Have you ever heard a voice in your head that sounded so genuine, almost like the voice of the Holy Spirit?
Maybe it even quoted a scripture, and you were left wondering if that was the voice of God or just your own voice.
We are often taught how to hear the voice of God, but very few believers are warned about voices that sound like the voice of the Holy Spirit.
The first voice or spirit you must be very careful of is the spirit of procrastination.
This spirit is incredibly deceptive because it always tries to speak like the voice of patience, which we know is a genuine fruit of the Holy Spirit.
The spirit of procrastination always tells you to hold on, take your time, relax, and just wait because God’s time is the best.
It sounds so holy and so submissive. But what this spirit does is that it eats into time.
When God tells you to do something, this spirit comes to tell you not to take action.
It tells you not to be in a hurry. When God tells you to preach, this spirit will tell you to do it another day.
If God tells you to start a ministry, this spirit will tell you that you are not yet fit.
When God tells you to start a business, this spirit tells you that you need more time.
On the surface level, it seems okay, but it isn’t. Its aim is to keep having you push and push till you never step into that calling.
If you listen to it, you will continue to procrastinate on instructions God gave you a long time ago thinking it is the Holy Spirit speaking to you, whereas it is not the Holy Spirit at all.
It is a delay tactic. And here is something I want you to know. When God gives you an instruction, he also gives you a timeline to fulfill that instruction.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 1, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
That means every assignment God gives you has an appointed season attached to it. If you keep delaying and wasting time with the hopes that you will one day fulfill it, that will not happen.
The capacity you had initially to fulfill that thing at the time God told you to do it will no longer be there.
That is why there are certain times you find it very difficult to do something you had initially wanted to do because the grace and time frame God gave you for that particular task has run out.
The Holy Spirit says in Hebrews chapter 3 verses 7 and 8, “Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
The word today is not accidental. God’s windows of opportunity are not permanently open. They open for a season.
And if you do not step through them in time, they close. And because you were disobedient and failed to take action, God will commission that assignment to somebody else.
This is not a threat. This is a pattern you see all through scripture. When Saul delayed and disobeyed, Samuel told him in 1 Samuel chapter 13 verses 13 and 14 that because he did not obey, God had already sought him a man after his own heart and commanded him to be captain over his people.
Saul’s assignment was handed to David not because David was waiting for it, but because Saul forfeited it through disobedience.
This is why even basic things such as finishing the Bible have taken you years because you have been dragging and procrastinating for ages.
And even though you are now older, you still have never finished reading the entire Bible.
And if you are not careful, you might never finish it. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 1 warns us, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
You are not promised another season. You are not promised another window. All you have is now.
This principle applies in every other aspect of your life. When God tells you to do something, avoid dragging your feet.
Half obedience is as bad as disobedience. Sure, we need wisdom before taking action, but when God’s instructions are dragged and dragged all in the name of patience, that is no longer patience.
Patience is enduring a trial with a good attitude while you keep moving forward. Procrastination is the absolute refusal to take action when God has already given you the green light.
This is what almost happened to Moses. When God called him, he began to give all sorts of excuses.
He was giving God many reasons why he wasn’t fit for the job. Moses didn’t refuse the call, but he was giving so many excuses to the point that God got angry at him.
In Proverbs chapter 13 verse 4, the Bible says, “The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”
Furthermore, Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 4 warns, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.”
If a voice is constantly telling you to wait when God has already told you to move, you are dealing with the spirit of procrastination.
The second voice that tries to mimic the Holy Spirit is the religious spirit. This is arguably the most destructive spirit of all because it operates right inside the church.
The religious spirit tries to mimic holiness, but it does so by creating a toxic atmosphere of legalism, judgment, and outward performance.
It will make you feel incredibly superior and look down on others while secretly draining you of all genuine love and compassion.
A religious spirit will make you memorize the Bible just so you can use it against others.
It is the spirit that operates through rebellion. You’d find someone who is very rebellious, but at the same time prays for hours.
It is the spirit that tells you not to associate with other members in church because they are not like you.
It is the same spirit that makes people criticize the brethren and call it correction.
If you go on the internet today, you will find tons of people who build their entire platforms on criticizing others.
And guess who they think is telling them to do so. They think it’s the Holy Spirit, whereas it isn’t.
The Holy Spirit never pulls down others. You will find husbands and wives who talk down on others because they think they have the Holy Spirit telling them to do so.
How many spouses have divorced their partners simply because they thought it was the Holy Spirit who told them to do so.
God will never contradict his word. Even as a married man, I have had people who say to me that God told them I was to be their husband, which is practically impossible.
God cannot contradict His word. He cannot tell a married person to marry another person.
This is why you must always match what people say to you against scriptures. Even if what they are saying sounds prophetic, weigh it against what the word of God says.
In 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 5, Paul describes people who have a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
From such turn away. The Holy Spirit brings conviction that leads to loving restoration, but the religious spirit brings a critical, fault-finding attitude that leads to division.
If the voice you are hearing makes you arrogant, judgmental, and obsessed with rules rather than a relationship with Jesus, that is not the Holy Spirit.
That is a religious spirit. The third counterfeit spirit is known as the python spirit.
This spirit tries to act prophetically, but it is actually a divining spirit. This is the spirit that false prophets use to prophesy with, and it takes the gift of discernment of spirits to know that they are using a false spirit.
It often functions as a prophetic spirit, and people get easily carried away because they think it is able to predict the future.
We see a perfect example of this in Acts chapter 16 verses 16 to 18.
The Apostle Paul was followed by a slave girl possessed by a spirit of divination.
In the Greek, this is literally translated as pneuma pythona, or the spirit of python.
For days, she followed Paul shouting, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.”
What she was saying was 100% factually true, but Paul, full of the Holy Spirit, was grieved in his spirit because he discerned it was a demon trying to endorse his ministry to eventually infiltrate and twist the truth.
The python spirit will give you accurate information about your past or your present just to gain your trust so it can strangle your spiritual life in the future.
It operates by mixing a little bit of truth with a massive amount of lies making you think it is God speaking.
The fourth spirit that mimics the Holy Spirit is the spirit of fear and paranoia which cleverly disguises itself as spiritual discernment.
The Holy Spirit will absolutely give you discernment to warn you about dangerous people or situations.
However, the spirit of fear will hijack that concept and make you suspicious of absolutely everyone.
It will tell you that everyone is a witch, everyone is against you, and you cannot trust any pastor or any friend.
It mimics the protective warning of God, but its true fruit is isolation and torment.
In 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7, the scripture is crystal clear. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
When the Holy Spirit warns you, he gives you a calm authoritative peace on how to handle the situation.
When the spirit of fear speaks, it brings panic, anxiety, and a racing heart. 1 John chapter 4 verse 1 commands [clears throat] us to believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.
If the voice brings torment instead of peace, it is a demonic impostor. The fifth and final impostor is the spirit of condemnation which aggressively tries to mimic the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
This is where many believers get trapped in a cycle of depression. When you make a mistake or fall into sin, the Holy Spirit will absolutely convict you.
But the voice of the Holy Spirit will say, “You have sinned, but I love you.
Get up, repent, and come back to the Father.” It draws you toward God. The spirit of condemnation, however, will say, “You have sinned.
You are worthless. God is done with you. Don’t even bother praying because he won’t listen.”
It pushes you away from God in deep shame. Revelation chapter 12 verse 10 calls Satan the accuser of our brethren.
He accuses you day and night. But you must stand on the absolute truth of Romans chapter 8 verse 1, which declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.”
If the voice you hear makes you want to hide from God rather than run to him for mercy, you are listening to the accuser, not the comforter.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, I lift [music] up every single person watching this video.
I ask that you would grant them the supernatural [music] gift of discerning of spirits.
Open their spiritual ears to know the difference between the voice of the good shepherd and the voice of the stranger.
According to John [music] chapter 10 verse 27, “Your sheep hear your voice, and they follow you.”
I bind and rebuke the [music] spirit of procrastination, the religious spirit, the python spirit, the spirit of fear, and the spirit of condemnation from their lives [music] right now in the mighty name of Jesus.
Fill them with your [music] Holy Spirit and lead them into all truth. In Jesus name, amen.
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God bless you.
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