"Now it happened, as we went to prayers, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us .... (She) followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.' And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.' And he came out of her that very hour."
Acts 16:16-18
Even though this girl was speaking the truth, it was with the wrong spirit and it annoyed Paul. Paul did not need demonic affirmation of his message. In fact, it was detrimental, detracting from his ministry. Why he put up with it for "many days" is a puzzle to me. You can tell the spirit behind the words. When a child says, "I'm sorry," the spirit that he says it with tells whether he is sincere or not. I remember buying an album of Sandy Paddy one time, and the first time I listened to it, I said to Mildred, "Something's wrong with this music." I later learned that it was recorded while she was having an affair. The music was right but the spirit was wrong. I need to be sensitive, not just to the words, but to the spirit behind the words.
Today's Thought: The spirit words are spoken with is as important as the words themselves.
Have a sensitive day. Love you.
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