 A powerful man of God once told me if you believe that the Holy Spirit is an it, you'll want to use it. But when you know that the Holy Spirit is a person, you'll say, Holy Spirit, use me. I want to share with you a truth that absolutely transformed my life and has the power to transform your life. That truth is simple. The Holy Spirit is a person. Before I begin, I want to encourage you to subscribe to us on YouTube and click that notification bell when you subscribe so that you can receive notices when we release new content. We release teachings on the Holy Spirit, prayer, spiritual warfare, faith. You're going to love encounter TV if you love the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. You can also follow us wherever you're watching us. Growing up in church, I imagined that the Holy Spirit was a power, an energy, a force or an atmosphere. It wasn't until later that I discovered that the Holy Spirit is a person. Now, what do I mean by that? The Holy Spirit is a person. I don't mean that he's equal with you or I. I don't mean that he's a human being. I don't mean that he isn't God. What I mean by that is that the Holy Spirit has a mind, a will. He has feelings. He is his own person who can fellowship with you and I. When I first met the Holy Spirit, it transformed my life because I learned that he wasn't just a feeling in the room or a sensation that you could feel during a worship service or a revival meeting. When I learned that the Holy Spirit is a person, it changed the way that I interacted with God in prayer. It changed the way that I evangelized. It changed the way that I pursued holiness. That knowledge changed the way I lived as a Christian. And I know that once you discover that the Holy Spirit is a person, once you discover that he's walking with you, speaking to you, interacting with you, guiding you, then it will transform your life. The truth that is will transform your life. Now, I had grown up in church. I was saved when I was 11 years old, but after a season of seeking the face of Jesus, I discovered this friendship with the Holy Spirit. And I'll never forget that moment because I was standing in my room having prayed for four hours. Each hour that went by, I became more and more discouraged, thinking to myself that I wasn't going to be able to make contact with God, that I wasn't going to have an encounter in his presence. I was seeking the face of Jesus. And one day after four hours of prayer, something changed. The ordinary plain settings of my bedroom suddenly became heavenly. The presence of the Holy Spirit came upon my life. I could feel his power pulsing up and down my body like electricity. It was a moment, I'll never forget. It was a moment that marked me. It was the moment that I discovered the Holy Spirit as a person who is here with me, interacting with me, present and attentive to the details of my life. Now, looking to the scripture we see that the Holy Spirit is referred to as a who. In 1st John chapter 5, verses 6 through 8, the scripture says this, and Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross, not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit who is truth confirms it with his testimony. So we have these three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all three agree. So the scripture time and time again refers to the Holy Spirit as a who or a he. It refers to him as a person and not just as an energy or a force. We see in Acts chapter 8, verse 29, that the Holy Spirit speaks. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, go over and walk along beside the carriage. I thank God that the Holy Spirit speaks. Time and time again, he's rescued me from things that could have destroyed my life. And time and time again, he will rescue you from things that could derail the call of God on your life. The scripture says he has a will. In 1st Corinthians chapter 12, verse 11, the Bible says, but all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will. So the Holy Spirit has a voice. The Holy Spirit has a will, which means he has intentions. The Holy Spirit has feelings. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. I can recall one time while sitting with one of my ministry partners saying something out of frustration. And when I said what I said, I sensed the conviction of the Holy Spirit come upon me. I could sense that he was hurt and angered by what I had said. Now it was nothing drastic, but what I had said was actually quite irreverent toward the Holy Spirit, though I didn't realize it. And what I said caused me to feel that hurt. It caused me to feel the stirrings of the Holy Spirit's anger. It was so intense, in fact, that the person who I was talking to looked up at me and said, did you feel that? I said, yes, I did. And I said, Holy Spirit, forgive me for speaking so foolishly, for speaking so apathetically, for just speaking without thinking, for speaking without wisdom. And the Holy Spirit, of course, forgave me, but it demonstrated to me that what you do, what you say, what you think, how you behave in this world, in this life, affects how the Holy Spirit feels. The scripture says, don't grieve the Holy Spirit. Don't do things that hurt him. When you see the Holy Spirit as a person who is present there with you in the room at all times, then it changes the way that you live for the awareness of his presence causes you to live in a certain way. You know, when I was single, I would drive a certain way, probably had more fun driving than I should have. Then when I began to date and eventually marry my Jessica, it changed my driving habits again. I was more mindful of her comfort and when she would put on makeup, I would have to drive in such a way that there wasn't too much chaos causing the car to move. But nothing changed my driving habits quite like the day that I drove my Aria home for the first time. I stopped at every stop sign perfectly and counted a few seconds. I went the speed limit. I was driving with perfection. Why? Because I was aware that my daughter was in the car with me. In the same way, when you're aware that the Holy Spirit is present with you in this life, you begin to change the way that you behave. You begin to change the things that you do, the habits that you form. Once you're aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit, they begin to change who you go around, what you listen to, what you watch. I don't know about you, but I don't want to watch or listen to anything that reminds the Holy Spirit of things that break his heart. The Holy Spirit can fellowship. Second Corinthians 13 14 says, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Philippians two, one through two says, is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love, any fellowship together in the spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another and working together with one mind and purpose. You can fellowship with the Holy Spirit, meaning you can have a relationship with, you can have a friendship with, you can have communion with, you can have a conversation with the person of the Holy Spirit. He has feelings. It's possible that he can be hurt. He has a will. It's possible that he can be resisted. He has a voice. He can be ignored. He desires fellowship. He can be rejected. He is a person. He can be disrespected. And this is why we must be careful of how we live our lives. You know, the Holy Spirit does many things for us, through us and around us. The Holy Spirit is the one who calls us to those moments of prayer. Yet when we reject that voice, when we say no to the royal invitation, we're actually saying no to the Holy Spirit himself. And in doing so, we disrespect the person of the Holy Spirit. When we live a life that is so fast paced that we never stop to consider the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we say to the Holy Spirit, I can do this without you. When we read the Scripture without calling upon him to teach us, we're disregarding what he brings to the table. When we go on sinning and doing things that we know that are ungodly, unholy, we are doing things with the Holy Spirit's body, for the Scripture says, what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? When you do those things, you are taking the Holy Spirit's body and doing unholy things with what belongs to him. When the Holy Spirit in those moments of anger, in those moments of impatience, in those moments of riled emotions, when the Holy Spirit speaks to us in those split seconds and we ignore that slight hesitation that he gives us, and he does give us those moments to gain control over the flesh. When we ignore those things, we are training ourselves to ignore the most important person here on earth, the Holy Spirit. I don't know about you, but I don't want to ignore the Holy Spirit. I want to treat him with honor and with respect and with reverence. I want to live a life that is aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit. I want to live a life that is honoring of that which he's doing in and through me. The Holy Spirit is a person. So Father in the name of Jesus, I pray for that one receiving this now and I ask you Lord that by your power, by the Holy Ghost, that you would cause us to be aware of the person of the Holy Ghost. Father, let us acknowledge his presence. Let us sense his presence even now. Holy Spirit, I'm asking that you reveal yourself to your people like never before. Speak to them. Draw them near and welcome them into the fellowship and friendship of the Holy Spirit. I pray in the name of Jesus we pray and I want you to say it because you agree. Say amen. Here now is a question for conversation. When did you first come to know the Holy Spirit as a person? Tell me about it in the comments and hear our comments from a previous video titled Holy Spirit, Truest Friend. Joy Deano writes, thank you David for this word. It reminds me that I'm not alone. The Holy Spirit is always there in every situation of my life. Whenever I feel lonely, I will remind myself that I have the Holy Spirit, my truest friend. God bless you more. I love your ministry. Carmen Gomez writes, thank you Pastor David for teaching us about our friend the Holy Spirit. I learned so much. Kavita Kasbe writes, thank you Pastor David for your teaching. It's so helpful in my spiritual growth. Praise God and may he bless you and your team. P.V. Cigar writes, thank you for this wonderful teaching about the wonderful Holy Spirit. And the final comment that I'll read from this video titled Holy Spirit, Truest Friend comes from Catherine Meyer who writes, this is a beautiful teaching. Thank you for the encouragement, Pastor David. The Holy Spirit is fiercely loyal. It is wonderful to know that he will always help us in our weakness, a true friend who can always be trusted. I want to take a moment to challenge you to be a part of what God is doing through this ministry. We host miracle services around the world at which people are saved, healed, delivered, filled with the Holy Spirit and refreshed in God's presence. We do live streams that are seen all around the world. We host the Holy Spirit School which is an online Bible training program that's absolutely free. God is using his ministry to take the gospel around the world in the power of the Holy Spirit and you can be a part of it. If you have a passion for souls, if you desire to see the kingdom of God expanded around the world, then partner with our ministry on a monthly basis by going to davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. Sign up for a monthly gift of any amount, but make sure you go to that website davidhernandezministries.com slash partner to see all of the partner benefits that we offer to those who support our ministry on a monthly basis. These monthly partnerships make all the difference in the world. They help us to plan better. They help us to grow the ministry and they help us to structure things in a way where we can deliver with excellence. Again, go to davidhernandezministries.com slash partner to become a monthly supporter. You can also give a one-time gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. 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