Senses.

Hebrews 5:14 - But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. KJV
Once again an example where the “old interpreters had it ‘more right’” as they stuck to the original text.
Literally from Greek this reads: “but for [the] fully grown is solid food, who on account of habit the senses exercised, have for distinguishing good both and evil.”
Needless to say the writer of Hebrews is stressing the eating of God’s word and the assimilation of God’s word, but it was the phrase “by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern” that struck me.

If this was true for eating and thus the discrimination of taste, or having a discerning palate, then this is true Scripturally of all our senses.

What are the senses we have? Some of the major senses are:

 I would like to expound on this parallelism a bit more, but would like to highlight some of the senses in particular as time will preclude doing all of them.

 Psalms 34:8 – “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him”. (NIV) In scriptural terms, tasting also implies “to partake of” this was again highlighted today where symbolically we partake of the Son of God. As Jesus said in John 6:53 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” (NKJV)

 Psalms 119:103 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (NIV) This was reiterated by Ezekiel, “Then he (the angel) said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. (NIV)

 In the Song of Solomon 2:3 another aspect is highlighted, “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste”. (NIV) This speaks of the participation and enjoyment of being in a relationship and presence of another, in this case our Eternal Beloved, Jesus. It speaks of so many things, the fulfillment, the pleasure and the freedom to explore with delight an intimate relationship to its full.

 John 8:52  At this the Jews exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death.” NIV Taste is not only of the good, but also of the bad, and so do not want to taste or partake of death and all that it entails.

 It is interesting that a renowned book on Physiology covers these subjects in a very interesting way. We see that smell and taste are handled together. The reason for that is their close association with gastrointestinal function. The flavours of various foods are in a large part a combination of their taste and smell. The receptors themselves however, are different. We know that we can discriminate between 2000 and 4000 different odours, and interestingly enough, the sense of smell is said to be more acute in women than in men, and especially at the time of ovulation! Smell more than taste can trigger long-term memories. I need not stress that we smell the “air” or rather those molecules in the air. The process by which the perception of and odour decreases and eventually ceases is called “adaptation”. If you are warned of the Holy Spirit, be prompt to respond, for in time that sharpness of smell might disappear. Certain lethal gasses cannot be smelled by humans, we are reminded of the time when miners took a budgie underground to detect Methane gasses which are lethal, so too Carbon monoxide gas, which cannot be smelled, but which kills hordes of people in the third world.

 When it comes to taste, is it not amazing that there are 4 types of cells making up a taste bud, which is only 50-70 um in size. Each taste bud is innerved by about 50 nerve fibers, and each taste bud is replaced in approximately 10 days. We have in total approximately 10 000 taste buds. In humans we have basically 4 basic tastes:

Bitter substances are tasted at the back of the tongue, sour along the edges, sweet at the tip and salt also to the front. It is when an element of pain stimulation takes place that we taste “hot” sauces or curries. So when we eat from God’s Word, when we partake from each other, or when we taste life, and grow in understanding, its tastes are often a combination of tastes. Life in the Word and in the Lord cannot always only be sweet; it is balanced and spiced up to bring us to maturity, to be more discerning and to appreciate the good and the bad.

 Again, as the Psalmist writes, Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 34:8 NIV

 It is worth mentioning that hearing and equilibrium is covered under the same chapter as well. How we hear and how we keep balance is very closely related. We also know that when the nose is blocked, in time our hearing will become impaired, as the middle ear looses the air it needs to ventilate it. We have a limited range of hearing and although it is possible to perceive frequencies between 20 –20000 Hz, the greatest sensitivity lies in the 1000-4000 Hz range. Once again we hear best at the bottom end of the Decibel scale, from a whisper at 20 decibels to a loud band playing at 110 decibels; from 120 decibels we will experience pain, with the top of a logarithmic scale being 160 decibels which will damage our ears. Masking will dull our ability to hear well, especially the “background noise”. We have two ears for sound localization. Only one was anointed at the priests consecration, does this speak of hearing form (obedience to) One Source? Remember Jer 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  (NIV)

 I suppose the most important sense we need to exercise is our vision. In Scriptural terms vision and hearing is at times almost synonymous, as both pertain to calling and purpose.

Spiritual blindness is our greatest enemy, as it implies ignorance and deception in Scriptural terms, as it is explained in 2 Cor 4:3-4, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (NKJV) What image do we behold and serve, what image do we have of our God, self, others, the world? What image do we have about reality we do not physically see, like heaven and hell?

True understanding in the things of God is linked to spiritual insight, we read in Eph 1:15-19, “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” (NKJV)

 We have 2 visual receptors in the eye, the rods, which lies outside the most sensitive spot called the fovea, and they are extremely sensitive to light and are the receptors for night vision. The cones on the other hand, have greater acuity and are the receptors responsible for vision in bright light and for colour vision. Each cone in the fovea is connected to a single fiber in the optic nerve. These two systems work concurrently and maximally under different conditions of illumination. What does this mean? It means that God has given us the ability to find our way in the daytime of our lives as well as during the night times of our lives. We have two eyes to give us depth perception, but the call it to stay focused. We read in Matthew 6:22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” (NKJV) We need to have a focused vision we need to have direction and clear comprehension of where we are and where we are going (walking in God). We need to have functional “accommodation” the ability to focus on things near and far, the things that were, the things that are and the things to come. We need the proper protective reflexes in place to protect our vision; we need to have our eyes washed (anointed) by our tears to keep our vision pure and alive. We know that if we do not eat the right food (too much Calcium and not enough Vit. A) our vision will deteriorate. We know that the most common inherited disorder is “short-sightedness”. Develop your spiritual vision; broaden your understanding in the Lord. We also do not want to be colour blind. The most common being the presence of all three cones, but one being weak. The interesting thing is that an absence or lack in blue is extremely rare (true atheists – most people are at least agnostic) with the lacks in red (a vision of Jesus), and more so in green (an understanding or vision of the Holy Spirit). The rods have a very important function too. They show us that people who come to know God, having been steeped in deep darkness (overt occultism) find it difficult to immediately see the full glory of God, so too will someone who has always lived in the full presence of God find it difficult to relate to the problems of those who are in darkness and both unless guided by the Holy Spirit, both will stumble in the sudden change of light intensity - physiologically called “light adaptation” which takes approximately 20 minutes in the natural. Now we see what Joel meant (2:28-29) when he wrote, “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (NKJV)

So how do we develop a godly sensitivity? At all times ask the Holy Spirit to come and be your Advocate, Helper and Teacher:

1.      Spend quiet time in the presence of God. Exclude the “background noise” and focus on what you hear from within (that’s where the Holy Spirit lives!) This will include all of the obvious, prayer, Bible Study and importantly meditation. And recording what you see and hear. Read Hab. 2. 1, 2.

2.      Expect a vision and a word! John 10:4, As the Good Shepherd it is written, “he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (NKJV) And, Heb 12:25-26 “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?” NIV

3.      Engage the Holy Spirit; actively engage the Holy Spirit in a spirit of humility. 1 John 2:26-27, “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” (NKJV)

4.      Hope is the key, and hope is cultivated by the “word activated by the Holy Spirit”, so be receptive to the “word” or “images” He pours out into our hearts.

5.      Humility, recognize that the images in your heart are deficient and needs revamping, search issues one by one as God brings them before you. The transformation of “having your senses exercised” implies time, effort and discipline. Have a readiness of heart to receive a word or vision from God. Test it, against the Word, against faithful men and women, and most importantly ponder it in your heart. It might start off as a “preference” or “impression”, but in time it will be of “conviction” and “assured”.

6.      Dare to share it, you will never know for sure if you are not going to share it. All of God’s purposes revolve around Jesus and His kingdom. Some visions will be personal, but then many will be for the Body, individuals and the corporate church. We need each other to move forward. Every discerning heart is important to ensure God’s way and vision for us forward.

7.      There are at least 5 types of visions, and I will encourage everyone to read Dialogue with God by Mark and Patti Virkler and to work through the book and come to grips with true dialogue with God.

8.      Don’t walk in the dark, ask God to illuminate your spirit and heart, the “eyes of your understanding”, and to reveal to you the truth of “who you are”, “where you are” in terms of the heavens and “where you ought to go” right now. Pray that you might see, ask the elders to pray for you and allow a renewal in the spiritual realm today.

9.      When god gives you a vision, or speaks a word into your life – have patience and get it confirmed, even if it is only inwardly. If the conviction is clear on what to do then it is wonderful, and do not delay to perform it. More often we have to wait. God’s timing is always crucial. Remember “the vision [might be] for an appointed time.”