WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.240
Welcome to Supernatural Saturday.

2
00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:09.200
If you are new here, we just want to just give you a big hearty welcome.

3
00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:10.760
This is my favorite day of the week.

4
00:00:10.760 --> 00:00:15.240
This is where we gather together and we look to the Lord for what is the current prophetic

5
00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:16.520
reality?

6
00:00:16.520 --> 00:00:20.200
What is God trying to say to us corporately, individually?

7
00:00:20.200 --> 00:00:26.860
I really believe in living a life after the Spirit, and that is where all of my breakthrough

8
00:00:26.860 --> 00:00:27.860
comes from.

9
00:00:27.860 --> 00:00:31.360
That is where all of my success comes from, is following after the Spirit of God.

10
00:00:31.360 --> 00:00:32.360
What is God doing?

11
00:00:32.360 --> 00:00:36.400
It doesn't matter what I want to be doing if my wants and my wishes and my desires are

12
00:00:36.400 --> 00:00:40.760
not lining up to His wants and wishes and desires.

13
00:00:40.760 --> 00:00:44.560
People talk about something called God's will.

14
00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:45.560
What is the will of God?

15
00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:50.080
Well, the will of God, according to the Bible, is for you to have peace and righteousness.

16
00:00:50.080 --> 00:00:51.600
That's God's will.

17
00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:56.200
But the will of God, when people talk about it, what they're talking about is what does

18
00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:57.600
God want?

19
00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:59.500
What does He will?

20
00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:04.340
What does He use His will to control in your life kind of thing, and that's not the way

21
00:01:04.340 --> 00:01:05.660
it works.

22
00:01:05.660 --> 00:01:09.220
You have something called your will, free will, choice.

23
00:01:09.220 --> 00:01:12.880
God has given you the gift of choice, and if you want it to come into alignment with

24
00:01:12.880 --> 00:01:17.500
what's best, because what God wants for you is what's best, right?

25
00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:21.700
If you want it to come into alignment with what's best, it's just as simple as following

26
00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:22.700
Him.

27
00:01:22.700 --> 00:01:25.700
Well, it's not simple, but it's just as, and I'm going to say easy.

28
00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:29.460
There's no real good word to say there because it's not simple or easy, but it's about following

29
00:01:29.460 --> 00:01:31.800
after the Spirit.

30
00:01:31.800 --> 00:01:36.460
It is, because the flesh that you live in wants something very different than what God

31
00:01:36.460 --> 00:01:38.060
wants for you.

32
00:01:38.060 --> 00:01:44.540
And remember, what God wants for you is not His plan because He's sovereign and this is

33
00:01:44.540 --> 00:01:47.140
what He decided for your life.

34
00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:48.140
That's what a lot of people think.

35
00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:52.780
Well, you know, if God wills it, it's up to Him, this is what He decided for me.

36
00:01:52.780 --> 00:01:56.700
It's not really what I want, but it's what God decided for me, so I'm just going to have

37
00:01:56.700 --> 00:01:57.940
to be happy with it.

38
00:01:57.940 --> 00:01:59.940
That's not true.

39
00:01:59.940 --> 00:02:03.540
God created every single fiber of your being.

40
00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:08.979
Psalm 139 says, He'd knit you together in your mother's womb, meaning that He knows

41
00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:14.260
you inside and out better than you know yourself, better than anyone could ever know you.

42
00:02:14.260 --> 00:02:19.020
And that means He knows what you would want, the real you.

43
00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:20.520
And that's what we do in heart work.

44
00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:24.800
We start to peel back those layers to get down to the real us.

45
00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.960
So much of what you think you want, let's talk about it in these terms.

46
00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:34.160
So much of what you think you want has come from your culture, your upbringing, the neighborhoods

47
00:02:34.160 --> 00:02:37.840
that you were raised in, the other people that you're around, you know, that you don't

48
00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:40.840
even know yourself.

49
00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:42.840
You think you know yourself.

50
00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:48.920
All of us, including me, we have some knowledge of ourself, but there's a deeper, deeper longing.

51
00:02:48.920 --> 00:02:54.240
There's a deeper desire inside of us, deeper passions inside of us that some of us will

52
00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:00.480
never allow ourselves to feel because of our upbringing, because of our, we've been talking

53
00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:05.640
about this a lot on Supernatural Saturday, but because of our programming.

54
00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:07.880
And so if we follow after the Spirit, guess what happens?

55
00:03:07.880 --> 00:03:13.880
You break out of that programming and it gets a little scary because you start wanting things

56
00:03:13.880 --> 00:03:15.320
that you haven't wanted before.

57
00:03:15.320 --> 00:03:17.560
You start doing things that you've never done before.

58
00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:23.120
And yeah, it's unsettling to a certain degree.

59
00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.680
Actually to a large degree, it's unsettling.

60
00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:29.080
If you're truly following after the Spirit, it should scare you a little bit.

61
00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:31.600
And I mean, in a good way, scare you.

62
00:03:31.600 --> 00:03:34.200
You should feel unqualified.

63
00:03:34.200 --> 00:03:37.960
You should feel disconcerted to a certain level.

64
00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:43.320
I mean, yeah, there'll be peace, but there'll also be a challenge, you'll be challenged.

65
00:03:43.320 --> 00:03:46.160
You know what I'm saying?

66
00:03:46.160 --> 00:03:48.360
And I have decided to live my life that way.

67
00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:52.920
In fact, if I ever get real comfortable, if I ever get too status quo, I'm like, I'm not

68
00:03:52.920 --> 00:03:54.400
following the Spirit.

69
00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.200
What's going on here?

70
00:03:56.200 --> 00:03:58.000
Let's shake it up a little bit.

71
00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:02.020
Let's do something a little crazy, okay?

72
00:04:02.020 --> 00:04:05.080
Because there is a real you that lives inside there.

73
00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:11.000
And we went over all the different reasons why we stay stuck in these counterfeits in

74
00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:13.320
a couple Supernatural Saturdays ago.

75
00:04:13.320 --> 00:04:17.079
So please listen if you haven't, if you're just joining us, if you're in last year's

76
00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:21.640
single light, or maybe you just started tuning into Supernatural Saturday because you didn't

77
00:04:21.640 --> 00:04:27.360
realize it was available or you weren't available, please go back and listen, because those were

78
00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:29.360
some powerful times.

79
00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.160
And I'm going to get into a little bit of that today still, because we need to continue

80
00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:35.440
to challenge our programming.

81
00:04:35.440 --> 00:04:36.680
We have to.

82
00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:40.600
If you're living a boring life, if you're living an unfulfilling life, then you're living

83
00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:45.920
a life that the flesh has built for you, okay, that your experiences have built for

84
00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:54.360
you, but not a life that God has designed for you, okay?

85
00:04:54.360 --> 00:05:00.040
He wants you to have the deepest and purest desires of your heart.

86
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.960
And some of us don't even know what those things are.

87
00:05:02.960 --> 00:05:03.960
We don't.

88
00:05:03.960 --> 00:05:07.840
And so I want to talk a little bit today about discernment.

89
00:05:07.840 --> 00:05:11.440
It's a very, it's one of the, it's one of the gifts, one of the nine gifts of the Spirit.

90
00:05:11.440 --> 00:05:16.680
And I know that last Saturday we talked about the gift of tongues or the gift of your prayer

91
00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:21.340
language because it was Pentecost Sunday, Pentecost Sunday weekend.

92
00:05:21.340 --> 00:05:25.680
The feast of Pentecost was coming the next day and we wanted to really talk about prayer

93
00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:30.340
languages and talk about living a life emboldened by the Holy Spirit.

94
00:05:30.340 --> 00:05:31.340
And so we did.

95
00:05:31.340 --> 00:05:35.860
But today I want to dive into, and this doesn't mean I'm going to do a teaching on all different,

96
00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:41.260
all the nine gifts and I'm going to go one by one, but I think more than ever before,

97
00:05:41.260 --> 00:05:45.740
more than ever before, the time that we live in requires discernment.

98
00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:48.660
Anyone agree?

99
00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:51.820
And this is a very misunderstood gift.

100
00:05:51.820 --> 00:05:53.700
I misunderstood it for years.

101
00:05:53.700 --> 00:05:58.440
I had no idea what it was, but this is a gift that you should pray and ask God for.

102
00:05:58.440 --> 00:06:02.280
Do you know that Paul says that you should pray, you should ask God for these gifts that

103
00:06:02.280 --> 00:06:07.760
you should coven earnestly, covet earnestly to have the gifts of the Spirit.

104
00:06:07.760 --> 00:06:10.760
And so yes, fruit of the Spirit, very important.

105
00:06:10.760 --> 00:06:15.760
We need to, that is what, that is what shows us whether or not we're having intimate relationship

106
00:06:15.760 --> 00:06:18.760
with Holy Spirit when we're bearing that fruit in our lives.

107
00:06:18.760 --> 00:06:24.500
That's what shows us that other people are having intimate relationship with Holy Spirit.

108
00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:28.140
You can only fake the fruit friends for so long before someone sees, oh, hey, that's

109
00:06:28.140 --> 00:06:30.460
not real fruit.

110
00:06:30.460 --> 00:06:31.460
That's not real fruit.

111
00:06:31.460 --> 00:06:36.380
Does anyone have an older person in their family when they were growing up and you went

112
00:06:36.380 --> 00:06:41.300
over their house and there was a nice inviting bowl of fruit on the table.

113
00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:42.540
It looks so pretty.

114
00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:45.380
It looks so perfect.

115
00:06:45.380 --> 00:06:47.100
It looks so shiny.

116
00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:51.960
And the reason why was because it wasn't real.

117
00:06:51.960 --> 00:06:55.680
And you might have even grabbed a piece of that fruit thinking, oh, this apple looks

118
00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:56.680
great.

119
00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:59.240
Kind of grab it, take a bite.

120
00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:03.800
And then you touched it and you realized, oh, this is not real.

121
00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:08.500
And that's what happens when you get in deeper relationship, when you get intimate with people

122
00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:12.880
that have this fake fruit, you start seeing, hey, this fruit, it was shiny.

123
00:07:12.880 --> 00:07:16.920
It looked good on the outside, but it's not real.

124
00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:22.060
That bowl of fruit at your aunt's house, your grandma's house or wherever it was, that was

125
00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:26.660
a trend by the way, back then to have like decorations of bowls of fake fruit.

126
00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:32.060
But you really couldn't tell it wasn't real until you got really up close and personal

127
00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:33.060
with it.

128
00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:37.020
From a distance, it looked real, didn't it?

129
00:07:37.020 --> 00:07:42.220
But it was only when you got up close and personal and started taking a deeper look

130
00:07:42.320 --> 00:07:50.240
and started touching it and stuff that you figured out that it was wax, that it was plastic.

131
00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:54.920
That's just a little tidbit from Holy Spirit this morning, that sometimes fruit, people

132
00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:58.880
look like they have some shiny fruit from a distance, but then when you get around them

133
00:07:58.880 --> 00:08:05.880
in proximity to them, in some deeper intimate conversations with them, you see that it's

134
00:08:05.880 --> 00:08:10.680
wax, it's plastic, it's not real.

135
00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:16.420
So the fruit of the Spirit is so important, so important for us really seeing where someone's

136
00:08:16.420 --> 00:08:19.060
at with their relationship with God.

137
00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:23.900
And then of course, the gifts of the Spirit, and we're going to talk about discerning of

138
00:08:23.900 --> 00:08:24.900
spirits today.

139
00:08:24.900 --> 00:08:27.780
But I want to address something where people are saying, well, you know, you shouldn't

140
00:08:27.780 --> 00:08:28.780
judge people.

141
00:08:28.780 --> 00:08:30.940
That's not, the Bible doesn't say that.

142
00:08:30.940 --> 00:08:34.860
The Bible actually says you should judge people.

143
00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:40.020
You should judge the words that come out of their mouth, that you should judge their fruits

144
00:08:40.020 --> 00:08:41.020
or their actions.

145
00:08:41.020 --> 00:08:43.200
You should judge a tree by its fruit.

146
00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:46.640
It just says, be careful with the measure that you judge because you're going to be

147
00:08:46.640 --> 00:08:51.000
judged by that same measure, doesn't it?

148
00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:54.720
Don't be sitting around pointing fingers and judging other people, realizing that there's

149
00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:58.600
three fingers pointing back at you.

150
00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:03.720
And it also talks about, hey, if you're going to pick a splinter out of your neighbor's

151
00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:07.560
eye, your brother's eye, your sister's eye, if you're going to focus on something that

152
00:09:07.560 --> 00:09:11.460
someone else has wrong with them, it's pretty, it's pretty important that you remove the

153
00:09:11.460 --> 00:09:16.320
log from your own eye.

154
00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:18.760
So it never says don't judge.

155
00:09:18.760 --> 00:09:27.620
It just says, judge not lest you be judged because you won't get judged too, all right?

156
00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:32.180
And so discernment is, is about judgment in a certain, in a certain aspect.

157
00:09:32.180 --> 00:09:33.660
So let's get into it a little bit.

158
00:09:33.760 --> 00:09:39.240
First Corinthians 1210, if you want to look at that, it's the, the list of the nine gifts

159
00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:45.640
of the spirit and it says discerning of spirits on that list, all right?

160
00:09:45.640 --> 00:09:50.280
And that, and remember the Bible wasn't written in English, so there's a Greek word there

161
00:09:50.280 --> 00:09:54.800
and you guys know I can't, I can't pronounce even English words half the time.

162
00:09:54.800 --> 00:10:00.020
So the Greek word is diacris, diacrisis.

163
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:01.960
You guys figure it out.

164
00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:03.560
You can go, if you're hooked on phonics,

165
00:10:03.560 --> 00:10:07.540
you can go sound it out on the internet and figure it out.

166
00:10:07.540 --> 00:10:10.260
But it just means distinguishing, judging,

167
00:10:10.260 --> 00:10:12.220
or deciding between.

168
00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:13.580
That's what the word means.

169
00:10:13.580 --> 00:10:15.500
Distinguishing, judging.

170
00:10:15.500 --> 00:10:17.140
See the word judge is there.

171
00:10:17.140 --> 00:10:19.420
Or deciding between.

172
00:10:19.420 --> 00:10:21.420
And so let's talk about the purpose of this gift

173
00:10:21.420 --> 00:10:24.100
because a lot of people will say, well, I discerned it.

174
00:10:25.180 --> 00:10:26.780
Did you discern it?

175
00:10:26.780 --> 00:10:31.320
Okay, or is your intuition turned into suspicion

176
00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:32.920
because you have a broken heart?

177
00:10:32.920 --> 00:10:35.400
This is the biggest problem with this gift

178
00:10:35.400 --> 00:10:39.840
is that if you don't have a cleared channel,

179
00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.500
and this is something that you have to get every day.

180
00:10:42.500 --> 00:10:44.560
Every day, you gotta keep short lists, friends.

181
00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:45.640
You gotta forgive people.

182
00:10:45.640 --> 00:10:46.720
You gotta release things.

183
00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:47.760
You gotta come to God.

184
00:10:47.760 --> 00:10:49.920
You gotta lay things at Jesus' feet

185
00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:54.660
so that your vision and the spirit can be clear,

186
00:10:54.660 --> 00:10:56.640
so that your heart can be clear.

187
00:10:57.520 --> 00:10:59.580
You gotta stop watching the news.

188
00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:02.720
You gotta stop sitting around watching things

189
00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:05.900
and letting other people tell you a bunch of stuff.

190
00:11:05.900 --> 00:11:07.640
In fact, this is what the gift of discernment

191
00:11:07.640 --> 00:11:09.520
is so important for in this day and age

192
00:11:09.520 --> 00:11:11.600
is you have to discern the things that you're hearing

193
00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:13.120
because we live in this media age.

194
00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:14.920
We live in this information age.

195
00:11:14.920 --> 00:11:17.120
You gotta discern whether the stuff that you're hearing

196
00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.440
is coming from a good source.

197
00:11:20.400 --> 00:11:23.000
Is it coming from a source that's just trying

198
00:11:23.020 --> 00:11:26.220
to get people to fight like a bully in the schoolyard?

199
00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:29.340
Just trying to get you to hate a different people group,

200
00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:32.380
a different skin color, a different nationality,

201
00:11:32.380 --> 00:11:34.180
a different country?

202
00:11:34.180 --> 00:11:35.880
You know, what's true?

203
00:11:35.880 --> 00:11:39.420
Guys, we can't just wake up and just pick a side

204
00:11:39.420 --> 00:11:42.500
just because that's the side our parents picked.

205
00:11:42.500 --> 00:11:44.100
I wanna pick the side of heaven.

206
00:11:46.540 --> 00:11:47.740
And I'm just gonna tell you right now

207
00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:50.660
when it comes to politics, everybody's corrupt.

208
00:11:50.660 --> 00:11:52.820
You better just know that right now.

209
00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:54.440
Nobody's not corrupt.

210
00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:56.880
I know you like our side versus their side.

211
00:11:56.880 --> 00:12:01.880
No, everybody at the top is corrupt, okay?

212
00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:09.120
Now, through prayer, can we get some things done

213
00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:10.000
in the right direction?

214
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:10.840
Sure.

215
00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:11.960
Can we pray for our leaders?

216
00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:14.200
Sure, and we should, okay?

217
00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:16.320
But the intrigue, the spiritual intrigue

218
00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.600
at those places of influence at the tops

219
00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:21.680
of those mountains, so to speak, is thick, friends.

220
00:12:21.680 --> 00:12:22.560
It's really thick.

221
00:12:23.220 --> 00:12:24.060
And if you think any of those people

222
00:12:24.060 --> 00:12:26.340
have a clear spiritual conscience

223
00:12:26.340 --> 00:12:29.540
in which they can make good decisions

224
00:12:29.540 --> 00:12:32.100
that are truly based on what it is

225
00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:34.980
that would be good for the greater good of people,

226
00:12:34.980 --> 00:12:35.920
you're wrong.

227
00:12:37.420 --> 00:12:38.900
It's not money that's evil.

228
00:12:38.900 --> 00:12:40.680
It's the love of money that's evil.

229
00:12:42.300 --> 00:12:44.680
And there's lots of corruption and love of money

230
00:12:44.680 --> 00:12:46.620
at those top places, and so that's why

231
00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:48.580
you should pray for your leaders.

232
00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:51.060
The people that you elect, you should pray for them.

233
00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:54.160
That's why you should pray for your favorite singer,

234
00:12:54.160 --> 00:12:56.760
your favorite actor or actress.

235
00:12:56.760 --> 00:12:58.640
Every single day, you guys, they are living

236
00:12:58.640 --> 00:13:00.120
in the lion's den.

237
00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:02.800
Every single day, they are living in places

238
00:13:02.800 --> 00:13:06.360
of just spiritual anarchy, every day.

239
00:13:07.760 --> 00:13:10.400
It shouldn't surprise you when you open up the magazine

240
00:13:10.400 --> 00:13:12.940
and you find out that they've left their wife or husband,

241
00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:15.960
they've cheated, they've gotten on drugs.

242
00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:17.920
It shouldn't surprise you when the scandals

243
00:13:17.920 --> 00:13:21.500
come on the news of the politicians that you support

244
00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:23.980
or the things that you find out that they were behind

245
00:13:23.980 --> 00:13:26.620
or that they supported that you were just like, wait, what?

246
00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:27.940
Why would they do that?

247
00:13:27.940 --> 00:13:31.500
Because you guys, the spiritual darkness is thick

248
00:13:32.820 --> 00:13:33.960
in those places.

249
00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:36.340
It's thick.

250
00:13:36.340 --> 00:13:39.140
You listen where you go to work,

251
00:13:39.140 --> 00:13:42.460
the spiritual darkness, but at the places

252
00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:46.180
that control things, at the tops of the spheres

253
00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:49.880
of influence, it's so thick that people can't see

254
00:13:49.880 --> 00:13:51.780
their own hand in front of their face.

255
00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:55.720
And so that's why it's important for us to discern

256
00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:59.040
what's really going on when we hear the news,

257
00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:01.760
what's really going on when the story comes out,

258
00:14:01.760 --> 00:14:06.240
what's really going on when a neighbor stops us

259
00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.520
as we're out walking the dog and tries to tell us

260
00:14:08.520 --> 00:14:10.160
some gossip from the neighborhood.

261
00:14:10.160 --> 00:14:12.160
We have to know what's really happening.

262
00:14:12.660 --> 00:14:15.860
Okay, so this Greek word means distinguishing, judging,

263
00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:18.620
or deciding between, and what's the purpose of this gift?

264
00:14:19.540 --> 00:14:23.100
Well, Jesus came and he died and he set us free

265
00:14:23.100 --> 00:14:26.140
from the curse, but we all know that the curse

266
00:14:26.140 --> 00:14:28.660
is still active, right?

267
00:14:28.660 --> 00:14:30.940
Yeah, we're set free from the curse

268
00:14:30.940 --> 00:14:32.820
because we've chosen Jesus.

269
00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:34.940
We've chosen that new birth experience.

270
00:14:34.940 --> 00:14:37.580
He set us free, okay?

271
00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:40.900
To whom the son has set free, to whom the father has set free

272
00:14:40.900 --> 00:14:43.160
to whom the son has set free is free indeed.

273
00:14:43.160 --> 00:14:45.580
The problem is, is that all around us,

274
00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:50.580
there are people that are still participating in that, right?

275
00:14:50.680 --> 00:14:55.680
The earth is still under that broken curse, so to speak,

276
00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:59.640
and the opposing forces or the spirits of darkness

277
00:14:59.640 --> 00:15:00.640
are still holding it.

278
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:06.320
hard at work. And so the number one purpose of this gift is for believers to be protected from

279
00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:13.680
deception. You guys, the whole purpose of the gifts of the Spirit is so that we can live in a

280
00:15:13.680 --> 00:15:22.960
dark world until the second coming of Christ. Right? What does it do? Well, how does it help

281
00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:29.040
protect us as believers from deception? A lot of ways. It's going to help you to recognize

282
00:15:29.040 --> 00:15:34.640
things that are not true, not just in the church, but yes, in the church as well. False teachers,

283
00:15:34.640 --> 00:15:39.280
counterfeit anointings, wolves in sheep's clothing. I will never forget. I will tell

284
00:15:39.280 --> 00:15:44.960
you this story. I worked at a mega church, one of those big, big, big churches, not a big box church,

285
00:15:45.520 --> 00:15:54.880
okay? But kind of. And this church was really known for miracles, signs and wonders and healings

286
00:15:54.880 --> 00:15:59.440
and just, you know, free for all with the Holy Spirit. And that's what people came. They came

287
00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:05.920
to see that show. And I had already gotten my mug and t-shirt from my small church where my pastor

288
00:16:05.920 --> 00:16:13.040
had gone to prison and where things had not been what they seemed. And I will tell you that God

289
00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:18.880
gave me a crash course in discernment at that smaller church where I'm the type of person who

290
00:16:18.880 --> 00:16:24.400
will always think well of you. That is my personality. My personality sees the good in

291
00:16:24.400 --> 00:16:30.800
people. I think well of people. I see people as they truly are, like deep inside, like that is a

292
00:16:30.800 --> 00:16:35.680
gift. But when that gift gets overextended by trauma, it becomes a weakness. Friends, all of

293
00:16:35.680 --> 00:16:41.120
your gifts, if they're overextended by trauma and brokenness, they will become weaknesses for you

294
00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:47.040
instead of strengths. And so it's difficult for me to think bad things about people. Very difficult.

295
00:16:47.680 --> 00:16:54.080
You know, even if those things are true, it's very difficult for me. And so one day I found

296
00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:59.120
myself thinking some things about my pastor at that small church. And I loved my pastor,

297
00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:04.800
and he had done so many good and kind things for me as kind of a stray child off the streets.

298
00:17:04.800 --> 00:17:09.599
You guys know my story. And when I came into that church, came into proximity to that church,

299
00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:14.800
I was 19. But when I met Jesus, I was 22. And I actually started attending that church,

300
00:17:14.800 --> 00:17:19.280
and they were very kind to me. They did a lot of good and wonderful things for my life.

301
00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:28.400
But about five years into my serving there, because I went right into serve mode when I

302
00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:34.160
met Jesus at 22, went right into, as long as the doors were open, I was in the church helping,

303
00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:38.720
doing anything and everything that I could to promote the ministry of that church.

304
00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:43.920
And about five years in, God started speaking to me about corruption in the pastor's heart.

305
00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:49.680
He started showing me things, and I started discerning things. And I didn't know that I

306
00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:53.680
was discerning things. I thought that I was just thinking bad things about my pastor.

307
00:17:55.360 --> 00:17:59.840
And that caused a lot of shame for me. Jackie, why would you think such a thing about him?

308
00:17:59.840 --> 00:18:07.680
He's such a great person. What's wrong with you? Why are you judging him? Or why are you,

309
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:12.080
you know, why are you seeing things that are not there? Oh, that's a terrible thought.

310
00:18:12.080 --> 00:18:18.000
Satan, get behind me. I rebuke you. You know, rebuking the devil, friends, but it wasn't,

311
00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:25.360
it wasn't the devil. It was Holy Spirit. God was showing me that my pastor had a love for money,

312
00:18:25.360 --> 00:18:31.520
and my pastor had a orphan spirit, and that he needed approval in the form of image,

313
00:18:31.520 --> 00:18:39.360
in the form of status symbols, like fancy cars and fancy clothes. And you guys, I wasn't listening

314
00:18:39.360 --> 00:18:46.400
to discernment. I kept serving. I kept plowing forward blindly, and eventually my pastor went

315
00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:52.560
to prison. He went to prison for all the things that I just mentioned. Stealing the money,

316
00:18:53.840 --> 00:19:03.200
deceiving people, forgery, money laundering. I wasn't listening to the spirit of discernment.

317
00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.680
I wasn't listening to the gift of discernment that God had given me.

318
00:19:09.760 --> 00:19:14.320
And then I started saying, okay, Lord, I want to know more about this. So fast forward, I marry

319
00:19:14.320 --> 00:19:18.640
David, and I end up at this big mega church. And you guys have already been to the rodeo,

320
00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:24.560
so now I don't trust anybody, right? But I'm working there because for some reason,

321
00:19:24.560 --> 00:19:30.160
everywhere I go, people are like, we want you on our team. Come on, let's hire you.

322
00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:35.920
You can't just be a regular cog in the wheel. We're going to make you a leader. And so I became

323
00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:44.880
behind the scenes at this church. And there was one particular member of the famous preachers at

324
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:50.480
this church, there was one particular member that I had run-ins daily behind the scenes. I mean,

325
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:54.720
I didn't really have run-ins with them, but I saw them have run-ins with other people,

326
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:58.640
let's put it that way. I kept to myself a lot, because remember, I've already been through a

327
00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:00.160
lot. I've already been through hell with

328
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.920
gasoline underwear on. So I'm going to stay out of the line of fire. Okay.

329
00:20:04.840 --> 00:20:08.520
And so I'm behind the scenes and I see this person interacting with others and

330
00:20:08.520 --> 00:20:12.840
guess what? They're just really mean. They're really mean.

331
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:15.440
They're very condescending. They're very arrogant.

332
00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:19.400
They say really mean things to people. They snap at people.

333
00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:23.560
They swear at people. They curse at people. They, you know, just,

334
00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.320
it's bad. I can hear them in the other office,

335
00:20:27.320 --> 00:20:30.520
just ranting and raving about something. And I'm just like,

336
00:20:30.520 --> 00:20:32.640
this person is just not a good person.

337
00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:36.360
But when it came time for church y'all,

338
00:20:38.800 --> 00:20:43.760
all right, out in the mega sanctuary that seats 5,000 people,

339
00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:48.160
this person would come out and I promise you, okay,

340
00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.160
I promise you this is the God's truth. This person would come out. In fact,

341
00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:55.640
all the preachers will come out in a line together, like with an entourage,

342
00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.120
everyone else will already be in their seats, worshiping the Lord.

343
00:20:59.360 --> 00:21:00.520
And if you were a staff member,

344
00:21:00.520 --> 00:21:03.480
you had to sit like in the second row of the sanctuary.

345
00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:04.800
So you're really close to the front.

346
00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:10.840
This person would come out with that line of people and they would just put their

347
00:21:10.840 --> 00:21:15.360
hand out to the people that they were passing in the pews and people would fall

348
00:21:15.360 --> 00:21:17.280
out. Have you ever seen anyone slain in the spirit?

349
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.680
You ever seen the power of God fall on someone to where they just fall down?

350
00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:26.960
All right. Well, I have,

351
00:21:27.520 --> 00:21:31.040
and this would happen regularly with this person, right?

352
00:21:31.280 --> 00:21:34.520
They would go over and lay hands on people. People would fall out.

353
00:21:34.560 --> 00:21:38.800
People would get healed. All kinds of crazy stuff would happen like that.

354
00:21:39.800 --> 00:21:42.920
And you guys, that really upset me

355
00:21:44.320 --> 00:21:48.160
because behind the scenes, I knew what this person was really like, right?

356
00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:53.400
And so I said to the Lord, I was like, that's gotta be fake.

357
00:21:54.080 --> 00:21:57.520
That's not real. That's not real. This has gotta be fake.

358
00:21:57.520 --> 00:22:00.800
This is like some sort of circus sideshow.

359
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:06.000
This is not real. There's no way that it can be. And he said, and he said to me,

360
00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:08.120
he's like, well, go test it out.

361
00:22:09.280 --> 00:22:14.120
So the next Sunday I changed my seat and I made sure that I would be in

362
00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.560
kind of the line of fire, right?

363
00:22:18.080 --> 00:22:21.000
And when this person came in and they walked by me,

364
00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:25.640
I felt the power of God so strong on me,

365
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:29.960
on me and what it has to do more with a person's faith than the other person.

366
00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:32.320
I just want you to understand that if you're like, Hey,

367
00:22:32.320 --> 00:22:33.800
why do people go to these crusades?

368
00:22:33.800 --> 00:22:36.840
And why do they get healed when this person's obviously a false teacher or

369
00:22:36.840 --> 00:22:40.040
prophet, because the person has a gift. Okay.

370
00:22:40.040 --> 00:22:42.760
First of all, and God's gifts are not with repentance.

371
00:22:42.760 --> 00:22:45.280
Meaning when God gives them, he does not take them back.

372
00:22:45.800 --> 00:22:50.520
Do people use them for their own gain? Yes. Do people use them, you know,

373
00:22:50.520 --> 00:22:51.640
in their flesh? Yes.

374
00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:56.640
But the bottom line is is that the person who's coming to receive a healing,

375
00:22:56.800 --> 00:22:59.000
to receive a breakthrough, to see, receive a word,

376
00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:01.400
that person's faith trumps everything else.

377
00:23:03.320 --> 00:23:06.560
By your faith, let it be done unto you. Anyway,

378
00:23:06.800 --> 00:23:10.080
I recognized that there was some spiritual power happening there.

379
00:23:10.080 --> 00:23:13.320
And so then I was really upset and I went to the Lord and I said, God,

380
00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:17.520
why would you give this person a gift? Why is this person have a gift?

381
00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:20.640
And that's when the Lord explained to me that you don't know people by their

382
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:22.240
gifts. You know them by their fruit.

383
00:23:24.760 --> 00:23:27.600
And that is where the saying comes from friends that I teach you in the

384
00:23:27.600 --> 00:23:31.200
heartwork to be fruit inspectors and not gift inspectors,

385
00:23:33.080 --> 00:23:35.440
to be fruit inspectors. It comes from that story.

386
00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:37.520
That's where it comes from.

387
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:42.800
So discernment is really important to keep us from deception friends,

388
00:23:43.120 --> 00:23:47.640
not just in church environments with teachers and anointings or wolves and

389
00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:50.080
sheep's clothing, but also in your dating life for sure.

390
00:23:50.080 --> 00:23:54.360
We'll get into that here in a minute because what discernment does is it helps

391
00:23:54.360 --> 00:23:58.640
you to identify what is the true source of this supernatural activity?

392
00:24:00.080 --> 00:24:01.840
What's the true source of it?

393
00:24:02.840 --> 00:24:07.240
Because not every miracle or prophecy or manifestation is coming from God.

394
00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:12.560
Okay? So this gift is able to reveal to you, whether it's Holy Spirit,

395
00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:16.400
whether it's demonic, God forbid, or it's just the flesh.

396
00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:19.640
And if you look at Acts, I'm going to give you a scripture reference.

397
00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:23.520
You guys can go check it out on your own time. Acts chapter 16.

398
00:24:24.360 --> 00:24:25.800
If you're not familiar with the book of Acts,

399
00:24:25.800 --> 00:24:29.680
it really is about the birth of the church is about what does it look like for

400
00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.160
Jesus's followers to, you know,

401
00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:36.400
do the ministry of Christ on the earth after Jesus has resurrected and

402
00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.120
ascended. And that's what we're still living in, you guys.

403
00:24:41.120 --> 00:24:43.040
In fact, you know, we're, we're doing it.

404
00:24:43.040 --> 00:24:45.280
We're doing a lot of work in Austin, Texas,

405
00:24:45.280 --> 00:24:48.520
building something called wheelhouse that is really going to be based on the

406
00:24:48.520 --> 00:24:51.960
ministry of the book of Acts. Okay. So book of Acts 16,

407
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.920
and then just look at verses 16 through 18. It's a perfect example right there.

408
00:24:56.760 --> 00:24:59.680
Paul is discerning the spirit.

409
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.640
it behind this girl that's been following them around, flattering them.

410
00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:07.440
And so if you read that scripture, you'll see that the thing that was happening seemed

411
00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:08.440
good.

412
00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:09.440
Okay.

413
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:14.160
This girl was following them around, Paul and his entourage of ministers, and she was

414
00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:18.720
like declaring that the Lord had sent them and the wonderful works of the Lord.

415
00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:21.400
The problem is, is that they were incognito.

416
00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:25.120
And so this girl doing that was actually drawing attention to them.

417
00:25:25.120 --> 00:25:29.320
And it was actually causing, you know, what always happened to Paul, and that was everywhere

418
00:25:29.320 --> 00:25:34.200
he goes, he gets in trouble and gets arrested, right?

419
00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:39.400
So even though on the outside, it seemed good what she was doing, he was discerning that

420
00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:46.440
that was a spirit behind what she was doing that was sent to, you know, buffet him, basically,

421
00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:48.440
if you read about Paul's thorn in the flesh.

422
00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:49.440
All right.

423
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:54.040
So to identify the true source of supernatural activity, that is, that is what this gift

424
00:25:54.040 --> 00:25:58.480
is about, to bring deliverance and healing.

425
00:25:58.480 --> 00:25:59.880
Okay.

426
00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:05.120
If any of you have ever participated in a deliverance ministry, you're going, people

427
00:26:05.120 --> 00:26:08.480
are, you know, people have some sort of stronghold, they have some kind of pattern in their life

428
00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:10.920
that they really want to get free from.

429
00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:16.200
And the gift of discernment would help you to recognize if there's a demonic stronghold

430
00:26:16.200 --> 00:26:18.160
happening in someone's life.

431
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:19.160
Okay.

432
00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:22.440
And then you can have a targeted prayer towards that for freedom.

433
00:26:22.840 --> 00:26:23.840
Okay.

434
00:26:23.840 --> 00:26:29.440
Sometimes it's just people's flesh, but some demonic stronghold of some sort.

435
00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:35.000
Another thing that we do with the gift of discernment is for our leaders, you know,

436
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:41.200
if you're going to lead, like for me to lead this, to lead this business tree, if you were

437
00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:46.280
the leader of a church or a small group, or, you know, a leader at work, you know, you're

438
00:26:46.280 --> 00:26:51.560
a manager, you guys, you can use the spiritual gifts in your secular jobs.

439
00:26:51.560 --> 00:26:53.360
You know that, right?

440
00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:59.560
And you should, because everywhere that you go, you are a minister of our Lord Jesus Christ,

441
00:26:59.560 --> 00:27:00.880
everywhere you go.

442
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:05.560
When you partook of the new birth experience, when you decided to follow Christ, you stepped

443
00:27:05.560 --> 00:27:12.160
in the ministry of reconciliation, you know, you volunteered to be Jesus on this earth,

444
00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:16.600
you know, a portion of what he was carrying with the help of Holy Spirit, of course.

445
00:27:16.600 --> 00:27:22.440
And so this gift will help you to discern the motives and the spirits and the heart

446
00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:25.680
postures of the people and situations around you.

447
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:30.840
It's important friends that we don't do that by suspicion or by our past experiences.

448
00:27:30.840 --> 00:27:34.560
We have to be led by spirit led insight.

449
00:27:34.560 --> 00:27:39.880
If we want to deal with people, I know a lot of people that think they have intuition,

450
00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:43.680
but they really just have suspicion.

451
00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:48.320
They are very, especially ladies, especially you, because women, we have a whole other

452
00:27:48.320 --> 00:27:52.280
thing besides discernment called women's intuition.

453
00:27:52.280 --> 00:27:59.040
And if you have a broken heart, okay, that's full of prejudice and bias against people,

454
00:27:59.040 --> 00:28:05.000
men, perhaps if you have bad experiences that you haven't fully forgiven and let go of,

455
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.560
you know, that intuition is going to turn into suspicion really quickly.

456
00:28:09.560 --> 00:28:13.240
And you are going to always be seeing things that are not there and you're going to be

457
00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:16.000
labeling things wrong.

458
00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:21.200
So finally, what this gift is for is to protect your own heart.

459
00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:29.520
It helps you guard against spiritual intrigue, traps maybe that are set for you spiritually,

460
00:28:29.520 --> 00:28:33.160
counterfeit relationships, unhealthy alignments.

461
00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:34.840
And this is not just with the opposite sex.

462
00:28:34.840 --> 00:28:36.720
Of course, you guys, this is with friendships.

463
00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.920
This is with job opportunities, and I'm going to give you some real world, real life examples

464
00:28:42.080 --> 00:28:45.840
of how to use this gift in just a few minutes, okay?

465
00:28:45.840 --> 00:28:51.160
So we kind of take it out of this ooey, you know, spooky spirit realm, and we put it into

466
00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:52.160
real life.

467
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:55.280
Has anyone learned anything?

468
00:28:55.280 --> 00:28:58.800
Raise your hand if you're tracking with me this morning.

469
00:28:58.800 --> 00:29:01.880
God wants us to walk in discernment.

470
00:29:01.880 --> 00:29:03.480
He wants us to walk in discernment, you guys.

471
00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:06.120
We have to have discernment.

472
00:29:06.120 --> 00:29:08.960
Everything around us is trying to tell us a story, you guys.

473
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:12.600
Everywhere you look is trying to tell us that there's something happening, and we need

474
00:29:12.600 --> 00:29:16.520
to know what's really happening.

475
00:29:16.520 --> 00:29:22.800
We need to know what's really happening, not what the information networks want us to think.

476
00:29:22.800 --> 00:29:28.080
All right, so I just told you what discernment is.

477
00:29:28.080 --> 00:29:31.240
Now I'm going to tell you a little bit of what it's not.

478
00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:33.440
This is what it's not, you guys.

479
00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:37.520
It's not being good at reading people.

480
00:29:37.560 --> 00:29:42.320
I am good at reading people, even though I told you that even when I see something negative,

481
00:29:42.320 --> 00:29:47.800
I just talk myself out of it, but I am good at seeing it from the beginning.

482
00:29:47.800 --> 00:29:51.240
But that's not what discernment is, being good at reading people, and you might even

483
00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:56.120
pride yourself on it, and let me tell you, this could become a weakness for you, thinking

484
00:29:56.120 --> 00:30:00.000
that you're so good at reading people, but you're missing spiritually what's really happening.

485
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.520
So it's not that.

486
00:30:03.520 --> 00:30:08.700
And for those of you that are afraid of judging others, it's not just judgmentalism.

487
00:30:08.700 --> 00:30:10.620
It's not just suspicion in disguise.

488
00:30:10.620 --> 00:30:13.180
It's not what it is.

489
00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:16.540
And finally, it's not just being spiritually aware.

490
00:30:16.540 --> 00:30:19.900
It's not just being spiritually sensitive.

491
00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:24.740
It's actually spirit empowered revelation.

492
00:30:24.740 --> 00:30:26.780
So it's not just psychological or emotional.

493
00:30:26.780 --> 00:30:32.300
It's important that we understand that it's not just feelings, oh, I had a feeling.

494
00:30:32.300 --> 00:30:33.300
Anybody else?

495
00:30:33.300 --> 00:30:38.500
Put your hands down.

496
00:30:38.500 --> 00:30:39.500
Anybody else say that a lot?

497
00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:40.500
I don't know.

498
00:30:40.500 --> 00:30:42.260
I just something was off.

499
00:30:42.260 --> 00:30:46.020
I had a feeling.

500
00:30:46.020 --> 00:30:49.060
Okay.

501
00:30:49.060 --> 00:30:54.740
The problem is, is that those feelings could be keeping you back into a lot of things from

502
00:30:54.740 --> 00:30:59.900
a lot of things because those feelings may not be coming actually from the spirit of

503
00:30:59.900 --> 00:31:00.900
discernment.

504
00:31:00.900 --> 00:31:06.900
They might be coming from your own past experiences and your own self-protection.

505
00:31:06.900 --> 00:31:09.020
You know, I, you guys know my backstory.

506
00:31:09.020 --> 00:31:15.020
I was always very hypervigilant about my safety because of the way that I was raised.

507
00:31:15.020 --> 00:31:17.960
All right.

508
00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.140
So friends, listen, we have to be discerning.

509
00:31:20.140 --> 00:31:21.580
This is not just for weird people.

510
00:31:21.980 --> 00:31:22.980
This is not just for prophets.

511
00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:28.380
And you guys know what I mean by weird people, a lot of weird people out there, always out

512
00:31:28.380 --> 00:31:29.900
there discerning stuff.

513
00:31:29.900 --> 00:31:30.900
Okay.

514
00:31:30.900 --> 00:31:33.820
We live in a world full of false narratives.

515
00:31:33.820 --> 00:31:39.080
We live in a world full of information that's trying to get us to take one side or another

516
00:31:39.080 --> 00:31:42.920
deceptive doctrines, emotional manipulation.

517
00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:48.800
We need spirit led discernment more than ever because we want to avoid deception.

518
00:31:48.800 --> 00:31:52.840
But more than that, we want to partner with God.

519
00:31:52.840 --> 00:31:54.600
We want to partner with what is God doing?

520
00:31:54.600 --> 00:31:56.760
That's what Supernatural Saturday is all about.

521
00:31:56.760 --> 00:31:57.760
What is God doing?

522
00:31:57.760 --> 00:32:02.600
We want to partner with him in truth and in purity of heart so that we can be free and

523
00:32:02.600 --> 00:32:04.480
we can help other people be free.

524
00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:05.480
Okay.

525
00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:06.480
All right.

526
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:11.040
So discernment, we know that we need it more than ever before, but you notice that a lot

527
00:32:11.040 --> 00:32:13.040
of people are out here just vibing, right?

528
00:32:13.040 --> 00:32:14.040
They're vibing.

529
00:32:14.040 --> 00:32:16.440
They're like, oh, you know, I like your vibes.

530
00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:17.920
Has anyone ever said that to you before?

531
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:20.720
They like your vibes.

532
00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:22.880
People are vibing all the way into confusion.

533
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:23.880
Okay.

534
00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:26.880
Because what are we really vibing with?

535
00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:32.920
Seriously, what are we, what are we, what are we vibing with?

536
00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:37.000
And the other thing is that a lot of people, you know, you, you might not call it vibes,

537
00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:39.280
but you're always trying to pick up other people's.

538
00:32:39.280 --> 00:32:41.000
You're trying to discern people.

539
00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:43.160
As soon as you meet them, you're trying to discern them.

540
00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:47.200
But friends, if you're just trying to discern people, trying to figure them out, trying

541
00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:50.960
to figure the puzzle out, trying to look at them and figure out whether or not you

542
00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:57.920
think they're good or bad, you don't have time to really like them, right?

543
00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:03.600
Because you're trying to protect yourself to a place where you're not even really getting

544
00:33:03.600 --> 00:33:04.600
to know them.

545
00:33:04.600 --> 00:33:07.920
You're sitting there trying to just get to know what you think about them before getting

546
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:10.760
to know them.

547
00:33:10.760 --> 00:33:13.240
And friends, a lot of things are going to feel off.

548
00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:14.240
Okay.

549
00:33:14.280 --> 00:33:15.280
Okay.

550
00:33:15.280 --> 00:33:20.440
Especially when we have broken places in our hearts, but that doesn't mean it's demonic.

551
00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:23.640
Just because it feels off to you doesn't mean it's demonic.

552
00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:30.480
And just because it feels familiar doesn't mean it's safe.

553
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:33.240
People often come to me, you know, because I'm a dating coach, obviously.

554
00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:37.360
And they'll say, oh, wow, the first day I met them, it felt like I had known them my

555
00:33:37.360 --> 00:33:38.360
whole life.

556
00:33:38.360 --> 00:33:44.200
And I was like, oh, really felt like you had known them ever since you were a child, huh?

557
00:33:44.760 --> 00:33:47.760
Let's talk about what your childhood was like again.

558
00:33:47.760 --> 00:33:50.800
Oh, they feel like home.

559
00:33:50.800 --> 00:33:54.600
Oh, can you remind me of what home was like?

560
00:33:54.600 --> 00:33:58.080
Because that might not be a good thing, friends.

561
00:33:58.080 --> 00:34:01.560
That might not be a good thing.

562
00:34:01.560 --> 00:34:04.560
So just because it feels off doesn't mean it's demonic.

563
00:34:04.560 --> 00:34:09.199
Because it feels safe and familiar doesn't mean it is.

564
00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:10.199
Okay.

565
00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:11.199
I'm sorry.

566
00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:13.199
Just because it feels familiar doesn't mean it's safe.

567
00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:14.199
All right.

568
00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:21.480
And we can't walk in real discernment when we're using our trauma as a compass.

569
00:34:21.480 --> 00:34:28.360
It's very important that we understand that this gift, more so than a lot of the gifts,

570
00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:31.239
really needs a healthy heart.

571
00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:32.239
It really does.

572
00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:33.239
Okay.

573
00:34:33.239 --> 00:34:37.199
I'm going to give you another, let's see, I thought I had another scriptural reference

574
00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:38.199
here.

575
00:34:38.199 --> 00:34:39.199
Okay.

576
00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:41.199
Okay.

577
00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:42.199
I don't.

578
00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:43.199
I don't.

579
00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:49.280
But let me give you, I want to give you a little bit of bullet points to help navigate

580
00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:52.600
the spiritual realm, especially with the gift of discernment.

581
00:34:52.600 --> 00:34:54.840
That's how we're navigating the spiritual realm, guys.

582
00:34:54.840 --> 00:34:59.560
Remember, this is the gift that helps us see beneath the person, the surface.

583
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:06.640
okay, of a teaching, of a situation, of a news article, of a new friend that we're meeting.

584
00:35:06.640 --> 00:35:10.400
Remember, we're not trying to activate it. We're just meeting that person at face value.

585
00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:18.400
But as we get to know that person better, you know, this is the gift that would help us discern

586
00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:24.400
what's really happening. And you guys, it's not necessarily so you can cut and run. It's just for

587
00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:29.520
you to understand. Because remember, it's discerning between what's of the flesh,

588
00:35:29.520 --> 00:35:33.440
what's of the opposing forces of the kingdom of darkness, and what's of God.

589
00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:40.320
Okay, so let's give a little grid of discernment versus intuition versus suspicion. You guys want

590
00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:49.280
to do that? Okay, here's some bullet points. Discernment is Holy Spirit led. It's not something

591
00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:52.960
that you just have, you guys. It comes from Holy Spirit. It's Holy Spirit led.

592
00:35:55.040 --> 00:35:57.440
It is also peace filled. Write that down.

593
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:05.440
It's also, get this, this is very important, it is very clear and specific.

594
00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:10.640
It's not some vague feeling of it being off.

595
00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:16.400
It's very clear and specific. And it comes with grace and wisdom.

596
00:36:20.720 --> 00:36:25.760
Okay, that's the gift of discernment from Holy Spirit with Holy Spirit. Okay, here's some,

597
00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:33.040
here's some bullet points of natural intuition. And ladies, you have this. Gentlemen, this is why

598
00:36:33.040 --> 00:36:39.040
you want a wife because she's going to say, oh, hey, honey, my friend the other day, he was on

599
00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:45.440
the phone. He's a business guy. He's making deals all the time. He was on the phone with someone

600
00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:49.760
yakking away, and he was talking about someone else. He goes, well, you know, my friend so and

601
00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:54.960
so. And his wife said from the back, from the back of the room, those aren't your friends.

602
00:36:59.520 --> 00:37:02.880
And he's like, what? And she's like, stop calling that person your friend.

603
00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:05.200
You don't even hardly know them. They're not your friends.

604
00:37:09.040 --> 00:37:12.960
That's important. Gentlemen, your wife's going to keep you out of trouble.

605
00:37:15.200 --> 00:37:19.120
If your wife tells you that she doesn't feel peace about something that you're about to do,

606
00:37:19.120 --> 00:37:24.000
whether it's a business deal, whether it's whatever it is, you need to take that seriously.

607
00:37:27.040 --> 00:37:33.920
Natural intuition. Let's do the bullet points. It's emotion and instinct led. Okay. And remember,

608
00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:38.000
ladies, we got to get a clear channel going on here. Otherwise,

609
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:41.920
you're going to be zigging and zagging instead of zagging. It's gut based.

610
00:37:44.560 --> 00:37:46.720
It's often vague and assumptive.

611
00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:56.080
And it may come with some uncertainty. Am I really feeling this? Is this really true?

612
00:37:56.080 --> 00:38:02.880
And then last but not least, let's talk about suspicion.

613
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:09.200
This comes from the wounded place. It's fear and past pain led.

614
00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:19.920
It's anxiety filled. It always assumes the worst, worst case scenario.

615
00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:22.000
And it comes with accusation.

616
00:38:25.680 --> 00:38:29.040
All right. Discernment comes with wisdom and grace.

617
00:38:29.600 --> 00:38:33.040
Intuition comes with uncertainty. Sometimes you're not really sure.

618
00:38:34.240 --> 00:38:37.760
And wounded suspicion comes with accusation.

619
00:38:42.640 --> 00:38:47.120
You guys, let me talk to you about just for a second about why a wounded heart corrupts

620
00:38:47.200 --> 00:38:53.360
discernment. Proverbs 4.23. Write that down. You guys know that this scripture is in the

621
00:38:53.360 --> 00:39:02.160
heart workbook. Guard your heart above all things, because everything that you do flows from it.

622
00:39:03.520 --> 00:39:06.960
The quality of your heart controls the quality of your life.

623
00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:12.080
So you can see there, friends, that unhealed heart wounds distort perception,

624
00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:14.800
especially spiritual perception.

625
00:39:17.600 --> 00:39:21.040
So when you've been through trauma, and we all have, everyone suffers. We've been through

626
00:39:21.040 --> 00:39:25.680
rejection. We've been through betrayal, whatever it is that hurt you before. You're trying to

627
00:39:25.680 --> 00:39:30.240
protect yourself. You're trying to protect your loved ones. You're trying to protect your

628
00:39:30.240 --> 00:39:34.000
family. You're trying to protect your loved ones. You're trying to protect yourself.

629
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:38.960
Whatever it is that hurt you before, you're trying to protect yourself from it hurting you again.

630
00:39:40.400 --> 00:39:48.800
And this creates false flags, pretty much. False flags. It creates warning systems in your heart

631
00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:51.760
because you have hypervigilance now. You're trying to keep yourself safe.

632
00:39:52.560 --> 00:39:58.880
So these alarms go off in your heart that are false alarms.

633
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:05.760
Okay, and the problem with this you guys is that a lot of times if we're spiritual people

634
00:40:05.760 --> 00:40:10.900
we'll start calling, we'll start calling control wisdom.

635
00:40:10.900 --> 00:40:16.900
We're really just being very controlling but we'll start calling it being wise, being responsible.

636
00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:21.420
We'll start calling manipulation kindness, oh I'm just being, you know, I'm just being

637
00:40:21.420 --> 00:40:25.220
kind, I'm just being good.

638
00:40:25.220 --> 00:40:39.100
And unfortunately we'll start calling criticism conviction, right?

639
00:40:39.100 --> 00:40:42.300
I'm just giving you guys a chance to write this down.

640
00:40:42.300 --> 00:40:44.780
So we're not discerning red flags friends, we're not.

641
00:40:44.780 --> 00:40:49.300
What we're doing is we're re-watching our past trauma on repeat and we're calling it

642
00:40:49.300 --> 00:40:55.300
discernment.

643
00:40:55.300 --> 00:40:59.660
It's you're like, you're like I saw that movie, I don't want to see the sequel, right?

644
00:40:59.660 --> 00:41:03.500
So you're just trying to make sure that you don't go through it again and again and again.

645
00:41:03.500 --> 00:41:06.460
All right, so how do we heal our hearts so we can hear clearly?

646
00:41:06.460 --> 00:41:07.460
Well that's why you're here.

647
00:41:07.460 --> 00:41:10.260
We do the heart work, okay?

648
00:41:10.260 --> 00:41:13.300
We got to diffuse those bombs before they go off.

649
00:41:13.300 --> 00:41:15.220
Remember I say that a lot in the book, The Heart Work.

650
00:41:15.220 --> 00:41:17.620
We have to diffuse those bombs before they go off.

651
00:41:17.620 --> 00:41:22.020
All right, another way besides just the heart work is we stay in the word, you guys.

652
00:41:22.020 --> 00:41:25.180
Real discernment is rooted in truth, not feelings.

653
00:41:25.180 --> 00:41:26.660
You got to stay in the word.

654
00:41:26.660 --> 00:41:28.780
We have to know what the word of God says.

655
00:41:28.780 --> 00:41:32.960
Make sure that you are studying the word of God, okay?

656
00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:36.420
Not just letting someone else study it for you and tell you what it says, but you're

657
00:41:36.420 --> 00:41:40.340
studying it yourself and you're praying before you look at the word.

658
00:41:40.340 --> 00:41:44.060
You're asking God to help you to see what it really means.

659
00:41:44.060 --> 00:41:49.660
You're asking the Holy Spirit to come alongside you, okay, the spirit of truth.

660
00:41:49.660 --> 00:41:54.020
Read the Bible with the spirit of truth, okay?

661
00:41:54.020 --> 00:41:58.540
Ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you what God is really saying in these scriptures.

662
00:41:58.540 --> 00:42:00.580
And then of course, you know, we want to be in godly community.

663
00:42:00.580 --> 00:42:03.580
We want to be surrounded by people, and it might not be a church, you guys.

664
00:42:03.580 --> 00:42:04.780
It might be a small group.

665
00:42:04.780 --> 00:42:09.260
It might be another group of believers that you have yoked yourself with.

666
00:42:09.260 --> 00:42:11.900
You want to avoid Lone Ranger spirituality.

667
00:42:11.900 --> 00:42:13.380
You guys, you can't silo yourself.

668
00:42:13.380 --> 00:42:18.500
You can't be off alone and expect to have good discernment because sometimes it needs

669
00:42:18.500 --> 00:42:19.720
a sounding board.

670
00:42:19.720 --> 00:42:24.540
Sometimes you're feeling something, you're not sure, and you want to bounce it off someone

671
00:42:24.540 --> 00:42:25.540
else.

672
00:42:25.540 --> 00:42:27.500
I can't tell you how many times I do that.

673
00:42:27.500 --> 00:42:31.460
Hey, this is what I'm thinking, and this is what I'm feeling.

674
00:42:31.460 --> 00:42:33.540
This is what I think that God is saying.

675
00:42:33.540 --> 00:42:36.440
Let me run this by you and see what you think.

676
00:42:36.440 --> 00:42:39.160
The Bible says that a multitude of counselors are of safety.

677
00:42:39.160 --> 00:42:43.000
The Bible says through the mouth of two or three witnesses, let a word be established.

678
00:42:43.000 --> 00:42:46.080
It's very important, friends.

679
00:42:46.080 --> 00:42:51.240
And then the Bible tells us to test every spirit to see if it's of God.

680
00:42:51.240 --> 00:42:54.080
You guys remember a third of heaven fell with Lucifer.

681
00:42:54.080 --> 00:42:56.200
It wasn't just the Lone Ranger devil.

682
00:42:56.200 --> 00:43:01.080
In fact, a lot of times when you're talking about, oh, you know, I know the devil is after

683
00:43:01.080 --> 00:43:02.080
me.

684
00:43:02.080 --> 00:43:03.080
Well, the devil's not after you.

685
00:43:03.080 --> 00:43:07.600
Lucifer is just one being, and trust me, he's not paying attention to you.

686
00:43:10.160 --> 00:43:22.040
But there is a whole host, and beyond that, of fallen beings that we call the opposing

687
00:43:22.040 --> 00:43:28.440
forces or the kingdom of darkness or, you know, a whole bunch of different things that

688
00:43:28.440 --> 00:43:29.440
we call.

689
00:43:29.440 --> 00:43:35.760
Obviously demons, all, you know, that's what we're calling all those fallen angels, right?

690
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:43.360
So what I'm saying is, is that there's a whole spirit realm and not all of it's good.

691
00:43:43.360 --> 00:43:47.680
And so we want to make sure that we're testing.

692
00:43:47.680 --> 00:43:48.680
How do we test?

693
00:43:48.680 --> 00:43:49.680
By fruit, you guys.

694
00:43:49.680 --> 00:43:52.160
1 John 4, verse 1.

695
00:43:52.160 --> 00:43:58.660
If you want to look into the command to test every spirit, 1 John 4, verse 1.

696
00:43:58.660 --> 00:44:02.880
And then the last thing, you guys, to help us to heal so we can hear clearly is just

697
00:44:02.880 --> 00:44:05.740
stay humble.

698
00:44:05.740 --> 00:44:10.020
Remember the gift of discernment is really at the, at the end of the day about advancing

699
00:44:10.020 --> 00:44:11.020
the kingdom.

700
00:44:11.020 --> 00:44:12.300
It's about serving others.

701
00:44:12.300 --> 00:44:16.500
It's not about feeling spiritually superior to other people.

702
00:44:16.500 --> 00:44:17.500
It isn't.

703
00:44:17.500 --> 00:44:18.500
Okay.

704
00:44:18.500 --> 00:44:20.860
Real discernment is going to promote truth.

705
00:44:20.860 --> 00:44:23.820
It's going to expose deception.

706
00:44:23.820 --> 00:44:26.060
It's going to help people find deliverance.

707
00:44:26.060 --> 00:44:29.660
So you, you know, if you discern that someone's struggling with something, something, you

708
00:44:29.660 --> 00:44:34.080
can come to them and say, Hey, I really feel like God is showing me that you're struggling

709
00:44:34.080 --> 00:44:35.080
with this.

710
00:44:35.420 --> 00:44:36.420
And I pray for you.

711
00:44:36.420 --> 00:44:37.680
Like that is how discernment works.

712
00:44:37.680 --> 00:44:38.680
It's really great.

713
00:44:38.680 --> 00:44:43.680
And that's different from words of knowledge that you might receive about someone's situation.

714
00:44:43.680 --> 00:44:44.680
Okay.

715
00:44:44.680 --> 00:44:55.160
All right, hopefully everyone wrote down, uh, this is obviously available in, um, replay

716
00:44:55.160 --> 00:44:56.960
so you could write things down later.

717
00:44:56.960 --> 00:44:57.960
Okay.

718
00:44:57.960 --> 00:45:00.040
So I know it's a lot for a, for a Saturday.

719
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:06.000
morning, but I really felt like God wants us to really go after the gift of discernment.

720
00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:10.800
If you don't feel like you have it, you're just operating in your intuition, ask God

721
00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:13.160
to give it to you.

722
00:45:13.160 --> 00:45:16.160
All the gifts come from the same Spirit, Holy Spirit.

723
00:45:16.160 --> 00:45:19.080
It's just as easy to receive one gift as the other.

724
00:45:19.080 --> 00:45:22.600
And so go ahead and ask, say, God, give me discernment.

725
00:45:22.600 --> 00:45:28.280
And remember that real discernment doesn't just call things out, it calls things up,

726
00:45:28.280 --> 00:45:29.640
calls things up.

727
00:45:29.640 --> 00:45:31.840
It brings light.

728
00:45:31.840 --> 00:45:36.800
It's not just an excuse to walk around, you know, afraid of everyone because you're discerning

729
00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:40.360
things.

730
00:45:40.360 --> 00:45:43.880
That's most likely the gift of suspicion, just so you know.

731
00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:52.360
All right, so I'm going to give you some real world, some real world examples of how discernment

732
00:45:52.360 --> 00:45:53.360
might show up.

733
00:45:53.360 --> 00:45:54.440
Like, let's talk about dating.

734
00:45:54.440 --> 00:45:57.360
How might discernment show up in dating?

735
00:45:57.360 --> 00:46:01.240
It's when you're meeting someone, you're getting to know them, and you can sense when someone's

736
00:46:01.240 --> 00:46:05.360
words don't match their spirit, right?

737
00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:11.480
They talk Christian, but something feels counterfeit.

738
00:46:11.480 --> 00:46:17.880
It doesn't just feel counterfeit, it looks counterfeit, and you're not imagining it.

739
00:46:17.880 --> 00:46:22.040
Their words and actions should match, friends, they should.

740
00:46:23.040 --> 00:46:29.840
All right, so remember I told you that you sometimes feel like, just like intense chemistry

741
00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:30.840
with someone.

742
00:46:30.840 --> 00:46:33.400
You guys, I want you to write this down.

743
00:46:33.400 --> 00:46:38.680
Anytime you're just meeting someone and you start feeling intense chemistry, it's usually

744
00:46:38.680 --> 00:46:41.560
not a good thing.

745
00:46:41.560 --> 00:46:45.720
Nine out of 10 times, it's just not going to be a good thing.

746
00:46:45.720 --> 00:46:48.520
You can feel, you can feel like you like them, you enjoyed yourself.

747
00:46:48.520 --> 00:46:51.640
I'm talking about intense chemistry.

748
00:46:51.640 --> 00:46:56.520
You all know what I mean.

749
00:46:56.520 --> 00:46:59.120
A one-hour date turns into an eight-hour date.

750
00:46:59.120 --> 00:47:01.280
You just don't want to leave their presence.

751
00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:03.400
Now you're texting them every single hour.

752
00:47:03.400 --> 00:47:07.720
You guys, what's probably happening there is some sort of familiarity, some sort of

753
00:47:07.720 --> 00:47:14.360
trauma bonding situation because of familiarity.

754
00:47:15.160 --> 00:47:22.840
Discernment would help you to recognize the difference between attraction and something

755
00:47:22.840 --> 00:47:27.520
that feels so familiar and comfortable because of not healthy stuff.

756
00:47:27.520 --> 00:47:30.540
All right, so here's another one.

757
00:47:30.540 --> 00:47:36.100
You feel a spiritual check even when everything looks good on paper.

758
00:47:36.100 --> 00:47:39.480
Everything about the person, and this is why you have to have a healthy heart because some

759
00:47:39.480 --> 00:47:42.440
of you are just afraid.

760
00:47:42.440 --> 00:47:44.120
Some of you are afraid.

761
00:47:44.120 --> 00:47:47.880
You can't find anything wrong with them, but you still don't feel safe, and the reason

762
00:47:47.880 --> 00:47:51.000
why is because you just don't feel safe.

763
00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:57.560
But when we have a healthy heart, you guys, if everything looks good on paper, their story

764
00:47:57.560 --> 00:48:02.920
checks out, you know that they're not lying, you've been out with them several times, you're

765
00:48:02.920 --> 00:48:07.360
getting to know them, they seem like a really nice and great person, but you still just

766
00:48:07.360 --> 00:48:10.560
don't have peace for some reason.

767
00:48:10.560 --> 00:48:11.560
Don't ignore that.

768
00:48:11.560 --> 00:48:12.560
Pray into that.

769
00:48:12.560 --> 00:48:15.560
God, what is it that I'm discerning?

770
00:48:15.560 --> 00:48:19.960
Because it doesn't mean that they're terrible.

771
00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:26.600
It just means that it's not the right thing for you for whatever reason.

772
00:48:26.600 --> 00:48:31.880
God could be protecting you from something that your eyes can't see yet, but also he

773
00:48:31.880 --> 00:48:37.560
could be just trying to keep you moving forward towards something that's better.

774
00:48:38.560 --> 00:48:42.880
All right?

775
00:48:42.880 --> 00:48:46.200
When you're discerning, you're not going to confuse red flags with people's, you know,

776
00:48:46.200 --> 00:48:47.880
with people that are just quirky.

777
00:48:47.880 --> 00:48:50.980
I mean, everybody has yellow flags, you guys.

778
00:48:50.980 --> 00:48:56.440
Everybody has things that we would call ics, quirks.

779
00:48:56.440 --> 00:49:00.080
That doesn't mean that it's a deal breaker, and when you have discernment, you're not

780
00:49:00.080 --> 00:49:05.160
going to see a red flag when it's really just an eccentricity of some sort of that person

781
00:49:05.280 --> 00:49:09.480
that you could probably get used to and get over if you got to know them better.

782
00:49:09.480 --> 00:49:16.720
All right, I'm just looking to see my notes here if I have anything else.

783
00:49:16.720 --> 00:49:20.000
You're not going to get swept up in love bombing or false peace.

784
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.920
Okay, the spirit of discernment is going to help you see that this person is just an anxious

785
00:49:24.920 --> 00:49:31.080
detacher and they're just trying to, you know, feel secure in the relationship by telling

786
00:49:31.080 --> 00:49:36.560
you all these things and saying all these things, but it's not sustainable.

787
00:49:36.560 --> 00:49:40.360
You're going to spot a counterfeit situation before you get all your time wasted.

788
00:49:40.360 --> 00:49:45.640
Okay, you're going to have spiritual clarity, clarity, I just made up a new word, clear

789
00:49:45.640 --> 00:49:46.640
and clarity.

790
00:49:46.640 --> 00:49:47.640
It's clarity, friends.

791
00:49:47.640 --> 00:49:50.120
You're going to have spiritual clarity.

792
00:49:50.120 --> 00:49:58.200
All right, and you're going to know when someone's potential is God's project, not yours.

793
00:49:58.200 --> 00:50:00.120
Okay, discernment will...

794
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:05.000
help you if you begin to fix people.

795
00:50:08.040 --> 00:50:10.520
Okay, and so I promised you some real life scenarios,

796
00:50:10.520 --> 00:50:12.240
so I'm gonna go ahead and give that to you guys.

797
00:50:12.240 --> 00:50:14.920
Okay, so this is not just about your love lives,

798
00:50:14.920 --> 00:50:16.000
it's about every area.

799
00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:19.120
So here's some real life scenarios that I have here.

800
00:50:19.120 --> 00:50:21.080
Okay, so you can use the gift of discernment

801
00:50:21.080 --> 00:50:22.080
when you're meeting someone,

802
00:50:22.080 --> 00:50:24.360
like say you're meeting them on a dating app.

803
00:50:24.360 --> 00:50:25.640
They're saying all the right things,

804
00:50:25.640 --> 00:50:28.500
maybe they quoted a scripture, okay?

805
00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:31.840
You know, just all the kind of things

806
00:50:31.840 --> 00:50:35.640
that maybe you want in a future mate,

807
00:50:35.640 --> 00:50:37.600
but every single time that you're with them,

808
00:50:37.600 --> 00:50:41.480
you're hanging out with them, you feel spiritually uneasy.

809
00:50:41.480 --> 00:50:43.720
And you're not scared, you guys, that's important.

810
00:50:43.720 --> 00:50:47.800
It's not fear that you feel, you just feel a lack of peace.

811
00:50:47.800 --> 00:50:52.360
You feel what we always call checked in your spirit.

812
00:50:54.200 --> 00:50:56.800
You sense that something is off spiritually,

813
00:50:56.800 --> 00:50:59.200
not just emotionally, that is very important.

814
00:51:00.160 --> 00:51:01.760
If you're in your emotions, you guys,

815
00:51:01.760 --> 00:51:04.240
it could just be from, it could be from fear,

816
00:51:04.240 --> 00:51:06.320
it could be from a past bad experience.

817
00:51:06.320 --> 00:51:08.720
It could be that you don't have any experience in dating,

818
00:51:08.720 --> 00:51:11.440
so you don't know what it's supposed to feel like.

819
00:51:11.440 --> 00:51:14.200
But this is not in your emotions, it's in your spirit.

820
00:51:14.200 --> 00:51:17.800
And when you have experienced real discernment,

821
00:51:17.800 --> 00:51:19.840
you will see that it doesn't come in your emotions,

822
00:51:19.840 --> 00:51:21.180
it's just a knowing.

823
00:51:22.620 --> 00:51:24.920
It's just a knowing, I can't describe it any other way,

824
00:51:24.920 --> 00:51:25.960
you just know.

825
00:51:28.320 --> 00:51:29.280
Don't ignore that.

826
00:51:30.800 --> 00:51:32.880
Don't ignore that like I did.

827
00:51:32.880 --> 00:51:35.120
Guys, I was in a lot of pain when my pastor fell

828
00:51:35.120 --> 00:51:36.680
and went to prison, and the reason why was

829
00:51:36.680 --> 00:51:38.920
because I was not paying attention

830
00:51:38.920 --> 00:51:40.840
to what God was showing me all along.

831
00:51:41.720 --> 00:51:43.760
I was dismissing it.

832
00:51:43.760 --> 00:51:45.400
You know why I was dismissing it?

833
00:51:45.400 --> 00:51:47.660
Because of my emotions, because of my loyalty,

834
00:51:47.660 --> 00:51:50.600
because I didn't want to think bad things about somebody.

835
00:51:50.600 --> 00:51:52.980
Because that's the category that I put it in.

836
00:51:52.980 --> 00:51:54.900
I didn't put it in the category of wisdom,

837
00:51:54.900 --> 00:51:57.200
I put it in the category of negativity.

838
00:51:57.200 --> 00:51:58.360
Please don't do that.

839
00:51:59.120 --> 00:52:00.880
That's not what it is.

840
00:52:00.880 --> 00:52:03.180
You're not being negative, you're being wise.

841
00:52:04.480 --> 00:52:07.360
And God's trying to prevent you from going 100 miles an hour

842
00:52:07.360 --> 00:52:09.440
down a dead-end road into a wall.

843
00:52:11.760 --> 00:52:15.200
My pastor's fall gave me a nervous breakdown,

844
00:52:15.200 --> 00:52:16.800
and it didn't need to happen that way

845
00:52:16.800 --> 00:52:19.360
because God was trying to show me what was ahead.

846
00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:21.860
And I was not listening.

847
00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:24.980
So you're hanging out and you just don't feel

848
00:52:24.980 --> 00:52:27.700
spiritually easy, you just feel checked, you guys.

849
00:52:27.700 --> 00:52:29.460
You sense something is off.

850
00:52:29.460 --> 00:52:31.860
It's not in your emotions, you know it's not.

851
00:52:31.860 --> 00:52:33.580
You could even run it by someone else

852
00:52:33.580 --> 00:52:36.480
that's not related to the situation at all,

853
00:52:36.480 --> 00:52:37.940
someone that you know is wise,

854
00:52:37.940 --> 00:52:41.080
someone that you know has discernment as well.

855
00:52:41.080 --> 00:52:42.460
And so maybe you find out later

856
00:52:42.460 --> 00:52:44.540
that they have a hidden addiction.

857
00:52:44.540 --> 00:52:47.180
They have an unresolved past relationship.

858
00:52:47.180 --> 00:52:49.660
Guys, I'll tell you truthfully,

859
00:52:49.660 --> 00:52:52.500
I know that God gives gifts because we need them,

860
00:52:52.500 --> 00:52:54.300
and everyone needs this gift.

861
00:52:54.300 --> 00:52:56.400
I don't think that anyone doesn't need this gift,

862
00:52:56.400 --> 00:52:59.160
so please ask God to give it to you, okay?

863
00:52:59.160 --> 00:53:00.840
But God has definitely given me this gift

864
00:53:00.840 --> 00:53:03.120
because of the life that I've led

865
00:53:03.120 --> 00:53:04.560
before coming to you guys,

866
00:53:04.560 --> 00:53:07.200
the kinds of ministries that I have led,

867
00:53:07.200 --> 00:53:09.600
and also what I do now with you guys.

868
00:53:09.600 --> 00:53:11.920
And if I ever show up in your DMs and say,

869
00:53:11.920 --> 00:53:14.200
hey, I really, I need you to take a look,

870
00:53:14.200 --> 00:53:15.960
a better look at this relationship,

871
00:53:15.960 --> 00:53:19.480
I'm discerning that something's off, please listen to me.

872
00:53:19.480 --> 00:53:23.620
Because every single time that I have done that,

873
00:53:23.620 --> 00:53:25.560
and the person has gone on to get married,

874
00:53:25.560 --> 00:53:26.680
they are now divorced.

875
00:53:28.760 --> 00:53:31.280
I'm not saying that to toot my own horn.

876
00:53:31.280 --> 00:53:33.720
It came from discernment, it didn't come from me.

877
00:53:34.800 --> 00:53:37.040
But I am here to try to help protect you,

878
00:53:37.040 --> 00:53:38.720
and so is my team,

879
00:53:38.720 --> 00:53:40.440
and so are your other brothers and sisters.

880
00:53:40.440 --> 00:53:42.160
Now, some of them might be operating in fear,

881
00:53:42.160 --> 00:53:44.520
and some of them might be alarmists

882
00:53:44.520 --> 00:53:48.160
that are constantly pulling the fire alarm

883
00:53:48.160 --> 00:53:50.200
when there's no fire, I get that.

884
00:53:50.200 --> 00:53:53.120
But our team, our peer coaches,

885
00:53:53.120 --> 00:53:56.160
and the people that work for us are not those people.

886
00:53:56.160 --> 00:53:59.480
If they ask you very kindly to take a deeper look

887
00:53:59.480 --> 00:54:01.040
at something on one of your posts,

888
00:54:01.040 --> 00:54:02.440
hey, you might wanna look at this,

889
00:54:02.440 --> 00:54:04.280
or what they're saying is,

890
00:54:04.280 --> 00:54:06.480
hey, I discern something's off.

891
00:54:10.320 --> 00:54:12.500
I went to a wedding, this person was a client,

892
00:54:12.500 --> 00:54:14.400
but they were also a dear friend.

893
00:54:14.400 --> 00:54:16.700
And you guys, the entire time I was at that wedding,

894
00:54:16.700 --> 00:54:18.580
I was just cringing inside,

895
00:54:18.580 --> 00:54:21.540
because I could discern that the man that she was marrying,

896
00:54:21.540 --> 00:54:24.580
who had been an addict in the past,

897
00:54:24.580 --> 00:54:26.860
was not over his addictive personality,

898
00:54:26.860 --> 00:54:28.220
he wasn't delivered from it.

899
00:54:28.220 --> 00:54:30.780
I could see it in his eyes when he talked to me,

900
00:54:30.780 --> 00:54:32.580
I could discern what was happening,

901
00:54:32.580 --> 00:54:33.780
and I just had to sit there.

902
00:54:33.780 --> 00:54:36.980
It was a beautiful wedding, she was a beautiful bride,

903
00:54:36.980 --> 00:54:39.180
and that marriage didn't even last a year.

904
00:54:42.460 --> 00:54:44.460
It's very difficult, you guys,

905
00:54:44.460 --> 00:54:46.480
to be sometimes in the seat.

906
00:54:47.500 --> 00:54:49.020
And that might be true of you,

907
00:54:49.020 --> 00:54:50.980
at your workplace or in your ministry,

908
00:54:51.420 --> 00:54:54.220
and what you do at your spiritual community or whatever.

909
00:54:54.220 --> 00:54:56.660
And so we really have to take seriously

910
00:54:56.660 --> 00:54:57.820
the gift of discernment.

911
00:54:59.060 --> 00:55:00.380
So here's another example.

912
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:03.000
And this has happened to me so many times, you guys.

913
00:55:03.000 --> 00:55:05.000
This is a really great example.

914
00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:07.000
But you're about to sign a lease, okay?

915
00:55:07.000 --> 00:55:11.000
You're about to sign a contract of some sort.

916
00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:12.000
Okay, let's just say it is a lease.

917
00:55:12.000 --> 00:55:14.000
Let's say it's a lease or a mortgage.

918
00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:16.000
You're about to buy a house or something.

919
00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:18.000
And everything seems great.

920
00:55:18.000 --> 00:55:19.000
It's affordable.

921
00:55:19.000 --> 00:55:20.000
It's cute.

922
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:21.000
You know, it seems like a blessing, like,

923
00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:25.000
oh, wow, I can't believe that I'm going to have this car

924
00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:28.000
or this house or this whatever it is.

925
00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:32.000
But something in your spirit is unsettled.

926
00:55:32.000 --> 00:55:35.000
And it's not anxiety.

927
00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:38.000
It's discernment.

928
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:47.000
The Holy Spirit is alerting you that something is not right with this.

929
00:55:47.000 --> 00:55:49.000
Okay, every time it's been like a place, like,

930
00:55:49.000 --> 00:55:51.000
of course I own my own house now, and my house is amazing,

931
00:55:51.000 --> 00:55:53.000
and it's a blessing.

932
00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:57.000
But the apartments and things that I've lived in,

933
00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:01.000
the ones that I ignored that discernment and went ahead and went there,

934
00:56:01.000 --> 00:56:05.000
there was, like, some loud, violent neighbor.

935
00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:11.000
You know, something happened at all of those places when I ignored that.

936
00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:14.000
Okay.

937
00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:17.000
Say you meet a new group of friends.

938
00:56:17.000 --> 00:56:18.000
Say you meet a new friend.

939
00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:20.000
I've met, you know, I'm a pretty friendly person,

940
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:22.000
so I meet people a lot.

941
00:56:23.000 --> 00:56:27.000
And then if they invite you to go deeper into relationship, right,

942
00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:30.000
maybe they invite you into a friend circle.

943
00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:34.000
Maybe you get, you know, you go to a new church,

944
00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:36.000
and you join a small group.

945
00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:38.000
And everything on the outside seems great.

946
00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:40.000
Everyone loves Jesus.

947
00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:42.000
Everyone's deeply emotional.

948
00:56:42.000 --> 00:56:45.000
But something in your spirit says, hey, this is, you know,

949
00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:48.000
this is not a safe place.

950
00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:53.000
And once again, you have a healed heart.

951
00:56:53.000 --> 00:56:55.000
And then pretty soon, if you keep going forward,

952
00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:57.000
you see that people are gossiping.

953
00:56:57.000 --> 00:57:02.000
There's all kinds of drama and stuff in that friend group.

954
00:57:02.000 --> 00:57:06.000
You guys, I will tell you one way, without even the spirit of discernment,

955
00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:09.000
one way to see that really quickly is if you're talking to people

956
00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:13.000
and they're already talking about other people as you're getting to know them,

957
00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:17.000
even if it seems really innocent and it seems really like, you know,

958
00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:20.000
not a big deal.

959
00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:23.000
And also, if you're just getting to know someone

960
00:57:23.000 --> 00:57:25.000
and they don't have good boundaries,

961
00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:28.000
they're asking you very deeply personal questions,

962
00:57:28.000 --> 00:57:32.000
like they're trying to create a really deep emotional connection with you

963
00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:34.000
very quickly by telling you their story,

964
00:57:34.000 --> 00:57:37.000
even if it's their quote-unquote testimony.

965
00:57:37.000 --> 00:57:39.000
You guys, you can bet your bottom dollar

966
00:57:39.000 --> 00:57:41.000
that's going to be an unhealthy relationship.

967
00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:45.000
And I'm talking about friends right now.

968
00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:49.000
I'm not talking about the opposite sex.

969
00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:53.000
You can bet your bottom dollar that that is not going to be

970
00:57:53.000 --> 00:57:56.000
a relationship with good boundaries

971
00:57:56.000 --> 00:58:00.000
because they're already showing you that they don't have them.

972
00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:02.000
And the last thing you want to do, friends,

973
00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:08.000
is get all entangled in some dysfunctional friendship.

974
00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:11.000
In fact, I'm going to do a deep friendship probably not next Saturday.

975
00:58:11.000 --> 00:58:13.000
Next Saturday, you're going to have David Dorman.

976
00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:16.000
He's going to be teaching you guys some really powerful stuff

977
00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:17.000
that's been on his heart.

978
00:58:17.000 --> 00:58:20.000
He really wants to come and do Supernatural Saturday,

979
00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:23.000
and so I'm really excited for you guys to have my husband here.

980
00:58:23.000 --> 00:58:25.000
He's very wise.

981
00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:27.000
And then business opportunities, friends,

982
00:58:27.000 --> 00:58:29.000
those of you that are in business,

983
00:58:29.000 --> 00:58:32.000
if you're about to say yes but you feel an internal no

984
00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:35.000
that you can't shake, even though it seems like a total blessing,

985
00:58:35.000 --> 00:58:38.000
answer prayer, there's money connected to it,

986
00:58:38.000 --> 00:58:42.000
please, please just pay attention, okay?

987
00:58:42.000 --> 00:58:45.000
There could be something unethical happening that you're not aware of.

988
00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:46.000
There could be something.

989
00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:48.000
I know one woman who didn't take a job

990
00:58:48.000 --> 00:58:52.000
because it seemed like such a great job and she really, really wanted it.

991
00:58:52.000 --> 00:58:55.000
And you guys, sometimes God will close doors, and that's awesome.

992
00:58:55.000 --> 00:58:57.000
But sometimes you're going to have to say no.

993
00:58:57.000 --> 00:59:00.000
We can't just be like, well, God, if this is not for me, just say no.

994
00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:05.000
No, ask for the spirit of discernment so you can say no.

995
00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:08.000
He doesn't want you to be a little child that always has to be told no

996
00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:11.000
or have closed doors or have baby gates.

997
00:59:11.000 --> 00:59:13.000
He wants to take those baby gates down

998
00:59:13.000 --> 00:59:16.000
so that you can navigate things with the spirit of discernment.

999
00:59:16.000 --> 00:59:19.000
You can be mature and be grown up.

1000
00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:21.000
But anyway, she didn't take the job.

1001
00:59:21.000 --> 00:59:24.000
She ended up taking another job even though it wasn't as shiny,

1002
00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:27.000
didn't pay as much, but she felt at peace about it.

1003
00:59:27.000 --> 00:59:32.000
Six months later, you guys, the first place went out of business.

1004
00:59:32.000 --> 00:59:36.000
The other place, the better-looking job on the outside went out of business.

1005
00:59:36.000 --> 00:59:39.000
So these are practical ways where the spirit of discernment

1006
00:59:39.000 --> 00:59:41.000
can be really important, okay?

1007
00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:44.000
So did anyone learn anything today? I hope you did.

1008
00:59:44.000 --> 00:59:48.000
I definitely want to continue to operate in the spirit of discernment.

1009
00:59:48.000 --> 00:59:51.000
And sometimes as you're practicing any new thing, you guys,

1010
00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:55.000
as this gift comes to your life, and remember, you receive and you believe.

1011
00:59:55.000 --> 00:59:57.000
You believe and you receive. I'm sorry.

1012
00:59:57.000 --> 00:59:59.000
You believe by faith and you receive.

1013
01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:03.000
Bible says that you should covet earnestly the gifts.

1014
01:00:03.000 --> 01:00:04.480
It says to ask God for them.

1015
01:00:04.480 --> 01:00:07.480
So you ask and you believe you receive and you have.

1016
01:00:07.480 --> 01:00:09.320
And so you begin to operate in it.

1017
01:00:09.320 --> 01:00:12.280
When you go into situations, you say to Holy Spirit,

1018
01:00:12.280 --> 01:00:14.760
help me discern what's really happening here.

1019
01:00:14.760 --> 01:00:16.000
It's how you practice it.

1020
01:00:17.840 --> 01:00:20.760
Start practicing, all right, friends?

1021
01:00:20.760 --> 01:00:21.800
All right, Father God, we thank you

1022
01:00:21.800 --> 01:00:24.020
that you have given us these gifts

1023
01:00:24.020 --> 01:00:26.080
to help advance your kingdom,

1024
01:00:26.080 --> 01:00:28.280
to help advance our own lives in your kingdom.

1025
01:00:28.280 --> 01:00:30.440
And so, Lord, we thank you for the gifts.

1026
01:00:30.440 --> 01:00:32.760
We thank you, Lord, that you're leading and guiding us

1027
01:00:32.760 --> 01:00:34.120
by your Holy Spirit.

1028
01:00:34.120 --> 01:00:35.880
We thank you, Lord, for your love for us.

1029
01:00:35.880 --> 01:00:38.760
We thank you, Lord, that we are a powerful people,

1030
01:00:38.760 --> 01:00:40.240
that we are your people,

1031
01:00:40.240 --> 01:00:42.360
that we have been built on your rock

1032
01:00:42.360 --> 01:00:44.800
and the gates of hell cannot prevail against us.

1033
01:00:44.800 --> 01:00:47.360
And so, Lord, help us to discern between the demonic,

1034
01:00:47.360 --> 01:00:49.020
between our own fleshly desires,

1035
01:00:49.020 --> 01:00:52.640
and between your kingdom and your way and your will

1036
01:00:52.640 --> 01:00:54.960
that's always the best for all of our lives.

1037
01:00:54.960 --> 01:00:56.560
In Jesus' name, amen.

1038
01:00:56.560 --> 01:00:57.960
Love you guys, see you soon.