 I wanna talk to you tonight about becoming someone who is led by the Holy Spirit. A believer who is the real deal, a spiritual being, someone who walks like Jesus walked, someone who acts like Jesus acted, someone who talks like Jesus talked, someone who moves in power like Jesus moved in power. We as Christians are all reflections of a marvelous light. Every single one of us should properly reflect the image of the Father in heaven. We're not the source of the light, we are reflections of the light. My question is how well are we reflecting that light in this world? How are we doing in terms of being led by the whole subject of being led by the Holy Spirit? I mean to the point where you become unrecognizable. To the point where it begins to transform some of the most fundamental aspects of your personality and your character. What does it mean to be a Christian? It means to be an imitator of Christ in every possible way. Now all of us can be more like Jesus in one way or another. All of us can be more spirit led in some area of life. And so we're gonna look to the scripture and be challenged tonight. We're going to use the scripture like a mirror. And as we look into the word of God like a mirror, I want you to see your spiritual reflection. And I want you to take notice of the details in your life and how they compare to the image of Jesus. God the Father has commissioned a work of art. Jesus is the model. The Holy Spirit is the painter. And your life when it is surrendered is the blank canvas upon which the Holy Spirit can paint the beautiful image of Jesus. I don't wanna have a blemish in what he's painting. I don't wanna peace missing. I don't wanna tell the Holy Spirit you can paint here and there but leave that corner to me for my signature. I wanna be fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit. I haven't reached this. But it's my heart's desire to be so surrendered to the Holy Spirit that that glorious light is reflected all around me to where people are impacted simply by interaction. Well, think about how profoundly Jesus transformed lives just by interacting with them. A 10 minute conversation with Jesus in his physical form would shatter your worldview. It would transform everything about you. It would set you free from some of the most deep rooted strongholds in your mind. I wanna be that reflection of light. I wanna be that one who is so loving when I'm looking at people in the face and talking to them. Their hard hearts begin to melt and become soft simply because they can sense the love of God coming out of me. I want people to sense the peace of God, the joy of God, the hope within me and I know you want that too. Say this out loud, lead me Holy Spirit. You watching, live or on replay. If that's your prayer, if that's your desire. If you too want to be led by the Holy Spirit to such a degree that it transforms you and those around you and write those simple words in the comment section. Lead me Holy Spirit. And it's more than just a simple prayer for to sincerely pray, lead me Holy Spirit is to place yourself upon a cross. It's to place yourself upon an altar. It's to commit to a thousand deaths a day. In every possible way. It's to release anger and bitterness and unforgiveness. It's to cover the flaws of others with the love of God within you. It's to remain hopeful and confident in the promises of his word. It's to walk in victory. It's to walk in authority. It's to walk in the fruit of the Spirit, the love of God to be that reflection. John 519 says this. So Jesus explained, I tell you the truth. The son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the father doing. Whatever the father does, the son also does there. Jesus is telling us that he's looking to his father to see his next move. Just as Jesus was a perfect reflection of the father. So I want to be a perfect reflection of Jesus. I want to look to where he's going to indicate to me my next move. What will come out of my mouth? What thoughts I will think? The things I will choose in everyday life. I look to him, his character, as the one and only Holy standard by which I compare my life, by which I live. Now I'm gonna talk about some old technology but I think we all know what a copy machine is. If you take a document, place it on the copy machine, you get a decent reflection of that document. But if you then take the copy and put that in the original's place, you're gonna get a slightly less clear document. And if you continue to make a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy, eventually, the image will be so fuzzy, so skewed, so marred that you won't even be able to make out what it is. This is the problem that occurs when we try to be imitators of our favorite YouTube preachers instead of Jesus. When we try to be imitators of just our pastors instead of Jesus. Now let me tell you something because I don't wanna be misunderstood. It's good to receive from ministries like mine but I'm not your standard. You become a copy of me, there's gonna be a lot of issues with that image. I promise you, more than you probably realize. And for a season it's good to look unto others to help serve as inspiration and even in the lifelong sense, it's good to look to others for inspiration in their walk with God but ultimately you need your own personal connection with the Son of God, otherwise you become the reflection of a man or a woman instead of the Son of God. Jesus looked to his father and he walked in alignment with him with such perfection that he was able to declare in John 14.9, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Can we say if you've seen me, you've seen the Son? That's the goal. I mean, how odd would it be if you were looking at your reflection in the mirror and you saw yourself blink? Throw you off, why? Because it's not in sync. Jesus was the mirror image of the Father. Absolute perfection. You know, those who don't resist sin have no idea how powerful it is. When I tell people you're in bondage, you're a slave to your sin and they say I'm not a slave to sin, I challenge them by saying really, then just try to stop. You'll soon find that the pool of sin is much stronger than you've ever known only when you begin to resist the power of evil and sin. Do you really begin to get an idea of the strength of that power? Only when you begin to walk in holiness do you start to sense just how strong the pool of sin is and you begin to even notice more flaws than ever before the closer you get to that light. Well, consider the fact that Jesus walked in perfection from the time he was conceived, all through his childhood, all through his teen years, all through his young adult years, all through adulthood and up until that point of crucifixion he resisted the powerful pool of temptation and evil. If anyone knows what that power is, it was Jesus. Yet Jesus was able to say if you've seen the, you've seen the Father, led by the Holy Ghost. You see, some of us we walk in obedience to God for certain intervals and that's all of us really, but all of us have different types of intervals. All of us have different timing in our obedience. You see, some of us maybe we walk close with God on a week to week basis. Maybe some of us walk close to God on a day-to-day basis. Maybe some of us walk closely with God on an hour-by-hour basis, but Jesus walked in perfect obedience not down to the hour, not down to the minute, not down just to the second, but Jesus walked in perfect obedience down to the very millisecond, the perfect reflection of the Father. How did he do that? He was led by the Spirit. Those who are led by the Spirit don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. Watch this now. Go to Galatians chapter five. I'm gonna read verses 16 through 25. Galatians five, I'm gonna read verse 16 through 25. This is what the Bible says. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. So there, let's stop there for a moment because I wanna break these verses down. There we see that the key to resisting the powerful pull of the flesh is simply to walk by the Holy Spirit. Now it is simple, but it's not easy. So if we are simply to walk in the Holy Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Here's the problem. Far too many believers are seeking freedom when they should be seeking Jesus. They're seeking faith when they should be seeking Jesus. They're seeking miracles when they should be seeking Jesus. I'm not after the result, I'm after the substance, who is. And in living my life in that way, in aligning myself with Christ by walking according to the Spirit, I will not fulfill the cravings of the flesh. This means that every time I do sin, every time I do fulfill the craving of the flesh, every time I do act out of the character in the nature of Christ, I am by definition stepping out of sync with the Holy Spirit. You know, you may have already guessed it, but I'm not exactly the athletic type. I'm more of the book type. And years ago when I was a boy, my dad tried to teach me how to play baseball. And you know, I enjoyed it, it was fun because I got to spend time with my dad, but I remember being in the backyard of our house, my brother was pitching, so he was taking the opportunity to throw things right at me. And I'm standing there with the bat, my stance was completely out of alignment. And my brother's just lobbing things like at my face. And every time the ball would come, I would flinch. And so I didn't quite get into the proper position, I wasn't able to make contact with that ball. And then my dad came up to me and he says, I'm gonna help you and I'm gonna guide you. He put his feet on the sides of my shoes, standing behind me. He wrapped his arms around me, his right arm over my right arm, his left arm over my left arm. And he gripped the bat using his hands over my hands. And so my brother threw the ball and I could feel my dad trying to motion me forward to make contact using the bat with the ball, but I fought him because I was afraid of being hit by the ball. And so he told me, you need to relax and trust me. So, picture my little body just went limp. I closed my eyes, I didn't even see what I was doing. And I felt my hands swing perfect form and I made contact with that ball and it probably didn't go very far, but in my mind it went over the fence. What happened there was he was trying to teach me to walk or to use his form. And in order to use his form, I had to stop simply fighting him. Read that verse again. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sin nature wants to do evil, we all are familiar with that, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under the obligation of the law of Moses. The scripture very clearly tells us that the power of sin is in the law. I recently posted a video in which I talked about those who are rejected of the Lord in Matthew chapter seven when they come strutting up to him on judgment day. And the Lord rejects them and he says, depart from me you workers of what lawlessness I never knew you. Well, the only reason that these people in Matthew seven were even being judged by the law in the first place was precisely because they tried to fulfill the obligations for their salvation. They tried to fulfill the requirements for their salvation based on their own works. And that was evidenced in the fact that they were shocked that they weren't saved because why we did great works in your name. And so many people misunderstood that video. So many people talking about different things upset at the idea that I would read scripture how dare I. And what they failed to realize is those in Matthew seven were actually the ones who were counting on their own good works. They were the self righteous. And it's only when you try to do things in your own power. It's only when you try to work for your salvation that you are then judged by the law. But you see when you trust in Christ for your salvation you say that work was on you. Now you're not judged by the law. You're judged by the law of Christ because you are in him. Now this does not mean we can go on sinning because those who truly find salvation have a desire as the scripture says here to resist sin but not for fear of punishment instead because the Holy spirit desires in opposition to the sin nature. And this is what it is to live by the spirit. Read the writings of Paul. He really talked about only two kinds of people. Those who were led by the spirit and those who were under the power of the law. And so we go on to read verse 18 but we'll read it again and then verse 19. But when you are directed by the spirit you are not under the obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature the results are very clear. Sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties and other sins like these. Let me tell you again as I have before that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. And that's not because they didn't do enough good works or they weren't good enough. It's because those who do not place their trust in Christ can never receive the new nature that allows them to resist such things. Verse 22, but the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. You notice he doesn't say seeds. Meaning the moment you're born again there's evidence. There's a manifestation of fruit in your character. Doesn't say the roots of the spirit or the seeds of the spirit. It says the fruits of the spirit. In other words, this is produced the moment you receive your new nature deep within you receive all of this. Now for some of us it takes a while for that to come to the surface, but all of us when we are born again receive this new nature within, which includes love, joy. These are all reflections of his marvelous light church. Are you loving? Are you joyful? Sometimes I think that Christians who try to be spiritual are some of the most serious, unjoyful, angry people I've ever met and they mistake seriousness with spirituality. And they're not the same thing. Love, joy, peace. You can all use a little help with that one. Patience, Lord help me. Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the spirit, let us follow the spirit's leading in every part of our lives. So I think we get confused sometimes. Yes, the Holy Spirit will speak instructions to you and yes, the Holy Spirit will speak prophetically through you and yes, the Holy Spirit will speak in dreams and visions. I've covered those topics extensively here. But do you know what it means to be led by the spirit? It doesn't mean, oh, wherever you want me to go, go down to it. It means you have patience with people. It means you love people. It means you're kind. It means you're like Jesus. Where an interaction with you is like an interaction with Jesus. Even as I'm reading this, I'm getting convicted by the Holy Spirit. How many are there with me on that? To be led by the spirit is to become a spiritual being or to allow that spiritual being which is who you truly are to have the influence in your life. Yes, we believe in supernatural demonstrations but the greatest demonstration of the Holy Spirit within you is the character and the nature of Christ manifested through you. Romans eight, let's go there now. Romans eight, I'm gonna read verses five to 14 and we're gonna break these verses down too. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things. But those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the spirit. So here we see that the work of the spirit begins to affect your thought life. And out of that thought life is obviously produced of the results. Verse six, so letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death but letting the spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Verse seven, for the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's law and never will. That's why those who are still under the law or are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. Now we'll read verse nine in a moment. But the scripture describes the law of God being given to us as a mirror. The purpose of the law was simply to show us this is God's standard and you can't keep it. So anyone who attempts to keep God's standard by their own power in their own will is left with one of two results. Either they are filled with spiritual pride because they're deceived into thinking that they're working for their own salvation successfully or they're filled with despair which drives them further into sin. They throw up their hands and say, well, I can't be perfect. I might as well live it up while I'm in this world. So you see then how the law produces sin. That's why the scripture says the power of sin is the law. Now the law itself is good. It's our response to the law that produces either spiritual pride or despair. And so we go on to read in verse nine but you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the spirit if you have the spirit of God living in you. And remember that those who do not have the spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all. And Christ lives within you so even though your body will die because of sin the spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God that's past tense. I've already been made right with God. Do you know why people get so angry when you talk about salvation coming by simply believing? It's because you expose their false conversion. You talk about salvation coming by grace through faith Ephesians two eight, eight, nine and 10. You talk about the fact that it's believing that brings righteousness. It's believing that brings justification that exposes spiritual pride and people become angry at that. That's why whenever you talk about the law of the spirit people say well don't forget to condemn them with the law of Moses. Thinking that you're somehow leading people into compromise by telling them they can be free from sin completely. It's a religious spirit. Holiness comes from salvation but your own good works could never produce salvation in the first place. So when we are saved our nature has changed. And out of that transformed nature we begin to live holy lives led by the spirit. Are you receiving this tonight church? Let's do verse 10 again. And Christ lives within you so even though your body will die because of sin. The spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The spirit of God. Now this is a very famous scripture but think about what's being said here. The spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead he will give life to your mortal bodies by the same spirit living within you. This is pouty. I'm aware that Paul the apostle talked about new glorified bodies that we will receive when we're one with Christ in glorification. We understand that. But do you realize here that Paul the apostle is talking about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus because the Holy spirit power that raised Jesus from the dead affected his physical body. Jesus was raised from the dead in physical form not in spiritual form. Not as a spiritual truth. Jesus was raised from the dead in physical form. And so the Bible tells us that the same spirit who raised Christ from the dead the same spirit who brought that physical being of Christ back to life will quicken the King James version puts it will quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit living within you. Meaning the Holy spirit within you gives you power to overcome the cravings of the sin nature that the sin nature tries to get your physical body to participate in. So the same spirit who raised me from the dead quickens this body to be a vessel of holiness. Holiness comes by the spirit. It's a work of the Holy spirit in our lives. This is why we have to demonstrate. We have to demonstrate according to James our faith by our works. But works is not the cause of salvation. It's a demonstration of it. It's an indicator not a creator. Therefore, your brothers and sisters you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. Wow. For if you live by its dictates you will die. But if through the power of the spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature you will live for all who are led by the spirit of God our children of God. Wow. What does that mean? It means that when I come to live in the truth of the spirit and I live by the law of the spirit then I'm no longer under the obligation of the law that condemns. And it's because I live by the spirit that I've been given the power to live holy. True holiness and the power to live in holiness comes by the transformed nature that is a work of the Holy Spirit. It is true and it's frightening. There are many, many, many who will stand on that day and will find that all along they trusted in their own ability. That's terrifying. This is why we have to learn to lean on the Holy Spirit. Now far too many are led by their emotions thinking they're being led by the spirit. And then they get defensive. I know my Jesus. Or I know God's voice. Look, our confidence must not be in our ability to hear God. It must be in his ability to speak to us. To rely totally on him. Jesus was led to the wilderness by the spirit. Philip was led to the chariot by the spirit. Paul was led away from Asia by the spirit. The spirit guides our lives daily. So how do we begin to live in this? I can't go extensively because we'd have to probably put this in two or three parts. But I want to give you some of the basics that can at least get you started walking in this being led by the spirit. This life that is guided by the spiritual nature. Number one, you have to know his voice. Now I can spend some time talking about silence and stillness. We've talked about this. For example, when I talk about Matthew 6.6 creating an atmosphere of silence. It's something I push very much on these Thursday night teachings because I want the people of God to be equipped with those truths. But I want to look at something found in John chapter 15. Go to John 15. I'm going to read verses one through eight. I am the true great vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit. Why? Because it wasn't a true conversion. Not because the salvation comes by works but because if it was really something that was grafted and it was really something connected to the vine it would produce. And I think just that subtle shift. Look up at me for a second. I think that subtle shift clears a lot of confusion up because on one side you have people saying well don't lead people into compromise. You can't tell them it's by faith because then they'll compromise in sin. To that I would say if they were truly believing they would not choose to compromise in sin. And then on the other side there's the danger of those who say well all you have to do is believe whether or not that produces fruit you shouldn't worry about it. No because true believing will always produce fruit. So we have to avoid both extremes here. And this is why I often say and it's worth repeating that holiness cannot produce salvation or rather I should say good works cannot produce salvation but true salvation will always produce good works. And this subtle difference in sin it clarifies a lot of things and does away with the confusion especially when talking about life in the spirit versus life under the law. Verse 2, he cuts off, we'll read it again. He cuts off every branch of vine that doesn't produce fruit and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Watch this now. Remain in me and I will remain in you for a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes I am the vine, you are the branches those who remain in me and I and them will produce much fruit. Well how do we do that Jesus? For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned but if you remain in me watch this now and my what? My words remain in you. You will ask for anything you want and it will be granted. You will produce much fruit. You are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my father. So then, one of the primary ways that we are led by the spirit is to know this book. The words I give you, John 6 the words I give to you are spirit and life. We need a revival of reverence for the truth. We need a revival of reverence for the word of God. I hold in my hand the inspired, inerrant, perfect, authoritative, final word of God. And the moment we step off this book and onto philosophy, religious opinion, experience alone, experience has its place but experience alone cannot be the foundation for forming truth in our lives. The moment we step off of this we step into chaos. And this is why I say we need that revival of reverence for this book because people want to live by this book by simply getting the verse of the day. The tweetable truth, the Instagram posts with a nice background and a single scripture most often taken out of context. No, no, no, no, no. Not just know this intellectually but for this to remain in me you want to be led by the spirit you need to know the word and I'm not just talking about, again, I'm not just talking about intellectually understanding certain concepts of it. Atheists read the word but they're not led by the spirit. In fact, I know some atheists who know the word better than most Christians. You think some of those cult leaders who started their little communes and used this book to manipulate people? Do you think they were led by the spirit? No, but they knew the word. I think we in this area know there was one very famous one. I won't say who, but right around this area was a national news. A man who led that cult knew the word but the word didn't truly abide in him. Now Jesus tells us that the way to abide in him is simply to know the word and I know this sounds almost overly simplistic but we have to realize that when we read the scripture it's more than just reading information. This is revelation of the spirit. The scripture is the substance with which the Holy Spirit creates in you. If there is no substance you're not giving him much to work with. You may say, but he's God, he can do anything. Yes, but the way he chooses to work is by the word in our lives. Now, those of you watching those of you here listen carefully. You may be struggling with some sin, some habit. You may be concerned with some flaw in your character, something you can't quite overcome. Maybe you're struggling in your patience, in your love, any one of the fruits of the spirit, any one of the aspects of Christ's nature and you're struggling in that I say to you, open the word. And when you begin to read the scripture you may not feel the difference right away but continue to read it. I've often talked to people who like, for example, young men who tell me they have problems with pornography. The last thing they want to do when they mess up is open the word. The last thing they want to do is pray. I tell them, that's when you have to do it. Because what begins to happen is this, you start to take that substance, becomes a part of you, the Holy Spirit begins transforming you. You may not feel it. You may not see it. There may be no indication of it. You may even think that you're getting worse. But you keep taking that word in. 20, 30 minutes a day, every day. And then what you're going to notice is after a month or two you may see some slight changes starting to happen in your character and in your nature. And you read it when you mess up. You read it when you're doing good. You read it when you're feeling good. You read it when you're feeling down. You read it when you're afraid. You read it when you're confident. You read it when you're confused. You read it when you have clear direction for your life. You read it when you're busy. You read it when you have nothing to do. You consume the word. Let his word abide in you. And as you begin to take on the substance of the Spirit, something will begin to transform in you. And it has no choice but to change. But you have to stay consistent. You have to receive the substance. This is why I wonder why so many believers are not in the Word. I went to my primary care physician and I said, Doc, I'm having some trouble. I just don't feel right. I promise you, my doctor's first conclusion is not going to be well, you're probably dying. Well, you probably have a terminal illness. No, no, no. What is my doctor going to ask me? He's going to ask me some basic questions. What's your sleep pattern? What's your diet? Are you exercising? Are you under any kind of stress? What are you doing? How are you living? And if I answered any of those questions with a negative response, something like, well, my diet's not so good. My sleep patterns aren't so great. He's going to say, go home, get some sleep, eat right, and then come back and talk to me. We'll see how you're doing. So many times we want to jump to the extremes because we imagine if we do, it'll be a quick fix. Just lay hands on me, take away all my problems. And you're asking for deliverance when what you need is discipline. And you're saying, I want it to be a generational curse because then I don't have to do anything. We know there's spiritual warfare. We believe in that here. But we also believe in the word. And so you would be amazed at how many of your troubles would cease to be troubles if you were just a person of the word. You would be amazed at how many crises you could avoid. You want to avoid spiritual crisis. You have to start doing the spiritual basics. And so you take the word in and what happens is it causes you to become a person who's attracted to the things of the spirit. This right here is the transformational truth. It's almost like magnetism. And I don't want to sound like some new age cycle, but stick with me for a second. Why do magnets attract? It's something in their nature. It's something in their substance. I have like a little key ring. When I come into my house, sometimes you can stick like magnets. So I put my keys there. It sticks and my daughter likes to do it. Sometimes she likes to stick my keys on for me on the magnet. And sometimes I'll place it with the wrong substance and the wrong substance makes contact with the magnet. So my keys just drop to the floor. There's something in the magnetic material that begins to draw it to what is magnetically pulling it. And when you begin to read the word, it does something in you. It creates spiritual nature. Over time, gradually, you have to do it faithfully. You can't read it for two weeks and expect to undo in two weeks what it took you decades to destroy. You have to really let it become a part of you, really understand the concepts, really believe the truths, meditate on the word, love the word, obsess over the word, get it within you. And then it begins to transform your nature to where now suddenly there's this pool of the spirit. That which is spirit attracts that which is spirit. And when you begin to read the word, it causes you to become more spiritual. And it's just in your nature to be, you can't help but be led by the spirit. Some people are frustrated because they don't know what direction the spirit is going. I don't understand his voice. I don't understand his nature. I don't know what he wants from me in this season. Get in the word and you'll have no choice but to be pooled along by the nature of the Holy Ghost. That's the power of the word. But it's going to take you getting serious. If you're too busy to read the word, you're too busy. Get a different job then. Better to be poor and spiritual than rich and carnal. I'm serious. I'm very drastic with these things. You say that's too far. Well, are we following Jesus or not? I'm talking to people who want to go so deep that they're willing to prioritize. And I'll make this second point very briefly. And then I want to pray with you and you watching online as well. So number one is know his voice. And there's so much more we could cover but this is where the spirit is leading me tonight. Number one, know his voice. Number two, make his pleasure your priority. Make his pleasure your priority. When the Holy Spirit speaks, obey immediately. Delay is disobedience. You ever been to the dentist? And they begin the prod at your mouth with all those sharp objects and ask you if it hurts. And then they touch a sensitive spot. There's an instant reaction. Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is like that. People brag all the time. Oh, I hear him so clearly. Oh, he speaks to me all the time. That's not impressive. I'm not impressed with how clearly you hear him. I'm impressed with how quickly you respond when he speaks. Sensitivity is that to where when there is a touch, there's a reaction. And if you're going to make his pleasure your priority, you have to be one who obeys him immediately. You have to be willing to make sacrifices. You have to be willing to take risks. You have to be willing to do away with your excuses. I was talking to someone and I said, you know, if you want to get away from sin, you have to flee from temptation, not debate with it, flee. I said, get away from temptation. I said, okay, I tried, but everyone in my house does things that tempt me. And well, I'm just kind of stuck. Excuses. I said, get out of the house. Well, I have nowhere to go. Well, you've got Jesus. Get out of that house. Better to be homeless and spiritual than have a house in Bikarno. You don't trust the Holy Spirit would get you another place to live? You don't trust God would guide you since you're obeying His word? We have all these excuses. We come up to a certain point and then, ah, well, that's just, that's too difficult. We need to be so concerned. So we need to so prioritize His pleasure that whatever gets in the way is moved and it's moved immediately. We believe our own excuses sometimes. Being led by the Spirit doesn't always feel good. I'll prove it to you. Luke 22, 39-44. Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, pray that you will not give in to temptation. He walked away about a stone's throw. I always liked that measurement, a stone's throw. And knelt down and prayed. Now you have to realize what the circumstance is here. Jesus is preparing to face His crucifixion. Not only is he about to face the physical pain that will be inflicted upon him by the Roman soldiers. Not only is he about to bear the shame of being spat upon, of being mocked, of being ridiculed by the ones who were just praising him, but he would have to bear the fullness of the weight of sin from every generation, from every life, past, present, and future. And not just the weight of that sin, not just the penalty of that sin, but the consequences of sin. Bear the shame of that sin, the guilt of that sin, the mental torment of that sin, the sense of isolation that comes upon a life when it sins. Knowing what he was about to face, Jesus prays this prayer, Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. But I want your will to be done, not mine. Verse 43, Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. Jesus was agonized over what the Spirit was leading him to do. The Spirit will at times lead you into blessing. The Spirit will at times lead you into favor. I say it all the time when I talk to Ishmael and Steve and the team, I say, can you believe this is what we get to do? What a blessed life we have. Then there are times when the Spirit will lead us into things that we have to sacrifice. The King James version words it like this, Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. To be led by the Spirit is to be okay with the agony that sometimes comes with following the path God laid before you. Sometimes he'll lead you places of joy and peace, and that joy and peace will always be within you. Then there are those seasons where God will call you to do something you don't want to do. Submission doesn't even begin. Surrender doesn't even begin until there's a conflict in your heart about what God is asking you to do. Oh, I'm surrendered. I prayed for the sick easy. Oh, I'm surrendered. I cast out devils easy. Oh, I'm surrendered. I stood on a platform and taught a message and preached a sermon easy. Anyone can do that. Surrender truly led by him is to do those difficult things that he asks. Holy Spirit, help us to do the difficult things. Because where there is crucifixion, there is always resurrection. And things you thought would destroy you, God uses to make you stronger than ever before. Either we're in or out. Either we're going to do this or not. Either we're serious or we're not. If you're ready to surrender, the altar is open now and you watching online, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you too. Yes, you can come and stand. If you're saying, I need to seal this. I need to speak with the Lord and come, come, come. You watching online, you as well can respond. I can see the comments coming in from all around the world. Just write these simple words. Whether you're watching live or on the replay, two simple words, I surrender. I surrender. That's it. I surrender. And guys, let's have them move down this way too, please. Thank you, gentlemen. Let's make room for everybody who wants to join us up here. Please, because they're still standing in the aisle. Thank you. Give it to Jesus now. Give it to Jesus now. I'm like you. There are things I'm being worked on. I'm having worked on by the Lord, all of us, all of us. We need to stop believing our own excuses. Either we're disciples of the Lord or we're not. Christianity is not something we wear as a cultural decoration. It's not just a code of ethics and morals by which we can live our lives. It's something that we can teach our children to help set us up for success and peace and love. Christianity is a crucifixion. Christianity is a crucifixion. Not to earn your salvation, but in response to what he has done to give your life and say, Lord, use me. I want to be led. No matter what it costs, no matter what it takes, I want to be led by your spirit. Because his presence is greater than any treasure we could ever receive. His presence, there's no substitute. There's no substitute if your hands all across this room and you watching online, as I said, just begin to pray with us. Take some time. Surrender this moment. Don't be so quick to look for something that'll entertain you. I know you watching online. You have that challenge of so many things that could entertain you. Forget about entertainment. This is a time of transformation. Surrender this moment to him. Close your eyes, lift your hands, even in your homes all across the world. You here present in this room. We're going to sing this song and it's going to be the prayer that we offer to him. And as you sing these simple words, let the Holy Spirit begin to work on you. Let him begin to transform you. Lift your voices and your hands now. Steve? I surrender all. Join us singing that online all around the world. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee, my blessed savior. All. Give it to Jesus as we sing tonight. I surrender all. Let them have everything tonight. Everything. Ah. We honor and we love you. You in your seats standing as we sing, please I surrender all. I surrender all. Lord as your people stand here, surrendering all to you. Let the manifested, tangible touch of the Holy Spirit's power come upon them. And Father, let it even come upon that one watching right now. Ask him church. Ask him for a fresh touch of power right now. Lift your hands. Close your eyes. Pray out loud in the Holy Ghost right now. Something is happening. Something is happening. That's his power. That's his power. That's his power. You watching online. That's his power. That's his power. That's his power. I surrender. I surrender. Bring him here, guys. Keep singing, Steve. That's the power of God here. Take joy, my God. Father. You watching online. You present here begin to sing that now. I love you Lord. Bring him here, guys. That's the power of God on him. On the platform. Please Once more sing it again church. I love you Lord. Can we give the Lord a hand of praise this evening? For what he's doing now as you reverently go back to your seats. I'm reading the comments here For many who are being touched by God's power online You in the comment section I can see what you're writing and I'm encouraged to know that you too are Experiencing the touch of the Holy Spirit's power right there in your home or wherever you're watching and I can see that now Testimonies praises to our God Being written out in the comment section Church, they're having revival online just like we're having revival here now two things. I want to mention to you briefly Before you click off the video or click on another one of our videos wherever that might appear on your screen I know it's tempting usually as the service begins to come to a close It's tempting to kind of jump to the next thing I want to talk to you for a second about two things number one You're seeing these meetings. You're saying where are they meeting and how do I get there? Very simple. You go to David Hernandez ministries comm slash Texas David Hernandez ministries comm slash, Texas You have to be on the text alert system in order to get the address There's a couple reasons why we do it that way number one It's because sometimes the weather in Texas is a little unpredictable and the roads sometimes are not available And so sometimes we have to either cancel the service or in other instances We may say hey not this week, but next week we'll be meeting it gives us flexibility When we're able to text people now We've had a few people come and say well I showed up on a Thursday night. No one was there and that's why we stopped just posting the address online because people just kind of show Up and this enables us to really move as a group. It keeps things very lean As I said very flexible. So if you get on that text alert system You'll receive alerts whenever we're meeting here and you'll actually get it from Monday Tuesday Wednesday all the way to Thursday It's we're very consistent with keeping people alerted and also we like to announce special things like our guest speakers and very soon We as a group. I haven't told you guys this yet, but very soon We have in just a few weeks the soft open at the new studio So we'll be over there in just a few weeks and we're very excited about that but Bottom line David Hernandez ministries comm slash Texas is the best way to connect with these weekly meetings Precisely because it's such a flexible schedule and that will keep you right in tune in an alignment with everything that we're doing the next thing I want to mention is The fact that this ministry is supported by generous givers like the people sitting here and like those of you watching online I'm asking that everyone watching and everyone present That they would do something to help this ministry continue its work all around the world You're giving funds the live streams funds the content that we release on a weekly basis It funds the events that we do around the world if you've noticed something about our ministry We don't charge for the live streams. We don't charge for the e-courses. We don't charge for the content We don't even charge for our events which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to do because of the the crowd size We have to get the big venues for those but you know we do that by faith and God's design is that we would freely give that's how God designed ministry to be done freely give and by the way How do we expect people who already have a difficult time coming to church? How do we expect the unsaved who never want to go to church typically speaking? How do we expect them to pay? We can't put barriers between people and the gospel So we as a ministry we give freely give freely give freely and then we trust that God will move the hearts of his people To say hey, I'm gonna help out with that and I need you I Need your help. I can't do this without you say brother. You have the Lord. Well the Lord designed it So that we would need each other It keeps us humble. It keeps us connected. It keeps things in proper perspective The Lord designed it so that we need each other This ministry would not be as effective without the support of our partners from around the world So I thank our partners our donors and now I challenge you watching Maybe you've just came across this ministry a few months ago Maybe you've been watching for years, but you've been blessed by the content You've been kind of a spectator you've been receiving and saying maybe one day I'll support Now is the time to get involved because this ministry is Experiencing rapid healthy growth and expansion. So I need you I need you the people of God And I know you're generous. I know you're loving. I know you love souls I know you love the gospel and so I'm just asking everyone to join all of the givers from around the world to join the Supporters that we have here and do your part. What am I asking you to do? I'm asking you to give right now a financial gift. That's either one time Monthly or as some people do they do both some people say hey, I'm gonna partner I'll give a one-time gift and I'll also sign up to a monthly gift and that's kind of their Initiation gift as they refer to it, but whatever you do one time or monthly large or small We need your support so that we can continue to grow so I know you guys are all in because You've been so faithful in your giving and I want to thank you for that you on the Thursday nights here Thank you for your giving and thank you those of you online I see the names and I see a lot of repeat names that come in and I'm so grateful for all our supporters here and Online so I'm asking you now to begin to support you can go right now watching online David Hernandez ministries comm slash donate David Hernandez ministries comm slash donate You can actually do that right here too as well I think they have the QR code up or the we're gonna pass out the envelopes instead and on the envelope You'll see a QR code and I believe it's also on the screen You're gonna scan that the way it works you here in person is You're gonna take out your phone pull out your phone's camera You're gonna hover the camera over that QR code and a link will appear you click that that's the easiest way to give I see many people giving on Facebook on the YouTube super chat and I'm gonna read some of the names of people coming in I should say Nate read some of the names that's coming in from the people who are giving here Thank you to Lauren who just gave a one-time gift. We appreciate your support Thank you. I like this name little star little star Lopez. That's a cool name. Thank you for your giving Jerry Aline just gave a one-time gift Kingsley gave a one-time gift Thank you to our dear friends the Patrick family who gave a one-time gift to Wanda. Thank you for your gift Then I see crystal became a monthly partner Justin became a monthly partner Femi became a monthly partner Rose became a monthly partner. I see Vincent became a monthly partner. Thank you Karen gave a one-time gift Summon became a monthly partner Kevin became a monthly partner my goodness many people partnering tonight We so appreciate that support Jennifer. Thank you for becoming a partner Jose Thank you for becoming a partner and it's just coming in rapidly from around the world Everyone's doing their part We're asking you to get involved too. You may say don't say well, they got it No, no, it's all of us together that actually makes this possible because we have big goals for the ministry big vision We may not have the resources for everything right now But we sure do have the faith for it and we know that as God continues to expand this ministry He'll also continue to speak to you his people to support his work and we thank you for that now in a moment I'm gonna pray, but let me just double check first to make sure all of you here are Good with your envelope completion. Does anybody else need a little more time to fill out their envelope? Okay, just one back there So I think by the time it reaches them we should be good and thank you to those of you giving online We appreciate your support and we're gonna pray right now. We're gonna ask God to bless this gift We're gonna ask him to increase your resources That's biblical when you're a good steward of what God has given you he increases your resources That's not why we give But we believe that God increases so that we can continue to give in other words We don't give to get we get so that we can give amen And so we have a heart for the gospel. These are these are God's people We love supporting his work and so I want to thank you for doing let's pray and Let's believe that God will increase you come on father in the name of Jesus I pray for those giving here present and those giving online and Lord I ask you to increase their resources as They've been good stewards to take care of what you've given them as they've been generous with what you've put in their hand I pray you increase what's in their hand They might continue to fund your kingdom Lord use our giving against the enemy use our giving to push back the darkness Use our giving to produce a harvest of souls The mighty name of Jesus we pray and the church said amen as the buckets pass I'll say to those of you watching online if you enjoyed this teaching you will love the teaching I did just a few weeks ago how to practice The presence of the Holy Spirit in that teaching I talk about keeping an awareness of the presence of Jesus around you 24-7 yes, that's possible you can check that out on encounter TV right now