Spirit “Check”

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” (1 John 4:1a)

The auditorium was packed. There was anticipation. There was expectation. And why not? One of the most dynamic youth evangelists (who’d spoken all over the world to millions) was about to take the stage.

But there was something wrong.

Oh no, it wasn’t that he didn’t show up. He did ~ and powerfully. I can still remember the message. It was about feeling like you were on the shelf and wondering whether God would ever use you. The word of the Lord was it was preparation time and that God’s plan would come to pass speedily. It captured the audience.

But there was something wrong.

And sometimes you just get that “feeling” in your gut. It’s hard to explain. (Know what I mean?) It’s like a bad taste in your mouth, but it really isn’t that either. It’s a “sourness” in your spirit (deep down). It’s an uneasiness, an uncomfortableness. It’s like you’ve got to get out of that room as fast as you can. (“‘Scuse me. Pardon me. I gotta go.”)

It’s the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

When I first became a Christian, seasoned believers called it a “check in your spirit.” A kind of “Wait a minute. Something isn’t right here.” Have you ever felt that? (I felt it in the auditorium that day.) Are you feeling it now?

It would be found out only later that the dynamic preacher that moved hearts in the packed auditorium where there was much anticipation and expectation and I could even remember the message ~ he’d been sleeping with his secretary. (I hate to even mention it.)

And I guess the challenge is if you’re the “dynamic preacher”: Are you really all that you portray yourself to be?

And then if you’re the one with the Spirit “check”: God does that because He loves the church (and you) and wants to protect her (you!) from unrighteousness infiltrating.

“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:8)

You might also be interested in:

• Marks of a Defective Faith – Part 1
• The “Big Three”