Priestly Discernment

What's going on, family? Welcome to video eight, Priestly Discernment. So holiness, purity, and spiritual clarity, this is going to bless you. Watch this video all the way to the end. Finish the quizzes like you've been doing. It's all worth it. It's going to grow you in identity as a priest and a king. So priests don't just see in the spirit, they discern. So listen, a priest is not someone who just prays. A priest is someone who sees in the spirit and responds with holiness. We're going to talk about what that means again. A priest is someone who sees in the spirit, but using discernment responds with holiness. Anyone can identify a problem, but priests discern the spiritual issue behind the problem. So anyone can notice dysfunction, but a priest recognizes the root. Anyone can act emotionally, but a priest responds spiritually. Discernment is not suspicion, it's spiritual clarity. So discernment is not, I'm suspicious of this person being this way. It's actually the spiritual clarity to why this person is this way. Holiness, being set apart, the set apartness that we have, that holiness, that's all that holiness means. You're set apart, keeps your vision clean. I want to explain holiness. I feel like some of you need to understand it. It's like you go into a room of a hundred people. Everyone's dressed in black, but you're dressed in white. You are set apart, you're different. So we are holy and the Bible says, be holy as I am holy, right? Or as God is holy. So holiness keeps your vision clean. You're different than what the world is. The world will look at a homeless person and think they just need to get a job. But us as priests, we look at the homeless person and think they need intercession and prayer. They need to believe the gospel and be filled with the spirit and delivered. Purity keeps your spirit sharp. This is why the pure hearted shall see God.

We have to be pure in heart. We have to see as God sees. Before a priest can lead people, he must guard the atmosphere, the altar, and the anointing. So what is priestly discernment? Discernment is not guessing. It's definitely not judging. And it's also not overthinking. Discernment is simply seeing situations as heaven sees them. Discernment is clarity from the Holy Spirit, not conclusions from the flesh. I'm going to say this again. Discernment is clarity from the Holy Spirit that brings peace, joy, love. It brings a desire to pray for the person or see the person be restored or broken through. But it's not conclusions from the flesh. A priest doesn't just look at the situation. He looks through it. Carnal sight examines circumstances, but priestly sight looks for spiritual influences. So a carnal person will see a circumstance and think, oh man, that sucks or oh, that's terrible. But a priest looks for what spiritually is influencing this so we can attack it in the spirit at the root. Discernment is when the Holy Spirit interprets what your eyes see and your ears hear. So you might hear something, see something, but the Holy Spirit gives you revelation or discernment on what's spiritually going on. The gift of discernment of spirits. Listen, guys, priestly discernment requires holiness. And again, holiness is not religious behavior. It's the set apartness to be in line with the alignment with the character, the nature and the will of God. That's what praying in Jesus name means. Jesus name when I pray is not just a magical word.

It's me praying according to the character, nature and will of God. So holiness is not religious behavior. It's actually when you're in alignment with that. It's when you know the heart of the Father on the situation. Holiness doesn't make you distant from a person. It keeps you close. So for example, someone in the church might be gossiping about you. Naturally in the carnal or fleshy aspect of things in a worldly sense, you distance yourself from that person and stay far away. And you'll even see Christians say, well, I need to guard my heart. Look, you guard your heart in the presence of God with his word. But we as priests need to attack in the spirit. So it keeps us close to them in the spirit. And when we see them, we attack in love. Love covers a multitude of sins. You know, they're gossiping about you. You know, they're speaking ill about you, but because you're filled with the love of Jesus Christ, you stay close to them and you love them even more. This is what Jesus did walking with Judas, walking with the 12 who he knew would betray him. Holiness doesn't make you prideful just because you discern a situation doesn't make you better than the person. It doesn't put you above them or more spiritual. God has given you the insight because he. Trust you. So holiness actually makes you more sensitive. Holiness doesn't restrict you. It protects you. So me being set apart,

having revelation with the heart of the Father, it protects my heart and mind from attacks of the enemy because I know what's going on. Hebrews 12, 14. Pursue peace with all people in holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. If you can't see the Lord, you can't see like the Lord. If I'm not in prayer and intimacy and in His word, seeing Him rightly, I won't be able to see people rightly. So in a church setting, if someone is gossiping, causing division, looking to expose people, looking to bring shame and judgment instead of restoration and reconciliation and love, that means they're seeing God like that. They're probably seeing God as a really mean and just drill sergeant type of God. Even though God sees us as sons and daughters in love with us. We see God rightly and we'll see people rightly. Holiness clarifies your vision, sin fogs it. So when priests entered the Holy of Holies under the Levitical priesthood, they had to be clean. Not for performance, but for access.

So purity keeps your spirit sharp. Purity is deeper than not sinning. Purity means my thoughts are submitted to God. My motives are clean. My heart is untainted. My life is an altar, not a performance. Impurity dulls your discernment. So if you're impure in thoughts, motives, heart, action, it's gonna dull your discernment and you're not gonna be able to see rightly because you're actually living wrongly. A priest is your clarity. What you entertain affects your ability to sense him, Jesus. What you tolerate in entertainment becomes what you struggle to discern in the spirit. How can you discern someone's dealing with the spirit of addiction to help bring breakthrough to their lives if you're still dealing with addiction? How can you discern that someone's dealing with lust and needs breakthrough from it if you're dealing with it? What you deal with and entertain will actually affect your ability to sense. A priest protects their spirit like they would protect sacred oil. How priestly discernment operates.

Discernment recognizes when something is God versus when something is strange. When a moment is warfare versus when it's the flesh. When a person needs deliverance versus encouragement. When to speak and when to be silent. When to pray and when to confront. Real discernment doesn't react to behavior. It responds to spiritual truth. Priests don't just see problems. They minister solutions. So discernment without priesthood is dangerous. Many people say, I feel something. But without intimacy, discernment becomes suspicion and judgmentalism. We've all been there ourselves and we've all seen that in a church setting. Someone who feels something and they might be feeling rightly but they're not discerning properly. Their feeling is carnal but discernment brings restoration. The flesh discerns to expose but the priest discerns to restore. Carnal discernment creates distance. Priestly discernment brings intercession. Worldly discernment identifies sin. Priestly discernment identifies the way out. So what you call discernment, if it doesn't lead you to prayer, it's not discernment, it's opinion.

Again, if what you call discernment doesn't lead you to pray for that person as a priest, it's not discernment, it's just your opinion. So where discernment grows, it's the secret place. Before a priest discerns spiritually around them, he must allow God to discern spiritually within them. In the secret place, God will reveal what's misplaced in your heart. God will correct your attitude. God will highlight unseen warfare. God prepares you for interaction before you even walk into the room, before we can intercede or help somebody. Our heart has to be right. Our attitude, what God reveals is misplaced has to be addressed. We have to be prepared spiritually before we can go to war. So priests don't wait until they're in a spiritual battle to discern. They walk ready. God wants to warn us before things happen. He wants us to prepare in the spirit before something happens. That's what a priest does. They're so connected to God, the high priest, that God will reveal things before it even happens so that they can prepare to walk rightly. Discernment is strongest. to our consistent and private devotion, cautious with worldly dark influences and clean in heart.

So family, listen. Discernment is essential to priesthood. Before you carry the presence, you have to protect the presence. That means you have to have a secret place in life. You have to seek God. You have to have devotion to God. Contemplative time daily. Before you represent God to people, you must separate from what contaminates your clarity. You can't expect to lead for God when you're still in darkness. Priests live different because they see different. Holiness sharpens your hearing. Purity sharpens your sensing. Intimacy improves your interpretation. The clearer your devotion, the sharper your discernment. The clearer your spirit, the more accurately you perceive. And the closer you are to him, the quicker you catch what others miss. You are a priest. You are called to carry presence and clarity. So walk holy, live pure, discern sharply. I'll see you guys in the next video.