2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
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The spirit of antichrist will take us exactly opposite from the way of God. Antichrist will cause us to strive to get our own way. Antichrist will cause us to argue with others.
Strife can be very serious:
The apostle James tells us the following:
James 3
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
And we always think we are right when we strive with another person. So it is good to back off when we see we are about to strive over an issue and pray for God to settle the matter in our hearts and show us truth.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
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James also shows us the way to recognize the wisdom that is from God.
James 3:17
So if a spirit would take you in ways opposite to these, it is a spirit of antichrist.
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If we follow a spirit that is "antichrist", we harm ourselves and those who hear us.
When I have fallen into the trap of strife, I often pray the following: "God ... please create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalms 51:10)
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When I'm being egged on to say something to another person with whom I've been striving, I pray, asking God "not to let me say that" unless it is something HE really wants me to say.
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And if we have faith to do so, we can ask the spirit behind the thought: "Do you confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?"
I have done this and when I do, that spirit will bring to my mind: "Yes" or "No".
Usually we can try the spirit by knowing the fruits of the flesh and antichrist, and by comparing such to the fruits of the Spirit.
Sometimes these things happen so fast we fall into an action without considering which spirit is trying to lead us.
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Recently a woman sent me an example which troubled me. She thought she was being led by the Spirit of God. I thought it was "another spirit" leading her. I did not send a reply that day to her. I was very concerned. I prayed. The second day, I sent her an email saying: "I do not believe the spirit you are following is God."
I did not try to explain anything to her.
She can take it to God and decide. But at least I have warned her.
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Here are a few examples of the Holy Spirit leading individuals.
💥 Pam Padgett was having some electrical work done at her house. The head electrician told her they would have to run a pipe around the outside of the house and put the electrical line inside the pipe.
Pam thought that would be an eye sore so she asked him to put the line in the attic or basement. He spoke in a very sharp way and told her that would not be possible. Pam realized she was at the point of entering into strife with the electrician so she walked away.
A few minutes later, a worker came to her to see if she had any wasp spray for they had run into a nest of wasps. Pam told him she would get some spray immediately and she got into her car and brought wasp spray back to the workers, not wanting any one to be injured.
When she got back, the head electrician came to her and said: We have found a way to put that electrical line in the attic so we will not have to use a pipe on the outside of the house.
Often God works it out for us so we will not have to strive and sin.
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💥 Barbara Preston reported the following. She had ordered something and when the package failed to be delivered she thought it to be lost. (The US Post office had changed routes and recent packages had become lost as a result.) Barbara checked the tracking on the package and saw that it should have been delivered. She thought she would have to go to post office to check, but she dreaded doing that.
(When we dread doing something we need to pray for the way we are thinking of going might be the wrong way and as we pray, God might show us another way to go about the matter.)
Then out of the corner of her eye, Barbara noticed the tip of a package on her front porch.
She knew God had spared her from doing something which she dreaded doing!
Dread is a big signal for us telling us to stop and pray.
The devil and our flesh will lead us into trouble. God leads us in the way of peace.
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💥 Cathy Varner's vacuum began making unusually loud noises. She didn't know what to do so she prayed! (She thought her husband might notice the noise and try to fix it ... but he didn't.) Then the thought came to take it to a vacuum store which she did and the repair man found a part needed to be replaced. She realized her husband wouldn't have been able to fix the machine even if he had noticed the noise. Everything was done in the easiest possible way.
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Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says: Come unto ME, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of ME; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
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💥 Joan Boney: Recently I turned on my Kindle home page and noticed that Amazon had listed several books to try to entice me to buy. One book really troubled me. It showed a man naked from waist up lying on a bed with a woman under him. I didn't know how to get this removed, so I prayed asking God for help. The next time I turned on my Kindle that book was gone!
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