Praise & Worship

Lightning
Life
group
Intro: When we intercede, we are releasing God’s
lightning into that particular person’s situation to
destroy the dark force.
Job 36:32
He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to
strike its mark.
Lightning  30000 degree Celsius (hotter than the
surface of the sun)
God use lightning to describe His judgment to His
enemy or His people.
Deuteronomy 32:41
when I sharpen my flashing sword
       and my hand grasps it in judgment,
       I will take vengeance on my adversaries
       and repay those who hate me.

Revelation 2:16
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come
to you and will fight against them with the
sword of my mouth.
Psalms 29:7
  The voice of the LORD strikes
       with flashes of lightning.

Ephesians 6:17
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Psalms 77:17-18
The clouds poured down water,
       the skies resounded with thunder;
       your arrows flashed back and forth.
  Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
       your lightning lit up the world;
       the earth trembled and quaked.
Conclusion:
Lightning is God’s weapon to destroy His enemy. It
strikes like lightning!

Luke 10: 18-20

He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on
snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the
power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
20
However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to
you, but rejoice that your names are written in
heaven."
 
 LIGHT IS GREATER THAN DARKNESS.

The light shines in the darkness, but the

darkness has not understood it.

It’s a war! And Satan cant own the sky nor the
earth!
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CID
Conscience In Discernment
A training course to become CID s
 Caretaker

Coordinato Counselor
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C Conscienc Consultant

I eIn
Commissio
Conductor ner

D Discernment
Do You Have The Spiritual Gift of Discernment?
Please read the following  Spiritual Gift of Discernment description
and then rate yourself on a scale of 1 through 5 both in passion and
experience. This is to help you from ignoring a gift God may have for
you. For example you may be high in passion in the gift of  “healing”
but as of yet God has not manifested Himself in that way to you. If all
you rated was experience you may skip over this very important
passion God has given you. Likewise if you are deeply involved in
“service” but are more pragmatic and less passionate about it you
may be tempted to ignore developing the gift of service in the way
God wants you to.
Rate Your Passion For This Gift
The first rating has to do with your passion
for the gift. Are you really motivated to act
this way? 1 means that you have no
interest in or passion to use the gift. 5
means that the definition describes you
very accurately, or that you do have a
strong interest/passion in the ability.
Next Rate Your Experience With or Evidence For
This Gift
The second rating has to do with your
experience/evidence of the gift. Rate your
experience with or evidence of the gift.
1 means that you have no experience with or
evidence of the gift. 5 means that you have a lot
of experience with or evidence of the gift.
DISCERNMENT 
In I Corinthians 12:10 it says, “and to another distinguishing between
spirits” (NIV) Discernment means to be able to distinguish between
right and wrong, good and evil. It is having a logical, judicial ability to
think through issues. It is the ability to “discern” whether  a saying,
teaching, doctrine, written word, or event is good or evil; true or
false; and if the source, meaning or intentions are of God, the person
or Satanic deception.  There is an ability to “read between the lines”
and get to the truth of an issue. The“gut” tells them when something
doesn’t seem to be right. There is an urgency to pray and ask for
wisdom.
Benefits
Spiritual battle, whether in a small group or the church, is a serious
concern and discernment is a valuable asset to have. This gift can
help guide the church both in more ordinary decisions or deeper
spiritual issues.
Pitfalls
There is a temptation to always be “right”; not admit when there has
been a mistake. Pride could prevent a humble spirit in the use of the
gift. It could be tempting to misuse the trust that someone places in
your judgment and use the gift for personal gain or to hurt someone.
Finally, it is easy to trust in personal judgment and not consult God,
thus being deceived yourself.
Ministry Opportunities
This gift could be used in helping;  settle disputes; counseling;
spiritual warfare;  or assisting church leadership with decisions.
This gift can be used in counseling with addictions and low self
esteem where deception is sometimes used as a coping
mechanism.
Further Training
This is a spiritual skill so good Biblical training is key. Prayer and
spiritual warfare are two excellent subjects to study. Listening
skills are very important. If possible, intern under someone with
the gift.
RATE YOURSELF ON THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT
Passion
Using a  scale of  1 – 5, rate whether you have a passion
for using discernment 
(1 = Not at all, 5 = Very much so)  
Passion Score ______
Experience/Evidence
Using a  scale of  1 – 5, rate whether you have had significant
experience in or evidence of discernment.
(1 = Not at all, 5 = Very much so)  
Experience/Evidence Score __
How to Rate Your Score
 To be more accurate on the Spiritual Gift you need to look both at
your passion with the gift and the experience with or evidence of
the gift. If your passion is 3 – 5 then it is high. If your passion is 1 –
2 then it is low. It is the same with the experience with or evidence
of the gift. Is the experience/evidence high (3 – 5) or is it low (1 –
2)?
Plot your scores on the grid
 Notice that Experience/Evidence is on the vertical axis and
Passion is on the horizontal axis. So a Experience/Evidence score
of  3 and a Passion score of 2 and would be in the number 2
quadrant.
Quadrants
Quadrant 1 = High Passion and High Experience/Evidence
A Spiritual Gift that is in this quadrant seems to be one that God has given
you. You are passionate about the gift and have experience and evidence in
your life that seems to confirm this. Continue to grow in this gift and use it
for His glory.
Quadrant 2 = Low Passion and High Experience/Evidence
A Spiritual Gift in this quadrant may indicate that circumstances have called
upon you to exhibit this skill or ministry in your life. For example you don’t
have to have a high Passion to be merciful to those that are hungry around
you. However your church may have a large feeding program. Just because
you are recruited and spend a lot of time doesn’t mean that you have the
Gift of Mercy. Rather it simply could mean that you were obedient to God
by helping with a need.
Quadrant 3 = High Passion and Low Experience/Evidence
Scoring in this quadrant is common among the Supernatural gifts. Healing , faith, miracles – you
may feel really burdened in situations to pray for God’s intervention in mighty ways. You pray
believing and trusting that God can and will act. If this is true then you must rate yourself high
on Passion. However though you are passionate in your praying for healing your experience may
not be successful. You would rate your experience/evidence score low. However, this does not
mean give up. It is just an indicator of your personal experience up to this moment in time. If
God moves you deeply to pray for the supernatural let Him take care of the results. It is better to
pray believing and not see the results you anticipated then to be disobedient and not pray. God
has given you the gift, He will use it according to His will. Be faithful to the passion He has given
you.
Quadrant 4 = Low Passion and Low Experience/Evidence
A score in this quadrant is usually a good indicator that God, up to this point in time, has not
birthed in you this Spiritual Gift. This does not mean that in time God may call upon you to work
in this area. God can give any gift at any time. He is sovereign.
perspective of discernment
a

Mr. DDetective

Mr. WWitness
Interrogation / intervie
Most people tend to be either task-oriented
or people-oriented. Another way to describe
people is by their response to the
environment. Some people are assertive or
active; they want to shape or change their
environment to better suit themselves.
Others are more responsive; they tend to
accept things as they are and try to do the
best job possible within their environment.
Using these four factors: task vs. people,
assertive vs. responsive, we can place people
into one of four quadrants.
Over the years, many other researchers have built on this
four-dimensional model of personality, making it one of the
most popular systems for teaching people about behavioral
styles. Our collection of reports is called the DISC Profile
System®, and it is based on the following factors:

Dominance The drive to control, to achieve results.

(Dominant) The basic intent is to overcome.
Influence The drive to influence, to be
(Influential) expressive, to be heard. The basic
intent is to persuade.
Steadiness The drive to be stable and consistent.
(Steadiness) The basic intent is to support.
Conscientiousness The drive to be right, sure and safe.
(Conscientiousness)
The basic intent is to be correct.
Evidence and trace analys
THREE THINGS IN EVERY MOVE OF GOD: GOD’S POWER,
DEMONIC, THE FLESH
1.God’s power: miracles that bring people to salvation
and healing (Mt. 10:8; Mk. 16:15).
2.Demonic activity: Satan came among them. Wherever
we find God at work, the devil won’t be far behind. In
Acts 16:16-34 we see a girl with the spirit of divination.
Paul rebuked the demons (Acts 16:18).
3.Flesh exaggeration: exhibits itself so as to be seen as
special or spiritual.
DISCERNING WHETHER SOMETHING IS OF GOD, THE DEVIL, OR THE FLESH
Test all things by the Word. If the evangelist tells us one thing, and the Bible tells us
something else, the Bible is right! If we cannot find a teaching in the Bible, we must
refuse it.
Test all things; hold fast what is good. (1 Thes. 5:21)
The primary principles are: is it biblical and does it edify the majority? In the early
days, even a little manifestation of the Spirit edifies the majority because it signals a
change of the season.
1Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts.….12 Since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let
it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel…26 Let all things be done
for edification. (1 Cor. 14:1, 12, 26)
We do not care how extreme the manifestations are as long as they are not outside
biblical parameters, and are not fake or exaggerated. Test all things by the Word.
21Test all things; hold fast what is good. (1 Thes. 5:21)
What is the fruit of the teaching or the action? Does it bring glory to Jesus? Does it
bring attention to self? Are people brought to Jesus and righteousness? John the
Baptist, Elijah and Ezekiel did strange things. God uses the unusual. They all had really
good fruit in their lives.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Mt. 7:20)
If we aim for love and humility we will always win. People who live for love and
humility are stable and difficult to offend because they do not have false expectations
in their serving.
Challenge #1: being zealous and discerning. We must be zealous for the Holy Spirit’s
activity (not just open to it) as we seek to excel in love and discern the things that are
excellent in the midst of things less than excellent.

12Since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that
you seek to excel. (1 Cor. 14:12)

Our first challenge is to discern between what is good and evil. After that we are to
discern between what is good and best (or excellent). We can be both zealous to
receive from the Spirit and discerning of what is excellent. We honor anointed vessels
without abdicating our responsibility to receive only what is biblical.

We must see God’s favor and honor His activity while graciously discerning that which
is not excellent. We are not mandated to point out what lacks excellence in each
vessel.

There are two ways in which we can quench the Spirit: First, by allowing fleshly
elements to dominate. Second, by hindering the activity that the Spirit wants to
release.

19Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast
what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thes. 5:19-22)
Challenge #2: defining the weightier and lesser issues. We must
distinguish and define the weightier and lesser issues in a move of
God so that we swallow or tolerate the lesser “gnat-issues” while
straining or refusing the larger “camel-issues.”

Because the Pharisees did not do this they ended up straining out
gnats and swallowing camels. We are to graciously bear with the lack
of excellence in the “lesser issues” of doctrine and ministry style
without being compelled to imitate leaders in our quest to receive
“their anointing.”

23You pay tithe of mint and anise…and have neglected the weightier
matters of the law: justice and mercy. 24 Blind guides, who strain out
a gnat and swallow a camel! (Mt. 23:23-24)
Challenge #3: being childlike in faith, not childish in discernment
3Unless you…become as little children, you will by no means enter the
kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the
greatest in the kingdom (Mt. 18:3-4)

Humility of childlikeness: trusting God as a risk-taker without fear of losing our

status. Humility of childlikeness: learning with a teachable spirit

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this
age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. (1 Cor. 3:18)

Humility of childlikeness: Hungry and satisfied with being with Father. We are
not to be childish in perspective nor in conducting ourselves without the
restraints of love. Children are focused on themselves and their needs; they
draw attention to themselves.

20 Do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in

understanding be mature…39 Desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid
to speak with tongues. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order. (1 Cor.
14:20, 39-40)
. DISCERNING OF SPIRITS

 A. WHAT IT IS NOT

  1. NOT SUSPICION - The gift of discerning of spirits is not simply

    being suspicious of others.  A person who has never had the Holy Spirit
    can be suspicious of everyone, and often they are.
  2. NOT GIFT OF CRITICISM - This gift is not discerning of faults, but
    of spirits.  It is the spirit of the devil which causes people to accuse
    the brethren.  The devil is called the Accuser of the Brethren in the
    book of Revelation.
  3. NOT THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT - This gift is not simply the ability
    to discern things, it is the gift of discerning OF SPIRITS.  Most anyone can
    discern different colors, shapes, and sizes of things, but it takes a supernatural
    gift from God to discern spirits.
  4. NOT SPIRITISM - This gift is not to be confused with spiritism, which is
    condemned in the Scriptures.  The spirits of our dead relatives are not floating
    around in our houses or in the air outside.  They are either with Jesus, or else
    they have gone to hell.  As spiritism and demon-possessed people increase
    in number we need the gift of discerning of spirits more and more.
When the Spirit is on the move, it's characterized by:

a) Christ-centered spirituality in every aspect of life;

b) Rejection of all prejudice, class/ethnic/educational
barriers, exclusiveness, and denominational warfare.
When it follows the Spirit, the Body of Believers
knowingly chooses to counter-model prejudices by
living without regard to them.
c) bringing attention and worship to Jesus Christ, and
awareness of God's/Jesus'/Spirit's work.
d) an unusual level of passion, energy, or impact.
These are the main things to look for in discerning
about something:

a) it is governed by love, for if it is not, it's worthless (

1 Corinthians 13:1-3);
b) it centers us onto Jesus the Christ and Lord ( 1 Cor
12:3), and His good news;
c) it directs us to Scripture, not away from it (
Isaiah 8:19, 20);
d) it builds up the church and its members (
Ephesians 4:11-12), giving it power, wisdom,
character, boldness, and unity.
e) it helps create in us a love of righteousness, a
heightened sense of sin, and a turning away from
known evil.
This 'Scripture principle' is not there to hold the Spirit in
chains. It's to be used in the light of freedom in Christ,
knowing that Scripture does not directly address most
matters.

Instead of demanding direct 'Scriptural warrant' for a

practice or course of action, it's better to seek these
signals :

a) that Scripture does not speak against it;

b) that the practice or teaching conveys the Gospel, and
is fully in keeping with the root and heart of Christian
belief found in Scripture;
c) that it turns the focus onto Christ, not persons, ideas,
ideologies, organizations, wondrous signs, or activities;
d) that it is truthful, not rooted in a lie or distortion.
If these are all true, then no direct
warrant is needed from Scripture,
tradition, or for that matter,
sometimes even from common
sense. The Spirit has every right to
lead us into new things that look
like folly. The Holy Spirit is
sovereign. Discernment is about
finding out if it's the Holy Spirit
and not someone else's folly.
Being Held Accountable

Like everything else in this world, our discernments are

bound by our imperfections and thus can be false or
shallow or merely mistaken.

But it helps greatly to have the right attitude toward it :

a) Make sure you can be held accountable by specific

trusted people, on small things as well as large ones;
b) Allow those others to actually do it. Don't fight back
nor blindly accept, but pay attention and be a
servant about it;
c) Be ready to hold others accountable, if need be -
even if that makes you uncomfortable.
d) This way, you become less bound by attitudes and
actions which block your discernment.
 Other Discernment Hints

a) Surrender

b) Sense of peace
Some hints which confirm:
--- a chance encounter with just the right
person;
--- a thought or conviction that keeps
growing;
--- something from the Bible which comes to
mind;
--- something said in conversation which
keeps coming to mind;
--- an opportunity which suddenly opens up.
--- it 'bites back', becoming harder to stop the
more you or anyone else tries to hold back.
These hints mean nothing by themselves, but
can mean a lot when taken together.
The best way to discern the difference is :
a) if the search for leadings from the Spirit finds
nothing or almost nothing (as against having an
unclear or conflicted sense of leading);
b) if there is a specific someone who is clearly
stepping forward;
c) if that specific someone is doing this out of
concern or love and not a drive for power.
d) It may take a lot of humility to admit that you
are not God's chosen one and you don't hold
the reins of power. But in fact, you don't; God
does, and God will work through people other
than yourself or your group.
(1) Have you had the experience of thinking you
were being led by God to do something, and it
turned out not to be so?
What were the consequences?
Looking back on it, what could/should have
alerted you to this?
(2) What kind of matters have you sought God's
guidance about?
How has the result surprised you, if it did?
(3) Have you ever used "God's will" as a cover for
your own plans or ideas? Are you doing so now?
What led you to do it?
(Please, don't talk or think about when others
have done so; that just breaks down into the
blame game. Talk about yourself.)
(4) Take a look at 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21. It says
'Don't quench the Spirit' and 'test all things'.
How do they fit together?
How might these be seen as working against each
other?
Have you ever been involved in an activity or a
church where one was used to render the other as
void? >How? Why? Did you take any action?
 (5) List the people you would most likely turn to
when you're making a tough personal decision?
What is it about them that would cause you to
turn to them?
(6) For church-goers and cell members : how do
the members of your church/cell use each other
as a way of discernment?
(7) For groups : Try some group role-playing.
Choose a matter at hand which interests those in
the group, and act as if you were the ones who
make decisions about it. Take yourselves through
a discernment process. (If you're doing this right,
it should take at least several meetings.) Keep
working at it until a consensus is made or a true
impasse is reached.
Conscience In Discernme