Give Me 22 Minutes and I'll Make You Dangerously Discerning

Now I'm going to give you some stumbling blocks that will actually prevent you from discerning with absolute precision. And once you take care of these, you will have Spirit-led discernment that allows you to see beyond the realm of the natural. You're going to be able to see if something is of the demonic. You're going to be able to tell if someone is coming with an ulterior motive. You're going to be able to recognize when something is an actual demonic attack as opposed to just some mishap, you will become aware of the spiritual realm. And I wanna give you that warning now because a lot of people will see things that they don't want to see. It's gonna open your eyes and you will begin to see with clarity in the spirit. Once you learn this, there's no going back. You'll begin to see in the spirit with absolute clarity. I wanna talk to you about having discernment and very sharp discernment at that. Now I'm gonna show you some of the ways that your discernment can be disrupted, and it's important that you identify these And fix these immediately, especially now, because there's so much coming at us from so many different directions. We have messaging coming from the culture. You have lies that the enemy is trying to plant in your mind. You're mixed up in your own emotions and thoughts, and it can be difficult to discern whether or not God is speaking to you about that job. It can be difficult to discern what are this person's motives and are they good for me to be around? It can be difficult to discern about the plans that God has for your future. So let's take a look at this first stumbling block, and that is pride, self, ego. Many Christians pride themselves in having discernment. It's almost part of their personality, at least in the way they consider it. But Zechariah 4:6 says, it's not by power nor by might, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. And pride is a stumbling block to discernment because it doesn't allow for course correction. In fact, pride, when it recognizes that it didn't discern something properly, will actually go looking for reasons to believe itself in the first place, despite the evidence that's presented. So, for example, let's say you meet someone and at first you're not liking them. There's something in your mind off about them. And then later you find that you were just overthinking it, or maybe you were in a bad mood, or you caught them on a bad day. But instead of admitting that you got it wrong, you just look for more reasons to tell yourself, no, I got it right in the first place. And so what happens is you begin to double down. on that wrong thinking. And so this is why pride is a major stumbling block, because it's self-reliance as opposed to reliance on the Spirit. Bragging about having good discernment, bragging about always getting it right, bragging about just being able to see things in people when no one else can— that's a revelation of pride. Those are signs that maybe there is some hidden pride in your heart, and it's important that you discern that pride in yourself. Before you begin to discern things about the world around you and the people around you. And so we must rely on the Spirit. Trust not in your ability to hear the Holy Spirit. Trust in the Holy Spirit's ability to speak to you. So be careful of pride. Instead, rely on the Holy Spirit. The next one, and this is big. In fact, on this one, I get a lot of feedback and not good feedback. And that is unforgiveness. Unforgiveness absolutely disrupts your discernment. Let's look at Hebrews 12:15. The writer of Hebrews says this: Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Notice here that the writer of Hebrews calls bitterness a root. And a root ultimately produces fruit. When someone offends you, when someone disappoints you, when someone fails to meet the expectations that you set for them, whether you communicate those expectations or not, that's an opportunity for hurt. That's an opportunity for offense. Someone didn't call you back. Someone did something that absolutely hurt you. Someone deceived you. Whatever it may be, there is this root of bitterness that can take place. Now, there's going to be a lot of pushback from many people. They'll say, well, you don't know know what they did. You don't understand my situation. Or, that's easy for you to say. You never knew so-and-so. And maybe even now there's people coming to your mind, ways you've been offended. And immediately with that comes all the excuses and the lies that we tell ourselves why our situation is different and why we can hang on to that and hold it in our hearts. But here's what's going to happen when you allow for that root of unforgiveness, that root of bitterness to take its place in your heart. It begins to produce now these negative attributes, or A filter through which you see everything and everyone else. So maybe somebody lied to you and they were a really good liar. And when you found out they were lying, it just hurt because you thought you could trust this person. Well, now there's that suspicion that's been planted in your heart, and you're going to see through that filter. And so the moment you get any thought that maybe this person might not be completely honest, and you could be completely wrong about it, But in your heart and your mind, you're saying, this person is lying to me. And now you're judging them through the filter of that past experience. Maybe even— and this is something you got to watch out for— maybe even they're reflecting certain personality attributes. No character flaws. They just remind you. They could even dress similar or have a similar sounding voice. And you're not even recognizing how that similarity is bringing you back to that place where you were hurt with that other person. And so now you kind of put that label, or there's a personality type. that you just don't get along with because of past experiences. Again, this is why you have to make sure to get at that root. Otherwise, there's going to be this rotting in the soul that makes it difficult to discern by the Spirit. You're instead going to be discerning by past experiences. When you discern through pride, you're discerning through your own intellect instead of the Holy Spirit. When you discern through unforgiveness, you're discerning through bitterness rather than the grace of God. You're discerning through past experiences rather than the voice of the Holy Spirit. Another thing to watch out for, and this is big, especially in a culture where there's a lot of conspiracy theory thinking. Now, don't hear what I'm not saying. I think there's a lot of corruption at the highest levels of power. But in the hearts of many, this has become a paranoia. In fact, a belief system that they've taken entirely built on their suspicions of people in power, on their suspicions of the systems of the world. And what this has done is it's created almost a different version of Christianity where you're mingling the teachings of the Word and you're also throwing in these conspiracy theories and these political ideas, and it all gets kind of warped into one thing. And so instead of relying on the Holy Spirit, you're relying on that fear that's been planted in your heart. That's why I said especially nowadays. So you're afraid of something happening. When I used to struggle severely with panic attacks, I would get to this place where in my physical body, I could actually feel the symptoms of a heart attack. This was a real thing that I dealt with, and many people deal with. Not many people realize that when someone's having a panic attack or they're dealing with anxiety, sometimes they develop this thing where mentally or intellectually, they know nothing's wrong, but their body begins to send off signals because they're so worked up. So I would get to this point where my heart would start racing. My shoulder and my arm would start hurting. I would get a numbness in my body. My vision would become tunnel-like as I began to lose my peripheral sight. Things would be blurry. I felt this dread and this anxiousness in my emotions. And what actually happened was I thought, like, I was totally convinced I'm having a heart attack. There's no way around it. There's no ifs, ands, or buts. This is happening. And I can't tell you how many times I drove to the emergency room Walked in, checked myself in, and as I was waiting there in the ER, the waiting room, suddenly I realized the symptoms were subsiding and there wasn't anything actually wrong with me. This is what happens when fear takes root in the heart, where you begin to suspect. Remember, discernment is not suspicion. 1 John 4:18 says this: Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment. And this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. So the love of God in your heart gets rid of all fear. Discern in the Spirit. That is, discern through the lens of love as opposed to the lens of fear. See, when you recognize that you're loved by God, you realize that you're protected, that he's watching out for you, that he has good plans for your life, that he intends on doing good things in your life, as opposed to The sky is falling. Just around the corner is a demonic attack that if I don't see it, will absolutely destroy my life within the first few seconds of having encountered it. Or if I hear something in a sermon that's a little different than what I personally believe, that is absolute corruption. And I understand we have verses like, you know, a little leaven spoils the whole batch. And I get that. We want to make sure we're not leaving room for any deception. But you're not going to go to hell because somebody doesn't believe in speaking in tongues and you do. You don't have to cut a preacher off because they may differ on whether the rapture is happening before the tribulation or after the tribulation. You don't have to leave a church just because they might have a different way of expressing worship or a slightly different view on healing. These are paranoid approaches to discernment, and what it does— here's what it does— is it causes you to demand absolute perfection from Everyone around you, or you cut them off. The problem with that is you're not perfect. And so when left alone in that isolation, you actually begin to become more fearful, and the cycle repeats. So we're not talking about paranoia. We're not talking about being led by fear and that emotion of worry. Oh my gosh, what's going to happen to me? Or how's this going to affect me? No, relax. It's one of the most spiritual things I can tell you. Calm down. Take a breath. Think about the love of God. Think about the fact that he protects you, that the Holy Spirit guides you, that ultimately he's going to keep you because he has saving power and keeping power. So don't judge based on fear. Don't discern based on fear. Instead, the cure for this is the love of God. Okay, now I'm going to give you the last stumbling block to your discernment. And then right after I give you this 4th point, I want to show you how to sharpen your discernment. So here it is. Number 4, judging from the exterior. I can't tell you how many— and I'm just going to admit this, okay? I can't tell you how many times I met someone and I was a little off-put by them. I didn't like their tone. I didn't like the way they carried themselves. And really, it was a problem in me that was coming to the surface. Maybe I felt a little insecure by a quality they possessed that I wish I did. Whatever the case may be, it's going to differ from person to person. But I can't tell you how many times where I judged from the exterior and I told myself it was the Spirit. And later the Holy Spirit would have to tell me, I didn't tell you that. That wasn't me. That was your own perspective. You were judging from the exterior. Even the prophet Samuel had an issue with this. Remember when Jesse brought to him his sons and Samuel was assigned to anoint the next king? Really, he was looking for David, but he didn't know it. And, and he was saying, surely this is the one God wants to anoint. Surely this is the next king. Why? He was judging from the exterior. Even the prophet did that. If even the prophet Samuel can do that unintentionally, then you and I can do that unintentionally. And that's why we have to be careful of it. 1 Samuel 16:7. But the Lord said to Samuel— so here's, here's God correcting him now— don't judge by his appearance or height. For I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Maybe there's just a certain archetype of a person that doesn't mesh well with your personality. Maybe when someone is too polished or too well-dressed, you're suspicious of them because you've been taught that people like that, the wealthy or the influential or the powerful, oh, they're all corrupt. Or you grew up maybe encountering someone like that who didn't treat your family so well. Or maybe you grew up thinking someone who's a little more casually dressed, or maybe who has a tougher exterior, well, definitely I've got to steer clear of them. That looks like darkness and demonic influence, when really it's just your clash with their personality. And this is where you really have to be careful, because I've seen this happen, like for example, in the comments section on different social media platforms. where I'll be watching a preacher or a teacher, and I love to see different videos and teachings from friends of mine. So sometimes I'll check out their content, and I'll be watching it, and I'm like, this is great stuff, this is wonderful content. And there's always that comment, the person who thinks they're so spiritual, they say, I don't know, something in my spirit just doesn't sit right about this person. And then the very first time that somebody does one of those exposed videos on them, they're all in the comment section saying, I knew it, I saw this years ago, I called it. And then they're agreeing with each other, and they work themselves into a frenzy because of their connectivity in their so-called discernment. And then they end up feeling validated in the fact that they were judging from the exterior, and they don't even recognize that that happened. But this is more than just about who we watch online or on television or radio. I don't know who watches TV much anymore. But this is about you going to a church and not being able to find a church because you're judging from the exterior. Okay, and as promised, I want to talk to you now about how to sharpen your discernment. It's going to be very simple, and as I talk, you may say, oh, I've already heard this before, I don't need to listen to this, or this is so basic, I get it. But here you have to understand that, that sometimes the basics, sometimes the most simple teachings, are the most profound because we gain greater and greater depth of appreciation for those truths and therefore a stronger application of them. We absolutely need to know the Word. Now, I know you've heard this. I know you know this. I know you've watched dozens and dozens of teachings on the importance of the Word, how to read the Word, how the Word affects your life. I get that. But you need to hear this because especially if you want to see with absolute clarity, you need to apply this truth to the topic of discernment. Anything the Holy Spirit speaks to you is going to be backed by his Word. And what happens is we'll go based on our emotions, we'll filter through pride or through fear or through unforgiveness or through just exterior reasoning. And we don't recognize that we're in many instances contradicting the Word of God. Now, we don't do this intentionally. We want to align with the Word of God, but you'll never know you're contradicting a truth if you don't know that truth. And there are many truths. You go from Genesis to Revelation, You're going to see many truths that reveal the nature of God. You're going to see many different scriptures that reveal his likes and his dislikes. And sometimes these things are subtle. Sometimes these things aren't so blatant as, oh yes, avoid sexual sin, or yes, we shouldn't lie. But it can be something as simple as withholding a favor from someone. It's in your power to help them and you withhold it anyway. That's not biblical. But you learn his likes and dislikes, and as you learn his nature and his mind, you become more like him. You begin to think like he thinks. You begin to reason like he reasons. And you're not going based just off of certain stories or actions that you've seen explicitly in Scripture, but you're now going based off of his nature, which is very different. Remember, the children of Israel knew God's acts, But only Moses knew his ways. And if you learn just the actions of God, you get stuck in religion. But when you begin to know his ways, now you begin to see with the largeness of God in mind. He is so much bigger than our small thinking. He is so much bigger than our protocols and what we're used to. And sometimes we judge God With the limitations that we've placed on him. And God could be moving, lives can be being impacted, people can be of him, but because we've limited God into this little box of what we're comfortable with or what we're familiar with, we don't recognize we're often contradicting him and we're calling it discernment. So we have to get to know this word so that we understand true discernment. The second thing that you can do is practice sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. By that, I mean slow the pace of your life. Pause to ponder. Stop. Don't rush through everything. Stop moving through life so quickly. And on that note, when you read the Word and you pray, instead of just reading the Word, praying, and then picking up your phone and scrolling through TikTok or Instagram or wherever you watch your reels these days, Pause. Put the phone down. Think about what you read. Pray about what you read. Ask the Lord to speak to you. That sensitivity to the Holy Spirit comes when you just slow down, not necessarily in your schedule or the pacing of your day, but in the speed of thought. In the anxiousness of the heart, you calm yourself. You do these things. You deal with those pitfalls. You get in the Word. You slow down and practice sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Acknowledge him at least every 20 minutes or so. Just stop to acknowledge— could take a second or two— the presence of the Holy Spirit, and you will discern with absolute clarity. You get rid of these roadblocks, you practice devotion to the word, you practice sensitivity to the Spirit. Now you have true discernment. Now this clarity of mind and heart Not based in negative emotions, but based on the Holy Spirit. So precious Lord, I pray that you give them discernment, absolute clarity of mind and heart. Cause them to see into the spiritual realm. Reveal to them, Lord, truths about their connections, their relationships, the assignment that you've given them. Lord, I pray you protect them from deception and fear and pride and unforgiveness, these things which can cause our discernment to be disrupted. Father, I pray that you would cause them to see as you see, to hear the voice of your precious Holy Spirit with absolute confidence. Remove the confusion, Lord. Remove the distraction. Calm those stirred emotions. Let them be still and help them to discern based on your word, the voice of the precious Holy Spirit. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And I want you to write it in the comments section if you receive it. Write amen. And I want to give you an opportunity to be a part of what God is doing through this ministry. You know, the seed you plant— talking about financial seed— is important, but just as important as the the financial seed is the soil in which you are sowing. And this soil is fertile. This ministry is fruitful. Our ministry is reaching the lost, building believers through media, which you're watching right now, events where thousands attend all over the world, and church planting, where we're planting local hubs of community fellowship, discipleship, and ultimately equipping people, to send them into their God-given calling. And I want you to be a part of it. If you've received from this ministry, you have a responsibility to help this ministry, because we honor the word by sowing where we've received. So honor the word of God today and watch how he will bless you. Give and it shall be given overflowing. You reap what you sow. If you sow sparingly, that is just kind of holding back, you're hesitant, maybe being a little bit greedy and saying, well, I want to hold on to this just because I can. That you sow sparingly, it's going to come back to you sparingly. You sow bountifully, you say no to the flesh, you say no to greed, you say no to fear, you say no to selfishness, and you say yes to the Holy Spirit. You say, I'm going to support this ministry because I believe in the work of the kingdom. You obey his voice. You say yes to faith and you watch how God will bless you for it. Now, we give so that the ministry can go forward. We give so that souls can be saved. We give because we love the Lord. But it is absolutely biblical. He wants to bless you for your giving. So I challenge you today, if you've been, you've been watching this content, you've been saying, you know, eventually I'm going to partner. At some point I got to sign up. Do it now. We say, God bless me and I'll give. But God says, give and I'll bless you. So selflessly. Sow with faith. Sow sacrificially. But sow into the ministry today. Sign up to become a monthly partner. You can sign up for a gift of $25 a month, $50 a month. Some can even do $100 a month. Take a look at davidhernandezministries.com/partner to see this month's offer. You can also give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. Remember, there's no gift so small that it doesn't count. account, and there's no gift so large that we wouldn't know what to do with it as a ministry. So sow into this good soil. We will maximize with great efficiency every bit sown into this work. Thank you for your giving, and until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.