How to Be Led by the Holy Spirit in a Distracting World

No more excuses. No more compromise. No more distraction. I want to show you how to be laser-focused, led by the Holy Spirit, even in this distracting world. It begins by number one, choosing to recommit. That is, make up your mind that you're going to follow Jesus. Make up your mind that you're going after the call of God for your life. Even if no one else goes with you. Make up your mind that you're going to be a disciple of Christ even when others mock you, even when others ridicule you, even when others reject you and leave you out. In Luke chapter 9, we read in verse 62, But Jesus told him, anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for for the kingdom of God. You need to make that determination now, that no matter what comes up in the future, no matter what disappointments, no matter who abandons you, no matter what setbacks you face, that you're going to follow Jesus. When you make a commitment to Jesus, it's a lifelong commitment. Jesus demands the entirety of our world from the very moment we say yes to him. Jesus demands all that we are. He's not a priority. He's the priority. There's nothing to which we can go back anyway. Don't even allow your mind, and this is key, don't even allow your mind to entertain the idea of going back into the world. And even if it's not entertaining the idea of going back into the world completely, don't even allow the thought of living in compromise. Don't even allow the thought of relaxing your commitment. You might say, well, in the next season when things are ideal, in the next season when I get this settled, in the next season after I graduate, after I get that job, once I get that promotion, once I get that financial increase, once I meet my health goals, once I get married, once I have kids, once the kids are out of the house, Whatever it may be, don't say that you'll give all that you have on that day. Instead, say today, right now, this is where it begins, and I'll continue to persist in following Jesus as a disciple of the Lord himself until the day I die. This is a lifelong commitment. You are giving to Jesus your life. No longer I live, but Christ lives in me. It's not even you anymore. You gave this to him. That's what happened at the cross. There was a great exchange. Jesus gave up his life here on earth so that you might have an eternal one. At the cross, there was a great exchange that took place. So now, when God looks at the cross, he sees your sin. But when he looks at you, he sees Christ's perfection. And one of the things that God requires of us Is our worship, our reasonable service, to be a living sacrifice, never ever to look back again. So that's number 1, make up your mind, recommit, now is the time to do it. Number 4, you need to make a habit of retreating, or excuse me, number 2, you need to make a habit of retreating. That is, retreat on a regular basis. You need to go to the secret place. You need to get away from distraction. You know, sometimes it's okay to tell your loved ones, I have to move on now and go find a place of prayer. Now, that doesn't mean we live a lifestyle of isolation. It simply means that we experience moments of solitude, and there's a difference. God doesn't call you to disconnect from everyone, never to speak to them again. God is not saying, go be a hermit on a mountaintop and never involve yourself with any responsibilities that he's given to you. Amen. Rather, we have to do like Jesus did and every so often retreat. In fact, Luke 5:16 says this, but Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. Now, these are moments of solitude before the Lord. You need to make sure that you are living a lifestyle where you are retreating. That means you have to learn to step away from the cares of this world. That means you have to tell your loved ones at certain times, hey, listen, I'm going to take a moment now and I'm going to go give myself to prayer. I'm going to go give myself to the reading of God's word. And, you know, even in some seasons, God will cause you to retreat permanently from certain relationships. Now, of course, as I'll cover more extensively in a few moments, there are key relationships that God places in your life, yes. But as part of that retreating, and maybe this is you right now, as part of that retreating, you're going to notice that there are certain relationships that God is severing. And if we're not careful, what we try to do is hang on to those relationships that God is trying to separate us from. We hang on to those relationships that pull us away from the things of God. We hang on to those connections that cause us to compromise. in our thinking and in our conduct. But if you're going to make this commitment, if you're going to live distraction-free, if you're going to be laser-focused and hypersensitive to the voice of the precious Holy Spirit, then you're going to have to learn to retreat from certain connections. And you'll have to learn to retreat from bad habits. You'll have to retreat away from sin. You'll have to sometimes retreat away from entertainment that distracts you from your spiritual commitment. It's not mean, it's not rude, it's not unloving, it's a spiritual practice. And sometimes in order to be distraction-free, you have to be someone who says, you know what, I have to retreat. I have to get away from this. So if you found yourself faltering, if you found yourself struggling with your commitments, if you found yourself lapsing in your spiritual devotion or your spiritual momentum, Now is the time to look around you and say, what are those things from which I need to retreat? What are those things from which I need to withdraw my presence, my influence, my energy? And by that I mean emotional and mental and physical energy. What are those things from which you need to turn? Is it a sinful habit? Is it an ungodly relationship? Is it a distraction of this world? To live a lifestyle of retreat is to invite criticism. To live a lifestyle of retreat is to be labeled as strange or weird, but I would rather be considered a little bit strange and be totally focused on Jesus than to be completely normal in the eyes of the world and be distracted in my relationship with God. So if you want to live distraction-free, you have to recommit the mind, yes, but you also have to retreat to places of solitude Find the secret place. Number 3, and this is very key, you have to rekindle. In John 15:5, we read these words from the Lord Jesus. Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Nothing. We have to rediscover our dependency upon the Lord Jesus. You know, this society, this culture has a mindset of independence. We encourage people to be totally themselves when we should be encouraging people to be more like Jesus. Now, I'm not saying that God hasn't given to you a unique expression in your personality. And of course, God has created you as an individual for a purpose. But while we understand that we are each individuals, we also have to acknowledge our need for him. Apart from the Lord, apart from that daily connection with him, we can't do anything. And when I say daily connection with him, I don't mean that God ever leaves you or abandons you. I'm not saying that you can walk out of the presence of the Holy Spirit. By that, I simply mean the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life being allowed to have its way through your surrender. It's not a question of you having the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit having you. It's not a matter of you getting more of God, but of God getting more of your commitment and surrender. Now, if we wanna rekindle this fire, if we wanna rekindle that flame of that passion for Jesus, maybe you're saying, I was once there. I had that. I was radical. I was a Holy Spirit-filled, tongue-talking individual who would cast out demons, pray for the sick, worship God, No compromise whatsoever. And now maybe you found yourself being just a little bit lukewarm, just a little watered down. And by the way, when we talk about being backslidden, that doesn't always mean that you've gone completely back into the world. Sometimes that simply means that you've relaxed a little in your approach to the things of God. Well, you want to rekindle that, you can't do it on your own. You need to plug yourself into that source. You need to become totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus again. Allow him to be your source. Allow him to be your strength. Allow him to be the voice that guides you in everyday living. Don't be so fast-paced and distracted that you live in your own power, by your own wisdom, and in your own understanding. But instead, pause daily to acknowledge the presence of the Lord, Through prayer, through a commitment to the word, through worshiping. That can be a lifestyle. You know, as you commit to prayer, it's simple. You have to acknowledge that there are 2 kinds of prayer. There is spontaneous prayer, which most of us do. This is to go throughout the day talking to the Lord, conversing with him. And then there is scheduled prayer. This is where you carve out a section of the day to make sure that it's totally devoted to God, in a distraction-free environment. You need both. You need spontaneous prayer, that is prayer without ceasing, talking to the Lord on your way to work, on your way to school, as you carry out your errands. And you also need scheduled prayer, that is to remove all distractions, take away everything that can pull your attention from the Lord, get yourself in a room, lock yourself away, and totally focus on Jesus. You also need to make a commitment to daily reading the word. Listen, this is so key. The enemy knows that if he can remove the Word from your life, that he can then begin to gain influence. The devil has come to steal, kill, and destroy. Notice first that before he can kill and destroy, he has to steal. Well, what does he steal? He steals the Word from your life. This is why it's so difficult for you to go and read. And then all of a sudden when you go to read, there's distraction. There's emotional turmoil, there's mental anguish, there's distractions all around you in the natural realm. This is because the enemy wants to do everything he can to remove the Word from your life. It is your first line of defense. Now, if you're making a practice of prayer, you're devoted to the Word, you're also going to notice that the Holy Spirit inspires within you true worship that comes from the place of the realm of the Spirit. All worship is a response to revelation. You can sing without a revelation, dance without a revelation, clap without a revelation, shout without a revelation, but you cannot worship without a revelation. Why? Because true worship is a response to a revelation of God, and only the Holy Spirit can give you that revelation. So you have to rekindle that fire by getting back in prayer, Back in the Word, back in worship. Don't worry about perfection. Just focus on progress. Make those small adjustments to daily living that ultimately produce in you this new lifestyle. Now, the next key I'm going to share with you is very practical, and it actually is going to show you how to apply these things in a way that's going to be able to be consistent in your everyday life. But before I give that to you, I want to make sure that you leave a like on this stream so that others can see it. Just by you leaving a like on the video, if you're enjoying it, you're helping to spread it to even more people. So you never know who's going to be encouraged. You never know who's going to get a breakthrough. You never know who's going to have their life completely transformed simply because you left a like. And also, while you're at it, let's make sure you and I stay connected. Subscribe to this channel now. And click that notification bell when you do subscribe so that you can continue to receive my teachings on the Holy Spirit, as well as footage from the events that we host around the world where people have encounters with the precious Holy Spirit. Number 4, and again, this is a very practical key, you need to recalibrate. You need to recalibrate. That is, you need to practice proper time management and right prioritization. Here's the thing. Usually, and this is a generalization, so take this for what it's worth, usually people who are considered very spiritual are a little more spontaneous. And people who are considered a little more intellectual are a little more structured. But I want to let you in on a secret here that you probably won't hear all that many other places. It's a very, very, very specific detail. Structure can be spiritual. Now notice I did not say that all structure is spiritual because some structure is not. Sometimes structure is manmade and it stifles the work of the Holy Spirit. But structure can be spiritual. That is, you can have Holy Spirit-led structure in your life. In fact, Practicing the implementation of good structure with your time, with your day, with your resources is a biblical principle. It's called stewardship. That is, God gifts you something and then he watches to see how you manage what he has given to you. How do you manage the time that he gave to you? How do you manage the resources that he trusted you with? How do you manage that emotional energy, that mental energy? How do you manage the physical body that he gave to you in which you experience the existence that you have in this world? How do you take care of the talents God has deposited in your life? What are you doing with the influence, with the relationships that God has given to you? What are you doing with the voice that God has given to you? What are you doing with the spiritual gifts that God has deposited in you? That is the question of stewardship. What am I doing with what God has given to me? And I want you to ask yourself that question. What are you doing with what God has given to you? In Acts chapter 2, verses 42 through 47, excuse me, in Luke chapter 16, verses 9 through 11, we read, here's the lesson. Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. Now watch this, verse 11 is so key. And if you are trustworthy about worldly wealth, or aren't trustworthy about world— or if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? Part of that worldly wealth isn't just material things. Now we think of money, that's part of it, yes, but part of that worldly wealth is your time. Time is wealth. Time is a treasure gifted to you by God, and many of us squander it. God has given us an assignment to expand the kingdom of heaven here upon the earth. God has given us the task of global evangelism. God has given us the purpose of glorifying Him with the way we live our lives. Yet many of us squander that. And instead of devoting ourselves spiritually, grounding ourselves in the Word, grounding ourselves in prayer, acknowledging the presence of the Lord through worship, serving others, many of us squander that and we trade the mighty heavenly things for the things of this world. Amen. Instead of reading the Word, some of us scroll through social media. Instead of being up to date on our prayer life, we're up to date on the latest series that we're watching on a streaming platform. Now, there's nothing wrong with relaxation, recreation, and so forth, but when those things become such a big part of our lives that they crowd out the things of the Spirit, we're in big trouble. And this is a wake-up call. I don't say this to condemn you. I say this that the Holy Spirit might bring correction and hope and guide you into a better future in Him. This has to do with practical scheduling. In order to say yes— please hear this, people of God— in order to say yes to the things of God, you're going to have to say no to the things of this world. In order to say yes to a God thing, sometimes you'll have to say no to what we consider good things. Some of us are people pleasers. We feel this sense of obligation and we feel bad even when we don't commit to what everyone wants us to commit to. You know, you don't have to go to every social function. You don't have to go to every birthday party. You don't have to commit to every hobby. You don't have to be a part of every program. You don't have to say yes to every favor. Now, I'm not saying don't help people. I'm not saying don't be involved with those things, but some of us are so consumed by all of those things because we've never said no and we haven't learned to say no. You have to say no to the wrong things, and you have to invest more in those connections that God has given to you. This is part of recalibrating. Again, structure can be spiritual. We need to be people of God who say— No. I'm gonna say no to the cares and the distractions of this world that I might say yes to the voice of the Holy Spirit. You live in that way and you're gonna find that there's clarity of mind that allows you to move at a pace where you're sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. So I'm gonna read to you number 5 in just a moment. We have recommit, retreat, rekindle, and recalibrate. That is make up your mind, Spend time in the secret place. Re-root yourself in prayer, the word, and worship. There needs to be proper time management. And this is a practical thing. You have to be very practical about your scheduling. And number 5, this will be difficult for many, but it's very, very, very key. Number 5, reengage. Now, this has to do with cultivating godly connections and cultivating evangelistic connections. Let me explain to you. We see the model before us in Acts chapter 2. Go there now, Acts chapter 2. I'll read verses 42 through 47. All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper, and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. Now notice here, there's this community, there's this connection, there's this social element to the practice of the things of God. Now watch this, verse 45. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money they had with those in need. They worshiped together at the temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity. Verse 47. All the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Now we see here godly connections within the church that the church itself might connect to the world evangelistically. This is what it means to reengage. So once we've made up our mind, once we've made a practice of retreating, once we've redevoted ourselves, we've rekindled that commitment to the to the word, to worship. Once we've recalibrated through proper time management, now it's time to reengage. Now, this will be difficult for some because some of you have been hurt by church people. Some of you have gone to churches only to be rejected unnecessarily or through no fault of your own. Now, some people do get kicked out of churches because they're behaving in a very strange or foolish way consistently. And the church, after exercising much patience, Asks them to leave, but that's probably not the case with you. You probably just have difficulty sometimes, and maybe you're scared of rejection. Maybe you're afraid of how people might treat you should you be completely vulnerable. This is where we're going to kind of blend, if you will, 2 of these thoughts together. When I talk about proper time management and prioritization and re-engaging, these 2 actually become one here. Here's the way I look at the connections I have in the kingdom of God. And first of all, you ought to be connected to the church. We're commanded not to forsake the assemblies of— assembly of ourselves together. And this notion where people defend their lack of church attendance by saying things like, I am the church. Well, the Bible actually teaches that we are the church in the context of our togetherness, not separate. That's like a hand being severed from the body and saying, well, I am the body. Well, not anymore if it's severed. This is why we must come together again. In our togetherness, we are the church. Now, on this point of connecting with others, we need to be intentional about how we invest in relationships. And I think this, for the most part, is a lost art today. Friendship is a lost art. In fact, today, It's very much encouraged that you be completely individualistic, that you rely on no one, trust no one, open up to no one, get the help of no one, do it all on your own, be your own, and go your own way. Well, that's not the way of the kingdom of God. The Lord created us to have connection, and I'm not just talking about romantic relationships, though that is key. In fact, that is— apart from God, your spouse is the most important relationship that you'll have. But there are connections we are to be making with one another, with fellow believers. And this is my philosophy, how I approach it, just like Jesus did it. Jesus had the 72. Jesus had the 12. Jesus had the 3. And then there was John. So even out of the 12 disciples, Jesus had Peter, James, and John who were closest to him. This is the way I pattern my life. In the center, There is the Lord, the one and only place for him. He gets priority of my time. He gets priority of my schedule. He gets priority of my mental, emotional, and physical energy. I only give to him first. He gets the first, not the leftover. After that, there's another circle, if you will, almost like concentric circles. Like if you're visualizing a target that has concentric circles going out from the center, This is how I see it. At the very center, it's a smaller space, but it's occupied by only one, and that is the dead center. Then that next circle would be my wife, Jessica, my daughter, Aria, soon my daughter, Lillian, who'll be born at the time of this livestream, who'll be born in just a matter of weeks. And so I then invest in them. They get the next level of investment after the Lord himself. I block out times of the week for them. There's date night, there's daddy-daughter dates, there's a couple family times during the week, and I hold to those as firmly as I can. Now sometimes maybe I'm traveling for an extended period of time, but I make sure to make deposits so that I'm making sure to keep that account full, if you will. So you have those. After this you have your core friendships. Now this is where you have to be careful because Proverbs tells us that one with many friends comes to ruin. But there's a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Why is this? Because some people are superficially invested in many connections, but not deeply connected in a few. This is where I make an intentional effort to stay connected with those around me that I might build those relationships. And then after that comes acquaintances and other friends and so forth. But by keeping that order of prioritization, I'm now reengaging with my connections. And you got to do it. You have to be bold and do it. I know you've been hurt. I know you've been discouraged. I know there have been things that have been setbacks in your relationships. I know maybe you've tried and tried and tried only to experience rejection, but you've got to reengage. You've got to reconnect. And this is my encouragement for you to do so. After this, now you begin to evangelize together with with the body of Christ. This is to reengage in the work of ministry, to reengage in the expansion of the kingdom of God. You see, many times when we talk about reengaging or getting your fire back for God or rekindling that passion, we automatically go to ministry. We automatically go to what we do for God. But only once we've laid the foundation of recommitting, retreating, rekindling, and recalibrating can we then reengage And become expansions of the kingdom of God. Souls are the wood for the fire of your passion for God. If you are losing passion, if you are losing enthusiasm, if you feel like that fire is beginning to wane, when the fire begins to die, you have to give it something to consume. And as we begin to lay our lives down unto the use of God's glory, and we begin to see souls coming into the kingdom, this does something in the spirit. This does something in our hearts that reinvigorates our spiritual passions. Win souls. If you are starting to lose your enthusiasm, get back to evangelism because nothing can reengage that passion quite like winning a soul to Jesus. Now, Father, I pray, You would help your precious people to do this. Lord, I thank you that you are able to empower them for the work of your kingdom. And I pray, precious Lord, that by your Holy Spirit you would cause your people to be focused again on you. May we be removed from the distractions of This world. Call us away to the deeper places. Call us away to the secret place. Take them to higher places, I pray, deeper depths and higher heights. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And I want you to type it real big in the comments section if you agree. Type a big amen. Well, I want to encourage you now to make sure that you are getting involved with the work of the ministry. If this ministry has been a blessing to you and you have been receiving from the teachings or you have been receiving from the word that this ministry is putting out, I want you to realize that these livestreams, the media that we produce, the events that we do around the world, the Holy Spirit School that we make available online for free, all of the outreaches and expressions of this ministry are funded funded by generous donors like you. So if you haven't done this yet, I really wanna encourage you, go right now to davidhernandezministries.com/partner and sign up today to become a monthly ministry supporter. You can do this for as little as $15 a month. If you're already a partner or you're not ready to partner yet, then you can give a single donation by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. Don't say somebody else, don't say some other time. Now is the time, you are the one, go and support. One more time, davidhernandezministries.com/partner to become a monthly supporter, /donate to give a single gift. Well, I love you, I appreciate you, and I pray for you. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God.