My main gift is discernment (1 Cor 12:10), specifically discerning of spirits. I test all things according to the Word of God, from whose spirit it is — from God or false prophets (1 John 4:1). Like some who claim to be “smart,” I was gifted by intelligence. That was not of my own doing, but a gift from God, and it is nothing in which to have pride. Intelligence is proportional to the brain’s gray matter (the area of the folds in the brain). I had nothing to do with that; God did it all. Those with wisdom do not use their gift from God to have supremacy over others. Humble people thank God for any “smarts” they have, and do not Lord it over others.
Intelligence is the ability to consume knowledge. Those with high IQ would have the ability to absorb information. There are two types of information: (1) truth and (2) falsehoods. Smart people easily learn both, transferring information from their environment to their brain’s gray matter. Computers can do that; so, don’t feel so special.
“Discernment” is the sorting out of information. Discerning people, using God’s Word, sort out truth from falsehoods. Most people cannot do that, because they stand by a “basket” that conceals the light from the candle beneath (Mark 4:21). Although intelligent, I once was that man — the one who stood by the basket without lifting it to get Light.
What was outside the basket? Both truth and lies. That comes from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Truth is goodness, and lies are evil. Outside the basket are both. The candle under the basket represents God who is Light, and it is said of Him, “For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness” (Psalm 18:28). The Lord is that “candle” beneath the basket, and many stand outside the basket in spiritual darkness.
It takes Light to discern truth in the world. For those who are not born again, there is a blinder between truth and lies. Satan is the “blinder.” He is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Consider a basket; it is woven in different directions and often with different materials. A colorful basket has two woods interwoven. The basket of which Jesus was speaking, referred perhaps, to the two Trees of the Garden — the Tree of Life (truth) and the Tree of Knowledge (truth and falsehoods). In the dark, the “color” of neither can be discerned, but inside the basket where the candle is, the differences are easily differentiated. God provided a physical “Candle” and He Is Jesus. Satan sneaked in and covered Him with a basket so that the truth would not be known.
One day while driving and considering God, He tipped the basket a little. Light emerged from the “candle” to which before I had been hidden, and some truth was revealed. I considered Abraham and Isaac of who Moses wrote. Suddenly, Abraham and Isaac were transformed in my mind’s eye, and I saw God the Father and God the Son. I saw “God” about to sacrifice His “Son” for my sins. With that discernment, I finally understood God, and God lifted the basket from the “candle” and revealed much more of His Light to me.
Moses wrote about Abraham and Isaac, and also about the creation and the Law. With the “basket” lifted, I could clearly see Jesus throughout the Books of the Law that Moses wrote. The spiritual knowledge I gained from the Law increased my faith, and my child’s faith in Jesus matured. Rather than a fable which I wanted to believe, Jesus became reality, and I really believed.
Jesus even commented on that type of transformation: “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” (John 5:46-47). Suddenly, with my eyes open to God’s Light, what Moses wrote increased my faith. Soon, I found it imperative to believe in a real creation because that’s what God’s do! God would not be able to regenerate if He had not generated in the first place. He could not prepare for me a room in His mansion, if He had not made for me a Paradise in the beginning! I look around at what God made, and the existence of it in its grandeur confirms my belief in God.
Jesus confirmed my thoughts when he said, “For he that hath (Light), to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath” (Mark 4:25). When God tipped the “basket” for me to see His “candle” I received some of His Light. The truth was revealed to me about Abraham and Isaac. I saw what Isaac saw when he was about to be sacrificed. I saw the ram that God provided in my stead. I saw God providing the ram. I saw the ram as Jesus.
What could I have done with that Light? I could have covered it fully with the basket, or I could have kicked the basket entirely away from over the candle. I chose the latter. I diligently read and re-read the Old Testament to learn more about Jesus, and with that, God has revealed much more truth to me. I now understand that the Law in its entirety is all about Jesus (John 1). True to Jesus’s Words, He provided even more Light because I had a little and used His “candle” to obtain more. My discernment is not from intelligence or smartness, but God revealed much truth to me. If I had saw that trickle of Light and turned my back, I would have received no more Light, and the little that I had, when the basket returned to its position, I would have lost what I once had.
Again, I do have intelligence, but with a basket covering truth, what would I do with it? It would serve no purpose. The reason that God revealed Himself to me in the story of Abraham was to allow me to see Jesus’s Purpose. God put on Flesh to be the sacrifice on my behalf. It came to me, that taking God’s Name in vain, is taking Jesus’s Purpose frivolously. In fact, all the “Ten Words” written by the Finger of God points toward Jesus. I saw that when the “basket” was lifted which had concealed ultimate truth from my eyes.
God gave me wisdom. That is the using knowledge for betterment; for good judgment. I judge what is truth and what is not by the use of God’s Word.
What “good” comes from that? I have hope because Jesus is in God’s Plan and my future. (Mat 6:31-32). I know and understand Holy Scripture, not because I am smart, but because I discern the truth in the entire body of knowledge. There are two sets in the body of knowledge: (1) the Doctrine of God, and (2) the vain philosophies of men from the Law of Sin.
I have studied the philosophies of men in pursuit of a graduate degree in psychology, and in my undergraduate degree in the science of engineering. While working on my master’s degree, I listened to God and read the entire Bible. I tested what I learned from what Moses wrote about God and what Jesus said about Himself. At that time, I chose the Doctrine of God above the vain philosophies of men. I saw knowledge but God shined His Light on the truth. Suddenly I had bright eyes and a new bright nature because the Light from God’s “candle” had revealed the truth to me. I abandoned the field of psychology and adopted the study of Holy Scriptures, and the Light intensified as I became more discerning.
What I know is by the grace of God and is not mine. Because of our fallen nature, I may have preferred to stay blind to the truth, as blindly following is usually much easier and pleasurable. I get excited with the increased understanding when I study Scripture searching for truth all the time; so excited that I want to share that depth of knowledge with others around me. To be honest, I am a zealot and my church has little use for my excited spirit, and that’s why I am writing what I am writing at this instant.
One member told me that my knowledge of scripture intimidated others who are less knowledgeable. Perhaps that is the case. Certainly, I cannot compare myself with Jesus, but this is what Jesus’s own people thought about His firsthand knowledge:
And when he was
come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that
they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these
mighty works? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended
in him. (Mat 13:54, 56b, 57a)
The truth offends people because others don’t have the same
degree of understanding. My preacher years ago was led to preach against
abortion and fornication. By God’s Planning, that day a couple who cohabitated
and had aborted were in church. They were offended at the truth. Their
Christian parents, who were members there, were repulsed, and asked, “Why would
you preach that on this day?” It was because God led the preacher to speak the
truth. The couple and her parents had just put a rock on the “basket” to keep
from seeing the Light of Truth from God’s candle who the preacher represented.
They were “offended by the truth” just as Jesus’s own people were offended at His
great wisdom.I know that I am not even close to the truth that Jesus spoke, but for me, I have a little truth that has intensified by reading and studying the Word. Because all of us are sub-par to “very good” as we were in the beginning, we need to be corrected of our false beliefs. That correction offends people. It offended the Jews that the Law, according to Jesus, would not save them, but He would! People still want salvation on their terms, and if it is not, they get offended.
The truth will set us free (John 8:32). Free from what? The bondage of sin, but most people are quite content, at least until they are on their deathbed, with the candle hidden.
As an afterthought, people have come to depend on the government for many things. The socialist slogan is, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Jesus said, “For he that hath (Light), to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.” That is a juxtaposition of Marx’s saying. Having the light is a spiritual ability. Rather than taking it away from those who have it, and giving it to others who have less, God gives them more ability to see the light, and takes away from those who have little. Rather than those who have much giving to those who have little, what little the latter has is given to those who have more. Perhaps socialism has it all wrong!
(photo credit: Hanna Taniukevich)
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