INTRODUCTION

EXPERIENCING GOD’S EMPATHY

Knowing the Thoughts, Emotions & Feelings of Others
by Bill Hernandez

The Lord has chosen me to experience other’s thoughts, emotions and physical feelings. What I have concluded is that He’s sharing with me His empathetic experience of others by His Holy Spirit that indwells me. This divinely revealed information about others happens to me on a regular basis and perhaps you, too. Some of you experience this 24/7, as I do. This experiential enablement is what this book is about. What I’m offering here in this book is my interpretation and observation of this phenomenon and it may or may not resonate with your perspective. Pick out the bones. This is not dogma. I know you’ll find valuable information here as I share my experiences. What I’m sharing is where I’m at today. As time goes on and I learn more, I may amend what I am saying or what I understand. I know that I have partial natural and supernatural knowledge as it says in I Corinthians 13:9, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part…”

WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?

This book is for those who receive information about others in their thoughts, emotions and body revealed by the Holy Spirit in a very noticeable and frequent way. I’ll primarily focus on thoughts and emotions, but will touch on the physical briefly. Some of you don’t have a clue as to why this is happening to you. You may feel overwhelmed or out of control while some of you have found some answers for yourself about how to work with this gifting and need more clarification or perspective.

This book is also for people who know of others with this unusual high degree of perception and want to understand what’s happening. You may be a pastor or friend who knows someone with this gifting, and you want to be supportive and release them further into their calling. This book is also for those who are just discovering this about themselves, and this could be the jumping point for greater activation in this gifting.

HE’S IN CONTROL OF THE FLOW OF INFORMATION, NOT US.

I started experiencing this about 1979, and since then I have gained a lot of knowledge and wisdom about this and will elaborate as I go along. This book will give you insight and understanding of how to flow with the Lord as He actively works through you, and my hope is that you gain confidence and peace including diplomacy because what you sense and know can impact your interaction with others. You’re operating consistently with this remarkable ability wherever you are and whatever time it is regardless of whether or not you are in a position of authority and influence. You may just be an ordinary believer. Breaks, vacations and sabbaticals are open times to being influenced by Him to know and feel and experience others. My goal is that you’ll learn to gain more control over this gifting rather than the gift controlling you by understanding that He’s in control of the flow of information. It’s a perspective adjustment. You’ll also gain more control through my helpful tools and tips.

MORE THAN A FEELER OR BURDEN BEARER

You’ll find tools on how to work with this empathetic gifting and learn valuable information about how to hone it. It’s the Holy Spirit’s revelatory gift called Word of Knowledge as spoken of in I Corinthians 12 working through all senses, mind and body. Terms like empathy, intuition and sensing could describe this. I have heard the term being a ‘Feeler,’ but though it’s a convenient, popular term that has taken root, it’s an oversimplification and jargon. Reducing this empathetic gifting to the label ‘Feeler’ underplays the intricately nuanced interplay of cognitive, emotional, sensory and spiritual understanding that defines the kind of empathy I will be sharing about. I do, however, understand that  the use of the term ‘Feeler’ creates a sense of community and shared understanding among those who use it. People have also used the term ‘Burden Bearer’ as popularized by John and Paula Sandford in their book Transformation of the Inner Man. Burden Bearing gifting is described as temporarily taking on other people’s suffering because they can’t entirely bear it for themselves and then taking it to Jesus, the primary burden bearer. This doesn’t resonate with me at all now, but at one time I naively called myself a Burden Bearer. I now may describe myself as being highly sensitive, empathetic, intuitive, discerning, a seer, a prophet, but I will never call myself a ‘Feeler’ or ‘Burden Bearer’ as I used to. It feels kind of elitist, mysterious, esoteric or hyper religious. I see those two terms as a kind of construct or attempt to explain what’s happening. I want to bring all this down to Earth. In this book I will be referring to it as Experiencing the Empathy of God or similar descriptions because it all comes from Him, and He extraordinarily draws us in to intimately partner with Him in His point of view. It’s like knowing the heart of God. In this book I’ll often just say, “experiencing others,” but it’s about Him experiencing others, sharing it with you or me. I also will be using other terms like empathy, feeling, knowing, sensing, but you’ll get the gist as you read along even if I don’t always refer to my experience as coming from or being revealed by the Lord.

WHAT PEOPLE SEE IN YOU

Along with Word of Knowledge, many of you who operate in this also function within the revelatory gifts of Prophecy, Word of Wisdom and Discerning of Spirits as a gift mix. Emotional and physical healing anointing manifests alongside these as well as effective intercession. I have heard the term Prophetic Intercession where you get information from Him and then pray or talk to Him about it on behalf of others with authority and get results. As a result of all this, people see you as compassionate, tender, caring and safe. At the worst you may be seen as bizarre, dark, occultish, weird, unusual, avoidable or that you have telepathy or ESP and can read minds. On the positive side, most likely you are functioning in some kind of leadership position within the church as a ministry director or on a pastoral team. You may be a member in a healing ministry, intercessory team, altar ministry team, worship team. You may be a pastor, counselor, prophet, doing ministry training or any position where the Lord has opened the door for you to influence and lead others or to be involved in some way. Also, you may not necessarily be in any leadership and find yourself doing one on one ministry wherever you feel led by Him.

DESTINY CALLING INVITATION

You have been commissioned by the Lord to a high degree to minister to others which is why the revelatory gifting was increased in your life. Your gifting has opened doors. Proverbs 18:16 — “A person’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great people.” Your metron or sphere of influence was enhanced with revelatory abilities that opened the door. This influence could also extend into the market place. Because of the consistency and frequency of this gifting, it’s kind of like a full-time spiritual career whether you see it that way or not. This calling may have caught you off guard until now, and now it’s time to wake up to this part of your destiny. It’s an invitation and a calling, and my hope is that you grasp that thereby, you find yourself promoted into more of His marvelous calling upon your life.

MANDATE TO SHARE THIS MATERIAL

I have taken ahold of this destiny for myself since it’s an extension of who I am in Him. I accept it. I felt empowered and encouraged by the Lord to write about this for years because as I have shared my empathy experiences with others, it has resonated with them, confirming that they, too, have observed this in their lives. Realizing this was a common occurrence and not just me, I felt emboldened to share. My goal has always been to write this book for over four decades, but my general understanding of His deep involvement with our lives, wherever we were at, needed to be solidified. In this book I am reframing this revelatory empathy or experience as a bestowed privilege by the Lord who chooses to divulge His insight to us because we are His friends. All we spiritually experience is inspired by the Holy Spirit, if indeed it is and has been tested by scripture and wise counsel.

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT

I have been on a journey to understand this experience, and I don’t fully comprehend how it all works. As I talk about this, I will provide my observations, and they aren’t necessarily conclusions or absolutes. Consider some of this as accurate, pure speculation or exploration. There was this story about blind men and an elephant. Each one came up with an explanation or interpretation as they touched it. One said it was a snake when he touched the trunk, another said it was a wall when he touched it’s side, another said it was a tree when he touched its leg and another said it was a rope when he touched its tail. The subject of this book has seemed like a huge elephant in my life as I’ve tried to come to terms with it. I’m still discovering and trying to explain or interpret what I have experienced. I see and know in part as I said before. I’m giving you my limited perspective. Please keep that in mind as you explore my material. Hopefully, I can hear from you what you’ve learned, which would contribute to expanding our understanding. My website GodsEmpathy.com will provide a way for you to share.

I Corinthians 2:10-11,16 –The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. vs 16 — “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

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