Spiritual Awakening and Discernment

​Monday, January 13, 2025

Topic: "Spiritual Awakening and Discernment"

Text: Acts 13:6-12

6. And when they had gone through the whole island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, named Barjesus, 7. Who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. 8. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name is interpreted) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9. Then Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, 10. O you full of all deceit and fraud, son of the devil, and enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the straight ways of the Lord? 11. Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, and for a season you will not see the sun. And immediately darkness and gloom fell upon him, and he groped for people to guide him. 12. Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. 13. Paul and his companions, having embarked at Paphos, went to Perga in Pamphylia. John separated from them, and returned to Jerusalem.

Let us remember:

The Christian Revival or spiritual revival is a social and cultural movement of spiritual renewal aimed at "awakening" a dormant, settled and routine faith. Discernment is the capacity of the mind to judge things clearly and soundly. It is the action of discerning, distinguishing, discriminating. It is choosing the true from the false. Through discernment, Paul was able to distinguish the evil spirit that was working in Elymas the magician, preventing them from carrying out God's mission. Without discernment, Paul would have believed that it was only jealousy, distraction or hatred. However, it was an evil spirit of Satan working in him, and the Holy Spirit flushed it out. To go to evangelism, one must be equipped with this powerful quality of discernment. God had planned to subject the Proconsul Sergius Paulus to a spiritual awakening, because he wanted to add to his intellectual intelligence, another spiritual grace. The magician being in a spiritual sleep, Paul reinforced his sleep by making him blind for a time. His condition now requires a spiritual awakening. The miracle that made Elymas blind was enough for the Proconsul to access the spiritual awakening because he was struck by the doctrine of the Lord. A man full of all kinds of trickery and fraud is a son of the devil, he is an enemy of all righteousness, he is not yet in the spiritual awakening. The actions of the one who is in spiritual awakening are enlightened by the Word of God. The one who has spiritual awakening cannot pervert the right ways of the Lord. He is led by the Spirit of God. Excellent Monday. Amen

Alain Louz.-