We are currently in the middle of a series about the Wonder of Discernment. So far we’ve talked about the importance of taking time to slow down and spend time with God to seek discernment, putting it into practice, and training our discernment. Just looking at that can seem a little daunting, but there is good news. We don’t have to do it alone. In fact, we can’t do it in our own power. We need the Spirit to help us.


In 1 Corinthians 2:12-14, Paul was explaining to the church at Corinth:


“What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”


True discernment comes from God and our understanding comes from Him as well. So to grow in our discernment means spending time with Him and listening to Him.


I love the words that Paul uses in verse twelve, “so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” He has given to us freely. He wants us to understand and then share what we have so freely been given. The Spirit is God’s gift to help us understand. If you want to learn more about this great gift from God, please check out the series of articles on the Holy Spirit on this website. There are so many great blessings that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives, but this aspect of His giving us understanding and discernment is definitely one of the more wonderful ones.


The Spirit illuminates the Word of God in our lives and helps us to understand God in new ways. As Paul described it He gives us not “words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” Sometimes as we exercise discernment we find ourselves thinking or saying something and wondering “how do I know that?” or “where did that come from?”.  As a believer, our discernment comes through God. The Spirit helps us to understand and gives us words when we don’t have them.


If you find yourself struggling with discernment, go back to where we started in the first article in this series: slow down and spend time with God seeking discernment. He is the source. The Spirit will help us understand and discern. That can’t happen if we aren’t spending time with Him. The more we dwell with Him, the more we will Wonder in Him and He will equip us to Wonder in the Discernment given by Him.

In last week’s article we start talking about some of the many things that the Holy Spirit does. This week we are concluding this series by taking a look at some of the many things that the Holy Spirit does in us and with us.

This first one might be the most important it because without it the rest of the work that the Holy Spirit does in us wouldn’t really be possible or effective. We know that the Holy Spirit abides in us and is with us forever. In John 14:16-17 Jesus says:

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

As He abides with us, He is also pouring out the love of God in us. We see this in Romans 5:5 where it says:

“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Through that love of God, the Holy Spirit transforms us giving us a new heart and spirit, bringing fruit in our lives.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
(Galatians 5:22-25)

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
(Ezekiel 36:26-28)

As we see in the verses from Ezekiel, the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us reminding us of the Word and causing us to follow Jesus and obey Him. We also see this in John 14:26 in the words of Jesus:

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

There are so many ways that Holy Spirit helps us. He intercedes for us and He helps in our weakness. In Romans 8:26-27, Paul describes it this way:
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Not only does the Holy Spirit help us in our weakness, but He also gives us power. He powers our hope and empowers us to witness.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’”
(Acts 1:7-8)

He will do all this and more, but like Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5-8, we must be born of the Spirit.

“Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit’”

So, as we wrap up this series about the Wonder of the Holy Spirit, my first challenge to you is this: if you’ve never done what Jesus said to Nicodemus and been born of the Spirit by choosing to believe in Jesus then please talk to someone about doing that today. If there is no one else in your life that you can do that with, then reach out to me via the contact form on the website.

If you have been born of the Spirit, then you know that the He dwells in you forever. We are blessed to have His Spirit in us doing all of the things we have discussed today. Take sometime to thank God for who the Holy Spirit is in you and what He has done and continues to do. What a gift!    

We have featured several articles talking about the Wonder aspect of Discerning Wonder, but for the next few Mondays we are going to be exploring the importance of discernment. When you look up the definition of discernment, it is the ability to perceive or recognize someone or something. Having discernment is important in so many parts of our life.

The author of Proverbs actually emphasized the importance of this as well when he said:

“My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace. They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble. You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.” (Proverbs 3:21-24 NLT)

I have heard many people make comments like “Common sense seems to be in short supply these days” or “It really seems like people don’t have common sense anymore” or even asking “What’s happened to common sense?” As much as it seems like this might be a new sign of our times, it really isn’t. As a very young child I remember hearing people describe others as “not having enough sense to come in out of the rain” and other such things. This is unfortunately a common aspect in life at times.

As much as we hear people talk about and lament an apparent lack of common sense, we don’t really hear as much discussion of discernment. In some ways common sense and discernment go hand in hand, but discernment goes even a little further. While common sense involves recognizing and applying seemingly basic truths and principles, discernment means being able to recognize or perceive deeper truths and understanding. You might say that common sense requires slowing down enough to think before you speak or act, but discernment requires slowing down enough to take time to observe, reflect, evaluate, learn from the past and recognize and apply important patterns and principles.

Maybe that’s why it often seems that common sense is lacking and why we barely even mention discernment. Both require us to slow down a bit. The world around us is so fast-paced. It seems like everyone is in a hurry, and there are so many things demanding our attention, so many things we feel like we need to get done. In our rush and hurry and fast-paced world, are we losing some important things? Jesus modeled the idea of slowing down for us in so many places in the Bible, including in Luke 5:15-16 where it says:

“But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”

It seems like the busier things got, the more Jesus would take time to slip away into the quiet and pray. That is itself a demonstration of discernment. We know the importance and benefits of rest, but with a lack of discernment we ignore it. We know the importance of time with God and learning to rely on Him and dwell in Him, but with a lack of discernment we ignore that too. Jesus was busy. Crowds were demanding attention. Disciples needed to be taught. Ministry needed to talk place. He had an important mission and a short amount of time, but Jesus had discernment. He knew that to accomplish what needed to be accomplished He needed rest, but more importantly He needed time with the Father so He could know and do the Father’s will.

If Jesus needed this, how much more so do we?  Being discerning begins by stopping long enough to take time to rest and dwell in God’s presence. In doing that we can begin to ask Him for guidance and discernment. When we are rested and pause to seeking God’s wisdom, we are in a much better position to begin to really see things in a way that allows us to exercise discernment.

You might be like me, and none of this sounds really new to you. We know that this is what we should be doing, but we still find it hard to actually find the time to slow down so we can dwell with God. Depending on the season of life we’re in, it can be really challenging to find the time and we might even worry about what will happen if we stop for a few minutes, but I want us to take a careful look at those verses from Proverbs 3 that we started out with:

“My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace. They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble. You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.”

Do you see what we’re told happens when we choose to do what it takes to hang onto common sense and discernment? “They will refresh your soul.” “They keep you safe.” You won’t be so anxious as you try to fall asleep, and you will be able to sleep better.

Sometimes choosing to take time to do the hard, seemingly impossible, things are what set us up to be in a better place. My prayer for you today is that you will be able to discern ways to find moments with God and seek His discernment in your life.

The last couple of weeks we’ve talked about who the Holy Spirit is. We saw how Jesus taught His disciples about the Holy Spirit, promised His arrival, and told them to wait in Jerusalem for it.

In Acts chapter 2 we see that they’ve done just that. Then we see the Holy Spirit arriving among these believers in a dramatic way in Acts 2:1-8:

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language which we were born?’”

I have a pretty good imagination, but I will admit I struggle with being able to imagine just what it might have been like to be there on that day. “A noise like a violent rushing wind” took place and apparently it drew attention from all over the city. If that wasn’t enough “tongues as of fire” rested on each of the believers in the room. Then to top it all off the Spirit’s first work in them was giving them words to speak in languages that weren’t ones they normally spoke. I feel like the description of the crowd as “amazed and astonished” seems like it might have been understating it a bit. “Bewildered” definitely seems like a possibility. I would have to think that hearing and observing the whole thing for those outside the room would have been concerning, confusing, and maybe even a little fearful.

My imagination can easily picture all of that. What I have trouble imagining is what the experience must have been like for those in the room who had the tongues as of fire resting on them and found themselves speaking a language they didn’t know while feeling the Spirit in them for the first time ever. It is incomprehensible to me. While I know what it feels like to have the Spirit in me and the sense of peace and promptings and guidance that He gives, I also had others in my life who had received the Holy Spirit before me and taught me about Him. This was completely new for all of the them in the room, but of course they had just spent three years with the Master Teacher and had seen more amazing things than this with their own eyes especially during the previous few weeks.

In response to the crowd and through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter begins to preach. He reminds the crowd what God said about sending His spirit in Joel 2:28-29:

“It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

Peter went on to explain how those listening could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as well. In Acts 2:38-39 he says:

“Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Acts 2 goes on to tell us that about 3,000 people believed and were baptized that day. They listened to Peter’s words and believed. Peter’s words there, prompted by the Spirit, had a deeper meaning than even he knew that day. As he said that the promise was for “all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself”, he probably didn’t imagine that a short time later, after seeing this rapid expansion of the number of believers within Jerusalem and even beyond that due to the rising persecution they were facing, he would have a vision from God that would once again change everything.

The vision and subsequent message that God brought to Peter on a rooftop in Acts chapter 10, led Peter to do the unthinkable for a Jewish man at the time and go and stay in the home of a centurion named Cornelius to share God’s message. Peter did as God asked him even though it probably didn’t make sense to him. He shared with Cornelius and all of those gathered there the message of Jesus. Acts 10:44-48 tells us that:

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, ‘Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?’ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”

Not only had the Holy Spirit come upon the Jewish believers in a miraculous way at Pentecost, but now Peter got to witness the Holy Spirit fall upon Gentile believers for the first time as well. I find myself wondering if the words that Peter spoke at Pentecost came back to him in that moment. “For the promise if for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

As one who was once “far off”, I’m so thankful that the promise of the Gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit was for me (and you) too!

Part of being able to Discern Wonder includes being able to discern what we need. We won’t have the capacity to discern the wonder around us or lead others to if we aren’t taking care of ourselves. As leaders in church, ministries, homes, and businesses, we have to begin by leading ourselves. We can’t lead others well if we’re not leading ourselves. Part of learning to lead yourself well means using discernment to determine what it is that you need.

Being able to discern what you need starts with knowing where you are in your relationship with God. How is that relationship? What do you need there? Do you need to spend more time with Him? Do you need to spend more time in the Word or more time in prayer? What does that look like for where you are in your relationship with God? What is he telling you in that area of your life?

Beyond that, we also need discernment in our rest. One of God’s commands is for us to take a Sabbath rest. While we find that in the Old Testament and some may say that is a part of the Law and we are no longer bound to it, we also see that Jesus frequently spoke about the Sabbath as well. In fact, He said that the Sabbath is for man and not man for the Sabbath. It’s not about following a legalistic view of Sabbath that restricts and binds us, but more about the fact that we need rest and time with God. Even modern scientific research backs up the fact that we need rest. If you’ve ever had a few sleepless nights, that fact becomes obvious. So we need to use discernment to figure out what we might need to do to help us rest well so that we can be recharged and ready to lead ourselves and others well.

Another area that we need to use some discernment in involves our time. How are you managing your time? Are you using discernment there? Are you spending too much time on work or too little? What about the time you spend in ministry, church, or with your family and friends? Discernment is so important in many areas of our life. When we talk about how to be discerning with our time, I go back to starting with God. Prayerfully seeking His guidance asking Him for discernment and wisdom for what and how He is directing you. I can’t help but think back to last week‘s article about the importance of dwelling with Him. The more we dwell with Him the more He gives us discernment in these areas. When we learn to hear that still, small voice speaking to us and telling us exactly what it is that we need and what it is that He has for us, we begin to see the path we need to walk to enjoy the abundant life He has promised. That definitely should be our starting place: dwelling with Him and seeking Him for our discernment.

Beyond that though, He gives us other tools to help us. The tool of wise counsel can be very helpful as we look for discernment in our time and other areas. Again, we need discernment to determine sources of wise counsel. Figuring out who to go to and who to listen to is important. I don’t know that we want to take advice in this particular area from someone who isn’t living in a way we want to follow. If someone is burned out or making poor decisions, they might not have the wisest counsel for us unless it is pitfalls to avoid.  We can look to people who are setting good examples of the way we want to live. They won’t be perfect examples, but seeking their counsel can be helpful.

There are other tools out there that can help us as well. One example is last month’s book review on Sacred Rest. There are also tools to help us take time to set or evaluate our priorities. I have gone through and helped others walk through exercises of focusing on what it is they feel called to do, how they’re using their time, and whether those priorities and their time management are aligning. This can be a very eye-opening exercise for all of us. We all go through tough seasons and have moments where we’re are living more in survival mode than anything else. During those seasons we’re doing what it takes to get us through, but if we stay in them for too long, we can easily start drifting and losing sight of our purpose and priorities. At times like that, it can be very helpful to take a step back to really think through and discern where God has us and what we are called to be doing. Taking a close look at what we’re doing and why we are doing it can help us realign with the priorities that God has for us.

If you ever find yourself in need of some reflection or tools to help you discern what it is you need, please consider using the contact page on this website to reach out for some personal coaching. I’d be happy to help walk you through some tools to help you lead yourself and others well.

When this website was started, I wrote an article explaining the meaning behind the name Discerning Wonder. If you haven’t had a chance to read that, you can find it here. In that article though, I mentioned that there were some other reasons behind the name besides the main one. Last month, I mentioned the connection to my Working Geniuses, but another one of those reasons has to do with the word Dwell.

As I was exploring names for this website, and was considering Discerning Wonder the initials “DW” really stood out at me, and made me immediately think of the word Dwell. I’ve never really been one to jump on the bandwagon of choosing a word for the year like so many do lately, but thanks to some things God was teaching me last fall I came into this year with the word Dwell heavy on my heart and mind. So each time I write down or notice the initials of Discerning Wonder it seems to point me back to that word, Dwell.

The importance of dwelling with God was something that He really began speaking to me about in the last year. It’s not that the concept of dwelling with Him was new to me. When I first asked Him to be my Savior and Lord at seven years old, I was taught the importance of spending time with God and remaining in Him. At a young age, I memorized John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” I’ve taught numerous lessons about this idea of remaining in Him. Yet, this past fall, God really called me to task that I was spending so much time dwelling in other things. Allowing other things, like my own to do lists, to guide and direct my steps, my thoughts, my energy, and my heart. He challenged me to really experience life dwelling in Him, and I have to say that it was a remarkable breath of fresh air. The peace, freedom, and rest that I experienced in dwelling in Him was incredible. It shouldn’t have been so surprising because I knew this in my head and had told others it was the case, but experiencing it on a deeper level than ever before was refreshing and wonderful.

It was in this experience of dwelling in God that I was finally able to begin to recapture some of the wonder that had been missing in my life, or least begin to see the wonder that had always been around me. When I was spending more time dwelling in my to do list than dwelling in God, it was difficult to notice, let alone feel wonder. This connection, and the importance of dwelling in Him can be seen throughout Scripture. I particularly like how the psalmist expressed it in Psalm 27:4