This is how you discern and separate the Holy Spirit’s from the enemy’s narratives and influencing voices in your life.
I think are three sources of the thoughts in your mind. God’s voice, your voice and the devil’s voices (because he’s got minions guys) They sometimes include people, even the ones you love. You are more susceptible to the voices of people you’re close to. That comes with risks because where did they get that idea from? Who told them what they’ve now shared with you and you now believe?
Thats why it’s important to take inventory of what you believe about God, life, yourself, the world, and other people. You must ask yourself every now and then How did i come to believe this about x aspect of life? Who did I listen to on this subject matter? Who told me that? whose logic does this belief I hold align with? God’s or the enemy’s? Would God tell me that? Does it align with His nature? Those are very grounding lines of questioning that one can benefit from seeking answers for.
What you do with what you hear depends on who is speaking. Your compliance depends on the source of an idea. God is to be obeyed. Your thoughts are to be vetted through the lens of God’s Words written in the Bible, and your enemy, satan is to be rebuked.
I think that we must all be alert as Jesus was modeled for us by Him having contrasting responses to Peter in what reads like it happened while having a single conversation. He went from affirming Peter’s word to by saying ‘flesh and blood did not reveal that to you but my Father in heaven’ to rebuking the guy with ‘get behind Me satan’. That’s a stark shift. That reveals that the same person can be speaking from two different spirits from one conversation to the next so our discernment must be that detailed. Listening to understand and discern the source of what been shared on a case by case basis.
Jesus’s example signals to me that if you are speaking the counsel of God I should acknowledge and agree but if your speaking shifts into your flesh being used by the enemy I should identify that pivot and rebuke or reject your words. That’s the level of filtering we’re all called to do. That might sound like overkill until you realize the weight that words carry. Your entire life can be derailed my just one wrong sentence spoken by a friend who honestly thinks they’re helping you. And a single conversation that also change the trajectory of your life for good. So no, it’s not overkill. We must not underestimate the power of words.
The Source Speaker Matters, that’s why discernment is extremely essential especially in these times. Your eyes and ears are gateways to your mind, that’s why being guarded in the entertainment you consume is wise. Movies, music and social media have words that affect the thoughts you have and ideas you come to believe and accept into your psyche. Very soon your life starts to reflect what you have allowed yourself to believe in your heart. It’s not a coincidence. Trace back the source of the ideologies you’ve believed. Who’s voice is that?
Discernment can be the difference between a life of purpose with God or one of avoidable pain from the enemy who’s mission is to kill, steal and destroy you. As children of God our daily task is to discern God’s voice and obey. That’s really all there is to it.
“Guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life”. Find that quote in Proverbs, read and meditate on it till you understand enough to apply it to your life by default.
