This gift of distinguishing between spirits gives us the ability to know whether the wisdom or knowledge we receive is from the Holy Spirit or from a spirit that means harm, an evil spirit.Do you believe that evil manifests in the world today? If your answer to that question is yes, then how do you think it happens? It happens through spirits that are not of God! Actions produced by evil include anything that doesn't fall under the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Put Bluntly, these include anything that leads you or someone else to sin.
In Acts 9, after Ananias went to Saul and restored his sight, Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. He began to preach Jesus as the Son of God, and everyone was amazed at his preaching because he had persecuted the Jews so badly. A group of Jews made plans to kill him, but some of his followers got him out of Damascus one night by putting him in a basket lowering the basket through a hole in the city wall.He then went to Jerusalem, but the disciples there didn’t trust him. Barnabas, acting under the gift of discernment of spirits, recognized the Spirit of God within Saul and spoke on his behalf to the disciples. This opened the way for Saul to begin preaching in Jerusalem.
Barnabas had no physical way of knowing that Saul was a changed man. The only way he could believe that Saul was now acting as an agent of God was through the power of the Holy Spirit. Why didn’t all the believers receive that knowledge from the Holy Spirit? Because as 1 Corinthians 12:11 states, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”
The Holy Spirit gives gifts as directed by God and are meant to work together for the good of the Church and God’s Kingdom. Saul, who began using the Greek version of his name, Paul, in Acts 13, deserved the doubts of the believers. He had been the hitman for the Jews working with the authority of Rome. Satan does his best work through lies and deceptions, so it makes sense that he would use Saul to trick believers.
If any of you follow any United Methodist News, then you know that this has been a busy week. General Conference has been postponed again until the next scheduled conference in 2024. The Global Methodist Church that had planned to launch in the Fall as a landing place for churches who choose to withdraw has moved the date up to this May. The United Methodist Women began using the “doing business as” name, United Women in Faith.What does any, or all, of this mean for us? Honestly, I don’t know.Here’s what I do know. Everyone who spouts pious phrases isn’t necessarily a genuine teacher for Christ. There are those within all the groups I just mentioned who spout pious phrases but whom the Holy Spirit is giving me warnings. However, there are also those within all of the groups who, the Holy Spirit tells me, are working through the Holy Spirit.The morning after all of the announcements and changes came down, I woke up with a bible verse in my thoughts. Psalm 46:10, Be still and know that I am God.I meditated on that verse as I did my devotional and prayer time. Reading our Bishop’s announcement of the delay confirmed to me what the Holy Spirit was telling me.
So, that said, my pastoral advice to you is Be still and know that God is in control. In this situation and in life, don’t make any decisions until we know more about what is happening.Often, people make snap decisions based on feelings brought on by spirits that are not of God.
Yes, sometimes you have to make a quick decision because there is no time to think it out thoroughly. However, you can almost always take time to see what the consequences of the decision will bring. Does it bring the fruits of the Spirit? There are a lot of statements and posts about all of the announcements this week that are instilling fear. Remember what I said last week. Fear is not of God.
So often, even those of us that are in church most every Sunday listen to that evil spirit that says, “Oh, you can read your bible when you have more time!” “You can wait until later and say that prayer or give God time to speak to you.” “Oh, you can continue in this little sin; no one is going to notice or know.”
The closer you are to God, the more you stay in His Word, the more you will recognize the true Spirit of God and the more gifts the Holy Spirit will bestow on you.
John 2:24-35
Psalm 46:10