David Diga Hernandez - 7 Ways the Holy Spirit Moves

The first thing you should know about the Holy Spirit is that he often moves in ways that we wouldn’t expect. Number one, the Holy Spirit moves unconventionally. There is a difference between knowing the Holy Spirit’s nature and knowing the Holy Spirit’s actions. If you only know the Holy Spirit’s actions, then your understanding of the Holy Spirit will be limited to those actions. But when you know the nature of the Holy Spirit, then you can see the many ways that he moves. For example, in Genesis 1:2, we see that he hovered like a dove. In Genesis 41:48, we see that he moved through Joseph’s dream interpretations. In Exodus chapter 31:1-6, we see that he brought about expert craftsmanship. In Judges 14:6, he gave supernatural strength to Samson. Matthew 1:18, he caused the Word to become flesh. Acts 2:1-4, he arrived as a wind. I Corinthians 12, he gives spiritual gifts. Now, notice that none of these actions look anything like the other. For example, if you were to compare Genesis 1:2 to Judges 14:6, the Holy Spirit hovering or brooding, compared to the supernatural giving of strength to Samson, then you might think that they’re two different people moving. But in fact it’s the same Holy Spirit moving in different ways. So the Holy Spirit moves unconventionally. Don’t limit the Holy Spirit by what he’s done in the past.

Number two, he’s going to move Biblically, and this is important to note because the Holy Spirit will never contradict any truth or principle that’s firmly established in the scripture. John 14:26 says, «But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative, that is, the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you». Romans 8:26–27 says, «And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father, who knows all hearts, knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit,» watch this now, «for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will». God’s will will never contradict God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit pulls us toward the divine destiny that God has for us. The Holy Spirit prays for us, the Holy Spirit moves us, the Holy Spirit inclines us toward the will of God. So that’s number two, the Holy Spirit will always move Biblically. Just because he moves unconventionally, sometimes he does different actions, sometimes what he does today doesn’t look like what he did yesterday. He will always bind himself to the Word of God. He will never contradict it.

Number three, the Holy Spirit moves powerfully. When the Holy Spirit moves, there is true transformation. He is not just putting on a show. When the Holy Spirit moves, people are healed, delivered, saved, changed into the image of Christ. II Corinthians 3:17 says, «For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom». Luke 4:18 says, «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free». Notice here that there is action to the move of the Holy Spirit. Notice here that there is freedom when the Holy Spirit moves. When the Holy Spirit moves, he moves powerfully.

Number four, the Holy Spirit moves mysteriously. Now, sometimes we miss the way the Holy Spirit is moving because we’re not discerning, we’re not paying attention. It doesn’t always make sense what the Holy Spirit does. John 3:8 says, «The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit». I Corinthians 2:14–15, «But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others». The Holy Spirit and those who love the Holy Spirit are often misunderstood because there’s a mystery to him. There’s a mystery to the way the Holy Spirit moves. You’re not always going to understand everything that he does. You won’t always be able to wrap your mind around what the Holy Spirit is doing. Sometimes what the Holy Spirit does will offend the intellect, it will confound the wise, for God chooses the foolish things. Don’t expect to always understand what the Holy Spirit is doing when he’s moving.

So so far we’ve seen the Holy Spirit, number one, moves unconventionally. In other words, he moves in ways we wouldn’t expect. Number two, he moves Biblically. Though he moves in ways we wouldn’t expect, he will never contradict the Word. Number three, he moves powerfully. He’s not just putting on a show. He has actual effect on people and regions. Number four, he moves mysteriously. Don’t expect that everything the Holy Spirit does will make sense to you. Number five, he will move gracefully. There is an elegance to the way the Holy Spirit moves. Luke 3:21–22 says, «One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, 'You are my dearly loved Son and you bring me great joy.'» Notice here that the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove. A dove represents grace. A dove represents purity and gentleness and innocence. The Holy Spirit took on the form of a dove, demonstrating that there is a grace to his moving. He moves gracefully and powerfully, gracefully and mysteriously, and no, these aren’t contradictions. You know, when the Holy Spirit begins to move, people begin to criticize that move of the Holy Spirit. Religious people often point to a move of the Holy Spirit and say, no, God is a God of order. Or they’ll say, no, the Holy Spirit gives us self control, and this doesn’t look like self control to me. And what they’re actually doing, though it may sound clever, is they are putting their personal preferences before the move of the Holy Spirit. Yes, God is a God of order, but whose order? Yes, God is a God of self control, who gives us self control, but that doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit won’t disrupt our agendas. That doesn’t mean that we’re always gonna like the way he moves. What it does mean is that there is always a grace to the way the Holy Spirit moves. There’s an elegance about the way he moves. He’s classy, he’s elegant, he’s graceful, he’s a gentleman. He is the dove of heaven. The Holy Spirit doesn’t make you senseless and silly, he makes you spiritually sharp.

Number six, the Holy Spirit moves timely. He moves just on time, his time. His timing has such perfection, and sometimes that can be a little frustrating. You’ve likely heard the phrase, he’s never early, he’s never late, he’s always on time. Now, being in the flesh, sometimes we’d rather that he arrives a little early so that we can settle our fears. But God challenges our faith because the Holy Spirit moves in his perfect timing. Acts 2:1-4 says, «On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability». Now, what actually happened here in Acts two came about as a result of the disciples waiting in obedience to the command the Christ had given to them. Jesus told the disciples to wait. He said wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Gather together and wait upon the Holy Spirit. And those who are Spirit-filled, those who are Spirit-led, those who are friends of the Holy Spirit know that sometimes you have to wait on the move of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we should be about our Father’s business, yes, we should be engaged in evangelism, we should be revival in the earth. But there are certain things that only the Holy Spirit can do, and he will do in his timing. But there’s a suddenly to his moving. You see, there’s a waiting on the Spirit, and in that season of waiting, God is testing your patience and your faith. He’s stretching you and he’s helping you mature. And then there’s the suddenly, like in Acts two. When you obey Jesus in the waiting, there will be a suddenly of the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit came upon them suddenly. A sound from heaven was heard like the roaring of a mighty wind. And suddenly the Holy Spirit moved. When you wait upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit will show up suddenly. They had been waiting because Jesus told them to wait, and that’s when the Holy Ghost showed up. That’s what he does. When we patiently wait on the Holy Spirit, he moves in his perfect timing. So so far we see the Holy Spirit moves unconventionally, he moves Biblically, he moves powerfully, mysteriously, gracefully and timely.

Number seven, and please don’t misunderstand this. I’m gonna explain this in just a moment. Number seven, he moves inconveniently. And what I mean by that is he’s not going to move based upon your preferences or timing. You often hear people crying out for a move of the Holy Spirit. God, give us an outpouring. God, give us revival. But what many believers fail to recognize is that when the Holy Spirit begins to move, that’s actually when we become the busiest. We work the harvest field, but it is work. Ministry is work, serving God is work. Though it’s a joy, though it’s a privilege, it is work. And when revival comes, it’ll cost you something. People want a move of the Holy Spirit, they want revival. Are they really looking forward to gathering every day with the believers, because that’s a mark of revival. Are they really willing to give themselves to evangelism? Are they really willing to drop everything and go and do what God has told them to do? In many cases that’s not so. But when the Holy Spirit moves, he will demand your time. When the Holy Spirit moves, there will be sacrifice involved. When the Holy Spirit moves, there will be something that you have to place on the altar to keep that fire burning. Acts 16:6-8, «Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north to the province of Bithynia. But again, the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas». Notice here that Paul and Silas had an agenda. They had a plan. They had their own purpose. They had something set in their heart. They were gonna go somewhere and then the Holy Spirit said no. When the Holy Spirit begins to move, some of the things that you wanted to do won’t be done, and some of the things that you didn’t want to do, he’ll ask you to do. The Holy Spirit, yes, moves inconveniently. Now, this does not mean that he moves disorderly or harmfully. I’m not saying that he hurts his children. What I’m saying is that when he moves, sometimes that will be a challenge to your agenda, to your plans, to your dreams, and you’ll have to lay them at the altar. The Holy Spirit moves unconventionally. He’s not always going to move in the way that you expect. He moves Biblically. He will never contradict the scriptures. He moves powerfully. Things actually change when he moves. He moves mysteriously. Sometimes we can miss him if we’re not paying attention. He moves gracefully. There’s an elegance to the way he moves. He moves timely, meaning he arrives just on time and he does things just when they’re supposed to be done, whether we like it or not. And he moves, number seven, inconveniently.