Discerning of Spirits Continued

Discerning of Spirits Continued:

Instances in the Bible
There are numerous instances in the bible in which the gift of discerning of spirits is manifested.

Numbers 22:31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.
Judges 6:11 ¶ And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
Daniel 10:16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,
Mark 9:2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.
5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
6 For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.
7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
8 And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.
9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

These are but a few of the many examples that can be found in the bible.

A personal note*

Discerning of Spirits is not for the weak minded. It seems everybody wants to see angels. People are quite taken by them and fascinated by the idea of being able to see them, but we must keep in mind that this gift of discerning of spirits doesn't just allow us to see into a realm containing only good things like angels but that demons are there as well. Some who seek such a gift for the purpose of seeing only the "good side" do so unwisely and are quite surprised to see evil spirits as well.

Maintaining Balance

There are those who have become quite obsessed with the idea of demons existing in the same realm in which we live and they claim to find a demon under every chair and in every corner, suddenly everybody has demons, and they're everywhere. We have to be careful to maintain a balance and not allow seeing into the spirit realm to cause us to be overly zealous , wanting to see demons or angels all the time and convincing ourselves that every flicker of light is an angel or every shadow a demon.
There is a danger in "pressing " in to the spirit realm when it is not the gift of discernment at work. Satan will surely oblige you in showing you something for his own deceptive purposes. True discerning of Spirits as given by the Holy Ghost will allow us to see what God allows us to see , however to press in to see into the spirit realm without the gift at work is to press in without God's permission. At this point one can easily be deceived, and the door for demonic attack can be opened for a deceiving or familiar spirit of divination to enter in and attempt to imitate the Holy Ghost. To attempt to see into the spirit realm out side of Gods will , falls under the category of witch craft and so we need to be sensitive to the moving of God's Holy Spirit and use true discerning of spirits from the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of God wills.