In Touch Daily Devotions 15 January 2022 | By Dr. Charles Stanley | Saturday Message
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Topic: Learning Spiritual Discernment
Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 5:11-14
Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
In Touch Daily Devotions 15 January 2022 | By Dr. Charles Stanley
Yesterday we learned spiritual discernment develops progressively over time. The Lord doesn’t simply pour knowledge into our head after we’re saved. It’s important to regularly seek His will and study the Word in order to know Him better. We should also ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand Scripture and obey what it says.
The church is another avenue of instruction. As the Bible is taught and explained, we gain a foundation of truth on which to build our life. But let’s not be satisfied with simply knowing the basics of the faith. By digging deeply into the Word and wrestling with more weighty issues, we’ll gain a vaster understanding of what the Lord desires and expects.
But no matter how much information we accumulate, discernment is produced only by putting into practice what we’ve learned. It does no good to sit in church week after week without ever applying the scriptural principles taught there.
Spiritual maturity is measured not by what we know but by how faithful we are to apply what we know. It’s through our obedience that God trains us to discern good and evil—then we can live wisely and righteously.
Bible in One Year: Genesis 49-50
Thought for Today: Spiritual discernment develops over time as we study the Word and put into practice what we learn.
In Touch Daily Devotions 15 January 2022 | By Dr. Charles Stanley. He is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, both located in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Stanley’s heart’s desire is to get the gospel to “as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, as clearly as possible, as irresistibly as possible, through the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God.