DoublePortion_October2023_8.5x5.5_REV.indd

bition of discernment. While the pagan king was hatching his plan, “The man of God sent word to the king of Israel,‘Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.’ So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God.Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places” (2 Kings 6:9,10). This is yet another example of supernatural awareness demonstrated in the ministry of Elisha.We saw it displayed by the Shunammite woman who recognized Elisha as a man of God and then decided to build a room for him. Later, Elisha discerned that Gehazi had received ill gotten gain from Naaman. Jesus displayed such perception when He first met Nathaniel, who would become one of theTwelve. “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (John 1:47).And again, when accused of blasphemies by the scribes and Pharisees, “Jesus, aware of their reason ings, answered and said to them,‘Why are you reasoning in your hearts?’” (Luke 5:22). But that’s Jesus you say. He had such ability because He was God.Yes, but also because of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, which we as Christians possess as well.We are responsible for discerning the spirits.That said, many believers have been given a special gift of discernment by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10), which is the ability to tell the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. “A person with the gift of discernment can discriminate between that which is raised up by God and that which pretends to be. He has the ability to unmask Satan’s trickery, to detect false teachings, and to ferret out false teachers. He has the ability to spot a phony before others see through his phoniness.” 1 Obviously, Elisha’s double portion of Elijah’s spirit gave him the ability to anticipate the enemy’s battle movements. And because

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