Discernment

I just walked into the Clinic to start my shift, when one of the LVN’s approached me and asked me if she could confide with me and ask for my opinion at the same time.

“Rcubes, I was passing evening meds in this particular unit. I called for an inmate’s name. This man came and opened his hand and he took the pills really fast as I asked him to show his ID. He already swallowed it when I realized it wasn’t the inmate that I wanted.”

“What meds did you give?” I asked.

She told me it was for seizure. I told her it shouldn’t hurt him not unless, he would be allergic to those meds. But she should take his vital signs and record what happened anyway in the nurse’s notes. In case that man later on, decided to say something against her, her notes would back her up. He shouldn’t have taken the meds anyway because she was calling another inmate’s name.

“I got upset with him. I told him, why did you show up when you knew it was not your name?” she added.

“It’s too late now,” I replied. “They are that way. You can’t trust them to do the right thing because they always want something from you.”

“I know you have good intentions. And in your busyness when you’re passing thousands of meds to these inmates, sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of what you need to do. You’re trying to do a good job and I know you are a great nurse. But there comes a time that only one inmate will be your downfall because of their crazy ways.”

Fortunately, the inmate turned out to be okay and was in no harm. Yet, the LVN, feeling comfortable with what I told her, still put him up for the doctor to be checked out to make sure that he would be completely okay.

Her only fault…she failed to check the inmate’s ID before even giving the pills.

“Be careful…be very careful next time even if something goes chaotic. Focus on what you need to check before you give out these meds. Like what I said, I know you. You‘ve been a great nurse here and focus on keeping that good job. Learn from that mistake,” I advised.


Discernment….The dictionary says it means “keenness of insight and judgment.” In our spiritual life, we also need spiritual discernment. It is calling on the Holy Spirit to lead or give direction about a matter. It’s more than a learned skill. Spiritual discernment is a gift from God. Yet, we use our skills or gifts in which the Spirit can work through to help us discern rightly.

We can be knowledgeable with the Scriptures, but some of us are not willing to be taught by the Spirit. In doing so, we are not learning discernment. We are not seeking the truth. What good is that knowledge if we are not willing to surrender to the leading of the Spirit? How can we discern evil from good, if we rely on our own judgment?

It’s only by His grace that we are able to do that.

Like in the jail, we all follow protocols in many skills that we have to do. Same thing when it comes to discerning God’s will. It’s not only for me. It includes you, all of you, the church.

“Lord, I’m sorry for my sins. I’m sorry for not trusting in You sometimes and I just feel so good that I can do everything on my own. Well, that’s not true. We are nothing without You. Help us Lord in everything that we do. That in everything we do, think or say will glorify none but You. Please give us spiritual discernment, Oh Lord. To know the evil things and not be a part of them. Thank You Lord. In Jesus’ Name. Amen”

"God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede." - Oswald Chambers

"Discerning and acting on God's will does not mean you'll never have difficult days or feel lousy sometimes. But choosing to live in alignment with God makes you more joyful, compassionate, and peaceful, even on bad days." - Debra K. Farrington

More of Jesus let me learn
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be
Showing the things of Christ to me.
------ ('More About Jesus', EE Hewitt, 1915)

Sharing Faith

“I told the deputy when I got here that I needed to see the nurse because I was pregnant. But she didn’t let me,” spoke a young inmate with an upset tone.

She was complaining of spasms on her lower abdomen. I told the unit to send her down to Infirmary so I could test her for pregnancy and determine what was wrong.

“Usually, inmates complaining of lower abdominal pain don’t drink lots of water. So, I’m going to ask you, how much water do you drink?”

“Honestly, since I got here….None!”

“If you’re able to give me a little sample of your urine, I’ll test it for pregnancy and even a simple urinalysis because maybe you’re coming down with UTI [Urinary Tract Infection].”

Only a few drops were visible with the small cup she handed back to me. It was very dark, obviously concentrated urine. Just enough. For pregnancy tests. Being careful not to waste even a drop, I slowly put some on the test strips. Few seconds later, both lines, one red and one blue became visible meaning it was positive for pregnancy.

After taking her vital signs and asking her more about pregnancy history, I set her up to see the doctor that morning. I started her prenatal vitamins and other things she was supposed to have to make sure that she had a follow up care. She was so thankful that I had seen her and did not turn down her request, as it was not really an emergency.

“Drink! Lots and lots of water….Maybe that’s all you need…Water…I‘ll have you be seen by our doctor in just a few hours when he gets here. Okay?”

Smilingly, she replied, “Yes, Ma’am. I will. Thank you.”

When I went back to work that night, I reviewed her chart to see what was done by the doctor. During that sick call, she denied the abdominal pain and actually had told the doctor that she started feeling better after I saw her. There was no further order as I already had initiated all the things that she needed, being pregnant. I felt relieved for her that it turned out to be okay.
　
Have you encountered those who need help, in distress, because they are pregnant with the sins they bear? For many months, for many years, or all throughout their lives? Have you done enough to let them know that sometimes, all they need is to drink the “Living Water” in order for them to feel better? Have you ignored their pleas for them to see the “Doctor”?

Don’t be afraid to share the Good News. Don’t let that opportunity go if the Lord has brought someone needing salvation to you. Don’t be afraid to share that faith based on truth!

How do you share our faith with those who are very spiritually sick? This is from “Sharing your faith made easy [by Mark Walter]:

From 1 Peter 3:15:

~”Always…” - always means always or at all times. There is no day or time of day when we are off duty as Christians.

~”…be prepared” - means make preparations to help you to share your faith. Reading through a book like this is one way to do this. Become truly familiar with the Bible.

~ “…to give an answer” - means that there are answers to give. You may not know all the answers now. You may never know all the answers. But this does not stop you from finding out some answers when you get stuck. Make use of more experienced Christians. See if one of them can help you.

~ “…to everyone” - means everyone [no omissions, no exceptions]. You can’t be too choosy who you witness to. God may give you many different kinds of people that you should witness to.

~ “…give the reason” - means that the Christian faith is not anti-reason. Oh yes, it is faith, but we have all been given the minds by God. God commands us to love Him with our minds. It brings no credit to Jesus if we give the impression that Christianity is irrational. If that was the case, it would mean that a human mind is superior to God’s mind.

~ “…for the hope you have” - means that we must share the hope and confidence that we have in Jesus as our Savior.

~ “…do this with gentleness and respect” - means that we treat people with a kindly, understanding spirit. We don’t turn people off by our attitude or misdemeanor.
　
So, keep cool! Remember that it’s possible to win that argument but still lose the battle. May God give us the boldness to share the Good News!

Spiritual Sundays - Hang In There

Tired of your life's journey? Hang in there...Remain trusting in the One Who always walks by your side...

Please visit Spiritual Sundays, where you can be refreshed by His love, encouragement, grace, mercy through the words He inspired His blogging children with. Thank you to sisters Charlotte and sister Ginger for hosting this special place.

Leave Us Alone!

“Sorry to bother you guys!” stated the county’s attorney.

“It’s not your fault…You’re not bothering us…It’s him…” I replied as I pointed at the big picture on the middle of the wooden table.

There were 6 of us sitting around that conference table at work, yesterday. We were summoned by two of our county’s attorneys to hear each of our sides. One inmate was suing the county with allegations that care was not given to his emergency kind of needs and that, his medications were not given, or that a deputy left him all alone while he was waiting to be booked in the jail. Claiming that he dozed off and fell.

How could we [staff] all remember when this inmate was incarcerated 5 years ago? Who would recall what we did or not or what we saw?

That was where documentation helped! As we all sat down and reviewed each paperworks from his chart, everything was recorded. The Intake Nurse who took him in, did everything she could do, initiating all the necessary protocols to have all of his treatments and medications started right away. I caught it in our medication form and brought it up to our lawyer, that when he came in to the jail, all of his medications were given right away the following day. And our doctor saw him the following day. The claims that he fell, all of those incidences, he was sent to the ER to be treated and evaluated, though ER doctors didn’t find any damage.

I sent him to ER, too, at one time, after claiming that he fell from a chair while we were doing his blood sugar tests. I noted that his sugar was low, but my written notes showed that I treated him appropriately and I sent him to ER anyway because of his fall. Our doctor backed me up and told the lawyers that his sugar level was not even that of an emergency.

Then, the lawyers told us, “We don’t think he has a case but it’s just out of formality because the judge will be hearing about this next week. His own lawyer doesn’t even think he has a good, solid basis to bring all these accusations because he does have a lot of prior history of suing many people. That day that he was arrested, he battered his own sister. And when the deputy brought him to the hospital, he claimed that he fell at that moment…”

They were interrupted when a deputy walked in and introduced himself to the attorneys.

The lawyers gave him a piece of paper where deputies logged on whenever they would check on inmates.

“I don’t even see my name on it. That was not my shift still at that time that he was brought to the jail,” stated the deputy.

The lawyer smiled…

“He brought up your name and you were not even working at that time. How did he get your name? Either he just recalled reading your tag and attached you to his claim. We’re on to something here…”

Our highest supervisor and our medical doctor both noted the medical staff’s charting and they determined that appropriate care was given every time he claimed he fell or he had low blood sugar level. All his medications, appropriate diet were all given while he was incarcerated.

“I don’t think it will even go for a trial,” exclaimed the attorneys. And at that point, he let us all go…


Every day, we have a good accuser who just wants to tell lies all the time! He doesn’t even care that the Judge knows it all. He just tries his best to accuse God’s children of wrong doings, of being incapable of doing the work that the Lord started in each of His children. He would love to just try about anything to stop believers from becoming effective in the works for the Kingdom.

To Satan and your army, I say, “You’re already defeated!”

“The sWORD destroys you!!!, so leave us alone!”

And to the Judge, “the glory is Yours forever and ever, for all ages to come! Thank You!!!”


“6One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." [Job1:6-7;NIV]


"The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.” [Mark 4:14

“Jesus said, "I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I've given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God's authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that's the agenda for rejoicing." [Luke 10:18]

“Jesus said, "The voice didn't come for me but for you. At this moment the world is in crisis. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. And I, as I am lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around me." He put it this way to show how he was going to be put to death.” [John 12:30]

“'I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.'“ [Acts 26:17]

“The Anarchist's coming is all Satan's work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. And since they're so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it—gives them what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth, they're banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.” [2Thessalonians 2:9]