The Gift of Discerning of Spirits: Volume Number Eight of a nine part series on The Gifts of The Spirit

by Norvel Hayes

Christian book

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Christopher Lewis Kozoriz · Rating 3 out of 5]

"My Brother and Sister, you have to have a great respect for the Holy Ghost and the gifts of the Spirit. If you don't show respect for it, God won't give it to you. He'll let you just glide along and just live a sort of normal Christian life, just being an ignorant child of God. (Norvel Hayes, The Gifts of Discerning of Spirits)

The premise of this book is 1 Corinthians 12, particularly verses 4-11:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. (emphasis mine)

In my opinion, I feel the author fell short in describing this gift in this book. One definition the author gives about this gift is, "the purpose and meaning of this gift is to know and discern the spirit that motivates a person, whether truth or error." I think there's more to this gift than that. I believe this gift gives you the ability to discern between the wheat from the chaff, good from evil, angels from demons, false teaching from true teaching, hypocrisy from righteousness...the list could go on.

I personally have met people with this gift. They can see people's spirits and discern whether what someone is saying is sincere or hypocritical. The gift is quite amazing when in full operation.

This book wasn't bad, but definitely not comprehensive teaching on the spiritual gift of discerning or distinguishing between spirits.

[SoFrolushes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Easy to understand and digest

[Sev-Av Nongo]

If you are hung up in business with a partner with a wrong spirit, you can suffer financially with for years because you have gone in business with someone with the wrong spirit. Same thing applies to marriage and life in general. If you had the spirit of discerning spirits operating through you because you prayed about it, the Holy Spirit would have said, “No, don’t do that” This book backed by Biblical truths reveals that God will definitely show you, if you pray about it the kind of spirit you are dealing with. Many people have experienced failures in life because they made decisions based on their convictions and never consulted the Holy Spirit. This book provides a way out of this challenge and presents practical ways of tapping into the limitless powers of the Holy Spirit in discerning spirits.