Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. – Psalms 1
When we keep the Almighty Father first in all that we do wherever we are that’s exactly where we are supposed to be! Our consistent love of God prepares our hearts and minds for our daily encounters with other believers and non-believers. This is very important because as we go about our day sometimes we come in contact with particular individuals whose negative attitudes and actions cause us to change our location. We have to remove ourselves from the presence of that type of negative energy which could cause us to eventually become negative as well or place ourselves and family in some type of danger. This is what happened to Lot as He chose for himself and kept his family in the presence of the wrong spirits.
So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. – Genesis 13:11-13
As for me, I’ve been in numerous places where I’ve encountered these types of people and I would say to myself “Wrong spirit, got to go”. I utilize that phrase to help me quickly remove myself from a non-fruitful person or group of people. There is simply no need to waste our precious time in places or with non-fruitful people that taint our progress. Sometimes we encounter non-fruitful people and we have to stay in the same place with them because we either have no choice at that time (employment reasons) or the Holy Spirit reveals to us that we can actually help them. They happen every day and our hearts and minds must be in the right place so that we can deal with those types of situations. Here are a few examples of being in the presence of the wrong spirit:
- Shortly after the Holy Spirit left Saul he eventually began to hate and eventually he wanted to kill David. David recognized that Saul had the wrong spirit and David had to flee Saul’s presence. (1 Samuel 16-31)
- After Elijah defeated the false prophets of Baal, Jezebel sought to kill him. Jezebel worshipped false gods and did not believe in God. When Elijah knew that Jezebel had the wrong spirit he had to go! (1 Kings 18:20-40)
- After Peter tried to rebuke Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus knew Peter was being influenced by the wrong spirit. Then Christ Jesus had to rebuke Satan. (Matthew 16:21-23)
- Satan wanted to sift Peter but Christ Jesus had to pray Satan away from Peter. Christ Jesus didn’t want the wrong spirit to sift Peter. (Luke 22:31-32)
- After Christ Jesus told the Jews that He and God are One, they tried to stone Him and arrest Him but He escaped them. They didn’t have the Holy Spirit which is why they couldn’t recognize and receive what Christ Jesus was telling them. They were influenced by the wrong spirit so Christ Jesus had to flee their presence. (John 10:22-42)
Those examples highlight the fact that the wrong spirit will eventually try to kill you. In many situations the wrong spirit will try to kill your joy, kill your hope, kill your peace, kill your happiness, kill your progress, kill your family and kill the love that you have within you. Also, the wrong spirit will cause people to have nasty attitudes and nasty ways.
Many individuals are in relationships with the wrong spirits but chose to stay in the relationships. Choosing to stay in a relationship with the wrong spirit will lead to wasted time, loss of blessings, unexpected pain and sometimes death. Sometimes the wrong spirit has a tight grip upon the person and they make it hard for the other person to leave them via strongholds, trickery and fear. We have to pray away the wrong spirit from these people like Christ Jesus did for Peter.
In other situations, we encounter the wrong spirit in our work places, in the public, at school and even in places of worship. Dependent upon our location, it might be best to just leave the location thn to stay and rebuke the wrong spirit. Some wrong spirits are powerful than others and everyone is not equipped to deal with such matters. This is also why we must meditate in the Word of God day and night so that we can allow God to take charge of such matters. Let’s not get this confused with how we conduct ourselves with non-believers. We are not supposed to isolate ourselves away from non-believers but if they are disruptive and filled with the wrong spirit then we must act quickly in prayer or departure. In most cases, we have to allow our lights to shine bright on those that have the wrong spirit so as to help guide them out the darkness then guide them to the Holy Spirit.
The wrong spirit wants to steal your time and distract you from your purpose for the kingdom of God! So whenever you encounter the wrong spirit please leave its presence unless the Holy Spirit leads you to stay, pray and rebuke it. Otherwise, just say to yourself “Wrong Spirit, Got to Go” then leave immediately and rebuke it while you are departing. Blessings!
