 I want you to know that you're never alone. The presence of God is an abiding reality. There may be times in your life where you face circumstances or feelings that cause you to believe otherwise. There may be instances that cause you to question your faith, your connection with God, his love for you, and many other things that have to do with his abiding presence. But I want you to be sure of this. God has never left you. God has never forsaken you. God welcomes you with open arms no matter what you've done, no matter how far you've run. The presence of God abides with the believer. You are never alone. That's what I'm talking about on this edition of Spirit Church here on Encounter TV, the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. Stephen Moctezuma is here with me as usual. He's going to lead you in worship and then we're going to come back and get into this lesson. I want to encourage you today to know and I want to stir your faith to know and I want you to be convinced of the fact that you are never alone. Here's Stephen Moctezuma. Sing, I just want to bless. And I just want to bless your name. And I just want to make you glad. And I just want to move your heart, God, to give you all I am. This lesson is going to be a simple one. I want to simply encourage you. I want to convince you of the reality that God's presence abides with you. God is not looking to rent or to check into a hotel. God is looking to purchase a residence. He's looking to make a place, an abiding place that is permanent. God's Holy Spirit abides with you. The scripture says that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. And Jesus said in Matthew chapter 28 verse 20, teach these new disciples to obey all of the commands I have given you and be sure of this, I am with you always even to the end of the age. I get a lot of emails from all over the world and letters too. And one of the most common problems that is presented to me in the correspondence that I receive is this sense that God has distanced himself from whoever is writing. Now people have this concern in their hearts. Others are constantly questioning the presence of God in their lives. The things that cause them to question the presence of God, the abiding presence, the reality of his presence, the nearness of his presence, they are common. They are the way we feel. They are the circumstances that come at us from all different directions. Tragedy may strike and cause us to ask questions and those questions lead to doubt which leads to losing the sense of his nearness. Believers will tell me things like, well, six months ago or two years ago or when I was first saved I sensed the presence of the Lord so close to me. He was so real. He seemed to be just within my grasp and now the Lord seems to be a million miles away and I don't sense him. I don't feel him. My circumstances in life seem to paint a picture, at least in my view, that God is out of the frame and I understand this. I too have struggled in my faith in this area. There have been times in my life where I question not God's faithfulness to me, but my ability to connect with him. The good thing, the encouraging thing that I want you to know is that the abiding presence of God does not depend upon your faithfulness or your consistency. Sure, the sense of that presence, the manifestation of that presence, the power that comes with that presence, that's on you, but the reality of that presence, the fact of that presence being with us, upon us, around us, in us and through us, that is dependent upon the faithfulness of God. God is faithful even when you are not. God is faithful even when you don't feel him. God is working on your behalf even when everything around you seems as though it's falling apart. I want to go to our main text for this lesson and the main text is a very familiar story that you would know. It's found in 2 Kings chapter number six, verse number eight. When the king of Iran was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, we will mobilize our forces at such and such a place. But immediately, Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, do not go near that place, for the Arabians are planning to mobilize their troops there. So the king of Israel would send word to that place indicated by the man of God. Time and again, Elisha warned the king so that he would be on the alert there. The king of Iran became very upset over this. He called his officers together and demanded, which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel of my plans? It's not us, my lord the king. One of the officers replied, Elisha the prophet in Israel tells the king of Israel, even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom, go and find out where he is the king commanded so I can send troops to seize him. And the report came back, Elisha is at Dothan. So one night the king of Iran sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. So Elisha the prophet is by prophetic anointing seeing and hearing the plans of the king of Iran and he is taking the plans that are being spoken in the privacy of the war room, the privacy of the planning place and he is taking these words and conveying this information to the king of Israel. Now the king of Iran finds out that the prophet Elisha is causing all this trouble for him. Can you imagine that kind of anointing? That the prophet could hear the voice of God so clearly that he was able to see the plans of war from another army. That's just incredible prophetic insight that is a strong prophetic gift. And so he's able to get this information and he conveys it and when that information is conveyed Israel is able to make moves accordingly. So the king of Iran finds out about this, he's enraged obviously, in fact the information was so accurate delivered by the prophet Elisha that the king of Iran thought that there was a traitor among his men. He thought that someone in his group was taking that information and communicating it with the enemy. That wasn't the case, it was the prophetic anointing of Elisha. He was able to so clearly hear God that it upset the war. So we see now that Oram sends these chariots and horses to surround the city and in verse 15 the scripture says, when the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside there were troops, horses and chariots everywhere. Oh sir, what will we do now? The young man cried to Elisha. So the prophet Elisha's servant gets up in the morning and he sees surrounding the city the army of Iran. He sees chariots, he sees horses, he sees men and immediately fear grips him and he begins to ask questions. Oh sir, what will we do now? He begins to worry. He focuses on what is surrounding him. And the fear that came upon him came upon him because he did not realize that God was for him. He did not see the hand of God. He did not see any movements from the troops of heaven. He did not hear any comforting revelation. Instead he goes to Elisha but Elisha knew by the spirit with confidence who was on his side. Verse 16 says, don't be afraid, Elisha told him, for there are more on our side than on theirs. Then Elisha prayed, oh Lord open his eyes and let him see. The Lord opened the young man's eyes and when he looked up he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. As the Aramean army advanced toward him, Elisha prayed, oh Lord please make them blind. So the Lord struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. Then Elisha went out and told them, you have come the wrong way. This isn't the right city, follow me and I will take you to the man you are looking for and he led them to the city of Samaria. Now once in Samaria they were captured as prisoners of war and sent back to Iran. But what's interesting here is that Elisha was able to see into the spirit before the servant was. The servant, even though he saw nothing but trouble surrounding him, was backed by all the power of heaven. The servant could not see what was for him. The servant could not see what God was doing in the spirit. The servant could not see that there were more for him than against him. He went by his natural sight and because he went by his natural sight, he was discouraged. Because he went by his natural sight, he was afraid. He was only asking the question what will we do because he could not see in the spirit. Now in our lives, we often find ourselves in places of doubt, of discouragement. One of the greatest disciplines, and if you hear anything I say, hear this, one of the greatest disciplines that the believer can develop and it's almost an art of the spirit. One of the greatest things that the believer can cultivate by the spirit is the ability to base their reality on faith rather than sight, on faith rather than feelings, on faith rather than circumstances. Sure what you're facing may be real, and faith does not deny reality, but faith can change it. Faith is not delusion, faith is not the denial of your circumstances, faith is not the denial of how you feel, faith is not the denial of the tragedy that you may find yourself facing, faith is simply the ability to see into the spirit. Faith is simply the ability to know what can only be known by the spirit. The servant could not see the army that surrounded him, the servant could not see the army of God that surrounded him, he only saw the army of a ram and because of this he was discouraged, but Elisha prayed, open his eyes that he might see, and when his eyes were open he saw that there were more for him than against him. Do you base your relationship with the Lord, do you base your walk in the spirit upon what you can see, upon what you can feel? Like I said I get these emails all the time, phone calls, emails, Facebook messages, all sorts of correspondence, and people tell me they're discouraged because they don't feel, they're discouraged because they don't see, they're discouraged because what they're experiencing is not lining up with what they had hoped, and in that place they become discouraged, they become fearful, they become frantic. The word of the Lord to you is relax, calm down, don't overthink your situation, sure you may be facing something tragic, sure you may be facing something challenging, but I want to tell you something, you're never alone. The Holy Spirit, Christ with us, God in us, the Holy Spirit abides with you. I pray what Elisha prayed for his servant, I pray that for you, that your eyes would be opened, that you wouldn't go based on feelings, that you wouldn't go based on circumstances, that you wouldn't go based on tragedy, that you wouldn't even go based on how you once were feeling in the presence of the Lord. Some of us we become so discouraged because our walk isn't what it used to be. Well could it be that the Lord doesn't have to allow you to feel his presence as often because you've matured? Is it possible that what you sensed in your early walk with Christ was there because you needed it more, and now the Lord, even though he knows you need his presence, is trying to teach you to walk by faith and not by feelings, to walk by faith and not by sight, I believe that in these seasons where we feel distant from God, where we feel as though his presence is not with us, where we feel as though we've made too many mistakes, the list really goes on and on and the Holy Spirit is speaking to you whatever your specific circumstance may be, but whatever it is I want you to know, you're never alone, you're not listening to me, you're going to be alright, you're not facing this alone, you are not forgotten, yes you may be surrounded by enemies, but your enemies are surrounded too, yes you may be facing something challenging, but God's presence abides in you, don't be frantic, don't be worrisome, relax, don't overthink, don't overanalyze, just know that no matter how dark it is right now, the light of the world, Jesus, he lives in you, you are never alone, God's presence abides with you, I want to pray for you now, I want to pray that God would open your eyes to see that his presence is with you, you may be facing sickness, you may be facing relationship problems, you may be facing financial trouble, you may be facing emotional issues, you may just feel distant from God, whatever the case may be, he's with you, you're going to make it, you're going to make it, just hang in there, stop looking for the feeling, stop looking for the experience, stop looking for your circumstances to change, God is trying to teach you something, you're praying, Lord change my circumstance, and he's just trying to get you to make a small internal glance at his face, you're looking for breakthrough to come from a dramatic shifting of external circumstance, when your breakthrough is going to come through a small internal spiritual shift, let him teach you to walk by faith, and you only learn to walk by faith by going through challenging times, you only learn to walk by faith when you can't rely on feelings, if your feelings of the presence of God were always there, you would never need faith, if things went perfect around you, you would never need faith, if there were no challenges to face, you would never need faith, but God wants to develop your faith because it's by faith that we please him, it's by faith that we connect with him, it's by faith that we receive all that he has for us, it's by faith that we become all he wants us to be, it's by faith that we do all that he wants us to do, it is by faith and faith alone, and he's trying to develop it in you, instead of rushing through the process, let him process you, stop fighting the hand of God in your life, you say well I end up here every single time, I've gone through the motions, I've gone through the cycle, and every single time I find myself here, well maybe you're going through the trouble again because you failed to pass the test, I know that might not be what you want to hear, but you need to hear it, if you don't pass the test you're going to take it again, the Lord is trying to teach you something, embrace it, count it all joy when you face trials, the scripture says, why? Because you're being worked on, perseverance is having its work so that faith can be perfected in you, stop fighting the hand of God, you think you're praying against the enemy, some of you have been praying against the hand of God thinking it was the devil, I'm not saying God causes sickness so that God necessarily takes life, I'm simply saying that God wants to teach you something in your circumstance, that God wants to teach you something in your challenge, don't fight it, choose faith, and when you choose faith you get peace, joy and love and power in the middle of what you're facing, so Father I pray right now for that one watching, hope in their eyes Lord, let them see that there are more for them than against them, Lord let them by faith see you are with them, I thank you Lord for your mercy, I thank you Jesus for your faithfulness, I thank you God for your Holy Spirit's abiding presence and I pray Lord in Jesus' name that you would teach us to abide, that you would teach us to abide in peace as you abide in us, Lord help us in this area of faith, let us accept the fact, the fact of your presence, in Jesus' name we pray and I want you to say with me say amen remember you are never alone, I want to welcome now the new members of Spirit Church, there you are up on the screen, we love you, we appreciate you, we are praying for you and we know that God has wonderful plans for you, thank you for joining, if you like information on how you can join Spirit Church then go ahead and click on the link that's just about to appear over my head, if you're not watching this on YouTube that link will not appear, instead use the information at the bottom of the screen to manually find how you can become a member of Spirit Church, I want you to join, I'm excited that we have over a thousand members now who have joined from many different nations all around the world and when you join Spirit Church it's free by the way, when you join Spirit Church you are coming together with believers, it is a global gathering of believers online, I like to say Spirit Church gathers in spirit and you can join it's free every week, you will get an email from me with a brand new teaching, it's a full-length teaching every single week and then you can respond to that email for prayer and also you just get some insight information that doesn't necessarily go everywhere else and you know I think what God is doing through Spirit Church is powerful, Spirit Church is the discipleship arm of David Hernandez ministries, you know we have evangelism through television and events but we also have edification, it's a double-edged sword this ministry, edification through Spirit Church through the blogs or the podcast and various other media outlets that we use, I'm going to read your comments now and this is from the comments on last week's teaching which was titled on YouTube, He Healed Them All and I wanted to put that title because it catches people's attention but the title of that message technically is the Healing Presence of Jesus but here are the comments from He Healed Them All. The first comment here and this is from our Sally Corpus writes, Pastor David my acne was healed and I felt the anointing praise be to God almighty while we rejoice with you I talked about how Jesus will heal anything even the things that other people might deem small. Crizzal joy gayanen, hi David I took off my glasses when you started praying as I'm writing this comment my vision is getting clearer and clearer I believe that I will have clear and perfect vision soon and won't need my glasses anymore thank you Lord Jesus well people are getting healed while watching Encounter TV and that is just one example. Jeanie Sam writes, such a powerful message thank you Lord for your healing power and stirring my faith thank you Pastor David. Sarah Hernandez writes Pastor David last year I was left paralyzed from the waist down the doctor said I wouldn't walk for two years but by the grace of God at my strong faith I was walking with help after six months as of today I will chair free and have been walking with the walker the power of prayer is great well Sarah I pray in Jesus name that right now as you watch this as you watch me reading your comment that in the name of Jesus you would be completely made whole right at this very moment and all of the Spirit Church family agreed and said amen. Joseph Smith writes I was that neck condition it worked thank you Jesus for your healing power amen well the power of God was really moving I felt the healing anointing so strong when I was taping that that broadcast that Spirit Church broadcast and I talked about how Jesus healed them all and I just it was a very simple message I just wanted to stir people's faith to believe for their miracle their healing and many people responded I encourage you go ahead and take a look at that and also go ahead and comment on this video if you want me to read your comments on the next edition of Spirit Church then comment on this edition remember be succinct some questions are fine raise interesting points and tell us about your experience while watching this one of the most distinct things about our ministry is the presence of the Holy Spirit manifested through the power of God well people watch the media and it really is something powerful it's not just at the miracle services that people get healed it's well they watch on YouTube or Facebook or whatever other media outlet we're using and really the ministry is just affecting lives all around the world and it's not my ministry it's the Lord's ministry and so I can talk about it in that way and this ministry is growing I want to update you now we said we needed a thousand new $30 a month partners as we tape this now we need 490 $30 a month partners now let me clarify something for those of you who've been writing in some people are saying well I gave $30 am I a partner if you give $30 we're so grateful for that if you give a dollar we're grateful for that and we appreciate donations of all kinds but what I'm asking for here are $30 a month partners these are people who sign up to automatically give $30 a month I really do believe that God wants to take everyone to another level and this ministry is doing this right now we are experiencing an explosive amount of growth I'm telling you I want you to start thinking big time God is doing something big in this ministry and I'm very happy to be a part of it and I know you are too but when you join your faith with this ministry I truly believe that God blesses you for it now again I stress this on my program many times I'm not one who believes in gimmicks in other words I'm not going to say so $17 and in 17 days you'll have a brand new car I don't I don't those type of gimmicks I'm very skeptical of myself and sometimes God may speak to to prophets who say that and I do know of a couple instances where when a person spoke something similar to that where I sense that it was the Lord but for the most part mostly that's just a gimmick to try to get people to give it's manipulation we don't do that here we just tell you just like it is and that is when you give to this ministry the gospel is going to go forward and I truly believe you're going to be blessed I may not know how God's going to bless you but I do believe you're going to be blessed I believe personally that when you join your faith with a ministry like this a miracle healing ministry or a ministry that is growing where there's favor there is favor on this ministry and when you connect with us I believe that you connect with that favor I truly believe that now let me stress I never said anything about buying a miracle and I would never suggest that the dollar amount you give is directly related to you being healed that's not in the Bible and I would never say anything like that but I will say that God blesses those who bless the ministry so I encourage you today help us continue to take the gospel all around the world I want you to believe big time for this ministry and I want you to believe big time for yourself here's all we want to do for the next phase of expansion don't turn out the video just hear me out you're going to be excited about this everything that's coming up for this ministry is just wonderful we're looking at getting a new facility and the reason we need a new facility is so that we can start having studio audiences we can tape more programs we can tape live broadcast we can begin doing Sunday night services every single week I'm not starting a church but we will start doing Sunday night services and I know God's going to bless that and then also with that building we want to open up a 24-7 prayer room in addition to acquiring a facility of our own we have property here that we use but we want more free usage we want when I say free I mean autonomous where we have more flexibility here there's some flexibility and we've made arrangements here and they help but we want to take this to the next level now and also we want to start translating some of our content we want to start doing more events I get messages from you all the time come to Texas come to Georgia come to Florida come to New York come to New Jersey I mean I can go on and on nations Africa India we get in from we get invitations from all over the world but it takes money to travel on a plane it takes money to take cameras over and cruise over and product over so that we can give people resources it takes money so with the next level of growth we also want to begin to do more events in more places and on larger scales I want you to mark my words you're going to see a day where this ministry is packing stadiums why is that important because we want to see thousands coming to give their heart to Jesus and you can be a part of it you may look at other ministries and you've seen it happen and you ask how does that happen well here's how it happens right now it happens through you it happens through you the individual watching right now saying I'm going to partner with this ministry and I'm going to stick with you long term and I'm going to stay by your side and I'm going to take the gospel to the world I go places you won't be able to go I'm your ambassador to the nations for the gospel and if you believe this message the gospel message and you believe it has the power to transform the world then join your resources with the resources of others and let's do this let's do it big and let's do it right so go ahead click on the link that's just about to appear over my head become a thirty dollar a month partner or become a five dollar a month partner become a ten dollar a month partner so a one-time gift of a thousand we just got a call from someone who wants to begin doing eighteen thousand dollars a year and we get partners like this all the time joining us and you can join us too do it now don't delay don't say somebody else don't say some other time do it right now and I know God will bless you for it well that is it for this edition of spirit church until next time remember nothing is impossible with God hey what's up guys thank you so much for watching EncounterTV my name is Stephen Moctezuma and I want to encourage each and every one of you to subscribe to EncounterTV EncounterTV features hundreds of videos that will help you draw closer to the Lord we feature worship miracles teachings and so much more EncounterTV experience the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit