509. Walking in the Word, Jesus Teaches on Discernment

How do we know what steps to take? And who to trust? Join us for today’s podcast with Julie Jenkins as we study Jesus’ teachings on how to exercise discernment in our study of Matthew 7:7-20, Luke 6:43-45 and 11:9-13.

 

 

Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and it is my honor and privilege to walk with you as we examine Scripture together weekly.

I hope you are enjoying some cooler weather as we move through November. Here at Women World Leaders, November means that we are gearing up to print our last edition Voice of Truth for 2023, and its not too late to get on our mailing list and receive your own physical copy of this beautiful magazine. To ensure you don’t miss out, visit our website – www.womenworldleaders.com, and become a monthly donor. And, in case you missed it, we have released three books this year: Joy Unspeakable, Miracle Mindset, and Navigating Your Storm. And they all went to Amazon #1 best-seller upon their release. As you begin to gear up for Christmas, I encourage you to check these out – they make great gifts.

If you're a regular listener to Walking in the Word, you know that we are currently walking through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as we examine the footsteps and the words of Jesus and ask Him to reveal what He wants us to know today.

Today as we continue, we will be studying from Matthew chapter seven verses seven through 20. And Luke chapter six verses 43 through 45 and chapter 11, verses nine through 13.

Allow me to pray before we begin.

Dear loving and gracious Father, we come to you today expectant, expectant to learn from you, to hear your voice. God, I thank you for who you are and for meeting us where we are. Guide our hearts and our minds as we study these passages together, guide my words so that all I say will be what you intend. And open our spirits that we might truly experience your presence. In Jesus name, I pray, amen.

Well, if you listened last week, hopefully you remember the lesson that Jesus taught us that God is the judge and our job is to love. But despite that teaching, I'm sure you recognize that part of walking through life is exercising discernment, that is, separating good and evil into their respective categories so that we don't step into a mess that the devil has served up for us.

In our lives, we constantly need to make decisions about what is good for us and what is bad for us, about who we should seek to learn from, and what instances we should turn away from.

In today's scripture, Jesus highlights for us how we can discern the path that God has for us at any given step. Let's begin in Matthew 7:7 from the New Living Translation.

Jesus instructs us … keep on asking and you will receive what you asked for. Keep on seeking and you will find keep on knocking and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives everyone who seeks finds and everyone who knocks the door will be opened.

This is Jesus answer to how do we discern

How do we discern where we should walk what we should do, who we should listen to.

I like the NLT, because it properly translates the verbs with keep on in front of them. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. As Christians, we are called to be in constant pursuit of God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we're taught to never stop praying. God wants to hear from us every minute of every day. He wants us to not just have conversations with Him, but to abide in Him.

The more regularly we go to God, the more recognizable His voice will be to us, and the clearer we will hear what He has to say. It is possible to say constantly connected with God in prayer, because He is always with us. And if we keep going to Him, he will always guide us, showering us with His wisdom and discernment.

Well, next, Jesus gives an illustration about God's response to us that has stood the test of time. verse nine,

you parents, if your children asked for a loaf of bread? Do you give them a stone instead? Or if they asked for a fish? Do you give them a snake? Of course not.

Luke says an 1112. Or reports that Jesus says.

Or if they asked for an egg? Do you give them a scorpion?

Yikes, Luke. So Luke went for the spiders. Back to Matthew verse 11.

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him?

And Luke records and verse 13, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

If you are a parent, you know that you would move heaven and earth for your children, if you could. Well, God's love is pure. So he loves us with even greater affection than we love our own children. And not only would God move heaven and earth for you, but he actually can move heaven and earth for you. We can certainly trust, therefore, that if we ask Him for wisdom and discernment, he will give it to us.

But even though God will give us his discernment, showing us where and how to walk, Jesus reminds us that we still aren't the judge. Remember, our job is to love. Matthew 7:12.

Do to others, whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the Law and the Prophets.

Most of us are familiar with this golden rule. But the origin of it is interesting. The rule was passed down through many religions and civilizations, but the Jewish people would have known it in its negative form. They had heard, What you hate, do not do to anyone, or what is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor.

Like most things, Jesus took this teaching up a notch, not only are we to not do what is hateful, but we are to actively love others.

God is love, and actively loving is what he does.

Yes, even though He is the judge is able to do both. Because we are made in God's image we are able to love with his strength and his power. Oh, how we mess this up. But thank goodness, we have a God who is merciful and sees our heart's strivings. And he allows us to take this teaching one step at a time, one moment at a time.

So I encourage you to ask yourself at this time, and many times throughout the day. What can I do right now to actively love the person I am with?

When we abide in Christ, He will teach us to love with a discerning love, which means our love will look different to different people and on different occasions. Sometimes, we are to hold our brothers and sisters accountable, empowering them to grow even closer to God, and to experience His loving correction, and to be the kind of example that God wants the world to see. Sometimes loving well won't include correction, but instead we may be asked to give comfort and understanding.

Only God knows the need of each individual at each moment. Which is why the golden rule must go hand in hand with prayer for discernment and submission to the Holy Spirit.

And here's the reason we must ask God to help us love well, because our mission is to bring others to God.

Matthew 7:13, you can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate. The Highway to Hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow, and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

I grew up the youngest of seven kids. And one of our sayings was when trying to decide something was the majority rules, which meant that if I wanted what most of my siblings wanted, life was good. But if I wanted something different, I was out of luck.

That is how the world often works. Fashion becomes fashionable when many people wear it. Programs become popular when many people watch them. Businesses become profitable when many people depend on their products. We tend to get swept up with the flow of the current.

But Jesus’ way, often goes against that current,

the gate to Heaven is narrow, and the gate to hell is wide. When it comes to the spiritual, the popular way is not necessarily the way you want to go.

It's more important that you discern the right way, God's way, and that you guide others in that same direction.

In John 10, seven through nine, Jesus described himself as the gate, only one gate leads to God, the devil in the world tried to deceive us, teaching us that good deeds lead to heaven that if we tip the scale of good versus bad, having more good than we will have made it.

Or some religions even teach that a suicide bombing is an ultimate sacrifice and it leads to eternal life.

The Bible, however, teaches against those popular beliefs, the only way to heaven is through a relationship with Jesus. This seems odd, because it seems way too simple. And we want to be in control, it can feel good to earn something. But that just isn't the way God works. Because quite simply, we don't have what it takes to pay the high price for our sins. The payment for sin is death. If we pay it, we'd be dead. And then where would we be?

But our sinless Jesus Christ paid that fee for us so that we don't have to experience spiritual death ever. All we have to do is enter into a relationship with Jesus and accept his payment for us. But the way is narrow and the road is difficult because our pride can be difficult to let go of.

But to go through that narrow gate, we must release that pride and humble ourselves to accept this amazing gift. When I was growing up, I had a friend whose parents were quite wealthy, and they delighted in giving me gifts. For my graduation, they got me an expensive gift that there was no way I would be able to repay. They were being kind and generous and I was pridefully embarrassed. I'm sad to say that I allowed my pride to interfere and ruin that friendship.

Friend, God will always outgive you. He is better, stronger and will love you more. Jesus gave His life that you might live that is a gift we can never repay. And He doesn't want us to. He only wants a relationship with you. He wants to be first in your life. He wants you to let go of the striving, the judging, and the condemnation of yourself and others. The Gateway is narrow and the road is difficult. But with God's discernment attained through prayer and humility, we will enter into his courts with praise.

Although the road is narrow, God does not want us to walk alone. He made us for community. We long for fellowship and to share our lives with others. So, who do we walk with? Again, that's where discernment comes in. Jesus teaches in verse 15 Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really vicious wolves. Beware and be aware of those who say they're following the ways of Christ but simply are not. This is one of the devil's biggest tricks. The world is full of those who claim to teach the truth and promise to lead others into the truth. So we must pray for discernment that we can see who is under the mask.

Remember those Scooby Doo episodes, when at the end, the villain is unmasked, and it is Dr. Jones, or another familiar and seemingly innocent character.

It can be tempting to follow someone familiar or good-looking or popular or someone whose message is comfortable.

But we must be discerning about who we are listening to, and learning from in order to hear the true message, the message of God Himself.

Finally, Jesus tells us to discern who those vicious wolves are by examining their lives. Matthew 7:16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, fruit and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

And then Luke 645 says… A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart. and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

You can identify the imposters. Are you seeking a teacher for yourself or a husband or a leader? As you do, ask God to reveal any behavior that is inconsistent with his teaching.

Is their teaching focused on God and His Word?

Does he treat others with the grace and love of Jesus? Does she, in humility, live as she teaches?

There is a plethora of imposters in the world. And I say this not to make you paranoid and distrustful of everyone you come into contact with. We all certainly mess up, and God wants us to show mercy and grace to others. But he also implores us to choose wisely when it comes to those with whom we will associate most closely. Be discerning how you spend your time and who you spend it with.

Keep asking God for His discernment. Keep seeking his directions.

Keep knocking on his door. You won't bother him. Your persistence will make him smile.

Dear God, thank you for always being there for us for always pointing us in the direction of your calling for us. Give us the strength to swim upstream against the devil's schemes and the courage to grab ahold of the one beside us and bring her upstream with us to the narrow gate, to you. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

 

How do we know what steps to take? And who to trust? Join us for today’s podcast with Julie Jenkins as we study Jesus’ teachings on how to exercise discernment in our study of Matthew 7:7-20, Luke 6:43-45 and 11:9-13.

 

 

Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and it is my honor and privilege to walk with you as we examine Scripture together weekly.

I hope you are enjoying some cooler weather as we move through November. Here at Women World Leaders, November means that we are gearing up to print our last edition Voice of Truth for 2023, and its not too late to get on our mailing list and receive your own physical copy of this beautiful magazine. To ensure you don’t miss out, visit our website – www.womenworldleaders.com, and become a monthly donor. And, in case you missed it, we have released three books this year: Joy Unspeakable, Miracle Mindset, and Navigating Your Storm. And they all went to Amazon #1 best-seller upon their release. As you begin to gear up for Christmas, I encourage you to check these out – they make great gifts.

If you're a regular listener to Walking in the Word, you know that we are currently walking through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as we examine the footsteps and the words of Jesus and ask Him to reveal what He wants us to know today.

Today as we continue, we will be studying from Matthew chapter seven verses seven through 20. And Luke chapter six verses 43 through 45 and chapter 11, verses nine through 13.

Allow me to pray before we begin.

Dear loving and gracious Father, we come to you today expectant, expectant to learn from you, to hear your voice. God, I thank you for who you are and for meeting us where we are. Guide our hearts and our minds as we study these passages together, guide my words so that all I say will be what you intend. And open our spirits that we might truly experience your presence. In Jesus name, I pray, amen.

Well, if you listened last week, hopefully you remember the lesson that Jesus taught us that God is the judge and our job is to love. But despite that teaching, I'm sure you recognize that part of walking through life is exercising discernment, that is, separating good and evil into their respective categories so that we don't step into a mess that the devil has served up for us.

In our lives, we constantly need to make decisions about what is good for us and what is bad for us, about who we should seek to learn from, and what instances we should turn away from.

In today's scripture, Jesus highlights for us how we can discern the path that God has for us at any given step. Let's begin in Matthew 7:7 from the New Living Translation.

Jesus instructs us … keep on asking and you will receive what you asked for. Keep on seeking and you will find keep on knocking and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives everyone who seeks finds and everyone who knocks the door will be opened.

This is Jesus answer to how do we discern

How do we discern where we should walk what we should do, who we should listen to.

I like the NLT, because it properly translates the verbs with keep on in front of them. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. As Christians, we are called to be in constant pursuit of God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we're taught to never stop praying. God wants to hear from us every minute of every day. He wants us to not just have conversations with Him, but to abide in Him.

The more regularly we go to God, the more recognizable His voice will be to us, and the clearer we will hear what He has to say. It is possible to say constantly connected with God in prayer, because He is always with us. And if we keep going to Him, he will always guide us, showering us with His wisdom and discernment.

Well, next, Jesus gives an illustration about God's response to us that has stood the test of time. verse nine,

you parents, if your children asked for a loaf of bread? Do you give them a stone instead? Or if they asked for a fish? Do you give them a snake? Of course not.

Luke says an 1112. Or reports that Jesus says.

Or if they asked for an egg? Do you give them a scorpion?

Yikes, Luke. So Luke went for the spiders. Back to Matthew verse 11.

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him?

And Luke records and verse 13, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

If you are a parent, you know that you would move heaven and earth for your children, if you could. Well, God's love is pure. So he loves us with even greater affection than we love our own children. And not only would God move heaven and earth for you, but he actually can move heaven and earth for you. We can certainly trust, therefore, that if we ask Him for wisdom and discernment, he will give it to us.

But even though God will give us his discernment, showing us where and how to walk, Jesus reminds us that we still aren't the judge. Remember, our job is to love. Matthew 7:12.

Do to others, whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the Law and the Prophets.

Most of us are familiar with this golden rule. But the origin of it is interesting. The rule was passed down through many religions and civilizations, but the Jewish people would have known it in its negative form. They had heard, What you hate, do not do to anyone, or what is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor.

Like most things, Jesus took this teaching up a notch, not only are we to not do what is hateful, but we are to actively love others.

God is love, and actively loving is what he does.

Yes, even though He is the judge is able to do both. Because we are made in God's image we are able to love with his strength and his power. Oh, how we mess this up. But thank goodness, we have a God who is merciful and sees our heart's strivings. And he allows us to take this teaching one step at a time, one moment at a time.

So I encourage you to ask yourself at this time, and many times throughout the day. What can I do right now to actively love the person I am with?

When we abide in Christ, He will teach us to love with a discerning love, which means our love will look different to different people and on different occasions. Sometimes, we are to hold our brothers and sisters accountable, empowering them to grow even closer to God, and to experience His loving correction, and to be the kind of example that God wants the world to see. Sometimes loving well won't include correction, but instead we may be asked to give comfort and understanding.

Only God knows the need of each individual at each moment. Which is why the golden rule must go hand in hand with prayer for discernment and submission to the Holy Spirit.

And here's the reason we must ask God to help us love well, because our mission is to bring others to God.

Matthew 7:13, you can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate. The Highway to Hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow, and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

I grew up the youngest of seven kids. And one of our sayings was when trying to decide something was the majority rules, which meant that if I wanted what most of my siblings wanted, life was good. But if I wanted something different, I was out of luck.

That is how the world often works. Fashion becomes fashionable when many people wear it. Programs become popular when many people watch them. Businesses become profitable when many people depend on their products. We tend to get swept up with the flow of the current.

But Jesus’ way, often goes against that current,

the gate to Heaven is narrow, and the gate to hell is wide. When it comes to the spiritual, the popular way is not necessarily the way you want to go.

It's more important that you discern the right way, God's way, and that you guide others in that same direction.

In John 10, seven through nine, Jesus described himself as the gate, only one gate leads to God, the devil in the world tried to deceive us, teaching us that good deeds lead to heaven that if we tip the scale of good versus bad, having more good than we will have made it.

Or some religions even teach that a suicide bombing is an ultimate sacrifice and it leads to eternal life.

The Bible, however, teaches against those popular beliefs, the only way to heaven is through a relationship with Jesus. This seems odd, because it seems way too simple. And we want to be in control, it can feel good to earn something. But that just isn't the way God works. Because quite simply, we don't have what it takes to pay the high price for our sins. The payment for sin is death. If we pay it, we'd be dead. And then where would we be?

But our sinless Jesus Christ paid that fee for us so that we don't have to experience spiritual death ever. All we have to do is enter into a relationship with Jesus and accept his payment for us. But the way is narrow and the road is difficult because our pride can be difficult to let go of.

But to go through that narrow gate, we must release that pride and humble ourselves to accept this amazing gift. When I was growing up, I had a friend whose parents were quite wealthy, and they delighted in giving me gifts. For my graduation, they got me an expensive gift that there was no way I would be able to repay. They were being kind and generous and I was pridefully embarrassed. I'm sad to say that I allowed my pride to interfere and ruin that friendship.

Friend, God will always outgive you. He is better, stronger and will love you more. Jesus gave His life that you might live that is a gift we can never repay. And He doesn't want us to. He only wants a relationship with you. He wants to be first in your life. He wants you to let go of the striving, the judging, and the condemnation of yourself and others. The Gateway is narrow and the road is difficult. But with God's discernment attained through prayer and humility, we will enter into his courts with praise.

Although the road is narrow, God does not want us to walk alone. He made us for community. We long for fellowship and to share our lives with others. So, who do we walk with? Again, that's where discernment comes in. Jesus teaches in verse 15 Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really vicious wolves. Beware and be aware of those who say they're following the ways of Christ but simply are not. This is one of the devil's biggest tricks. The world is full of those who claim to teach the truth and promise to lead others into the truth. So we must pray for discernment that we can see who is under the mask.

Remember those Scooby Doo episodes, when at the end, the villain is unmasked, and it is Dr. Jones, or another familiar and seemingly innocent character.

It can be tempting to follow someone familiar or good-looking or popular or someone whose message is comfortable.

But we must be discerning about who we are listening to, and learning from in order to hear the true message, the message of God Himself.

Finally, Jesus tells us to discern who those vicious wolves are by examining their lives. Matthew 7:16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, fruit and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

And then Luke 645 says… A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart. and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

You can identify the imposters. Are you seeking a teacher for yourself or a husband or a leader? As you do, ask God to reveal any behavior that is inconsistent with his teaching.

Is their teaching focused on God and His Word?

Does he treat others with the grace and love of Jesus? Does she, in humility, live as she teaches?

There is a plethora of imposters in the world. And I say this not to make you paranoid and distrustful of everyone you come into contact with. We all certainly mess up, and God wants us to show mercy and grace to others. But he also implores us to choose wisely when it comes to those with whom we will associate most closely. Be discerning how you spend your time and who you spend it with.

Keep asking God for His discernment. Keep seeking his directions.

Keep knocking on his door. You won't bother him. Your persistence will make him smile.

Dear God, thank you for always being there for us for always pointing us in the direction of your calling for us. Give us the strength to swim upstream against the devil's schemes and the courage to grab ahold of the one beside us and bring her upstream with us to the narrow gate, to you. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.