliver someone else from a circumstance or situation. You do not know anything about this person but he or she has come to you with a problem. If you do not listen, you will never be able to discern. You must listen intently and never become judgmental as it will rob you of your ability to discern. By listening for content, you will hear the good and evil in what the counselee is saying. This is supplied information. Now, take the supplied information and find God and Satan in it. Assess the good and bad characteristics of the individual. Listen for Godly and Satanic fruit. You must also be mindful that you may not have the total truth. In order to deal with what is supplied, you must be a wise listener.

Discern Content: Supplied information What to listen for: • Good - Godly • Evil - Satanic The operation is called; “comparing spiritual with spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 2:13)

2. LISTEN FOR THE VOID

Next, listen for what is not being said. This is what I call the void. That whole story may have been void of some very important things. Also, in what is being said, try to find some fruit. Look for the fruit of the Spirit. This will be the door to open and identify what needs to be done. When the story is being told, you can hear the spirit in which certain things are said. You can hear love, joy, faith, hostility, hurt, rejection and anger. You can also hear pride and fear. These spiritual operations are Satanic in nature. They are void of fruit. When this door opens, you have a starting point. No matter what the individual is saying, you only have one measuring stick, the Word of God. Satanic Operations: anger hostility fear hurt pride Fruit of the Spirit: love joy peace longsuffering temperance goodness gentleness meekness faith

3. SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT

Assess what you hear. When you identify a “spiritual door” to the scenario or situation such as pride, love, hate or rejection, then open that “door.” This action has a “peeling away” effect. When you peel off the first layer you can see the second layer. Begin to go beneath the surface, seeking to bring to light the root of the evil fruit. When you peel off that layer, you see what is underneath it. This is what happens when you identify the spiritual door. This is how you can discern the spiritual operations that work with or against an individual.

This is how you get to the root cause. LISTENING IS THE KEY THAT OPENS THE “DOOR.” Remember, discernment is not a process whereby God simply tells you what spiritual operations you are dealing with; this discernment involves the use of your spiritual senses. As you learn how to listen spiritually, you will find that first layer. Grab hold of that and peel it back. Look at what is underneath and do not be fearful of digging below the surface. Then keep peeling! Before you know it, you will be at the root cause. Your fear or complacency can delay the deliverance the individual needs. Do not forget that your training ground is your own mind; do the same for yourself first.

4. DISCERNING BY TOUCH

As you are discerning, a most important principle to operate in is TOUCH. Discerning by touch means taking on the infirmities of another. Just as Jesus took on our infirmities and took our place on the cross, we must take on the infirmities and touch each other's weaknesses. We need to put ourselves in another’s shoes and see the world through their eyes. I cannot repeat this enough. As a counselor, you will never discern if you become judgmental. If you begin to judge what a person did or said, you will never be able to help or deliver that person. No matter how bad the situation or action seems, remember that judgmentalism never brings deliverance. For example: if someone confesses to have been a homosexual for years, put yourself in his position. Begin to see what he sees and the world in which he has been subjected. Seek to understand his captivity.

Allow yourself to be touched by his weaknesses and ignorance. This is the only action that will destroy judgmentalism. When you move into a place of judging, you have thrown out his background, his exposure to grace or the lack of it, and a multitude of other possibilities for the captivity. You have totally eliminated the fact that his captivity could have been yours. Judgmentalism will cause you to lose the opportunity to be a deliverer. Any form of judgmentalism will render you spiritually inadequate to discern or help the individual. If you sit in judgment, you will never bring deliverance. You have to discern by touch. This will ignite Godly affections for that person and render the enemy powerless. If you take on another's infirmities and seek to be led by the Spirit in your understanding of the strongholds that still exist, then you can become a powerful minister. DETERMINE SPIRITUAL LOCATION In counseling or any form of ministry to an individual, you must first determine their spiritual location. II

Corinthians 10:4-5

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Wrong thinking is the root of all sin. If we are going to be able to perfect the people of God in His ways and statues, then we must be able to accurately discern the disposition of their minds. Every spiritual operation of the flesh begins with a thought. Thoughts are usually openly verbalized. However, in some cases they are cloaked under a religious facade. Nevertheless, they are spiritual and therefore vulnerable to the discerning of the Holy Ghost. Discerning the disposition of a person's mind will reveal judgmentalism, a spirit of criticism, fear, rebellion lust, pride, etc. It will also reveal honesty integrity, and the purity of spirit. Discerning will reveal whether or not an individual is rebellious against the movement of God, or whether he is just plain ignorant of that movement. Or he/she may just be spiritually stressed out. (We will go into this further in Domestic Evangelism Part III). Allow individuals to talk. Let them speak. It is through their dialogue you will discover their true location no matter how they may seek to keep it a secret.

Discernment requires LISTENING! DETERMINE IGNORANCE AND REBELLION Another thing you might hear when discerning the disposition of a person's mind is his ignorance. He may be doing something, not realizing it is wrong. Not realizing it from the prospective of never having been confronted or discipled. Thus he or she is not mindful the gravity of the routine thing they do everyday that undermines their own salvation. Unless confronted saints will not realize that they are sometimes joyous about the wrong thing. For example, rejoicing in someone else's demise or the rejoicing in iniquity. Consider that some saints are totally ignorant of God's purpose for their life, thus they operate in the flesh, knowing little about spiritual operations. If the person you are counseling is operating in ignorance, then, in a spirit of love, you are to teach those who oppose themselves. When you begin to take priority time with brothers and sisters who need help, you will begin to discern their areas of ignorance and rebellion. Patience and longsuffering is necessary when laboring with the saints. As you work with them, the Holy Spirit will lead and guide you into all truth and it will be the truth that will set them free.

► LESSON ASSIGNMENT

Below you will find questions that pertain to each of the lesson objectives. You are asked to thoroughly answer each of them in your own words. Once you have done so, compare your answers to those in the section of the lesson entitled “Objectives and Suggested Questions for Class Discussion”.

1. Explain what it means to listen spiritually.

2. Explain the phrase ‘listen for the void.’

3. Using scriptural support, explain the operation of comparing spiritual with spiritual.

4. Why is it important to discern the disposition of one’s mind?

5. What is the detriment of being judgmental?

6. Why is wrong thinking the root of all sin?

► OBJECTIVES AND SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION

These questions are simply suggestions of ways to stimulate student teacher interaction and also ensure that the objectives of this lesson are understood. Encourage responses from the students. Be careful to listen for

1) errors in perspective,

2) understanding, and

3) motive and intent as it relates to their study of this course. This will prove extremely helpful as the Holy Ghost begins to destroy any erroneous mindsets in later lessons. After completing this lesson the student should be able to:

1. Explain what it means to listen spiritually. When listening spiritually we must first learn to listen to ourselves. Oftentimes, we fail to see how others perceive us because we never hear ourselves. We must bring to light those areas in our mind, character and speech that oppose righteousness.

2. Explain the phrase ‘listen for the void.’ To listen for the void mean to listen for what is not being said. Listen to see if you hear the fruit of the Spirit. You may hear an entire scenario. Note if certain vital spiritual elements are missing. Listen to see if you hear the fruit of the Spirit. Listen for the spirit in which what is being said is said; do you hear the spirit of God (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc.) or the attributes of Satan (hurt, hostility, rejection, anger, etc.).Satanic operations are always void of fruit.

3. Using scriptural support, explain the operation of comparing spiritual with spiritual. You must start out by listening. If you do not listen, you will never be able to discern. You must listen intently and never become judgmental as it will rob you of your ability to discern. By listening for content, you will hear the good and evil in what the counselee is saying. This is supplied information. Now, take the supplied information and find God and Satan in it. Assess the good and bad characteristics of the individual. Listen for Godly and Satanic fruit. You must also be mindful that you may not have the total truth. In order to deal with what is supplied, you must be a wise listener. Discern Content: Supplied information What to listen for: Good - Godly Evil - Satanic The operation is called; “comparing spiritual with spiritual.” ( 1 Corinthians 2:13)

4. Why is it important to discern the disposition of one’s mind? Discerning the disposition of a person's mind will reveal judgmentalism, a spirit of criticism, fear, rebellion lust, pride, etc. It will also reveal honesty integrity, and the purity of spirit. Discerning will reveal whether or not an individual is rebellious against the movement of God, or whether he is just plain ignorant of that movement. Or he/she may just be spiritually stressed out. Another thing you might hear when discerning the disposition of a person's mind is his ignorance. He may be doing something, not realizing it is wrong. Not realizing it from the prospective of never having been confronted or discipled.

5. What is the detriment of being judgmental? Any form of judgmentalism will render you spiritually inadequate to discern or help the individual. If you sit in judgment, you will never bring deliverance. You have to discern by touch (take on the person’s infirmities). This will ignite Godly affections for that person and render the enemy powerless. If you take on another's infirmities and seek to be led by the Spirit in your understanding of the strongholds that still exist, then you can become a powerful minister.

6. Why is wrong thinking the root of all sin? Every spiritual operation of the flesh begins with a thought. Thoughts are usually openly verbalized or acted upon.

LESSON FOUR – DISCERNING SPIRITUAL OPERATIONS SELF-EVALUATION N

The Self-Evaluation is designed to serve as a tool for you to examine how you are applying that which is taught in the lesson to your own individual life. Please answer honestly and thoroughly.

1. Discerning a negative disposition in a brother or sister in the Body of Christ is one of the things that has caused many to stumble. When you have seen your brother or sister overtaken in a fault, in the past, what has been your first response, and why? A. What should you do with what you see?

2. How does one determine another’s spiritual location without being judgmental?

3. Explain two of the following: Listen for Content Listen for the Void Do a Spiritual Assessment Discern by Touch Determine Spiritual Location Discern Ignorance and Rebellion