Tuesday after Pentecost, 6/5/011Corinthians 2:14--16 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. --NIV In the name of the One Who gives us discernment, amen.
Have you ever thought about what the first gift that you need is? Certainly it is faith because that makes you a Christian, but what gift should the new Christian ask from God? A friend of mine suggests that it is discernment. He argues that we need discernment so that we will know what is truth and what is falsehood. Clearly discernment is an important gift of the Holy Spirit. Without it we can be easily led astray.
While the natural man does not have discernment, the person who has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit does. The passage quoted above indicates that the spiritual man judges all things; that is, he uses his discernment. On the other hand, the spiritual man, or man with the Spirit, is not subject to judgement. That is because there is no judgement for those in Christ Jesus. God has pronounced us innocent in Christ Jesus, and who can argue with that? Discernment tells us that if God calls us innocent in Christ Jesus, then we are indeed innocent. That is the mind of Christ. Amen.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we came into this world without discernment. We were lost and could never find our way. But You gave us Your Holy Spirit Who brought us to faith and gave us discernment. Lord, bless our discernment so that no one will ever lead us away from You. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
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