 I truly believe that you're going to have an encounter in the presence of the Holy Spirit. It's my prayer that his power would touch your life in a fresh way. As I talk about the many reasons why I love the precious Holy Spirit, I want you to allow your faith to be stirred because as I show you from Scripture, the different attributes of the person of the Holy Spirit, I want you to believe that you're going to have an encounter with the Holy Spirit. You're going to be drawn closer to the Holy Spirit. You're going to become more sensitive to the voice and the presence of the Holy Spirit. So toward the end of this lesson, we are going to pray that you have an encounter with him. Don't allow doubt. Don't allow cynicism. Don't allow past disappointments to distract you instead. Set your mind on the things above. Focus on his presence now. Let all distraction be removed as the flesh tries to pull you away even now. The flesh is trying to distract you and pull you away to various different things. Stay focused. Hear this word and then believe for your encounter. First, I want to show you in Scripture clearly the Holy Spirit is God. So it's not a sin. It's not wrong for you to ask for an encounter in the Holy Spirit's presence. Let me show you something in Isaiah chapter six, verses eight and nine. Now, initially I missed this until somebody showed me the connection here. Isaiah chapter six, verses eight and nine. Also, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me. And he said, go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not and see ye indeed, but perceive it not. Here the context is the call of Isaiah the prophet and the Lord is speaking to him concerning the purpose he was giving to him. Isaiah the prophet was to go and declare the message, the word of the Lord. So we know for certainty or for certain I should say, we know with certainty that Isaiah the prophet was encountering God himself. Now look at this in Acts chapter 28. We'll read verses 25 and 26 and look at what's revealed in this New Testament portion of Scripture. And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul. The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, go and say to this people. It's the Holy Spirit speaking. The Holy Spirit is God. Go and say to this people. When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. Even now I can sense his presence. I'm telling you. Even now I can sense his power flowing like a mighty river. I want you to just write in the comments say, say right now in faith, thank you Holy Spirit. Write that in the comments section and I want you to write that in faith knowing that he's going to touch your life in a fresh way knowing that you're being drawn closer to him knowing that you're becoming more sensitive to his voice into his presence. Let's just say, thank you Holy Spirit. Genesis one, one and two, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty and darkness covered the deep waters and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the water. So quite clearly we can see here that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit didn't just begin his work in the book of Acts chapter two. No, the Holy Spirit has been at work since the beginning of time. Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit three distinct persons, one God, three in one. The Holy Spirit is omniscient. 1 Corinthians chapter two verses 10 through 12 and this by the way is one of my favorite portions of scripture but it was to us that God revealed these things by his spirit. For his spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. You want to know the secrets of God? You want to be drawn closer into those places of glory? The Holy Spirit reveals those secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own spirit. And we have received God's spirit not the world spirit. So we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. Later on in the chapter the scripture tells us that we have the mind of Christ. So that's one of the functions of the Holy Spirit the mind of Christ. The omniscience of the Holy Spirit is clearly laid out here. The Holy Spirit knows what the Father knows and he searches those deep things and then reveals them to you and I. He's omniscient. The Holy Spirit is omnipotent. Look here in Luke chapter 1 verse 35 where we see the power of the Most High equated with the power of the Holy Spirit. The angel replied the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy and he will be called the Son of God. So quite clearly we see here that the Holy Spirit is omnipotent. His power is the power of the Most High. And then we see that the Holy Spirit is omnipresent everywhere at all times. The unofficial term I use this is describing the everywhereness of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 139 verse 7 I can never escape from your Spirit and thank God for that. This is one of the many reasons I love the Holy Spirit. Yes, I'm establishing the fact using scripture that the Holy Spirit is God but I can't help but celebrate this attribute that he just doesn't leave you. The Holy Spirit doesn't leave you. He puts up with our humanity in all of our failings in all of our frailty with all of our missteps, mistakes. He abides a faithful friend. He doesn't abandon you. He doesn't leave you to your own demise. He doesn't leave you to mediocrity. He doesn't leave you to your own disobedience. He loves you too much to do that. Instead, he leans in, he abides staying alongside of you helping you to get it right. I can never escape from your Spirit. Thank God for that. Thank God that we can never escape from his Spirit. I can never get away from your presence. In those moments when you feel him he's there. And in those moments when you feel like he's a million miles away I promise you he's still there. Don't wait for your feelings to confirm with the scripture already promises. Don't wait for your emotions or some experience to validate the truths that are clearly laid out in the scripture. We can never escape from his Spirit. When you're going to work he's in the car with you. When you're sitting in church he's in that chair with you. When you're at home enjoying a meal with your family when you're at home alone he's there with you. Wherever you're traveling whatever you're doing however you're feeling up or down the Holy Spirit is there. I can never escape from your Spirit. This is one of the things I love about him. He's a true faithful friend. You know some people will promise I'll be there. Some people will commit you can count on me but people fail. The promises of man are bound to fail at some point. No matter how much integrity the person has even if they were to keep all of their promises sometimes it's not just about their willingness but their ability where they're willing to fulfill their promise. They're willing to fulfill their word but they can't do it because they lack the ability in some circumstances. Life just does that. Sometimes you can't keep your word because it's just physically impossible to fulfill that promise but not with the Holy Spirit. He keeps his word. He faithfully commits to you. He speaks the promises and then he has the power to back those promises. Then he faithfully abides as a true friend. People will fail. Things in life don't always go the way you want them to go but the Holy Spirit won't fail you. The Holy Spirit won't betray you. The Holy Spirit won't turn his back on you. The Holy Spirit won't slander you. The Holy Spirit won't misunderstand you. The Holy Spirit knows all of your quirks all of your flaws and he loves you despite them. In fact, he loves you through them. Psalm 139.7 I can never escape from your presence. Galatians 5, 22 through 23. You know, you can't produce in the life of another what you lack in your own life and so the Bible tells us about the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit meaning they are of his very essence in nature. The Holy Spirit can give these things because they are of his nature but the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Holy Spirit is loving. The Holy Spirit is joyful. The Holy Spirit has stability and certainty and clarity and therefore he gives peace. The Holy Spirit is patient and kind. The Holy Spirit is good. He doesn't just do good things. He is goodness itself. The Holy Spirit is faithful. You've heard it said that the Holy Spirit is not a gentleman nonsense. It's right here, gentleness. If he produces gentleness, it's because it's of his nature. This doesn't mean he's never bold. This doesn't mean he doesn't ever move with great force but we mustn't forget about the gentle nature of the Holy Spirit as well. He is in charge. He has authority. He is competent and therefore he produces the fruit of self-control. There is no law against these things. Yes, that's what the Holy Spirit produces in our lives. You become like who you spend time with and so as you begin to fellowship with the precious Holy Spirit and sometimes people wonder how do I do that? How do I connect with him? What specifically do I do to fellowship with him? Because perhaps you hear stories of people praying for hours and hours on end and you're thinking to yourself like I used to think to myself, well, what do you say during those few hours? What do you speak? What are you thinking? What exactly are you doing? Are you sitting? Are you standing? Are you pacing? Are you lying down? Do you have to speak out loud? Can you think the prayers in your mind? All these questions flood my mind or flooded my mind when I first began to develop this friendship with the Holy Spirit. It's quite simple. You set aside distraction. You allow the mind and the heart your thoughts to be focused on the truth of God's word on who the Holy Spirit is and you just speak to him and then you read the word and let him speak to you through the word. Mostly he speaks to the word but every so often he'll also speak something directly to your spirit and you fellowship with him in this way. You worship Jesus. You worship God. You sing his praises. You know, a powerful man of God once told me if you have an hour to pray worship for 45. Worship for 45 minutes out of that hour if you don't know what to pray and you just love him. Well that's what King David would do. He would just allow that worship to overflow from the depths of his love for God and of course that spilled over onto the pages that we now read today but there's this beauty in that worship where you're just lavishing him with your praises. Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I adore you. Jesus, there's nowhere else I can go because you have the words of life. Father, I thank you for your unfailing love and your compassion. No one compares to your might and strength. No one compares to the depths of your wisdom and knowledge and you just begin to worship and you praise him. You praise him in that you thank him for what he's done and what he can do but you worship him in that you acknowledge who he is. You're wowed by him. Your being is responding to who he is. That's what worship is and so as you begin to do that and you talk with him and you read the word it's that simple. You begin to fellowship with him. That is fellowship. That is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit where now you're communing with him because he's there with you. He's not distant. He's not a million miles away. The Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you. Scripture is very clear on that. And so knowing that the Holy Spirit's presence abides with me I can fellowship with him in confidence. Not not not worried. Oh, do you hear me? Oh, are you next to me or are you at a distance? Stop begging the Holy Spirit to be near to you and have the faith to believe that he is already abiding with you. Somebody needs to hear that that's a word for someone right now. Stop begging for the Holy Spirit to be near to you and simply allow yourself to have the faith to believe that he's already abiding with you. And so I pray knowing that I'm already connected. I pray with confidence that I have his presence. And so as you begin to fellowship in that way it's simple. The fruits of the Spirit begin to become your attributes. You become like him as you spend time with him. The Holy Spirit is Heaven's greatest evangelist. Another reason why we love the precious Holy Spirit. I want you to write that in the comment section right now. If you're just being overwhelmed by that love for him as we go through the Scripture I want you to write I love you Holy Spirit in the comment section. Well think about that. We say I love you Father. I love you Jesus. You should say I love you Holy Spirit too. Or you thought of the fact that the Father loves me. Jesus loves me. But have you also considered that the Holy Spirit loves you too? The love is the same. So we can say that. Just say I love you Holy Spirit. Now he is Heaven's greatest evangelist. John chapter 16 verses 7 through 11. But in fact it is best for you that I go away. Because if I don't the advocate won't come. If I do go away then I will send him to you. And when he comes watch this now. He will convict the world of its sin and of God's righteousness and of the coming judgment. So not just sin. He convicts of those three things. Sin God's righteousness and of the coming judgment. The world's sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. There's a whole bunch we can unpack there. But for now let's focus in on these specific points in that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin. Now what is what is conviction? Conviction is a deeply held belief. So when the Holy Spirit convicts you of something he is convincing you of something. He is causing you to deeply believe that which he's communicating. So the conviction of the Holy Spirit isn't just a feeling of guilt. Yes. If the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin you will fill Godly sorrow. But conviction isn't just guilt. Notice the scripture also says and of God's righteousness and many times we skip this part. The Holy Spirit doesn't just convict you of guilt. He doesn't just convict you of sin causing you to fill Godly sorrow. Now additionally the Holy Spirit also convicts you or causes you to deeply believe in God's righteousness. So he doesn't just say what you shouldn't do. He doesn't just tell you what to avoid. He also raises a standard to which you can aspire. So he causes you to be deeply convinced concerning God's righteousness. Not just about sin. So yes, he convicts of sin and yes, he'll produce Godly sorrow when he convicts you of sin. But he also convicts you of God's righteousness. And this is the part many believers are missing because they're not they're not allowing the Holy Spirit to have his full work. They're they're in the flesh. They're not surrendering to what he's doing or they won't allow themselves to be convicted of righteousness because they think so little of themselves that they think they should be only convicted of sin. But no, the Holy Spirit also convicts me convinces me causes me to deeply believe in God's righteousness which was imputed to me when I believed on Christ Jesus. And so now I'm not only looking at what I should disdain and what I should avoid. Now I see there's a standard. Okay. I've become the righteousness of God in Christ. Christ is seated in heavenly places. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. Christ is in authority. I am in Christ. Christ is in power. I am in Christ. Christ sits in perfection. I sit in Christ. Now this is not to say that we are Christ. Of course not. And don't ever get that confused. I have to say that because many times people take clips and they might take it out of context. That's not what I'm saying. Apart from him we're nothing. He's divine. We're the branches. Apart from him we can do nothing. But he allows us to experience the benefits of the sinless perfection in which he lived and the death that he died upon the cross. So I live in him. No longer I live but Christ lives in me and I live in him. And so the Holy Spirit convicts you of this as well. He calls you to higher places. And he convicts of the coming judgment. People know there's this coming judgment. So in this regard he is Heaven's greatest evangelist because everyone who's ever been drawn to Jesus was drawn by the Holy Spirit. So he shows you when you're wrong. Yes, that's a part of it. But he also shows you the standard to which you must aspire God's righteousness. And then he convicts you of the coming judgment. There is that urgency. I have to get this right. I have to be I may write with God. I have to accept the free gift of salvation. Otherwise I'm convinced that there's a coming judgment. That wrath that's being stored up until the day of judgment. God holding back not wanting any to perish wanting all to come to everlasting life. He holds back that judgment and the Holy Spirit convinces the unbeliever of the fact that judgment is coming. I don't believe atheists exists. This is why I sincerely I sincerely believe that. I'm not trying to to to be sarcastic or poke fun at anyone. I truly don't believe atheists exist. I think that deep within their hearts they understand that judgment is coming. And if they've passed that point oh my goodness then that is even far worse I think that is direct rebellion against God and possibly a seared conscience but still deep within they know there's a God. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is convicting the world of its sin and of God's righteousness and of coming judgment. So the Holy Spirit is Heaven's greatest evangelist. The Holy Spirit is your teacher. John 14 17 he is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you. So the Holy Spirit guides you into all truth. You want to understand the depths of scripture. You want to understand the truths of the Word of God in a way that it's not just going to be information but that it will be transformative revelation than you need the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the one who moved these men to write the Holy Scriptures the epistles New Testament records. The Holy Spirit moved them inspired them to lay out for us the Word of God. And this of course because it is inspired by the Holy Spirit can only be understood by the Holy Spirit. I've said this before atheists can read the Word of God and come up with some arguments perhaps. Philosophers can read the Word of God and come up with some philosophies. Historians can read the Word of God and they can find many historical facts for their studies. People of other religions can read the Word of God and still not be convinced of its truth. The heart, the Spirit is brought to life. Revelation comes by way of the Holy Spirit. He is the teacher. So when you read the Word you have to realize that as you read Scripture the Holy Spirit is there with you teaching you. Now this does not mean that you shouldn't study. The Bible directly tells us study to show thyself approved unto God. So there is an element of study that must be done. So we don't want to become unbalanced in this either. It's not as though we can just pick up the Word and whatever I feel it means, it means. No, you're going to end up in a lot of strange doctrines if you do that. But rather the Holy Spirit works through your diligence. Hear me now? The Holy Spirit teaches in part through your diligence. Yes, there are some truths that are communicated to your Spirit. In fact, all truth is known in the Spirit. This is why I say that Revelation isn't the receiving of truth. Rather, it's when what I understand in my Spirit is known in my rational mind. So that of course is the Spirit bringing understanding to the natural mind. But still, it's important that we recognize that there's an element of diligence and study that must be applied to this. And as your diligence to study the Word, as your diligent to apply what the Word actually teaches, the Holy Spirit takes that revelation and causes it to become a part of you. He's also our Comforter. John 14, 15 through 18. If you love me, obey my commandments and I will ask the Father and He will give you another advocate. Watch this. I love this. Who will never leave you? I'm going to read that again because somebody needs to hear that. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another advocate who will never leave you. He doesn't abandon you. This, I believe, I should say more clearly. This idea that the Holy Spirit abandons us when we make mistakes comes from a works-based gospel. It comes from a works-based gospel and a works-based gospel is rooted in legalism, self-righteousness and pride. I am not saying that we do not need to live holy. Of course, we as believers should live holy. In fact, I'll say this. I'll take it one step further. Every true believer desires to be holy. But what I am saying is that the Holy Spirit isn't going to abandon you when you make a mistake. The Holy Spirit isn't going to abandon you when you make several mistakes. No, he's going to abide and help you to get this right. I've said this before, but I think it's worth repeating. When it comes to salvation, it's a clear, bold, distinct line. It's saved or unsaved. Many believers imagine salvation like a gradient. And there's somewhere in between saved and unsaved. And if they go far enough this way, the Holy Spirit leaves. Or if they go far enough this way, the Holy Spirit now comes closer. How can the Holy Spirit draw any closer than within you? Now again, it's worth repeating. This is not to say that we shouldn't live holy. You should live holy. And if you do not live holy and that doesn't bother you, then that may be a sign to you that you were never saved to begin with. But the Bible is quite clear and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate who will never leave you. So when you have a workspace mindset, you think, oh, he comes and goes. No, no, no, my friend. He abides with you. And I'm gonna say it for a third and final time so that nobody can misunderstand. Paul said it. What am I saying? Shall we go on sinning then? By no means, of course not. So no, we shouldn't go on sinning. Holiness is the standard. Sin has no place in the life of the believer. And a true believer has the desire to live holy. But what I am saying is we have to stop living in this fear and this paranoia. Balance, balance, balance based on the word. We have to stop living in this fear and paranoia that when I made that mistake, well, that's it, he abandoned me. Why would God remove from you your only power to live holy as a punishment for you not living holy? Think about that. Well, you made a mistake. You're not living right. Let me pull my Holy Spirit from you now as a punishment. Well, how are you supposed to live holy now? The Holy Spirit is not a reward for holiness. He's the source for holiness. He's the comforter. He abides. He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him because he lives in you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans. I will come to you. So in those moments when you feel abandoned, in those moments when people disappoint you, in those moments when people misunderstand you, in those moments where maybe you perceive that nobody wants you, nobody loves you, which isn't true, but sometimes that's the perception, isn't it when we get into our feelings? Holy Spirit abides. He remains to comfort you. When you lose a loved one and you're facing heartache, he abides with you. You know, people have asked me before to speak at funerals. I've spoken at a few funerals here and there. And in moments like that, people aren't looking for philosophy. People aren't looking to be impressed by how much I think I know about the Scripture. In moments like that, people are looking for comfort and peace. I mean, what do you say to a parent who loses a child? And they were born again. They have questions like, why would God allow it? How will we go on living? How are we gonna do this the rest of our lives knowing that they're gone? In moments like that, there is no philosophy that can comfort them. There is nothing that you can say that's so theologically profound that you're going to awe them out of their grief. Now, in moments like that, they're looking for comfort and peace. And so all you can give them is the comfort of Scripture. Of course, that their loved one is with the Lord. That's part of it. But on this side of eternity, we need comfort. And that's where the presence of the Holy Spirit shows up. He's near to the brokenhearted. He is near to the brokenhearted. You lose a loved one, he's there. Something lesser happens, but still heartbreaking. You lose an opportunity. You lose a job. You lose your health. You lose familiarity. You lose a relationship. He's there. There is no problem so big that the peace of the Holy Spirit won't work for you. And there is no problem so small that God will refuse to give you peace for it. We can't compare our situations to one another saying that you can't be sad because someone else has it worse. It's like saying you can't be joyful because somebody else has it better. Never mind what others are going through in terms of whether or not you feel sorrow. If you feel sorrow, he understands. If your heart is broken, he's with you. If you are having trouble dealing with your emotions or grief or something's weighing you down, he's the comforter. He's there with you because he loves you. He's the mighty intercessor. Romans chapter 8 verses 26 and 27. Did you know that the Holy Spirit prays for you? I'll show it to you. And as I said in a moment, we are going to pray that you would have an encounter in the Holy Spirit's presence. I believe there are many encounters about to take place. Do not turn this off. I believe there are many encounters that are about to take place. Romans 8, 26. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying. For the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. In other words, the Holy Spirit prays for you and draws you to the will of the Father. Nobody knows you like the Holy Spirit knows you. So the one who knows you better than anyone else knows you. Praise for you like no one else can pray for you. Grownings, meaning he's praying with passion. The Holy Spirit prays for you with more love and compassion than a parent prays for a child. Then a spouse prays for a spouse. Then a grandparent prays for a grandchild. You know the power of a praying grandmother, hopefully. You know the power of a praying parent, hopefully. Maybe you are a praying parent yourself. And if you don't know those, I'm here to tell you that no one can pray for you like the Holy Spirit can pray for you. And he pleads for you in harmony with God's own will. Meaning he helps to draw you back on the right path. There's this purposeful pool on your life. And it's because of the prayers of the Holy Spirit. He helps us to pray, Zachariah 12-10. He glorifies Jesus, John 15-26. Meaning he makes Jesus real to us. Now, don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not saying that Jesus isn't real, apart from the Holy Spirit. I'm saying he reveals Jesus to us in a way that we become more aware of that reality. This is something I wrote in my book, Carriers of the Glory. In 2015, I believe I wrote that. Way back in 2015, I wrote a section in Carriers of the Glory about how the Holy Spirit makes Jesus real to us. He vivifies the Savior. He brings us into that awareness of His presence. You know that when you worship and you pray, it's not that God is coming closer. It's that you're becoming more aware of that presence that abides with you. He empowers us unto holiness, Galatians 5-16. He helps us to worship in spirit and in truth, John 4-24. He convinces us of our sonship. So when you feel like you don't belong to God, he reminds you that you do. That's Romans 8-15. He performs the miraculous through us. Galatians 3-5. He's the miracle-working spirit. He gives you faith. He's the spirit of faith in 2 Corinthians 4-13. He gives you boldness as he did to Peter in Acts 2. The very one who denied Jesus three times wins 3,000 to the Lord on the day of Pentecost. Why? Because the Holy Spirit came upon him. He produced that boldness. And the key to the true and powerful Christian life is friendship with the Holy Spirit. I want you to begin to pray right now. If you are able to close your eyes, remove as many distractions as you possibly can right now. If you can't remove all distractions, maybe you're a mom. You're home with the kids right now. Maybe you're traveling on public transportation. There's a lot of chaos around you. Okay, but as best you can, I want you to focus in right now. Remove as much distraction as you can. And if there's nothing you can do about what's around you, then retreat to that inner place in the Spirit and receive a touch of His presence and power. Don't focus on an encounter. Don't focus on a feeling. Don't focus on an experience. Let Him do a work in you. Whether you feel something or not, He's doing something in your life right now. All you have to do is surrender, trust and obey. Just believe. Just believe. So Father, I thank you for the presence of the precious Holy Spirit. And I pray, Lord, that you would cause that one to come into an encounter with you such as they've never known. Let them know that you're near to them. Draw them into the depths of glory, I pray. And I ask you, Father, now to let your healing power flow. Let your delivering power flow. Touch each life, I pray. Break addiction. Break sinful habit. Remove doubt and fear. I come against anxiety and intrusive thoughts. Father, I thank you for your presence. Abide. Listen to me now. He's in the room with you. He's in the room with you right now. He is looking at you right now. He is listening to you right now. Lift your hands received right now. I thank you Lord. Let your power begin to flow like a mighty river. Some of you right now are beginning to sense like electricity come on your body. Others are sensing like a heat or a weight or like waves. Whether you feel something or not is not the issue. I do know however that there are some who are feeling the power of the Holy Spirit physically manifested in the room with them right now. Just receive that. I thank you Jesus for what you're doing in their lives. Heal each one, I pray. Deliver each one. Let them be drawn closer to you. Let us be more like Jesus than ever before. I thank you Father. Thank you. Now help them to walk in the awareness of your presence. Help them to set their minds on the things above. Jesus I give you glory and honor and praise. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say amen. Tell me in the comment section what did you just experience? What did you encounter? Healing testimony, deliverance testimony or maybe just a touch of his presence. Maybe you didn't feel anything physically but there was peace or there was focus or a torment was removed. Write your testimony in the comment section and also make sure that you leave a like on this teaching so that others may experience what you just experienced. Just by leaving a like you're spreading this live stream even further and if you haven't done so already don't forget to subscribe to my channel so that you don't miss any content. Do click that notification bell when you subscribe. Now I want to read you a portion of scripture here. Go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. I'm going to read beginning at verse number 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. I'm going to read beginning at verse number 6. Now the context here Paul the Apostle is talking about money, finances and let me be very clear you cannot sow money and then get a healing. You cannot sow money and then get a deliverance. Deliverance and healing are free. Jesus already paid that. I can't sow apple seeds and get oranges. I can't sow watermelon seeds and get grapes. You reap what you sow. So the exchange of the monetary for the supernatural that's sorcery and I understand that the message of financial stewardship has been abused. We all acknowledge that. Yes. And even to this day many still abuse that message to make people feel guilty or shame or pressure them into doing something. But we can't allow the misuse or the twisting of truth to cause us to throw the truth out entirely because the reality is the Bible talks about stewardship. I'm going to show it to you right here in scripture in that when you give resources financial resources for the purpose of the kingdom God takes note of that. There's nothing mysterious about it. There's nothing magical about it. God will increase your resources as he sees that you're a good steward of your resources. And again, I understand the message has been abused but guys, this is Bible and we have to deal with that part of us that fear or that selfishness or whatever it may be that causes us to grip tightly to the things of this world. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 9 beginning at verse 6. Remember this, a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. So again, this is in the context here. He's taking an offering. He's talking about financial resources. Now watch this in verse 7. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. So there, that's the Holy Spirit speaking to you. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully. So not guilt, not greed, not gimmicks, just giving for the gospel as the Holy Spirit leads you. Now watch this promise here. And this is the word verse 8. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. Well, think about what the scripture is saying here. It doesn't say that you will sometimes have some of the things that you need. It says you will always have everything you need. And so we as Christians love to give to the gospel. I've never met a person who was surrendered to the Holy Spirit who was a grumpy giver. I've never met a person who was surrendered to the Holy Spirit who had an issue when offerings were taken for ministry. And if there is an issue that arises, you have to check your heart and say, okay, what is it in me that's causing me to resist this portion of the word of God? Why specifically do I single those truths of scripture out and wish that nobody talked about them? Because it's addressing something in us. Now watch this again. And God will generously provide all you need. That's a promise. Then you will always have everything you need. And this is my favorite part right here. And plenty left over to share with others. You know, it's all relative. The scripture is not promising that everyone's gonna live in a big mansion and drive a fancy car and wear the most expensive clothes. That's not the promise of the gospel. In fact, if someone makes that the point of the gospel, they've warped the gospel. The gospel is not about wealth acquisition, but the principle of stewardship and how we take care of our resources, that is biblical. Now watch this in verse 10. For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, watch these two words here. He will provide and increase your resources. Why? What's the purpose? And then produce a harvest of generosity in you. So we have to keep a balanced perspective when it comes to finances and sowing into other ministries. So prosperity, again, is not necessarily you have a nice house and a nice car and nice clothes. Prosperity is simply your needs are met and you have enough left over to be a blessing to others. And so we need to keep this in mind. Not just obeying the parts of scripture we're comfortable with. Not just celebrating the preaching of the parts of scripture that we're comfortable with, but also acknowledging that this is true biblical reality. The idea that as I use my resources for the kingdom, God notes that, and watch this, He will provide and increase your resources. Why? For the harvest of generosity in you. And so now I want to ask you to hear from the Holy Spirit. Are you being a good steward of the resources God gave to you? Remember, he's the one who gave that to you. He's the one who gives seed to the sower. So he's placed something in your hand and you have to of course be responsible with that. You have to make sure you're budgeting properly. You have to make sure you're not getting into unnecessary debt. And of course, make sure that you're being generous. And as you become a good steward with those resources, the scriptures clear that God increases those resources. So that's my challenge to you today. Take the word and find out what is that in me that's saying, well, I liked the lesson up until you took an offering or I think this was going great until you asked for money or I agree with everything you said, but why do you have to talk? Well, it's because it's in the Bible. Why would we ever ignore anything in the scripture just because it makes somebody uncomfortable? So I want to challenge you spirit family. I want you to know what it is to live in the blessing of that generosity. And so this is something I've seen in my own life and every season God challenges me to give, to pour into others, to be selfless. And as we do that, I believe he increases us. So I'm going to ask you to do what the Holy Spirit leads you to do. If you'd like to give a single donation, you can go to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. If you'd like to become a monthly ministry supporter, which is very helpful because it helps us to plan for our events and all the media that we produce, then you can go to davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. Whatever you do one time or monthly, large or small, it all makes a difference. I just challenge you to do your part today. Help us continue to take the gospel all around the world. Our events are free, media's free, live streams are free. Help us continue to take the gospel all around the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, the events and media. One more time, single donations, davidhernandezministries.com slash donate, monthly support, davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. And if you enjoyed this message, you will love differences between the Holy Spirit's presence and your emotions.