Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. —1 John 4:1
“Beloved, try the spirits.” There are many spirits we do not want to have anything to do with. There is our own spirit, the flesh, and the devil. There are many spirits contending, and many times we let our own spirit rule and make ourselves think it is God; we do the same at times with the flesh and the devil.
Sometimes we know it is not God, but we want to have our own way. If we have the Holy Ghost we can prove the spirits, because everything the Holy Ghost does is confirmed by the Word. We do not want to trust tongues and interpretations. We must measure tongues and demonstrations by the Word, and if they do not agree with the Word, we must not accept them. Everything must be measured by the Word.
We do know God and the voice of God, but the devil can come as an angel of light. When you are in the Holy Ghost, that is the time the devil tries to get in and lead you astray. The Holy Ghost is revealing some secret things; at the same time the devil comes in, and if you are not careful, you will listen to what he has to say and follow him.
Once I was having a wonderful vision and right in the midst of it, the devil said to me, “You are going to die.” I was very poor and was worked nearly to death. I listened to the devil for a minute. Then I stopped to hear what God wanted to teach me.
I said, “What is God showing me? Does this agree with what God is showing?” I knew I could not die if I was to give the people His message. So I listened to God and not the devil.
Lord, empower me to discern between
Your voice and all others. Amen.
