Category: Discernment

Bible Verse of The Day – 7-15-24

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NKJV) 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

While these verses mention afflictions and are frequently used to give hope and encouragement regarding those afflictions that we all face from time to time, today we are going to look at something other than afflictions or trials.

Look at that last sentence!

First, it says that we are not looking at things that are seen, but those things that are not seen, reminding us that tangible, earthly things should not be our focus.

We are also reminded that earthly things are temporary. They are here one moment and gone the next.

Hope placed in earthly things is misplaced hope that can be shattered in a split second.

And look at those last several words; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

We live in a tangible world, but we are not of this world.

We frequently build our lives around the here and now, expending great energy on earthly things that crumble without warning, leaving us rushing to find something to hold onto.

As followers of Christ, we have much available to teach us on this topic, as Jesus was faithful to teach His disciples these same truths. And it was some of these very same things that they wrestled with so badly as they learned to discern between the natural and the spiritual realm.

Paul summed it all very neatly when He said the following:

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Let us continue to learn and grow, growing to recognize and discern between the natural realm and the things of the spiritual realm, that we do not waste our time chasing after things that wither and fade away.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-14-24

2 Kings 6:17 (NKJV) 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

The verse above gives us an incredible example of seeing things in the spirit vs. Seeing them in the natural.

Our natural eyes see what is tangible; the things we can physically touch.

Our spiritual eyes, however, can see what is beyond the natural realm if we allow God to open our eyes and show us what is there.

This is something that can initially be hard for us to grasp. Our minds often wrestle with separating the tangible from the unseen and giving precedence to the Holy Spirit when it comes to discerning what is true.

But God has told us that we are to walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

So, we are not to base our lives and the choices we make solely on what we see in front of us.

He has also told us that we should be led by the Spirit if we are children of God.

Romans 8:14 (NKJV) 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

It is our responsibility to allow God to train us to live and move by His Spirit, setting aside the tendency to operate solely by the flesh and our human understanding, and mature into a child of God who sees and hears God more readily as He directs our paths.

Will this happen overnight? Absolutely not.

But as we give Him preference in all things, and we purposely spend time in His word, learning of Him, we will see our day-to-day choices begin to change as He molds us and shapes us into who He wants us to become.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-12-24

John 10:10 (NKJV) 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

If there is one thing we can state with certainty about the enemy, it is that he is the master of all deceivers.

His deceptions are skillful, using a myriad of tactics to coax unknowing victims to take his bait.

The most effective of those deceptions is the use of a counterfeit; the mimicking of something genuine that is desirable to his prospective victim.

He uses this not only on the unsaved, but also on believers; genuine, blood-bought children of God.

This tactic will be used on the minds of its victims, relying on us to work and move by our emotions, our intellect, and our human understanding, instead of by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

As followers of Christ, we are taught repeatedly that we are to live and walk by the Spirit, not by the flesh.

Romans 8:14 (NKJV) 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

God has placed a spirit in each of us. It is this spirit in us that communes with God, being led by Him because God is Spirit.

John 4:24 (NKJV) 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

As a deceiver, the enemy will appeal to our natural senses, using a counterfeit to convince us that what we are seeing and hearing is the leading of God’s Spirit. And in this we can be led astray while believing that we are following God.

Counterfeits will satisfy our human requirements, “checking all the necessary boxes” (intellect, understanding, logic). And this is how we can become cunningly deceived into believing it is the real thing.

It is imperative for us to recognize these deceitful tactics and turn away from them.

We need to develop razor-sharp discernment that causes red flags to wave well in advance to prevent us from falling prey to this sly tactic.

Let us learn to live and move by the Spirit of God, relying on Him alone to walk daily on the path He has set before us.

To learn more and get a better understanding of this topic, feel free to watch our latest video, The Edge of The Cliff, where we share more in-depth insights.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-26-24 – The Edge of The Cliff

Please click to watch the video now.Greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ. 

The devil is a deceiver, but God is the light Who exposes the devil’s schemes. 

We have a new video for you today in which we discuss and teach about how the devil uses counterfeits to try to steer us onto a path that looks like God’s path but is not the genuine deal. 

In this video we share scripture, as well as testimony from our own personal lives in which counterfeit alternatives to God’s choices were presented to us in a situation we faced many years ago. 

You can watch “The Edge of The Cliff” and see what happened! 

Please click here to watch the video now.

We love you all! 

Enjoy your day and stay close to God. 

Sincerely, 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443  

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 11-8-23

Ezekiel 33:7 (NKJV) 7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.

Watchman: A man who is set to stand guard or keep watch. A person who keeps watch over a specific place or territory. A sentinel; a guard.

A watchman is someone who plays a key role in protecting a place.

Some might think of a watchman as someone who keeps guard at night. And while this is often the case today, in days of old a watchman was in place at all hours of the day or night to help protect a city or area.

Many might think of a watchman being on a wall or in a tower, using the advantage of height to gain a better perspective and give them an advantage over approaching enemies or those who may pose a danger.

And while watchmen of this type were common in ancient Israel, patrolling the tops of walls and stationed in towers, Ezekiel was called by God to be a different type of watchman.

God used Ezekiel in mighty ways to speak to the people of Israel, giving them instructions and warnings to rein in their errant behaviors and put an end to their idolatry and their lack of reverence toward God.

Just as God used Ezekiel in this way, as a watchman, He also calls us to do the same.

He wants us to be vigilant and discerning, watching, and issuing warnings when we see danger.

We live in a time where there is much reason to be on high alert. We must be exercising elevated levels of discernment to be able to see danger, even when it presents itself as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

So, let us each do his or her due diligence, pressing into God, keeping ourselves tightly knit to Him so as to see and understand the warnings He gives, and taking the appropriate actions as He leads us.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-17-22

Matthew 16:17 (NKJV) 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

For all of Peter’s faults and failures, there were times when he hit the nail on the head, so to speak. And this is certainly one of those times when he nailed it.

Every once in a while, Peter would say something that was truly profound and surely 100% inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Peter reached a point (probably without even realizing it himself) where he recognized Jesus for who He truly was; The Christ, the Son of the living God.

When Peter spoke these words, Jesus encouraged him by telling him that this was not revealed to him by flesh and blood (by man), but “My Father who is in heaven”.

Let us walk as Peter walked, rising above the struggles of the flesh and speaking the words that the Holy Spirit has dropped into our spirit.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, with man this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible!

Matthew 19:26 (NKJV) 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

As humans, we do not have the capacity in the natural to see and understand spiritual things. But with God, all things are possible.

And we need to understand that the time for us to learn to see, hear and speak by the Spirit of God is here and now!

Let us not delay any further the effort required to understand the importance and the urgency of this.

It is imperative that we push our human flesh and human thoughts aside and let God speak His words into our spirits, that we might get the wisdom and understanding we need for the season in which we are living.

Peter was but a mere man, just as you and I. But he allowed God to transform Him into a mighty solder for Christ. Let us do the same.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 11-2-21

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

How do we discern or judge situations that we know are wrong based on what we have been taught?

Some situations that we come across are very easy to discern.

They are ”in our face and very disturbing”.

We know immediately to stay clear of these, and to pray for those that are caught up in it.

Other times it may not be as noticeable at first, and we can get caught up in them if we are not being careful and paying attention to the promptings/conviction of God’s Spirit living in our heart.

As Christians, we are under attack all the time. The enemy, aka the devil, is always out to get us.

He doesn’t sleep, rest or say, “I give up”.  If he can find a weakness, as the saying goes, he’s “on it like a bonnet”. He roams about looking for someone to devour.

That’s us; and he hates us!

If we expect anyone in the world to hate us, it’s him. It’s a compliment.

However, knowing this, we have to be alert. We have to be communicating regularly with the Holy Spirit.

He is always at work for us. And He will get us through the toughest, hardest situations we may ever face in this lifetime.

We are not alone. We have what it takes to battle and to win if we obey the steps He gives us to take.

We will face times and people that are more than we know how to handle. But praise be to God, He gave us the armor to wear and come out alive.

He will blow our minds and our thinking to pieces with His great wisdom, and mighty conquering Spirit! He alone has disarmed and triumphed over darkness.

Colossians 2:15 (NKJV) 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Stay alive, keep discerning, and be on guard.

Our Captain is on the bridge! Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-23-21

Matthew 11:15 (NKJV) 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Through the various seasons in our lives, we might notice that certain characteristics and traits are more important than in other seasons.

The season we’re in right now demands razor-sharp discernment. It is 100% necessary if we hope to see and hear what God is saying and what is happening in the spiritual realm.

Part of having sharp discernment requires being able to hear what is not being said.

That may sound counter-intuitive or contradictory. But let me explain.

Most times, when it comes to spiritual warfare, and things of the spirit realm in general, many things can be very subtle and almost imperceptible to the natural mind and natural understanding.

This is why Jesus told us that we need to have ears to hear. He wants us to be able to hear those things that are not easily discerned; things that are clearly there to hear, but require looking and listening beyond what is plainly visible or audible.

How do we know that this is important? Because Jesus said it again in Revelation, as well as in other places in the 4 gospels.

In Revelation, He said again, very specifically, that we need to have ears to hear.

Revelation 3:22 (NKJV) 22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

And do you know what else He said? He said that we need to be able to see.

Revelation 3:18 (NKJV) 18 …anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

So, you can see that it’s critical for us, as believers, to have heightened senses of spiritual sight and hearing.

And I will say directly, with no hesitation, that anyone lacking in these critical spiritual traits will have a very hard time discerning and understanding what’s really happening in the spiritual realm right now.

And this is why it’s so very important that we let God speak to us through His word each and every day, sharpening our spiritual eyes and ears, so we never miss what the Spirit is saying to us.

Let those who have ears, hear. And let those who have eyes, see.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-7-21

Colossians 2:8 (NKJV) 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

As I read through this and the surrounding verses, one word caught my attention; Beware.

Anytime someone says to beware, we’d better pay attention.

Though this was written by the Apostle Paul many, many centuries ago, it still applies today.

What was Paul telling the Colossians to beware of?

He was telling them to beware of anyone who might try to cheat them (plunder them or take them captive) through philosophy (earthly wisdom, worldly knowledge, empty theories about the meaning of life, etc.) and empty deceit (worthless deception).

There is much of this going around these days. We need to look no further than television, movies, magazines, various websites, radio shows and many other venues to find it in abundance.

These things will attempt to lull us to sleep and sway our faith, moving us away from God and toward carnal, intellect-based ideologies built on humanistic principles instead of the word of God.

It is for this reason that we need to guard our hearts and minds and lean heavily on the Holy Spirit for guidance and discernment.

Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV) 23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

So, as we walk through this earthly life and have to wade through the hordes of “information noise”, let’s be sure to let God help us to keep (guard) our hearts diligently (rigorously, meticulously, carefully, thoroughly) so we’re not caught off guard and robbed by worldly ideologies and empty philosophies.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-15-21

Revelation 3:18 (NKJV) 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

Do we have eyes that see?

What do we see?

Do we see selectively?

Do we choose not to see some things because they make us uncomfortable, because we don’t understand them, because they disturb us or because they might scare us?

We have that choice. We can choose to see all that God wants us to see, or we can block some things out and choose not to see them.

The thing we need to remember, though, is that there are some things that God wants us to see even if we might not like them, or even if they might make us a bit uncomfortable.

Seeing these things might bother us, but it helps us to learn and to grow. It allows God to stretch us as believers.

This can make us uncomfortable at times. It might even cause us to shrink back.

But we can never grow and move forward if we stay locked inside of the same comfortable box day after day, year after year.

If we’re going to mature as believers, we need to push beyond our boundaries of comfort.

Trials and times of difficulty will cause us to move outside of our comfort zones and to make changes necessary for us to mature as believers.

Sometimes the trials we face come by our own hand, because of choices we make. Sometimes they happen because of choices others have made. The effects of their choices trickle down to us

Sometimes, though, trials come solely to allow God to stretch and shape us. Yes, some of them even come by His hand.

Regardless, no matter how they come, we need to embrace them and let God do His works through them, even if we despise the trial itself.

We need to let God open our spiritual eyes and show us what’s behind the things we’re seeing, and then let Him show us how He wants us to handle it.

Hiding ourselves from them won’t spare us from the trial. It will just prevent us from gaining understanding, from learning and from growing.

It’s important that we embrace God in the midst of our trials and times when we don’t understand what we’re seeing.

And when we do see what’s happening, we can’t wallow in it, drowning in frustration, anger or even hatred.

It’s not always easy, but we need to keep our focus on God and His sovereignty. We need to let Him teach us, shape us and mold us through the trials that we face.

Once we do this, we will begin to get understanding, and the way we handle trials and the scary stuff will change drastically, a little at a time.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-14-21 – To See or Not to See

Please click to watch the video now.Greetings in the name of Jesus! 

Do you have eyes to see? 

That’s the topic of discussion in today’s video, To See or Not to See. 

In this newest video, we teach on letting God teach us how to see beyond what’s visible to our natural eyes. 

This is a bit of a precursor to learning more about spiritual warfare, and it’s key to helping everyone understand what we’re seeing happening in the world right now. 

It’s important for all of us to know and understand these things, so we do hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch it. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

We love you all, and we’re praying for you. 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808 

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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