Transcription
Five behaviors that push the Holy Spirit away without you even realizing it. Now, when I talk about pushing the Holy Spirit away, I don't mean that the Holy Spirit literally abandons the believer. I mean that his influence is minimized in your life by certain things that you do.
In Ephesians 4:30, we read, "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption." It's possible to hurt the Holy Spirit, so don't hurt the Holy Spirit. The way we behave, the way we think, certain attitudes that can hurt the Holy Spirit. He's personal. He is a person.
Now, when I say that the Holy Spirit is a person, I don't mean that he's fallible or finite or that he's mortal. I simply mean that he is personal. He has relationship with you. You can have a friendship with the Holy Spirit. He has a mind, will, emotions, and he is affected by the way that we behave. And if the Holy Spirit loves you enough to be grieved by your sin, then the Holy Spirit loves you enough to be pleased by your obedience. So, your behavior affects the Holy Spirit's heart.
So, what are these behaviors that push the Holy Spirit away, that is, minimize his influence without us even realizing it?
Number one: Sins of commission. This is doing what we know is wrong. These are disobedient acts. We do things that violate the clear teachings of scripture. We do things that violate the nature of God. We do things that violate what God has spoken to us directly. Maybe the Lord gave you a specific instruction for this season, and you're delaying. Delay is disobedience. We ought to respond to the voice of the Holy Spirit when he speaks to us.
In Galatians 5:19-21, we read, "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts 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. That is the influence of God's dominion in your life. So, these behaviors push the Holy Spirit away. They minimize his influence.
And here's the thing: this happens little by little, gradually, day by day, moment by moment, decision by decision. We are either maximizing the influence of the Holy Spirit, or we are minimizing the influence of the Holy Spirit. But when we minimize the influence of the Holy Spirit, his influence diminishes over time, so that many times, in fact, most of the time, we do not recognize that his influence is being diminished. And before you know it, you look up and you see that old habits have returned. You look up and you see that old attitudes have crept back in. Your life has taken a completely different direction. Maybe you look up and suddenly you notice there's no prayer life anymore. There's no devotion to the word anymore. There's compromise in sin. And you say, "How did I get here?" You got there by decisions that you made over time. You got there little by little, through compromise, throughout each day, each week, each month.
And here's the scary part: you become used to life without his influence. You become used to life without the sense of his presence. Well, nothing scares me more than to realize that I could lose the sense of his presence. Now, notice I said the sense, because again, the Holy Spirit doesn't abandon you. But that beautiful, resting glory that believers sense on them, that peace, that love, that joy, that can be diminished through ongoing disobedience.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, "Do not stifle the Holy Spirit." Now, that word "stifle" is descriptive of a fire-like nature. So, we can snuff out that flame, that is the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If you want to learn more about the nature of the Holy Spirit, our friendship with the Holy Spirit, then get "Holy Spirit, God Within You" at encounterthespirit.com.
Number two: Sins of omission. That is, neglecting to do what we know is right. In James 4:17, we read, "Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." We lack the fear of God in this generation. For example, maybe the Holy Spirit told you to say something or to do something, and you're withholding your obedience because you're afraid of what other people will think about you. You're afraid about how others might criticize you or perceive you. Well, that's the fear of man. But let me tell you something: if you're going to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, you're going to be misunderstood. You're going to be offensive to the religious. If you want to be one who walks with the Holy Spirit, if you want to be one who's sensitive to his instructions, then you're going to be a disruptor. You're not always going to fit in. Sometimes you're going to have trouble finding your place. But that is no reason to withhold obedience.
Perhaps the Holy Spirit is telling you to give financially to a certain ministry, and because of fear of the future, or maybe just because of simple greed, you're withholding, and you're saying, "Not right now, or maybe later." Or maybe the Holy Spirit is telling you to move in a certain spiritual gift, to prophesy, to pray for the sick, to exercise that word of knowledge, and you're withholding because you're afraid. Maybe the Holy Spirit is telling you to share the gospel with your loved ones, but you're worried about what they might think. Maybe the Holy Spirit is telling you to apologize to someone you know you've hurt them, but your pride says, "Oh well, we'll just dismiss it. Oh, we'll just move on." But the Holy Spirit says, "No, go and apologize."
Those are sins of omission where the Holy Spirit is moving us to do something, and we don't do it. The more you do this, the longer you delay, the harder it will become to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. As you delay, as you wait, as you stand there frozen in fear, as you stand there frozen in the comforts of the current lifestyle that you have, or the current decisions that you've made, as you stand there in your own preferences, little by little, the influence of the precious Holy Spirit is being diminished in your life.
Number three: Ignoring his presence. This is failing to acknowledge the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is always there, but rarely acknowledged. We, as believers, need to eliminate hurry and worry. And by the way, hurry and worry come hand in hand. Yes, I understand that we have many responsibilities, and I understand that we have godly goals, and there's nothing wrong with that. But if those things are causing you to move at such a pace and with such tension that you rarely have any time to ever even acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is with you, then there's something wrong with the pace. Something has to change in the order of your priorities.
Now, keeping in mind that the Holy Spirit abides with the believer, read the desperation in Psalm 51:11: "Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me." Filtering this to the New Testament, we see that there is this spiritual principle that we can apply today, namely, that we ought to cherish the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We ought not to neglect prayer and the word, daily spiritual disciplines that cause us to be aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
In Exodus 33:15, we read that Moses said, "If you don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place." In other words, God, if you're not in it, I don't want it. If it doesn't include the influence of your Holy Spirit's presence, then I don't want to go there. This is to live a life reliant upon the Holy Spirit, aware that you need his power, that you need his grace, that you need his strength, that you need his supernatural ability. Approach him at all times. Be aware of him constantly. When something good happens, give him thanks. When you face a tragedy, stop, pause, ask him for comfort. When you're confused, ask for wisdom and clarity. When you feel alone, thank him for his presence. When you feel that weight of heaviness, you know, life sometimes has that way of making you feel heavy, you can stop and ask him to give you the strength that comes through joy. When you feel restless, you can stop and ask him to give you gratitude. When you begin to take for granted all of the blessings in your life, and you start to look at the blessings like they're burdens, you can stop and say, "Holy Spirit, help me check my heart." But you stay aware of his presence, reliant upon his presence, dependent upon his ability to bring forth change. Invite him into the little moments in your life and in the big moments of your life.
When we ignore his presence, hear me now, please. When we ignore his presence, we minimize his influence. Now, the next behavior that I'm going to share with you can really minimize the flow of God's supernatural working power. But before I give that to you, if you're enjoying this content and you think other believers need to hear this, leave a like to help spread the message. And also, I don't want you to miss any of the teachings I release on the Holy Spirit. So, if you want to continue to receive my teachings on the Holy Spirit, make sure you subscribe to my channel and click the notification bell when you subscribe.
Number four: Lack of faith. This is doubting God's ability. This is lacking trust in his word. Fear diminishes faith. We, as believers, ought to have a faith mindset to where when we face difficult circumstances, we don't become defeated inwardly. We don't just throw up our hands and give up and say, "Well, this is the way it's always supposed to be." But rather, to look at it through God's perspective and say, "God will bring me through it," or "God has a plan to make things better," or "God will work this all out in my favor for my good." That is the faith mindset. Not to dismay, not to be hopeless, not to look at every circumstance as if it's a mountain that you can't climb. Remember, we don't need to climb mountains because we have the faith that moves mountains. You can speak to those mountains and tell them, "Be removed," and God will remove them. But this comes when you walk in faith.
You see, when you live in fear, it's because you're thinking according to your own ability. But when you live in faith, it's because you're thinking according to God's ability. When you exchange fear for faith, now you exchange your strength for God's strength, your ability for God's ability, your limits for God's unlimited power to work in your life.
Hebrews 11:6 says, "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." So, as we approach the Lord, we have to come in faith. This is what pleases God, that lifestyle of faith, because it's trust in his word, it's trust in his nature, it's trust in his integrity. God's never failed you, and he's not going to begin now.
When we live in faith, we invite the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we live in fear, we minimize that influence, and now we're stuck in the negative. Now we're stuck in deception. Now we're stuck without God's power. Why? Because we're trying to do it all our own. But faith comes when we involve him. Faith comes when we rely upon him. And as we rely on God, as we live in faith, we experience his unlimited power at work on our behalf in our everyday lives. So, if you want to minimize the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, just think according to fear. If you want to maximize the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life, think according to faith.
Number five: And this one, by the way, you wouldn't think necessarily affects your relationship with the Holy Spirit, but it does, and biblically speaking, it does. But it's just not something we think about. Number five is holding grudges. Now, as I said, some people don't necessarily think that this would affect their relationship with the Holy Spirit. This is because they compartmentalize. They think that, "Oh, that's just my relationship with them over there," or "That's just a problem I have with that person over there. But me and God, we're good."
But do you realize that holding grudges against other people actually minimizes the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life? When we allow pride or offense to cause us to separate from other believers or carry resentment toward them in our hearts, we need to do a heart check and realize that this doesn't just come in right away. It slowly begins, and you'll notice little patterns. You're a little less patient with them. You're a little less gracious toward them. You think a little lower of them. You start to judge them in a negative light. You start to minimize the good that they do. You start to maximize the bad that they do. If they don't meet your expectations, you begin to hold those little things against them, and you collect those offenses, and you begin to bury them deep in your heart.
And what begins to happen now is that as the influence of that bitterness takes over the heart, the influence of the Holy Spirit is minimized. Now, when you become bitter, when you leave that resentment festering there, there are certain symptoms that come to the surface. You become defensive. You can't have any challenges. You can't face any disagreements without putting up that wall of fire or reacting very strongly. You become given to anger, little fits of rage, constantly in just that steady place of quiet anger, ready to snap at any moment. There's tension around you. There's people saying, "You feel like we're walking on eggshells with you." There's just this, like I said, this quiet anger that begins to develop around you. You're unable to see your own flaws, pointing out everyone else's flaws around you, unable to see the negative that you're contributing, you're unable to see the good that others do for you. And even if it's good that they do for you, you either take it as something that should be done anyway, or you question the motives behind it. You become ungrateful and dissatisfied with how God has blessed you. Because now, as that bitterness seeps in, it becomes the lens through which you view all things, even the life that you live, even your marriage, even your relationship with your children, even the house that you live in, the car that you drive, the clothes that you wear, the ministry you serve in, the job that you have, the school you attend, the responsibilities that God has given to you. It affects everything about you, and everything is now seen through that lens.
And again, this doesn't come on right away. There's just this subtle takeover of bitterness. Maybe you notice that you're losing grace, you're losing joy, you're losing patience, you're becoming less kind, you're sharper in the tongue, more judgmental in the mind.
1 Corinthians 1:10 says, "I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church; rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose."
In John chapter 17:21, we read, "And I pray they will all be one, just as you and I are one. As you are in me, Father, and I am in you, and may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me." That unity is a testimony to the world. You see, the Holy Spirit in me loves the Holy Spirit in you. The Holy Spirit in me is one with the Holy Spirit in you. And the same goes for all of our brothers and sisters. So, if we have an issue with a brother or a sister, we may think the solution is to just cut them off, dismiss them. "Well, that's their problem." "Well, that's how they are." "Well, you know, I had nothing to do with it." "Or I tried my best." And I understand there are times to divide. But I'm not talking about those times. I'm talking about those times where there's bitterness, and you may think you could just cut that person off, move on with your life. But you don't realize that that bitterness follows you. That if you do that once, you're bound to repeat those mistakes again. You're bound to follow that pattern of bitterness. And if you don't deal with the bitterness in one situation, it's going to be much more difficult to prevent bitterness in another situation. This is why people who are bitter can easily become more bitter. People who are bitter can easily be offended. Why? Because the heart is already tender. The heart is already harmed.
But Jesus tells us that we ought to be one. This is why we should be one, because it's not just this compartmentalized relationship that we have with God, but it's all of us together, the body of Christ. How you treat others, how you view others, your relationship with other believers, that can affect the heart. And so, if you allow resentment to become stronger, more intense, if you don't deal with that, and I mean in a humble way, you've got to deal with it. You've got to get before God and ask him for his help. You've got to go to your brother or sister and apologize for what you've been holding against them. You've got to deal with it. Let go of your pride, or the pride will lead to the fall.
This is where the Holy Spirit wants to help you. Because as you become a person who forgives, who releases, who's kind and caring, as you become a person who lets go of those grudges, you invite the influence of the Holy Spirit to take over.
So, Father, I pray you would help us to repent of all these behaviors that minimize the influence of the precious Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, that you are causing us to become pure in heart, focused on you, your presence, and your power. Father, we humble ourselves before you today and ask for your grace in dealing with these behaviors and issues. Holy Spirit, we want your influence. We want your power. I want you to say this out loud as I pray for you: "Welcome, Holy Spirit." Say it again: "Welcome, Holy Spirit." Holy Spirit, we welcome your influence. Let them sense your presence and power with them in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. I want you to type it real big if you believe it. Type a big amen.
Well, I want to give you an opportunity to be a part of what God is doing through his ministry. Listen, the future is bright. God has amazing things on the horizon for you and for me, and he is about to release something on the earth, I believe, that is more powerful than anything we've ever seen before. The greatest move of God in history is happening now, and we get to be a part of it. So, don't look to the future with fear. Don't look to the future with hopelessness. Look to the future with gladness, thanking God that everything is under his control. And as you look forward with faith, I want you to partner with us in faith. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you in regards to how you can support this ministry, and then obey what the Holy Spirit speaks to you. Don't ignore his voice. Many of you, the Lord is speaking to to become monthly ministry supporters. But maybe you've been putting it off. Maybe you've been hesitant. Now is the time to respond and say, "Yes, Holy Spirit, I will partner with your ministry. I will do my part in helping that ministry to reach the world." So, do your part today. You've been blessed by this ministry. Pay it forward. Help us reach others. Become a monthly ministry partner today by going to davidhernandezministries.com/partner. You can also give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate.
And now, if you want to be challenged and purified by the precious Holy Spirit, then make sure you check out my teaching titled "If You're Seeing These Signs, Holy Spirit Is Exposing You."