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Because the gift of discerning of spirits is one of the more perplexing gifts, let me clarify some of my language about seeing in the spirit. No believer has the "gift of seeing in the spirit" because there is no such thing. The gift that is actually functioning when someone says that he or she is seeing in the spirit is the gift of discerning of spirits.
Discerning of spirits is a true gift of the Holy Spirit found in First Corinthians 12. The emphasis in this book is seeing in the spirit, which is just one way that discerning of spirits functions. Seers function in a high level of discerning of spirits, usually through spiritual sight. Later I will discuss more about the role of seers in the Church.
The gift of discerning of spirits is a communication gift through which the Holy Spirit makes us aware of our spiritual atmosphere and environment around us. The main way that this functions is through our five spiritual senses that God placed within each of us at creation. To understand how we function in discerning of spirits, we must understand our spiritual senses. Most people only realize that they have five physical senses. The truth is that we have three sets of five senses.
Science has learned that the physical body has five senses that enable us to interact with the environment: taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound. In addition to your five physical senses, every person has five senses in their soul and five senses in their spirit.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (l Thessalonians 5:23).
Scripture has hundreds of verses that lay out clearly that We are a being consisting of a a spirit, soul, and body.
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Experience and culture dictate our own individual reactions to smell, sound, and sight through our soul. For example, smell brings back memories If I were to give flowers to one individual, it may bring back good memories flowers from a wedding, but if I gave the same flowers to another person, it bring back bad memories from a funeral. This is not a physical reaction to ers or their smell; it is a reaction from the individual soul.
If two people are walking together and they cross the path of a dog, one vidual may like dogs and begin to pet the dog; however, the second person maybe afraid and begin to feel uncomfortable. This is also a response from the individud soul senses. The way we see the world, and the way we hear others, is affected by the condition of our soul. Also, the willingness to touch certain things like a snake be easy for some or terrifying for others, depending on the condition of the nilmay ing Even the taste of some foods will bring varied responses from different people.
The human soul has senses just like the physical body. Each category ofsertß has a realm that it interacts with. The physical senses interact with the phys;a realm, the soul senses interact with the interpersonal realm. And the spirit h; senses that interact with the spiritual realm.
Although there are hundreds of books that can help develop the soul orth body, this book is focused on the developing and operating of the spiritual sense
Author and teacher Harold Eberle offers great insight regarding our spiritd senses:
Just as we have five senses that provide us with information about the physical world, we also have senses in touch with the spiritual world.
The spiritual senses are just as important as the physical senses. Unfortunately, most of us have not developed our spiritual senses.
Many Christians do not even believe they have any spiritual senses. I like to ask them, "Has the devil ever tempted you?" Of course, they answer yes Then I like to say, "Well, how did you hear the devil? You could not hear
