David Diga Hernandez - How to Know You Are Truly Walking with the Holy Spirit

A powerful verse: Psalm 139:23. «Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.» There’s something to be said about vulnerability toward God, and that’s what this message is about. I am going to walk you through the scripture, and as I do, I want you to examine yourself and allow God to examine you. Don’t hold back; be completely honest. As we move through these truths, allow them to speak to you—not just to speak to you, but to correct you. I’ve found that sometimes, in order to grow spiritually, I have to admit that I’m not where I need to be in order to learn something new. Sometimes I have to admit that what I thought I knew was wrong. This is an examination—a spiritual exam—and as we move to these points, measure your life against what the scripture says and then ask the Holy Spirit to help you correct it. This is not a message of condemnation; this is a message of examination and correction, and we need to get honest now. We need to get real. Let’s go to Galatians chapter 5, verse number 16.

«So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, 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.»

Now watch this: 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. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, 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.

So there is this war between who you used to be and who you truly are now. The Spirit desires to do that which is godly; the sin nature desires to do that which is sinful. If you’re walking according to the Spirit, certain things will begin to surface in your life. You know, pressure doesn’t create you; it reveals you. When something goes under pressure, the contents are revealed for what they actually are. You’ve heard the illustration that when God wants to produce oil or the anointing in you, it’s akin to the crushing of an olive; they crush the olive to get the oil. But here’s the reality: were there no oil in the olive, when the crushing would come, there would be no oil. In the same way, when pressures come against us in our lives, it reveals what’s on the inside; it reveals what’s really there.

So it’s important that we examine ourselves so that when times of testing come, when pressures come, when the enemy attacks, we can produce that which is in us—the Spirit. Let’s read these two verses again from Galatians chapter 5. I’m going to read verses 22 and 23 one more time. Listen to this: «But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience—Lord, please help me with that one—kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.»

The greatest demonstration that you are walking according to the Holy Spirit is not power, is not miracles, is not speaking in tongues—though those are wonderful demonstrations of the Holy Spirit’s power. The primary way that you know you’re walking in the Holy Spirit is the character of Christ in you. What good does it do if you’re speaking in tongues and then cursing people out? What good does it do if you’re walking in power but have no patience for those who are weaker? What good does it do if you have authority and are able to perform miracles and drive out demons, and operate in the gifts, yet the people who are closest to you see you as a mean-spirited, moody, cranky, cynical, selfish individual? What good does it do to have power but not presence; to have gifts without glory; to have a form of godliness without the character of Christ?

So the character of Christ is foremost. Love: love at its core is selflessness. Love is not a feeling; love is putting others before yourself. Love is prioritizing those around you. Love is a decision made in selflessness. Joy: do you project that joy in your everyday life, or are you so spiritual that you must always be serious and moody? Now, I’m not talking about personality types. I know some people that are very stoic; that’s just their personality, and that’s not what I’m talking about here. But you can be a serious person—you can have a stoic personality—yet still carry the joy of the Lord. I’m talking about those who are mean-spirited, those who are unapproachable, those who are constantly complaining, whining, and gossiping because there’s no joy in their life. There’s no praise coming out of them because there’s no room; they’re always complaining. How are you supposed to complain and praise at the same time?