The gift of discernment

There has been a very solemn presence from the Lord. And I recognize that obviously we do have our sorrows, we have our afflictions, but the most beautiful thing we can experience in moments like this is the mere fact of being able to experience the peace of God in our midst.

And I emphasize the fact, I want to reiterate, the fact that was mentioned in the prayer time that the peace of the Lord does not necessarily mean the absence of the situations that we may be experiencing, but rather refers to the presence of something greater in the midst of those situations. And that something greater is the presence of God that stabilizes, so to speak, our entire inner being so that we can cope with whatever is overwhelming us now.

So if there's anything you can get with this first part, get that. In the midst of circumstances, the Lord is the one who is there in your midst. He has not left you alone, He has not left you alone so that you can experience that inner peace that you need to be able to face whatever comes your way. Amen.

And Lord, I ask you now that this brief reflection that I want to share with my brothers, Lord, I know that it comes from you and is very appropriate for this time, so I ask that you use it so that this inspires my brothers and sisters in moving forward, I ask you please in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Brothers, I am going to ask you a question. How many of you can believe that there are 30 days left for 2010 to end? I see their faces, it's like uuuuf. How many of you believe that time has gone, this year I was going 100 miles per hour and who knows if more. A lot of things have happened this year, right? If you look at it, since January 2010 you can say, wow, a lot has happened. Good things have happened, hard things have happened, strong things have happened, just as some of us have experienced glorious things. It may be that some of us are still, as they say, on standby, like I haven't seen anything happen yet, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

And thinking about this, I got scared myself, I said to myself, wow, how fast time has gone. But I was saying to myself, wow, Lord, this is the time where people kind of start to reflect on the wishes that they have, there are some who start to make their Christmas gift lists and things like that. Some start working on their resolutions for the coming year. Others may continue resolutions that have been started.

But I want to share something with you tonight that is very important. I always have something important to share. But today I want to talk about a particular gift that I want you to add to your list. And it is the gift of discernment. That is what I want to talk to you about today, about discernment.

This is a gift that all of us should have, aspire, desire, from the depths of our being and I am going to explain why. First of all, let me define what discernment is. I'm sure most of us here understand what discernment is, but I just want to throw a few things in there.

If I define discernment according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, it defines it as follows: distinguish something from something else, pointing out the difference between them. That is the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.

Now, but look at how the Bible defines it: the Bible defines it this way, it talks about distinguishing, it talks about understanding, it talks about looking closely, it talks about perceiving whether the actions, words, or motivations of something or someone are of divine origin, of ugly origin, or of human origin, so to speak. Three different dimensions.

Look at some biblical references that I found where discernment is discussed. I will mention only a few. And one of them is a passage that is well known that is in First Samuel, Chapter 3, verse 8. Do you remember when God began to call Samuel, the prophet Samuel, that Samuel did not know him yet, although he worked in worship and in the work of the things of the temple. He started calling him and the first two times what did Samuel do. Samuel got up thinking who was calling him? That Eli was calling him. He went to Eli and no, go lie down, I didn't call you. At the third round what happened? When Samuel gets up and comes to Eli, look at what the text says:

"... And he got up and Eli came and said, "Here I am, why have you called me?, and he says, Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the young man..."

That word understood implies that Eli discerned that it was obviously not him but God who was calling, who was getting Samuel's attention.

Another passage that is also well known has to do with the character of Solomon, in First Kings, Chapter 3. When God appears to Solomon in a dream and it was Solomon's turn to assume the throne of his father, David, God You introduce yourself and say, "Ask me for anything you want me to do for you," right? Solomon responds to God, he says, look, he says:

“.. . Therefore, give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people and to discern between good and bad, because who will be able to govern this people of yours…”

To discern. The story of Nehemiah is one that I really like. Nehemiah Chapter 6, you begin to see this story of kings who were opposed to the idea that the walls of Jerusalem be rebuilt and began to send messages to Nehemiah, as if to say, threats, like, ah, come we'll meet you to talk, but what they wanted to do was eliminate Nehemiah. And there is a text where Nehemiah says:

"... And I understood that God had not sent them but was speaking that prophecy against me because Tobias and Sanballat had bribed them..."

So, in this case when Nehemiah says and I understood what he is saying is that I was able to discern that God was freeing me from a bribe, from me falling into a trap. So, discernment was able to distinguish a briber who was trying to trick someone.

And of course, if I think of the most interesting character of all, Jesus, in Luke, Chapter 5, verse 21 and 22, look at what they say:

“…When the scribes and the Pharisees began to cavil against Jesus saying, who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but only God? Look how it says, then Jesus knowing their thoughts…”

That knowing also implies that Jesus was able to discern what these people were thinking, he was able to read their thoughts.

My brothers, look, I want to leave you tonight with this idea, because here I believe that I am going to start something that can cut a lot here. But my wish is that, like these stories that I have read and many others as well, that we can incorporate into our prayer time, or into our prayer requests, that God gives us discernment.

Yes, I know that you can pray for many other things, but if today there is something that we as Christians need, it is discernment. Precisely all these things that we have been experiencing these days, look, 4 deaths in a matter of a week, that is, that is something that one likes, wow, wait, this hits one hard. And many times instead of sinking into the bitterness or pain of the situation, why don't we say, Lord, give me discernment so I can understand everything that is happening around me.

We can hear news from relatives that their health situation is worsening or things like that. We ourselves, in our own lives, there are times when things happen that are like, wow, wait, and where did this come from? We have to discern.

As a church, my brothers, look, I am going to share with you a request as a pastor or not, a request, a feeling, rather. We all know that so many prophetic words have been said here in this church that God wants to do something with this church, right? That there is something that God is doing, there is a move of God that he is doing or that is coming into our lives. We've heard it from the pastor, we've heard it from me, outsiders have come and talked about those messages here, and we say amen to that.

But have you ever stopped and thought, Lord, what does this imply? What does all those words imply because they sound very nice to our ears. It sounds like music to our ears, but what does it imply? And when one begins to think in those terms, one is already saying, Lord, give me discernment so that I can understand how that word applies to my life so that I can exercise my role as part of this church.

Because look, if a word is given like that in the church, hello, as I always tell you, who is the church? We are the church. The church is not the pastors, the church is not the ones who lead the praise. Well, yes we are, but we are not the only ones, we are part of the church. So when we hear a word like that, my brothers, we have to ask God for discernment to know how to flow in that word of God.

What's more, when one hears those words like that, one even has to ask God for discernment to know if that word is genuine from him or not, or if it is not the formulation of some human desire or something like that. It is as if I came here suddenly and had the air of a prophet and told Fabio, Fabio, the wife you are with now is not the one God has for you. You have to marry someone else. Look, you grab me by the neck and kick me out of here. Please don't let that happen, even though I seem to be the most anointed prophet of all.

But yes, my brothers, it is important for us to ask what? Because? I'm going to tell you why? Several things that I will mention. Write them down there, so you can think about them later. Why do we need discernment? Number 1, to understand the will of God. God's will concerning what? Number 1, the times that we're living in right now. We have to understand the times in which we are living.

Romans 13:11 says, “…do all these things…I was talking about loving your neighbor…do all this being aware of the time in which you are living, that it is time for you to wake up from sleep because our salvation is now closer than when Initially we thought…”

We have to be well aware of the times. Ephesians 5:15 to 17 says:

"... So be careful in your way of living, do not live like fools but like wise men making the most of every time, every opportune moment because the days are bad..."

And Colossians Chapter 4 verse 5 says:

"... Behave wisely with those who do not believe in Christ, making the most of every opportune moment, every time, that your conversation is always pleasant and in good taste so you will know how to respond to each one...."

In the times we live in, my brothers, we have to learn to discern. Just because I have an evangelist's guide doesn't mean that I'm going to go to the first person I meet on the street and I'm going to say, repent right now because otherwise you're going to hell. And I know that some who have the gift of doing that do it better than me and people end up converting and giving their lives to the Lord. But not everyone does it that way.

There are times that if one knows the person that one has to have discernment, Lord, help me to discern to know how to turn around and hook the person. We must also ask for discernment to understand the eternal designs and purposes of God. What do I mean by this?

Interesting. Right now we were talking about this, well, praying about this. We have this faith, this hope that those who have gone to dwell with the Lord before us that we will hope to see them again. That is part of our faith. That is part of our reason why we believe in Christ. Because we have hope, we have the promise that we are going to meet our loved ones, that we are going to live for eternal life together with God. That the end times are approaching, and I know that they are a very large and broad subject and very difficult to grasp on one side. But the mere fact that those times are drawing near, that the Lord is closer now than before, and it may be that there are people who tell me, oh, Pastor Omar, I have been hearing that since… but look, I believe it. It may take 5, 10, 20 more years but it's closer, it's closer.

There may be some of you here who may not see it, but the generations that come after you are going to see it. And precisely for this reason one has to ask God for discernment concerning how to live in light of that reality as well. And that doesn't mean, as the Scripture also says, it doesn't mean that ah, I'm going to stop working, I'm going to stop doing things because Christ is coming soon so I'm going to throw myself to die. No, that's not it either. Ask God for discernment concerning his eternal designs and purposes.

Number 2: you have to ask God for discernment concerning decision making. It is a very important thing. We must ask God for discernment concerning decision making. Look, I could list a multitude of examples concerning this, but I'm not going to list them all because I know you're imagining them right now.

But we need to be discerning concerning decisions we have to make. If you make decisions on the go, lightly, your headaches will be more than if you had stopped and asked the Lord, Lord, help me understand this decision that lies ahead? Am I doing it on my own whim? Am I doing it on someone else's whim? Or am I doing it on your whim? Why are you moving me to do this?

We have to discern, my brothers. I want to buy a house and I'm about to sign the papers, as it were, but your credit is good, do you think, do you have job security that you'll be able to pay that in 30, 40 years, whatever? We have to know how to discern. I don't feel comfortable in this church. I want to go to another. Are you discerning? That's what you are? If the problem is the church, if the problem is you?

Do you make decisions concerning your personal life? Do you make decisions concerning your family? Do you make decisions concerning your business? Furthermore, do you make decisions concerning your calling and your ministry? I want to do something new in my ministry. Discern, is it God's time for you to do something new? Either you have to take some time, a little more, or if it is the time to do something new, then you have to discern, ok, Lord, give me the strategy, the tools to know how to talk with so-and-so, and so-and-so, so that I can then incorporate these things. You have to discern.

Look, we need discernment to know how to minister or serve someone. Knowing when to go and knock on someone's door, knowing when to speak a seasoned, well-timed word to a person. We need to know when is the best opportune time to give someone a glass of water or not. we need discernment to know how to receive or deal with the words or actions of other people towards us. That's another one, too.

Many times this happens to us when people want to speak to us in a prophetic sense, and they say, look, Felix, the Lord tells you like this, like this, like this and like this. Felix has the responsibility to do the following, the problem is not just the person who is saying it. Felix has the responsibility to apply what the first of Thessalonians says, Chapter 5, verse 21:

“…examine everything, retain the good, discard the bad…”

A mature Christian does that. Because it is not that we are going to say amen and yes to any word they give us. One has to learn how to listen, ok, we are going to analyze, we are going to evaluate this. Lord, is this a word that you are saying to me at a good time in my life? Do I have to pay attention? I'm going to keep some parts, others I'm going to leave, like who says, on standby? One has to learn how to discern those things as well, how to proceed with each of those things.

And look, lastly, I'm going to say this. One has to learn to be discerning in order to protect our lives and our families from what I call the deceiving subliminality of the enemy through the society in which we are living. That sounded great, right? The deceiving subliminality of the enemy through the society in which we are living.

In good Spanish that we can understand, we have to learn to protect ourselves from the machinations of the enemy in very sublime ways that try to divert us by other ideas, by other philosophies of life, which may seem, as the proverb says, to man his path leads It looks good, but its end is...

There are so many things, my brothers, so many things that we have to discern today. And look, unfortunately, I dare to say this. Unfortunately many times to all of us, including this person, that filter, we sort of remove it and things like that go away and we act, make decisions, think without truly processing things as God commands us to do.

Look, discernment obviously does speak, if I think of one of the most well-known verses, which is First Corinthians 12 when it is talking about discernment as part of that conglomerate of gifts that is imparted through the Holy Spirit, right? But I direct you to an even better verse. First Corinthians, Chapter 2, I'm going to close with this, I promise you, I promise. First Corinthians Chapter 2, read with me from verse 9 on. Open your Bibles, discern where First Corinthians, Chapter 2 is, look how it says:

"... Rather as it is written, things that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered the heart of man, are what God has prepared for those who love him..."

That sounds pretty nice, right? I like that.

“…. But God revealed them to us through the spirit because the spirit searches everything even the depths of God because who of men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man that is in him. Likewise, no one knew the things of God except the spirit of God. And we have not received the spirit of the world but the spirit that comes from God so that we know what God has granted us, which we also speak not with words taught with human wisdom, but with those that the spirit teaches, accommodating the spiritual to the spiritual and this is where the punch line is,... in verse 14... because the natural man does not perceive the things that are the spirit of God because for him they are madness and he cannot understand them, because they have to be discerned spiritually..."

Now, let me break this passage up for you like this. Imagine that the Holy Spirit is the… this is going to be a very strange illustration, but… let me put it this way, the Holy Spirit is the reporter of God, he knows all the things that are in the heart of God. It is the spy, the one who is there in the CIA, the intelligence center of heaven, so to speak, it is the Holy Spirit. That one gets into the hard drive of the heart of God and discovers all the inner secrets of God and doesn't stay with them, as it says? How does it say? And we have not received the spirit of the world but the spirit that comes from God so that we know what God has given us.

Look, there is something right now in the heart of God that God has already granted for you. There is something already. Put the stamp on it, right now. In this time of prayer, in this time of praise that we have had today, there is something that God has already granted for your life. What is missing now, is as I always say, it is as if God told us, now, that's for me to know and for you to find out.

How can we know then? Hey, there is that secret agent. The Holy Spirit of God who does us the favor of letting us know the gossip that is in the heart of God, that is what I was going to say right now. And it came out however I wanted. The one who tells us the gossip of God, the Holy Spirit tells us the gossip that is in the heart of God for each one of us. So if you want to find out about the best gossip in the world, connect with the spirit of God so that you know what is in the heart of God.

Don't go and listen to the comai, please. Hey better compadre. Look, my brothers, this text for me is so inspiring. How many times have you found yourself praying, saying, Lord, I want to know what you have for me, right? Do we pray a lot in that way? Look, my brothers, the answer is there. The answer is given. We only have to open our antennae, put them upright and say, look, Lord, you have decreed it, you already know it, your spirit knows it, and you have not given me any other spirit than yours, So, hey, send that Holy Spirit to let me know what you want.

Now, but my brothers, for us to be able to understand that, apply discernment to it because this human mind is so, so contaminated by so many things that it could be that God is speaking to us day after day letting us know things and things and things, but we are so and so distorted as if there is something there that is not working well, that we start to think, oh, no, that's me. That was a crazy idea that occurred to me there, that can't be God.

Look, you know this song “King of Glory” that we've been singing recently, you know what my favorite part of that song is? I'm going to tell a secret of mine now, it's the verse that says, my conscience reminds me that I need your forgiveness.

How many of you listen to your conscience? You know what? I am convinced today more than ever that my conscience is the little voice of God that lets me know what he has in his heart for me. And there are times when my conscience can be a little in the middle, like wrong, but I am sure that God continues speaking there.

So, my brothers, as we approach the end of this year, 2010, don't forget to include discernment in your gift list. Those are the gifts, right? Are gifts not gifts? Hey, ask for that gift, instead of asking for the Wii to dance in front of the TV. Ask for discernment. Instead of asking for the new coffee machine…. That you put in and the automatic coffee comes out. Ask for discernment. Let's stand up.

Instead of asking Pastor Omar to finish, ask for discernment to see if it is God's time for me to finish or not. no, I can discern that very well.

Father, I thank you for this time that we have had tonight to be able to be before your presence, Lord, and to listen to your word and to rest in you, Lord. We know that you have all our requests in your heart, you have them well present for each one of us. So, my God, as we have heard this word, we ask you to give us discernment, Lord, today more than ever we need to discern your movement in the midst of our lives.

So, Father, fill us, direct us, help us to be able to know your designs in the midst of our lives. And Father, that above all things when you speak to us, when you begin to reveal those things that are in your heart, my God, that we do not give up, that we do not back down, but that we can answer yes and amen To all the things that you have in the midst of our lives. We thank you, Lord, for this time tonight and to you, my God, we commend our lives, in Jesus' name. We bless you God. Amen and amen.