Differences between Holy Spirit’s Presence and Your Emotions

I know you're hungry for the presence of the Holy Spirit you desire a touch of God's power on your life but we have to be careful so that we're not so desperate for an experience that we instead settle for emotional hype I want to show you biblically speaking how to discern between emotional hype and an actual move of the holy spirit's presence and power I'm going to tell you the differences between your emotions and the holy spirit's presence first let's take a look at John chapter 3 verse 6. that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is Spirit now here of course Jesus is talking about the born-again experience but a takeaway principle that has Universal application is that there's a difference between the flesh the things of this material world and the things of the spirit what is the source of what you're experiencing you see all of us our body Soul and Spirit you are a spirit who has a soul that lives in a body you are not your body you are not your soul your true identity is your spirit because your spirit is the part of you that's connected with the father God now many times we seek God from the outer shells of Who We Are when you seek God from the place of physical posturing you are participating in religion that's ritual and you cannot make up with ritual what you lack in the spirit so ritualization or physical posturing looks something like well if I shout loud enough if I jump high enough if I pray for long enough if I Pace aggressively enough maybe God will respond to my physical posturings and therefore I will experience something from his presence but God does not look necessarily at the physical posturings now if that physical posture comes about as a result of something that's actually taking place in the spirit that's a genuine move of the spirit for example I've been in Services where the glory of God was so intensely manifested was tangible that I could do nothing else but fall on my face and worship now the glory of God was there that move of the spirit originated from the spirit and that move of the spirit caused me to posture my physical body in response to what God was doing that's very different than trying to cause that glory to manifest from the place of physical posturing so God was already moving and I recognized it and that's when I responded with that posture of bowing down before the Lord and worshiping him and maybe you've experienced that before where you're so overwhelmed in his presence that you respond and go down upon your face and just begin to worship as you lie on the floor in humility and reverence toward what you're sensing that beautiful weight that's on the room now that's wonderful if you're responding to a move of God but if you are going on to the floor trying to cause a move of God and you imagine that God cannot move until you've taken that physical posture well now your borderline entering into ritualization and there's a close relationship between what we're experiencing and how God is moving and that's why sometimes it's difficult to discern between these but right now I'm just kind of talking about the various ways that we pursue the moves of God so you can pursue God from that outer shell the physical body or you can pursue God from another outer shell which is a little deeper but that's the soul so the very outer shell the outermost being is my physical body or my Earth suit and if I'm trying to posture myself to cause a move of God that's religion that's ritualization now if I try to pursue a move of God from my spirit I'm pursuing a move of God from the place of emotion from the place of intellect and I'm trying to cause God to move based upon the emotions I'm expressing I cannot emote myself into an encounter with God's presence I cannot think myself into an encounter with God's presence now does the Mind respond to the presence of God absolutely do the emotions respond to the presence of God absolutely but the mind and your emotions cannot cause the presence of God to manifest in the way that you are looking or you are looking for so if it begins in the spirit then it's of the spirit that which is born of the spirit is Spirit that which is born of the flesh is flesh so I want to make this clear there's nothing wrong with shouting for the Lord there's nothing wrong with jumping up and down in excitement there's nothing wrong with dancing in his presence there's nothing wrong with crying before the presence of God or thinking about the presence of God I'm simply saying that those things in and of themselves are not the cause of the manifestation of the presence of God it begins in the spirit now cynics will ask questions like do you want an encounter with God or would you rather have an emotional experience and I think that sometimes we forget the close relationship between our response and the manifestation of God's glory and therefore we sometimes imagine that our emotions are always at odds with what God is doing well I've been in services and I know you have too and you can see in scripture I'll show you a little bit later on the different responses that people have to the presence of God there are times when the beauty of the Lord is so apparent to you that you can't help but weep there are times when the beauty of the Lord is so apparent to you that it brings you Joy so yes your emotions respond to the presence of God but again they cannot cause a manifestation of his presence and power and that I think is the difference between hype and a genuine move of the Holy Spirit I'll share other differences but let's assess this just for a moment because when God begins to move you will sometimes feel that physically now this does not mean that God comes and goes and often Christians imagine that they imagine that when they're worshiping the presence of the Holy Spirit comes down that's not what's happening it's not that the presence of the holy spirit is coming down he dwells in you how can he come and go if he forever abides in you no what's happening in those worship Services what's happening in those prayer services is not that the presence of God is coming nearer it's that you are becoming more aware of the presence which was already there and therefore that that apparent nature of the presence of God when you begin to see it and sense it that is the manifestation of his presence so in our emotions we can respond to him I mean everything about you was created to respond to God so how can you be near to God who is love how can you experience that presence how can you be aware of such compassion such love such peace such joy and not be moved so people will ask again as cynics they will ask do you want a move of God or do you want emotion forgetting that moves of God can sometimes cause emotions encounters with God can be emotional but emotions cannot cause encounters with God let me say that again encounters with God can be emotional but emotions cannot cause encounters with God so it's not as though you have to choose but you do have to recognize that emotions do not cause the presence of God so people will criticize you for experiencing the presence of God When You Weep or maybe you tremble in reverence or maybe you sense the overwhelming joy of the spirit and people will criticize that expecting that you're supposed to be like this Fake Plastic individual who isn't moved by the beauty of the lord well that's just nonsense how can you not be moved by who God is so again it's not one or the other and emotions aren't necessarily against the move of the spirit but here are some rules for experience some wisdom here I want to give you in this area that will help you to be more Discerning because the truth of the matter is that some Believers are caught up in hype and that's just the reality and sometimes and this is a little bit more nuanced sometimes we are experiencing an encounter with God but then we add to that encounter with emotion and hype I'll give an example just recently at the service I believe it was in Brooklyn there was a woman getting delivered in the service she began to manifest the power of God was moving and so this was during the service and what happened is actually during the worship as we're worshiping the Lord I was leading the people telling them to be focused on Jesus telling him he would heal them deliver them this woman starts to receive the touch of the Holy Spirit on her life she begins to manifest like a demon she's screaming and what happened was the Holy Spirit began to do a work in her but then people around her started to gather around her and started to like scream at her I don't allow that in our services where people gather and start screaming at the person who's manifested because their emotional additions could take the person beyond the place where they need to go in order to be delivered you don't need to scream to be delivered now if your demon-possessed okay usually that comes with the scream but another example of is Christians Born Again believers who insist that they need to vomit on the floor in order for God to deliver them now God can work through that maybe that happens sometimes I'm not necessarily against that so don't hear what I'm not saying but if you're insisting that that needs to happen now you're moving beyond the spirit and you're adding to it so I told the people leave her alone in other words don't hyper there's it's already happening the Lord's the living room leave her alone let the Holy Spirit do it and within 15 20 seconds she was delivered and it was the Lord who did it now what usually happens or what can happen I should say is someone gets delivered the Lord does it it's done and then someone will come along and say no it's not complete you know as if the Holy Spirit missed something no it's not complete come on everybody let's gather and then they all start screaming and yelling and then that person gets hyped again well that began in the spirit and then it took a turn toward the flesh or someone will experience the touch of the holy spirit's power and they fill it like electricity on their body and they're shaking but then they add to it maybe with a little bit of extra and they start kicking or they start uh you know punching the air or maybe they start screaming when they're not necessarily moved to be screaming by the spirit again the manifestations themselves are not what we're looking at but the source of them so the Holy Spirit can move on someone and then they can add to that Spirit-filled experience with this emotion they go above and beyond and this is what we call mixture where now they're beginning to add flesh to what the holy spirit is already doing in them so this is why I want to give you some wisdom here because again we we we're sincere about seeking the Lord we want Encounters in his presence but again don't be so desperate for an encounter with God that you throw discernment out the door to where now you're just willing to be hyped into anything and that's where we have to be careful so number one here's some wisdom and then I'm going to give you more keys to Discerning the difference between an emotional experience a purely emotional experience and an encounter with God and again emotion is not necessarily against it but sometimes people mistake encounters that are entirely emotional for moves of the spirit number one experience is valid when it's consistent with God's word yes experience has a place especially if an experience aligns with God's word so if you're experiencing something that contradicts the word believes scripture not your story I tell people all the time scripture over stories we do not get our theology from our stories we do not get our doctrines from our stories we do not get our Biblical applicable teachings from our stories we get them from the word now I understand the word of God is comprised of stories and experiences but the word of God the written word of God is comprised of stories and experiences that were inspired directly by the Holy Spirit to be recorded just as they were the word of God is infallible we are not and so take your experience and don't dismiss it but instead ask yourself is this consistent with the word of God which leads me to point number two interpret your experience through God's word not God's word through your experience in other words when you experience something you don't take your experience and then try to force that upon the scripture or your understanding of that experience upon the scripture rather you take the word and you use that as the lens through which you interpret your experience so if anybody ever tells you something that contradicts the word of God and their defense is well what I experienced was this let God Be True in every man a liar believe the word not them number three experience is a result of seeking God but not the purpose of seeking God please hear me now this is a major point encounters and experiences in God's presence are wonderful I believe in these with all my heart you know it you've seen it in our services in fact I'm constantly talking about the wonderful experiences that we have in our meetings all around the world where people are saved Miracle healings take place people are delivered from demonic power people are empowered by the Holy Spirit people receive the gift of tongues and spiritual gifts I'm all for that however those experiences themselves must not become our Pursuit Jesus and Jesus alone must be the object of our affection Jesus and Jesus alone must be the goal Jesus and Jesus alone is the focus his person who he is and so we do not seek experience we do not seek necessarily encounters we seek Jesus and in seeking Jesus we often will experience things in our seeking of the lord we will have encounters but don't shift it don't take your eyes off of him don't remove the focus from his heart to his hand seek his heart and you'll receive from his hand and this of course is important because you may look at some believers who are having a certain experience or a certain encounter and then you start to feel a certain way about that because maybe you're not experiencing like that experiencing it like that so you you may Wonder has God abandoned me does God not love me as much as he loves that person who's encountering his presence and the way I want to encounter him is there something wrong with me do I lack Faith am I not as spiritual am I not as important to God am I not as favored by God and those questions arise only when we begin to elevate experience above the word of God only when we begin to elevate experience above faith in what God has promised you do not need your emotions you do not need an experience to convince you of something that the word of God already says well is God near me yes I'll never leave you nor forsake you and the Holy Spirit will dwell with you and he will never leave you well that's what the word of God says who cares what your emotions say who cares what you're interpreting your experience as if God has promised to be with you he's with you whether you're experiencing what your brothers and sisters are experiencing or not so no there's not something wrong with you no in most cases and I said in most cases because there are some exceptions in most cases it's not a lack of faith in most cases it's not because you made a mistake and God has not favored you and God doesn't love you as much as them it's just that maybe you're so focused on having the experience that you've forgotten to seek Jesus because sometimes an intense desire for an experience can itself become a distraction from having an encounter with God we become all tangled up in our emotions in our doubt in our confusion in our questions and we're so focused on one thing and so obsessed well this person told a story and this is what they felt or I saw this in a church service once and this is what I saw them encountering why can't I have that you can just take your eyes off the encounter take your eyes off the experience and get it back on Jesus so let's recap what I've said about the source The Source being the spirit there's nothing wrong with emotion there's nothing wrong with jumping up and down and praising God there's nothing wrong with shouting and dancing there's nothing wrong with feeling his presence physically there's nothing wrong with weeping before the Lord there's nothing wrong with being overcome in Joy there's nothing wrong if when someone is getting delivered from demonic possession they're screaming and foaming at the mouth and rolling on the floor that's all well and good as long as it's genuinely beginning in the spirit as long as it's genuinely move of God what I'm simply saying is those expressions those outward expressions in and of themselves cannot cause something of the spirit to take place which is why I've been giving you these points to help you balance it now I want you to write in the comments section whether you're watching live on replay write give me balance if you're someone who wants an encounter with God but also wants to make sure it's based on the word give me balance uh just some examples here real quick and then I'm going to get into the differences some more differences between the holy spirit's presence and your emotions so the first difference is that true moves of the Holy Spirit begin in the spirit and very often we can add to what the spirit is already doing and you've seen it in church services it's happened where the spirit's moving people are enjoying the present God maybe the congregation is weeping and then there's one person who out of wanting attention or out of wanting to hide the mood we'll just begin doing something weird and it throws the whole thing off they're adding to the spirit with the flesh so be careful of doing that so here are some just biblical examples of this um the presence of God brings Joy psalm 16 11. thou will show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand there are Pleasures forevermore there are physical reactions to the power of God John 18 5-6 they answered him Jesus of Nazareth saith unto them I am he and Judas also which betrayed him stood with them as soon then as he had said unto them I am he they went backward and fell to the ground now there are some who are very hyper-critical of moves of the Holy Spirit who will take that instance and get ultra-specific with it and say well this these specifically were guards who specifically fell backwards specifically in response to the Judgment of God's presence and that may be true but a universal application here that cannot be denied is that the presence of God can cause a physical reaction the manifested presence of God can cause a physical reaction so here we're not looking for anything particularly specific in this area just the general principle is biblical that the presence of God manifested can cause a physical reaction you see this a lot in the Old Testament and some references in the New Testament Acts 26 13-14 at midday oh King I saw on the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun the sun shining round about me and them which journeyed with me and when we were all Fallen to the earth I heard a voice speaking unto me and sang in the Hebrew tongue Saul Saul why persecutest thou me it is hard for thee to kick against the Pricks now here we see an example of Saul being physically thrown from his horse he's physically thrown onto the ground and he has this experience in the presence of God as a physical reaction in the presence of God Luke chapter 24 verse 32 they asked each other where not our hearts burning within us well we talked with that well he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us so they sense this burning in their hearts and even if you don't take that to mean something physical it is an emotional response then that they're having to the presence of God so I could give you story after Story instance after instance you can't read the Bible without seeing people respond to the presence of God physically and emotionally sometimes it's all sometimes it's fear sometimes it's Joy but there's always a response to the manifested presence of God and it's a beautiful thing when you experience these things so the point I'm simply making here is that there is a response to God's presence sometimes that response can be emotional and physical now of course hype can still cause issues I gave you an example of some of the things I've seen for example when people are manifesting demons you can very easily hype that Beyond to where God wants to take it so that's why you have to be Discerning keep a level head and move forth with discernment so that you're not hyping Beyond where God wants to go uh cynics again will ask for very specific references well no I want to see a specific instance where they're in a church service and someone lays hands on them and then they begin to cry well you're not going to get that but you will get the biblical principle and we can't ignore biblical principle and nitpick and look for these ultra-specific examples we're looking for the biblical nature of the move of the presence of God and it's very clear in scripture how that affects us so here are some differences number one or I should say number two number two it draws you closer to God emotional encounters cannot draw you closer to God think of Moses think of Isaiah think of the disciples think of Saul who we're going to analyze in just a moment when they had that encounter with God they were drawn to him they were not drawn back to their sin they were not drawn back to their old lifestyle they were drawn closer to the Lord now look at Luke chapter five I'm going to read quite a few verses for each one of these points let's begin at verse number one one day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God he noticed two empty boats at the water's edge for the fishermen had left them and were washing their Nets stepping into one of the boats Jesus asked Simon its owner to push it out into the water so Jesus is looking for a place to speak he chooses Simon's boat he steps into it so he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there when he had finished speaking he said to Simon now go where it is deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish Master Simon replied we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing but if you you say so I'll let down the Nets again so here he's explaining to the Lord Lord we already tried that we did it in our own strength we're experts we know what we're doing we tried all night he says do it again verse 6 and this time their Nets were so full of fish that they began to tear a shout for help brought their Partners in the other boat and soon boats both Boats were filled with Fish And on the verge of sinking when Simon Peter realized what had happened he fell to his knees before Jesus and said oh Lord please leave me I'm such a sinful man so here conviction hits his heart for he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught as were the others with him now watch this watch this this is powerful his partner is James and John the sons of Zebedee were also amazed Jesus replied to Simon Don't Be Afraid from now on you'll be fishing for people this is the key and as soon as they landed they left everything and followed Jesus now I am all for preaching this text and emphasizing the miracle that they experienced I'm all for acknowledging that in their faith they experienced abundance I'm all for acknowledging that in their surrender to the Lord they experienced more than enough that's a Biblical principle that of course we stand behind as Believers but I want you to notice here that even in the midst of this miracle even in the midst of this abundance of fish even in the midst of this wonderful act that God had done for them they left everything and said I want Jesus so here they have now this abundance of fish to where their Partners had to come over and help them carry it and they didn't stay with the fish they didn't stay with the Miracles they didn't stay with the blessing instead they left everything and said I want you Jesus so the miracle the experience the encounter LED them to Jesus now some believers they become like um consumed we're looking for the next emotional High now let me be careful about the way I say this because I don't want to confuse God's people there is nothing wrong with Desiring an encounter with God as long as I said a moment ago there's not so much of an intense desire for an experience that you distract yourself from the Lord himself so we must recognize that in the scripture whenever they experienced a miracle or a healing or Deliverance it drew them to Jesus himself so that's number one a true encounter in the holy spirit's presence and power is ultimately going to draw you closer to Jesus not just to the miracle or to the experience itself next we see that the miracle brings a positive change so Acts chapter 9 verses 1-20 I won't read the entire portion of scripture but let's start at verse number one meanwhile Saul was uttering threats with every breath in other words he's very passionate about what he's doing here and was eager to kill the Lord's followers so he went to the high priest he requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the way he found there he wanted to bring them both men and women back to Jerusalem in Chains so the way was the name of the movement of Christianity the Lord's followers back then so here we see that he's very passionate about destroying this movement called the way he's very passionate about coming against the followers of Jesus now he has this encounter with the Lord and as soon as he begins to have this encounter verse 5 I love this who are you Lord in other words he didn't know who he was but he knew enough to call him Lord he was so moved by the Beauty and the majesty and the terror of the Lord that he immediately becomes submissive the Lord Jesus of course Reveals His identity to him says you're persecuting me tells him it's going to be very difficult for you to resist my will I have plans for you and then of course we see and let's go down to verse 19. afterward this is after scales fall off after he meets ananias and so forth verse 19 afterward he ate some food and regained his strength Saul stayed with the Believers in Damascus for a few days talk about a turnaround he wanted to kill these people and now he's staying with them for a few days verse 20 and immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogue saying he is indeed the Son of God well here's actual transformation now let me balance this point yes there should be actual transformation in your life when you encounter the presence of God but let me tell you something that cynics often do it's actually quite manipulative is they'll look at your encounter with God and they'll say things like well I don't see how in any way that glorifies God or I don't see how this transforms you although say it's all emotion no transformation and I thought that's interesting how could you possibly know that how could you possibly know that there's no transformation taking place in that person I've seen people have encounters with God and never again Touch This the object of their addiction I've seen people have encounters with God and never again touch drugs touch alcohol touch pornography I've seen people have experiences in the presence of God where they're shaking crying sometimes where they're Overjoyed where they're laughing sometimes where they're just in awe of the beauty of his presence sometimes they sense it like a weight sometimes they sense it like a fire sometimes they don't sense anything physically or emotionally but they just know in the spirit that the presence of God is moving upon them and then they walk away completely transformed now somebody who's cynical in watching that maybe from a screen or maybe just sing 30 seconds of an encounter that they have with God it's very easy for them to say well I don't see any change in this well of course you don't see any change in that you're watching a 30 second clip you're watching a 10 minute video how can you possibly know what's happening in that individual how can you possibly know how that's going to affect them for months to come how can you possibly know that God's not doing a deep work in that individual I've seen people healed of trauma I've seen people healed of mental illness I've seen people healed of wounds from the past of sinful addictions and they're transformed from that moment on but all the onlookers and all their expertise will look at it and say well this doesn't glorify God and there's no transformation how could you possibly know that next time somebody says that to you just ignore it how can they in all their arrogance possibly know whether or not you're being transformed even if it's just a small transformation and something in your character even if it's just drawing you that much closer to the Lord even if it's just shifting your mindset slightly even if it's just for the moment encouraging you uplifting you giving you peace giving you strength giving you hope giving you that ability to continue for another week who are they to say it brings no transformation I rebuke that religious spirit in the mighty name of Jesus Jesus would have rebuked people like that but those who come to him humbly and recognize that the presence of God can change them the power of God Can Transform them that an encounter in his presence can alter the course of their life those are the ones who receive of the hand of God and so you may look at it maybe the cynics look at it and they say oh I just see them shaking oh I just see them crying oh they're just getting together and worshiping for 45 minutes it's all emotion it's all hype who are you to say that and how on Earth could you possibly know that you know what that is they're parroting things they've heard from the people they follow with no original thought whatsoever and they are pseudo-intellectuals who are applying what they think is a great argument against the move of the Holy Spirit but you child of God can know that if God is doing a work in you and you know it and who cares what anybody else says if God is doing a work in you and you know it then that helps you to move forward in a new hope you can be refreshed you can be encouraged you can have your spirit uplifted maybe you were just having a terrible week maybe you were just struggling with depression or negative thoughts maybe you were wondering if God was near to you and he and his Mercy compassion and Grace decided to allow you to have an encounter with his presence and for that moment you knew you were encouraged you were strengthened until the next time even if that transformation is just to get you through the week who is anybody to say that there was no transformation that took place again I rebuke that religious spirit in Jesus name and don't you allow anybody to discourage you in that act of receiving from the Holy Spirit I sense a strong anointing on that one next we see that true moves of God true Encounters in his presence bring glory to God emotions alone cannot do that emotions alone cannot do that look at Acts chapter three I'm going to read verses 1 through 10. Peter and John went to the temple one afternoon to take part in the three o'clock prayer service as they approached the temple a man laying from birth was being carried in each day he was put beside the Temple Gate the one called the gate beautiful so he could beg from the people going into the temple when he saw Peter and John about to enter he asked them for some money Peter and John looked at him intently and Peter said look at us the lame man looked at them eagerly expecting some money but Peter said I don't have any silver or gold for you but I'll give you what I have in the name of Jesus Christ of the Nazarene get up and walk then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up and as he did the man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened he jumped up stood on his feet and began to walk then watch this walking leaping and praising God there we see a miracle that allowed him to walk and to leap and then he began to glorify God for what God did in his life when they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the beautiful gate they were absolutely astounded so when these moves of God Astound people or wow people or confound the religious that in and of itself is a sign a sign not the tell-all end-all be-all but it is a sign an indication that it could be a genuine move of the holy spirit in that it brings glory to God people rejoice and sometimes it's just too astound and to confound sometimes moves of the Holy Spirit can cause Miracles and healing and transformation other times they're there just to astound and confound that we might go wow what a great God that we might be awestruck and that's what the Lord does so it brings glory to God it does not bring glory to man be very careful and I want to say this boldly be very careful about individuals who very subtly bring glory to themselves yes they may verbalize that Jesus deserves the credit but then on the other side of their mouths sometimes they'll say things that indicate that they are the source that's very manipulative watch out for that because true moves of God bring glory to Jesus I'll tell you this right now when you glorify God he can trust you with more when you see the Lord begin to move and you're careful reverent fearful even to make sure that he receives all the glory now he looks and he says okay I can trust you with more finally it upsets the religious and the comfortable your emotions don't have that strong of an effect look if it really was just your emotions why are people so upset about it think about it you're crying in the presence of God someone has an issue with that well whoever had an issue with crying you're laughing in the presence of God because you're just moved and Overjoyed now I'm not talking about again flesh because there's that distinction I gave you where sometimes you can In the Flesh move something Beyond where the Holy Spirit wants to take it you can always tell when this happens because there's a lack of beauty and a lack of reverence and a lack of heavenliness that that is is apparent when people do that but really notice how if you were just laughing at a joke or laughing with friends no one would have any issue oh but you left in church all of a sudden it's an issue why do we do this why why does the human mind respond in this way well you can't reduce moves of God to your understanding moves of the Holy Spirit please hear me now moves of the holy spirit will never contradict the word but they will often conflict with our preferences watch this Acts chapter 2 verses 12-13 this is not on the day of Pentecost after the Holy Spirit had come upon the church in the way that he did next to they stood there amazed and perplexed what can this mean they asked each other so they're Amazed by this and they're perplexed by it you know you hear all the time God is not the author of confusion and I agree with that God does things in an orderly way but God does things according to his order now if you're thinking in a carnal mind you will be perplexed by some of the things that God does in fact there are things that happen in our lives where we wonder God what are you doing why would you allow this and I'm not talking strictly about just moves of God I'm talking about just life in general things happen tragedy strikes loss happens uh things that we don't understand occur and we trust the sovereignty of God so God is a god of order but God is a god of his order not your order and so people often think that if they have an issue with it or if they don't like the order that it's going in or if they're uncomfortable then that automatically means it cannot be of God they think that automatically means it cannot be of God and that's just nonsense look at what happened here they stood there amazed and perplexed and then others were mocking them but others in the crowd ridiculed them saying they are just drunk that's all so people will mock the move of God people will be perplexed by the move of God people will be amazed by the move of God but just because somebody is mocking the move of God just because somebody is perplexed by the move of God doesn't mean it's not a move of God now again we have to make sure we're staying balanced in all things biblically balanced of course God is a god of order of course we should do things with a Heavenly culture and Excellence yes we understand that but just because someone in the world doesn't like the way God is moving doesn't mean that we should sweep the moves of the Holy Spirit under the rug I'm so amazed by Christians who see the move of the Holy Spirit and say really ridiculous things like see this is why the world mocks us this is why the world rejects the gospel this is why people don't go to church no Jesus told us why that was Jesus said this is the verdict light has come into the world but those who are in darkness rejected that light because they loved the darkness so never mind blaming the moves of the holy spirit for the world not wanting anything to do with God the world wants nothing to do with God because they love darkness and sin because they're Carried Away by their own carnal desires that's why so again people tried to spiritualize their own personal discomfort and blame the holy spirit for their inability to accept what God is doing so you can't reduce I'll say this again you can't reduce moves of God to your understanding moves of the holy spirit will never contradict the word but they will often conflict with our preferences so let me be clear on this I'm not saying God is a god of disorder I'm not saying our meetings should be disorderly I'm saying that we should go by the opinion and the definition of what the word of God teaches his order and sometimes what God sees is order contradicts what we see as order sometimes the way God wants to move will make people uncomfortable so just because people are perplexed by it just because people are astounded by it just because people will mock it does not mean that we therefore should dismiss it think about Mark chapter 5 verses 14 through 17 the herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding Countryside Spreading the News as they ran people rushed out to see what had happened a crowd soon gathered around Jesus and they saw the man who had been possessed by the Legion of demons so here we see a man who is demon-possessed delivered remember Jesus cast that Legion of demons into a herd of pigs they went off the cliff and then the Bible says he was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane and they were all afraid so people were freaked out by what Jesus had done so already we see people were amazed people were perplexed people ridiculed the move of God and here we see it freaked them out this this is scary stuff we don't like this and so the Bible goes on to say then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs now verse 17 is really heartbreaking and the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone well that's what many believers do today yeah they're saved yes they love the Lord yes they're they're Redeemed by his blood because salvation is by faith not of works as any man should boast but they're missing an opportunity to experience what God has for them all because they're uncomfortable and then we say things oh I'm gonna really upset some people now then we say things like well I don't know this just doesn't sit right in my spirit and I'm thinking it doesn't sit right in your spirit or you're trying to blame the Holy Spirit for your own inability to accept a move of God your emotions your intellect your preferences your culture your idea of how God should move your box of how he should fit in your box of what he should fit in so we say I don't know this doesn't sit right with my spirit and and this is the danger of that this is what's so dangerous about that once we have equated our own personal discomfort with Holy Spirit discernment it's very difficult for us to admit we have it wrong you see you block yourself in when you do that you block yourself in once you say oh my spirit it doesn't sit right with my spirit well now that's it now your ego will never let you correct that or it'll be very difficult for you to correct that now your pride won't let you admit that you weren't being Discerning but rather you were just being emotional and it's ironic that those who tell Christians they're too emotional often condemn moves of the Holy Spirit based on their own emotions not on the word not on scripture not on foundational doctrines but rather on their emotions I've seen Christians comment on moves of the Holy Spirit and say things like I believe in God's healing power but this has to be fake why I don't know because of how their emotions responded and now they box themselves in well it has to be right what I said because I said I discerned it no you didn't discern it you felt it and if you're twisting scripture like that to try to dismiss moves of the Holy Spirit now you're operating in manipulation so make sure you're being Discerning and not emotional when looking at the moves of God we have to be careful about this so it upsets the religious and the comfortable it upsets the moves of the Holy Spirit upset your emotions can't do that if it was really just your emotions whoever had an issue with anybody laughing whoever had an issue with anybody crying whoever had an issue with anybody being passionate we see it in sporting events all the time cheering yelling screaming jumping that's awesome we appreciate that but somebody gets like that for the Lord and all of a sudden we want to condemn it why because we're being emotional in our condemnation of people's response to the move of the presence of God so your emotions don't have that kind of power to upset the religious this is why we have to be very careful with how we react to things don't react respond discernment is a response not a reaction and so people will criticize moves of the Holy Spirit and try to say it was the Holy Spirit criticizing it when it was just their emotion you did not discern it you felt it and now you won't admit that you got it wrong and that's a difficult place to be I know I have to watch my own heart guys we all do this I'm going to say this again we all do this myself included we have to be careful to be truly Discerning and not emotional because when we begin to condemn moves of God based on emotion well now we're operating in a way that the Pharisees did so that's the final point I want to make is that moves of God bring um this this disruption to the religious your emotions alone cannot do that and I want to pray something I want to pray first let me read this scripture Matthew 11. I'm going to read verses four through six there was another example I had Matthew 12 22-24 where the Pharisees accused Jesus of operating a demonic power why because they were uncomfortable with it why because it's something they had never seen before why because they were jealous why because they were being emotional themselves granted there are abuses okay balance there I've seen some crazy loony stuff that is not of the spirit and we don't allow those things in our services but that doesn't mean that everything that is intense everything that is expressive everything that makes you uncomfortable is not of God Matthew 11 4-6 Jesus answered and said unto them Go and show John again those things which he do hear and see the blind received their sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the deaf here the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me embrace the Lord in his work so we're going to pray right now that you have an encounter in the presence of God focusing of course on Jesus himself but let me recap here moves of the Holy Spirit begin in the spirit it's okay to express things emotionally as long as we don't go believing that emotion can take us into the presence of God if emotional Expressions come from a move of God that's very different than if we tried to use emotions to cause a move of God so moves of the Holy Spirit begin in the spirit moves of the Holy Spirit yes do affect us emotionally but the differences are that a true move of the holy spirit will draw you closer to God your emotions alone cannot do that true moves of the holy spirit will bring positive transformation in you your emotions alone cannot do that and that doesn't mean that some cynic can judge you just because they can't discern the change that's happening in you next we see that true moves of the Holy Spirit bring glory to God not to man emotions cannot glorify God in and of themselves and finally we see that moves of the Holy Spirit upset the religious and the comfortable your emotions don't necessarily always have that effect in and of themselves don't be offended by the Lord don't be offended by his work I'm going to pray the power of God touch you right now but I want you to say this out loud and I want you to say it in faith I want you to say it with sincerity I want you to say out loud right now welcome Holy Spirit and I want you to mean that welcome Holy Spirit In fact I want you to write that in the comments too let that be a public declaration welcome Holy Spirit if you're someone who says you know what whatever you have for me Lord I want it Holy Spirit you do your work and yes allow the Holy Spirit to correct you when you've added flesh to his moving allow the Holy Spirit to correct you when you've added emotion unnecessarily to something that he's trying to do when your emotions disrupt the flow of the spirit that can happen let them let them let them have his way let him balance you out whatever extreme you're on maybe you're just all about emotionalism let them balance that maybe you're all about intellectualism let them balance that be founded upon the word live your life based on the word allow the Holy Spirit to lead you let them balance you in whatever way father I thank you that your presence and Power are now moving upon your people and I pray Lord that even now they would begin to encounter you in ways they never have before refresh them Lord Joy peace father let them begin to sense the touch of your presence even physically in the room with them now foreign blowing across your room others may feel like a heat on your body some may feel like electricity some may feel like a weight some may feel nothing at all it does not matter just surrender to the Holy Spirit and say whatever you want to do it in my life Lord I Thank you that you're bringing healing and deliverance I thank you that you're drawing your people closer to you glory and the honor the mighty name of Jesus we pray say it because you believe it now I want to read a portion of scripture to you go to Matthew chapter 6. by the way if you enjoyed this message you're enjoying this video so far I want you to leave a like that that's because it actually helps other people to see it it's not just something I'm asking you to do for the sake of numbers in and of themselves are you living a like you're actually helping to spread the content further so if you think more people need to hear this just leave a like and also don't forget to subscribe to my channel for more teachings like this but go with me now Matthew chapter 6. I'm going to begin reading at verse number 25. this is Jesus speaking now about the cares that we have in this world that is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear isn't life more important than food and your body more than clothing I'll continue to read the scripture right now but let me comment on this just for a moment you know there's always a reason to fear there's always a reason there's always I should rather say it this way there is always an excuse to fear Believers don't necessarily have a reason to fear but we do have excuses that can cause fear you hear the news reports about the job market the stock market the economy the currency the forecasts for the future maybe it worries you you hear the news about society as a whole things changing some things collapsing others think other things transforming seems like it's difficult to find Solid Ground to stand upon if you're not careful when you hear these reports of things going on in the world you can be filled with fear but here's what Jesus saying here's what Jesus is saying he's saying don't worry about everyday life verse 26 look at the birds they don't plant or harvest or store food in Barns for your heavenly father feeds them and aren't you far more valuable to him than they are can all your worries at a single moment to your life and why worry about your clothing look at the Lilies of the Field and how they grow they don't work or make their clothing yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are and if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow he will certainly care for you why do you have so little faith ask yourself that why do you have so little faith do you want to know the evidence of a lack of faith it's fear fear is the evidence of a lack of faith so don't worry about these things saying what will we eat what will we drink what will we wear these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers so the world worries about this if you're a child of God why would you worry but your heavenly father already knows all your needs now Jesus gives us the solution here seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need so I'm going to ask you to do what Jesus says here and put the kingdom of God first I want to challenge you to support this ministry financially every believer those who are wealthy and those who are challenged in the area of finances every believer has a responsibility to give in proportion to what God has given to them now I understand the message of financial fruitfulness has been abused in the past yes we know this there are many who have been turned off to the message of financial fruitfulness because so many have abused it before but that abuse of the message doesn't make the message any less biblical I know there are some believers who are uncomfortable when you talk about finances you can talk about Sin you can talk about the end times you can talk about judgment you can talk about wrath you can talk about hell but the moment you talk about money something in their heart turns and that is revealing it shows that there's something in the heart that needs to be corrected why because it is biblical to give to the gospel it is biblical to present the opportunity to the people of God to give and this is something we ought to do live in faith not fear instead of looking around and saying God how will this happen or that happened live in faith you see fear grips Faith releases so allow the Holy Spirit to move on your heart to support this work our encounter services that we do around the world we do them absolutely free we do not charge registration and they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars because of the large venues we have to get and the crew we have to bring I go on listing all day the various costs associated with these services but we keep them free why Jesus said freely freely receive freely give how do we do it by partnering with the people of God Like You all of the content is free even though it costs thousands of dollars to produce each live stream each episode how do we do that generous supporters like you we want to reach more people we want to see the gospel Advance we want to see more Soul saved more people delivered healed and empowered by the Holy Spirit to step into their god-given callings so that we might see the work multiplied so I'm challenging you now to resist that urge to withhold in fear there's that little part of all of us that holds grips and maybe he's a little nervous about these things but seek ye first the kingdom of God above all else then all these things what things those material things they'll be added to you so I'm asking you today to support this ministry as the Holy Spirit leads you you can give a single gift by going to David hernandezministries.com donate and you can become a monthly partner which I'm encouraging many of you to do many of you have already done that monthly partnership helps us to plan for the year and the month and so forth monthly partnership is key become a monthly Giver to the ministry by signing up for our automatic giving plan by going to davidhernanasministries.com partner you're giving large or small single gift or a monthly gift it all goes toward the advancement of the Kingdom so step out in faith today exercise that Faith muscle and do this for the Lord this is for Jesus this is for the Lord this is for his kingdom do it today and we'll appreciate you and your giving now if you enjoyed this teaching you will also love here's how a holy spirit encounter will change your life

Channel: David Diga Hernandez

Views: 199,862

Keywords: Differences between Holy Spirit’s Presence and Your Emotions, The Differences between God's Voice and Your Thoughts, gods voice, hearing gods voice, how to hear god, how to discern between your thoughts and gods voice, hearing god speak to you, david diga hernandez sermons, david diga hernandez holy spirit, david diga hernandez

Id: xa1iXvecXyc

Length: 54min 44sec (3284 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 08 2023