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You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand discernment. We have people call up every single week talking about discernment, and it's an important question and each case may pose a different look at the word and the action of discernment. But today I want you to think about the day to day circumstances that you have to judge, both spiritual and physical, and how to fine tune yourself to that place of good discernment, that place of having the sense of an old cow and eating the hay and leaving
the sticks. Sometimes it's it's not always as cut and dry as you'd like, And to develop the ability to sift through things is a it's a great tool. So today I want to talk about what scripture has to say about discernment. Often, discernment is talked about in scripture as judging, having the wherewithal to make a decision between two or more options or things. But that word judge or judgment takes on a negative connotation sometimes and people
get the word confused. One Corinthians two fifteen says, but he that is spiritual judges all things. Matthew seven to one says, judge not lest you be judged and people get caught up in that, and the believer looks around and says, okay, I'm not supposed to judge. And unfortunately the world looks at this and they remember only the parts of scripture that they can use in some sort of defense of their own ways and actions. They remember this and they say, look, see it says, don't judge.
But you need to learn to know the difference when scripture uses the word judgment and how it's meant. Does it mean discernment or does it mean criticism? The Late Great New Testament scholar F. F. Bruce pen this judgment is an ambiguous word in Greek, as it is in English. It may mean sitting in judgment on people or even condemning them, or it may mean exercising a proper discrimination. In the former sense, judgment is depreciated. In the latter sense,
it is recommended. So knowing the difference of when to of what discerning is, and if you're in judgment or in criticism versus you're actually analyzing a situation, discerning when something is good for you or bad for you, or good for the situation or bad for the situation. You need to look deep into things it's very easy to get to that place where where you kind of just look at the surface. You concern your things yourself with the things that are our surface or topical, rather than
digging deep. Tewod Corinthians ten to seven warns against this. It says that you are looking only at the surface of things that doesn't have benefit. John seven twenty fours is stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment, implying there that a right judgment is not made simply
by appearance. That's when judgement becomes a problem, when it's it's you only looking at the the most surface part of the issue and making a judgment, trying to jump to a quick conclusion, rather than really understanding what's taking place and why. And this becomes a huge part of discernment,
understanding and making that conclusion or judging things properly. You know this by testing things, by examining everything as first Thessalonians five twenty one says, examine everything carefully, hold fast to that which is good. We talk about that constantly on the program to test all things, holding fast to
that which is good. It's okay to examine, to probe, to ask questions, even about your own faith, because in doing so, it shows one its value and that you care about it enough to know the question to be curious. But two, it's it's you not just giving into the surface. As John seven said, You're not judging by mere appearance. You're trying to make the right decision and the right judgment, and that comes from examining everything, looking at all sides.
How many times on this very program does someone call up about a job situation that's a tough decision, and oftentimes there's moving involved, more money involve, less money involved, changes to the family lifestyle. These things should all be looked at when you want to come to a conclusion or using proper discernment as to what that decision should be. Good discernment, although can be craft at ability that can be honed for speed or to be more efficient. That
it shouldn't be something you rush into. Just like looking at the appearance of something or scratching at the surface of a concern a situation, you don't want to rush into things. Proverbs nineteen two says that it's not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way, because these things are important. Every little bit of an issue is part of what you should be looking at, examining is this knowledge so important? Why
is taking the time so important? Because ignorance can bring destruction. It's not just a lack of knowledge. Ignorance is the absence of more tools that knowledge that will help you make the proper decisions that will help you through that road of discernment. Hoseiah four to six is my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, that kind of ignorance that leads you to a bad decision, or leads you down a bad road or something not healthy or productive.
It is what you are trying to steer away from. When you deal with discernment, you're dealing with getting all of the information you can, ping it in front of you and examining it, not being surfaced, but going below and truly analyzing and dissecting what's beneficial for you, what's beneficial for the whole, for the family, for the group or community. Even when people start to separate themselves and
just think selfishly, is when greater problems arise. The things that I command of you, or request or even demand in scripture are not just to be some sort of
control freak. It really comes down to knowing what's best for you, knowing what's best for the whole, and asking you to participate in these things or not to participate, as the case may be, so that so that you can be a part of the whole, not in some strange metaphysical sense, but truly knowing that you are to communicate worship with one another, spend time with one another, and even be held responsible for the decisions each person makes.
This is why discernment is so powerful, so potent, so important. Don't get lost in just your way. In this sense, in Hoseiah that an entire people are destroyed due to lack of knowledge, true discernment becomes most valuable. The importance of discernment cannot be understated, nor can it be overstated. The importance of being able to discern how you deal with any situation or any decision or choice in life
is important. However, often people will look beyond scripture and not really understand that the majority of your decisions can be understood and applied to the things of Scripture. It's funny how God does that right, and throughout scripture it points to ways and understanding and tools to be used when discerning. Don't look at the surface things. Don't judge by appearance. Test everything, hold fast to that which is true, which you can know. Judge using your spiritual knowledge based
on scripture. Know the difference between judgment as far as criticism versus judgment, as far as discernment, that ignorance can bring destructure. So to educate, educate yourself, show yourself approved is imperative. True discernment is is kind of a big picture thing, not just what's in front of you, but observing everything around you. This is an interesting verse. Matthew sixteen three says, and in the morning there will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.
Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? And this, this verse is asking you to pull away from from just those things that you're seeing or understanding, and using them as tools to understand the bigger picture, not just the storm in front of you, but what the season is or the sign of the times, often a reference to things that are to come. And you're to discern
things by God's standards. You know the difference to immerse yourself in God's word is the key John eight fifteen sixteen. You judge by human standards. But if I do judge, my decisions are right because I am not alone. I stand with the Father who sent me. I have much to say in the judgment of you, but he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him.
I tell the world that relationship of understanding between that which you read and known scripture, and that how that in which you use to apply to everyday life scripture will help guide you into discernment Hebrews four to twelve. Well, the Word of God is living in active. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Eric, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show.
Yes, hello, I've got a very serious question for you.
Okay, I'll give you a very serious answer.
What is the meaning of our being here? And the reason I'm asking that is I ran to a crisis, lost everything that I had. I had a business, had a nice truck, I had lots of toys, everything like that. It all went down. So I was just like, what am I going to do now? So what I ended up doing I talked to an old friend of mine, came back to where I grew up, and I tried to start a charity to help save the lives of
dogs and cats. Fifteen thousand are being utilized every year, and nationwide it's three or four million every year, and these are innocent lives. So I tried to certin charity, you know, to try to change that, and I got such a negative response from people. It just shocked me.
What what do you mean by negative response?
I talked to people on the phone and they said they empathized with the situation, but they did nothing to help me help these animals. So, I mean, I ended up having to shut it down, get a job, and I've been struggling ever since to just try to make, you know, a living for myself while this is going on. So what I'm wondering is, I mean, I totally devoted everything that I had to stop this evil that's going on, and I got absolutely no support from anybody.
Well, I mean, there's a lot of charities and a lot of good causes out there, wouldn't you agree here?
Of course?
Okay, there's a lot of and people are bombarded by them on a daily basis, and many people have already through the maturity their decisions had in their lives have. You know, they already have charities that they work with or and sometimes they can't do anything. And something that is your passion may not be other people's passions as well. And the whole point I would imagine the purpose of doing this is not only to stop it, but to make people aware of it so that it eventually stops
as well. So it's not like just making it stop in that one moment. It's that building awareness is part of the purpose of any charity work or anything that is noble is to build that awareness first. And there's no one around saying that you didn't do that. As far as the meaning of life, and I know that that was your first question, but it was more of a segue into your life situation. I will tell you this,
it's quite simple, Eric. The meaning of life is to use your gifts and abilities along lines of excellence to the edification of yourself and the edification of into the glory of God. That's it. And that doesn't say anything about success. That doesn't say anything about you're going to make money, and it doesn't make anything say any of that.
It just means you're called to utilize those gifts and abilities in a way that's beneficial to yourself and to others in a healthy way, and that it glorifies God.
So how do I project that to other people? I mean, we're talking about something that's a very serious problem, and it's something that people can help with, but.
They choose not to.
And it's I mean, how can you see something that horrible and not do something about it? I know, I know people have their own limitations, but the response I was getting was so discouraging. It was just unbelievable.
How many charities do you donate to?
Eric? Myself? I don't have the means right now to do that.
Okay, so they may not have the means either.
Well, that's that's not true. I mean in terms of the people.
I mean, I e, how many how many charities do you donate your time to?
Eric? Well at the well? I full time to the one I started?
Okay. So there's there's there's limitations in all things. And I know that people get on their pet causes and this is your focus and it should be and you should be passionate about it and you should want to see things done. But there are there are hundreds of thousands of charities, both both large and small throughout the United States, UH and the globe that need attention, and your main goal above all else is to articulate this need in a way that motivates, motivates people of like
minds or interests to participate. If you didn't do that, there's only one of two things happening. One they're not interested and won't be interested, or two you didn't aticulate it well enough for them to understand the need. So both of those can be addressed with. If the person isn't interested, you tip your hat and you move along to the next And if they are, would be interest, but you're not provoking that or lighting that fire, then you need to look at the way you're setting up
and explaining the need and what's going on. Those are the only real options. It's very easy to put it on the rest of the world and say, well, the rest of the world doesn't have love in their heart for these things. That's not true because there wouldn't be hundreds of thousands of charities to boot, there wouldn't be all these things around. You can't just you sound like you're pouting, like you didn't get it your way the
way you expected it. And I don't think that that's the healthiest way to do it.
The thing that disappointed me was just the sheer level of just non response. It was just ex floored me.
I mean, did you look to see if there was any other charities working towards that goal at all, either in the area or.
In another There are tons of them everywhere.
Then how come you didn't sign up with one of theirs? How come you didn't go and volunteer and participate in an organization that was already started Because they.
Don't go to the root of the problem. They're treating the symptom. As an example, there are people that I know that have fifteen dogs or cats in their house and try to save their lives, but doesn't stop where these animals are coming from. And so there's there's nobody out there that's really solving the problem.
But maybe they went And I'm with you on that, because there's nothing more frustrated than people putting band aids on things that need to be amputated. But Eric, the bigger concern here, Eric, is that maybe maybe they've tried going down that path. Maybe they've gone down the path
you've gone down and found it to be unproductive. And they said, Okay, we're going to work backwards now, and we're going to try and triage the situation and help where we can, and then work our way back to a better understanding.
So that people are never ending.
You know, life is that way.
Rescue organizations save two thousand animals a year in Tucson, and fifteen thousands still get killed every year and the number keeps rising.
But that's an education issue as well, because you have, you know, movies coming out that have you know, puppies in it or chihuahua's in it, and every child goes that runs out and says, mommy, daddy, I wanta dalmatian, I wanna a chihuahua, and the parents don't have the fortitude to say no, that that having an animal in your in your focus and in your care is a huge thing and it's an undertaking and it's not about they're here for you. It's about your here for them,
and it's education. But it starts at that most simple level that every time a movie comes out with animals in it, that's when you should be flying, and that's when you should be educating, that's when you should be talking. There's there's a process to it. Eric, that's powerful and that will work. All you're telling me is that the process you tried didn't work. It doesn't mean that it won't work. You know, you walk out in the middle of the movie and they all have bad endings. You
have to play this one out. And just because it didn't happen overnight doesn't mean that it won't That the problem didn't happen overnight. Eric, this is you.
Have to find a different path to the root of the problem.
Yeah. I think your passion is right on. I mean, you definitely have a passion and that passion comes from God. To be that focused, laser focused and desiring to to do something like this is huge and I commend you on that. But that doesn't mean every way you go to execute it is the right way. You see people do this all the time. People execute things poorly all the time. So you go back and you say, well, that didn't work. Whatever it was you were doing didn't work.
So now point two is uh, finding out why you think it didn't work and and go back to education. Education is always going to be the key. Uh, you know, muscling this situation is that's been growing for a long time and it's not just in Arizona, it's all over the place. So uh, trying to muscle that you're you're gonna lose. There's because ignorance is a pretty strong beast, and it's out there everywhere in hordes, and.
It goes to a fun it goes to a fundamental process. As a matter of fact, I'll pay a quick story here. I was riding my bicycle home. I stopped at a fast food place and there was a bird that was sitting on a rail and it didn't budget didn't fly away. There's obviously something wrong with it. Long story short, I was riding away and I said, I can't just leave this bird here, right, So I tried to get help. I was on a bicycle and I needed to take
this thing five miles away. I tried to stop six or seven people, even got a police officer to try to help you with this little injured animal. Even the police officer would.
Not help me because it's not it's not in their language, Eric, it's not in their language.
That But that's really what my problem.
But you're you're you're stamping your foot saying you don't believe like I do. And that's not that's not a healthier, productive way to do it. They'll look at you like your nuts. That cop is you know, on the on on call for all kinds of different things and sees heinous things every day and says, you're you're really gonna stop me to go take care of that bird right now. That's not gonna motivate anybody. You can't just stomp around and say you've got to you've got a care. That's
not how it works. You know, the the the early Church didn't go around stopping saying you have to believe. As a matter of fact, when uh, the Church in its youth had leaders, had people that that you know, were kings or leaders, governmental leaders that became Christians and then felt, oh now people have to believe and started for forcing it on people. You got pollution and polluted Christianity, which is you know, part of the garbage that exists today.
There's there, there's the pure line is is tossed out because there was so much ugliness and forcing of people to believe the Inquisition, these types of things ugly. It doesn't produce faith or Christianity. It produces an ugly heritage of forcing people to believe and you can't do that. You have to woo them with information and desire to let them see the problem, own the problem, and cure the problem. Angel. Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show.
Hello, Holy host, thank you for.
Taking my car my pleasure. What's on your mind?
Well, I don't I don't know my Bible very well. I recommitted my life to God last summer, and I did read the Bible. I read through the whole Bible this year. But you know, I believe it's going to take lots of study before I unders you know, understand it better. My question is, and I've had some friends that our non Christians asked me this, also, what is the difference between your soul and your spirit? You know, because it's used in the spiritual world and the secular world.
And I'm really curious and I really would like to know what the.
Difference is between those two. Yeah, it gets into a lot of sticky theology. So I'll go through that quickly and then point you to some scripture. Uh, the word actually translates to mean the breath of life. And when you deal with the word soul, Now there's a couple of different views theologically, and this is where people get
kind of caught up. There's something called dichotomists and trichotomists. Okay, the dichotomists hold that the soul and the spirit are two same names, you know, are two names for the same thing. And they think that that basically it comes down to the diconomists is just what it sounds like it means. It means that you believe that there is the body and the soul, and the soul and spirit
are kind of the same thing. Well, there's a different group that are trichotomists that believe that there's actually three parts, that there's the body, the soul, and the spirit. So theologians go back and forth and debate this all the time as to if the soul and the spirit are two different things. I will point you to a couple of verses, including Hebrews four to twelve, which is interesting.
Listen to these words very quickly, For the world of God is living an active sharper than any two edged sword. It penetrates even to divide soul and spirits, joints and moorrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. So there it sounds like it's separating the two or that
they at least can be separated. So some theologians believe that the soul is the essence of humanity's being, their beingness, and it is essentially who you are, and the spirit is the aspect of humanity that connects with God that makes it possible to have a relationship with God. So
those are some ideas. I will also recommend looking at first Corinthians to eleven, James two twenty six, Colossians one point nine, also Colausians three sixteen, and maybe that'll give you a little place to start and to look around. But keep in mind, this is one of those things that that theologians do kind of argue back and forth because of the way it appears in scripture. Sometimes they
seem interchangeable. But ultimately the truest understanding is that when it's speaking of the spirit and when it's speaking of the soul, it is referring to the immaterial part of the body, the immaterial, that facet of your humanness that is separate from the body, and that's what goes to be with God, and that's what defines and makes that relationship possible. So I pray that helps and that you
can go and do some more studying. I love the fact that you're studying Angel and that you're getting into the Word of God. Keep in mind it is a journey, don't expect it to end soon. And to spend the time to ask those questions, to learn, to poke around to you know, good word studies is always helpful. Learning and getting lexic and a good concordance that you can go back and forth and study words is always helpful. It brings scripture to life and lets it breathe a little more.
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