Isaiah 11:2-3 speaks of seven different spirits or gifts:
“And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay (called discernment).”
Discernment is key in navigating your direction in life. Sometimes we meet people who have ill intentions and we will need to "discern" whether or not we should listen to them. Sometimes we will meet people who will want to alienate others by speaking badly about them and we will need to "discern" what it is we should believe.
Other times in the most quiet recesses of our minds there will be times when discernment should and must come into play as well. As the consciousness is raising and many more people are experiencing more spiritual experiences, we'll have to be mindful on how we interpret them. We will have to begin to "discern" our experience and what it means.
If you've ever had a spiritual experience or a dream for example, most likely you felt the experience held meaning. A dream was trying to tell you something or the experience meant something. Most often these things do mean "something". Yet the "something" we think it means, is sometimes the "something" it doesn't mean.
Spiritual growth requires a great deal of patience with ourselves and a lot of introspection. Just as our perceptions of our outside world can be colored by our beliefs, so can our spiritual experiences. If we believe in certain rules like only angels can speak to us, most likely when you have an experience of someone speaking to you you'll believe they are an angel. Like life, we must step out of our super imposed boxes of belief to embrace the what could be scenario and apply discernment to our interpretation of the vision or event.
I've found over the years that after speaking with many spirits and doing psychic readings myself, that it's easy to color your interpretation by your beliefs. Sometimes it's hard to read for someone you already have prior knowledge about. If I was reading for someone I knew was already starting a business for example, it would be hard to get past that knowledge when something like a new job came up. You have to trust your discernment to guide you to the correct outcome.
If I was inquiring about something for myself, I might color an answer based on what I "want" to believe instead of what is. I might continue to live in denial of things because of it. Reinforcing what I want to believe as my reality instead of what the reality actually is. Many of us may do this with deaths, illnesses, or even our spouses fidelity. We sometimes like to believe what makes it easier for us to deal with life. Most often, that's the denial part. That way we don't have to do anything about the "real" situation.
We must be bold and courageous enough to accept what we are given, whatever it means. Even if it's something we don't want to hear. If we choose to accept the truth about what we are given and the message, we'll come to know that this spiritual guidance can take us to roads we have never imagined. It is in the trusting of the knowledge, the trusting of ourselves to discern, and correct interpretation that bring us the most wisdom in our lives.
Every day we discern. We choose what way to drive to work, what to have for lunch, who to be friends with and even how to raise our children. Spiritual discernment is no different. Once acquired we can use our spiritual senses to guide us in our every day lives. Interpreting what we receive in an honest way, will also help us gain insights to our lives, that in our normal conscious waking life, we rarely receive. Our dreams and other symbols when correctly "interpreted", can be valuable resources for guidance and wisdom.
When we discuss spiritual gifts, it's always important to remember that these aren't just for a select few. These are spiritual gifts. Gifts that are given to us through the spirit. We must remember then we are spirits first that have inhabited a body, not the other way around. Spiritual gifts are there for everyone. We only need to become aware of them to use them in a productive way for our lives.
