Teddy is a 9 week old kitten. He usually stays in same room with people. Being very sociable, he doesn’t like to be alone. One day Teddy was wandering around Pearl’s feet while she was working in kitchen. After a while, she noticed he wasn’t around. Looking for him, she felt the presence of the Trinity and even heard Them say, “Go back and keep working.” Instead, she kept looking for him. Going upstairs to look, she couldn’t find him, but couldn’t sense the Trinity’s presence either. Concern grew so she started looking everywhere inside again. No luck. Then she began looking outside. No Teddy. Worried about all the things that could happen to a kitten outside, fear began going through her mind. Again she asked Jesus where Teddy was. He said, “Outside.” Returning outside, she continued to look for him. But no Teddy. Then she asked her son to help her look for him. Walking down the driveway, she became very worried for his safety knowing the abundance of all the wildlife nearby in the woods. Walking back down the street, she noticed her son coming out of the house with the cat. Teddy had been in the house – the entire time in the fireplace.
Once inside, she asked Jesus why she thought He told her to go outside when the cat was inside. Jesus gave her the scripture (John 10:27) and told her, My sheep hear My voice and won’t follow the voice of a stranger. But the enemy will speak to you, and they do speak all the time, but My sheep don’t follow.
She asked, “How do I know the difference? They sounded the same.” He told her, “The antichrist studies Me and knows what I sound like and how I speak to you. You must do as John said (John 4:1), test the spirits to know if they are from God. But there is more. Most people only test the spirits like they are other people. You must test your spirit first. Now turn to the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22-23; 1 Cor 13). When you were first looking for the kitten, you felt My peace and heard Me say go back to do what you were doing. But as you continued to look all around the house, you didn’t feel the same peace or presence, which turned into concern and fear.
When you went into the bathroom, you were looking in your spirit, but in the spirit realm you can hear all kinds of things. You did not experience My fruit, but the opposite of My fruit. You were talking to a stranger. At that point you were following a spirit of fear. He spoke to you and gave you your worst fear, and he made it sound like Me in My same voice, but you were following him. Whenever you follow a stranger, he will answer if you ask a question.
So always test your own spirit first. What are you feeling right now: peace, love, joy? Is your spirit experiencing patience, kindness, or tenderness? Or are you experiencing the opposite of those things? Write out the opposite of the fruit of the spirit and you will get the list of the anti-Christ. Then test the spirit with your own spirit. Which best describes what you are feeling? Peace or fear, love and acceptance, or fear and condemnation? Once you can identify what you are feeling, you can identify who is speaking to you.
- John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
- John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God
- Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
- 1 Cor 13 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.