1 Corinthians 2:14 [NIV] ‘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.”

DAILY READING; Matthew 20, Numbers 15-16; Ecclesiastes 9.

Ten days before the assassination of American president Abraham Lincoln, he received a warning in a dream. According to his friend and biographer, Ward Hill Lamon, President Lincoln confided in him that he had a dream in which he heard “the subdued sobs of mourners” and saw a corpse lying on a catafalque in the White House East Room. Lincoln then asked a soldier standing guard “Who is dead in the White House?”. The soldier replied, “the President. He was killed by an assassin.”
Then five days later, he received a direct warning from his friend Bishop Thomas Bowman.
Bowman told Lincoln that he was in danger of being assassinated by a famous actor named John Wilkes Booth. But according to Bowman, Lincoln “laughingly made light of the warning.”
Lincoln personally knew John Wilkes Booth and didn’t deem him capable of such a hideous act.
On the night of April 14, 1865, president Lincoln was supposed to attend the play “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre.
But that day, he developed cold feet and was reluctant to go.
But later on he changed his mind and went. As he made the trip to Ford’s Theatre, Lincoln told his bodyguard, William H. Crook, that he has had the dream of being assassinated for three straight days.
That night, while he watched the play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C the well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth who had privileged access to the president’s booth approached from behind. Before the guards understood what he wanted to do, he pulled out a gun and shot the president at the back of his head.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, died the following day at 7:22 am. He was the first U.S. president to be assassinated, with his funeral and burial marking an extended period of national mourning.

The truth is that our physical perceptions of people can be quite misleading. Abraham Lincoln didn’t think the famous actor,,John Wilkes Booth, capable of harming anyone. So his guards were not up, despite the direct warnings he received.
What God tells us spiritually, will often conflict with what we may see physically.
Why the things of God don’t appeal to our physical senses, is because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14 [NIV] says ‘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.”
For us to live long and see good days, we must elevate divine warnings above our physical perceptions of people or situations. God reveals to redeem. It doesn’t matter how harmless someone may appear, while we may look at the physical appearance, God looks at the heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
On our own we can never fully discern what goes on in the hearts of men, without the help of the Spirit..

in Matthew 10:16-17 Jesus told His disciples ‘But beware of men..’
As He sent them out to preach, Jesus told them He was sending them out as sheep among wolves and cautioned them to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves.
When men wanted to make Jesus king, He declined because He “knew what was in man’. He knew that the same people that were shouting His Hosanna would one day also shout ‘Crucify Him’.
We should always submit, when we feel the Holy Spirit tugging at our hearts to take a particular course of action, even if we don’t quite understand why.
Whatever He tells you, do it immediately. The Spirit warns us, corrects us and redirects us because He loves us. Heeding His warnings is wisdom!
As a child of God, spiritual discernment of the voice of the Spirit should not be difficult for you.
In John 10:27, Jesus said ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me’.
If you find it difficult to hear God, then you need to spend more time in the Word, in worship and prayers.
Praying always in the Spirit, is very important in discerning God’s will, the more we pray, the more our spirit man becomes attuned and sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading..
Closeness to the Word of God and the guidance of the Spirit, will always help us to walk safely in a world of full of hidden snares. As we obey divine warnings, surely we will not become cheap victims of the wicked. Rather we will always be victors and more than conquerors in every situation.

PRAYER: Lord, please help me to be totally dependent upon You. Help me to always take heed to the instructions of scriptures and guidance of Your Spirit, so that I can escape every trap of the enemy in Jesus Name.
QUOTE;
There is more to you than meets the eyes. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. – WORDBITE 222. .