Dr. Michael Youssef with practical insight into the spirit-filled life. as he begins this episode of Leading the Way Audio. The reason there are so many Christians who are hovering around the periphery of the Christian life. Is because they refuse to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
You say, why would anybody not want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Ah, because you cannot be filled of the Holy Spirit without surrendering the control of your life to the Holy Spirit of God. And not many people want to do that. Surrender. often viewed as admitting defeat or giving up.
But dig a little deeper, and you realize it's much more when it comes to surrendering to God. Surrender invites freedom and power. Today an invitation to surrender to the Holy Spirit. Dr. Michael Youssef is continuing his life-changing series, Know Your Best Friend.
right here I'm leading the way. Hey, keep in mind, Leading the Way is a listener-supported worldwide gospel ministry made possible through the generosity of those touched by Dr. Yousuf's teaching and ministry. Learn ways that you can partner at ltw.org. Or call us.
866. Six two six four three five six. Right now, though, let's join Dr. Michael Youssef as he begins today's audio episode of Leading the Way. Power.
Power. That's what people want, right? Your own power.
Some have it. One more of it.
Some have it. and abuse it. And yet there are a lot Of others who Feel powerless. And therefore They live in despair. And in despondency.
And I asked myself the question: why power is such a big thing in our society? Why it is such a big thing in our world? And the simple answer is because of the definition of power, of how we define power, how our society and our culture view power.
Well, how do they view power? They view power as Synonymous with control. Control Over others. Control. over their world and over their circumstances.
Control. Over their surroundings and the events in their life. They want to be.
so independent they did not need anyone.
Now, of course, there are a lot of historical examples, and so now I'm not going to get into that. But you and I know. That this type of power is never lasting. This type of power never satisfies the inner being. It's like salty water.
The more you drink it, the more you want it. This type of power is never peaceful. This type of power is never joyful. But you know what? The Bible tells us about another kind of power.
A different kind of power. Power that this world can never understand. Power that this world mocks and ridicules. And yet It is the most significant and important power that you can have in your life. Because that particular power is a lasting power.
This particular power is a satisfying power. This kind of power is peaceful power. This kind of power is a joyful power. This kind of power not only gives you power but blesses, and blesses you, but blesses everybody who's around you. And of course, I'm talking about the sevenfold power of the Holy Spirit of God.
In the last message, I talked to you. About being filled with the Holy Spirit, continuously being filled with the Holy Spirit, and how that is evidenced. In our lives, how it can be manifested in our lives. And today I want to talk to you about the power that comes from the spirit-filled life. The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Jesus Who comes to live and dwell in the life of every believer in Jesus Christ?
Yeah. He is the gift that God gives us when we repent of our sins and receive Jesus' payment on the cross to be for our sins, and thus we become justified with God the Father because of that payment on the cross. When that happens and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the inside of us, He becomes our comforter, He becomes our guide, He becomes our guard, He becomes our protector, He becomes our director, He becomes our builder-upper, He becomes our convictor, He becomes a go between heaven and earth and between us and the throne room of God. But I want to give you a warning today. I'm going to issue a warning.
Beep, this is a warning. You are about to enter a very dangerous zone. Because the temptation, when you hear a message about the power of the Holy Spirit, the sevenfold power of the Holy Spirit, the temptation is, I want that power. But you want that power just to add it to everything else in your life, and you can't do that. That's the danger.
The power that I'm talking about today. can only be had by those who Continuously being filled with the Spirit of God moment by moment, day by day. Because that power can only come to the spirit-filled life. And the Holy Spirit's power can only operate in the spirit-filled life. I want you to hear me right on this one.
The reason there are so many Christians who are hovering around the periphery of the Christian life. is because They refuse to be filled By the Holy Spirit. You say, why would anybody not want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Ah, because you cannot be filled of the Holy Spirit without surrendering the control of your life to the Holy Spirit of God. And not many people want to do that.
Any area of your life that you are shutting God out. That means you are not surrendered to Him, and therefore, God cannot operate in your life. The power of God cannot come into you. Because unless you meet the condition for the spirit-filled life, you will not be able to live and walk and function in the power of the Holy Spirit. Raven Hill Who's a a woodsmith?
said that the reason so many Christians are so spiritually anemic is because They spend their life Organizing and not agonizing in prayer. He said, We have many players, few prayers. Many singers, few clingers, many pastors, few wrestlers, many fears, few tears, much fashion, little passion, and many interferers and few intercessors. And I want to say amen belongs here. It is the cry of my heart.
that you will understand the condition. For receiving and being filled daily with the Holy Spirit, so that you may receive the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray that God, the Holy Spirit, begin to speak to you. Because without him doing that in your heart and in your mind, my words are just empty words. And us pray that you will At the end of this message, you say, Lord Jesus, I want to empty myself of me.
I want to be filled with your Holy Spirit. Not just now in response to the message, but day after day, moment after moment, and continuously be filled with the Holy Spirit.
So here we go. Here are the sevenfold power of the Holy Spirit. There are seven words actually in the original language. about the power of the Holy Spirit. And each of them somehow got translated into the English Bible as power.
Some change it a little bit as dominion or authority, but they all in effect are translated power. First word is RK, is a divine power of the Holy Spirit that manifested itself in the creation. This is not a category one or category two or category five hurricane. This was a category one thousand hurricane. Wind, breath, and spirit, all one word in Hebrew, Ruach.
And this is the wind of the Holy Spirit that blew on the face of the earth and created the world. In Genesis 1, chapter 1, verses 2 and 3. And the Spirit of God moved. The hurricane of God moved. The breath of God moved.
The wind of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. This is the creative power of the Holy Spirit. That is exercised by God every time a baby is conceived in the mother's womb.
This is the creative power of the Holy Spirit that God exercises every time a person recognizes that he or she is a sinner and heading for hell, but they need to come to Christ and receive him as Savior and become born of the Spirit of God. That's what the creative power of God is working. Secondly, the word exos. Which means The authority of the Holy Spirit. This is the power to forgive sins.
This is the power. To enable us to enter into the kingdom of God. This is the power that helps us forgive others who sin against us. This is the power of God that He gives us to enable us to be called the children of the living God. It is the word that is used in John chapter 1, verse 12, when he said, As many as received him, talking about Jesus, as many have received him, he gave them power to be called the children of God.
Number three. Iskos. This is the supernatural power. that accompanies The preaching of the word of God. When the word of God is preached, and not man's ideas, and man's opinion, and man's philosophy, and pop psychology.
When the word of God is preached, there is power that accompanies that word. That's the power that changes lives and transforms lives. That's the power that the spirit-filled Christian has for what purpose? In order that he or she be able to overcome sin, to overcome the world, to overcome the devil, and live victorious in their Christian life. 1 John 2:14 said, I have written to you, young men, because you have eschos, power.
And the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. Then the fourth word is dunamos. Oh, what I I wish I have all the time in the world. I can dwell just on that one word. The word from which we get a dynamite.
Dunamos. This is the power that Paul talks about to Timothy. That only power that's gonna help him overcome his timidity I think we're all in certain To a certain extent, have timidity, all of us to a certain extent, a coward, all of us to a certain extent, a feeling of inadequacy. And Paul exhales Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7. He said, For God did not give us the spirit of fear, but he gave us the spirit.
Of dynamos, the spirit of power. and love and self-control. Number five. The word is Megalatos, translated majestic power. Only in heaven we will be able to comprehend the magnificence of that word, what it means in its fullest sense, because it talks about the majesty of the power of the Holy Spirit.
It is the power. That Jesus used in Luke 9:43 when he cast out demons. And the Bible said that they were amazed at his power. They were amazed at his authority. It is megalithos.
This is the majestic power. that transcends the grief and the pain that we all go through when we live in this life. This is the power that transform and transcend your pain and your hurt into victory with Christ as you walk with Christ. Number six. is energe, from which we get the word energy.
This is the power of the Holy Spirit that He breathes upon you as you're reading His Word. Remember this. It's the Holy Spirit who authored the Bible. And as you get up and sit down in the morning or at night, whenever you read your Bible and you begin to read it, without the Holy Spirit opening your spiritual eyes, without the Holy Spirit giving you His power to understand, not only to understand but to obey, but also the power to be transformed through that word, the Holy Spirit comes in at that moment, that inner gay. And he gives you understanding.
This is The power of the Holy Spirit when you study His Word. He will empower you. Not only to understand it, but to obey it. and live by it. Listen to what Hebrews 4:12 said.
For the word of God is quick and energy, powerful. and sharper than two-edged sword. Piercing even into the dividing soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is the discerner. of thoughts. and intentions.
Nobody can know our thoughts, nobody can understand our intentions, nobody knows our motives, but the Holy Spirit does. He sees straight through us. That is why Philippians 2:13 said, this Is the inner gay. This is the power which God works in you both to will and to do for His good purpose. Finally Number seven.
Keratos. Which means The power that transcends all powers. That's the power that's above all powers. That's the power beyond understanding of all powers. And the Apostle Peter, in his first epistle, chapter 5, verse 11, he said, to him.
Be glory. And keratos, dominion or power forever and ever. John the Revelator in chapter 5 is said, Blessings and honor and glory and keratos be unto him who sits on the throne. It's a power that transcends all powers. Beloved, when you begin to comprehend the sevenfold power of the Holy Spirit.
That God longs for you. to live by, to live in. Transform your marriage. to transform your business to To transform your life, to transform your family. You would refuse to ever live as a mediocre Christian anymore.
Some of you perhaps here today. Heard about the sevenfold power of the Holy Spirit. And say about Michael. Why am I struggling in my Christian walk? Why am I struggling in my Christian life?
Why do you see Christians everywhere struggling with their Christian life? Why do churches struggle?
Well believers are struggling in their walk with God. And the answer is found in the words of a wise man. Who said, Because We have service, but not the Spirit. Programs, propaganda, and pep talks, and powerful personality without the power of the Holy Spirit. That's our downfall.
The saddest word in the entire Bible, the saddest word. are found in the book of Judges. It is said of Samson. That the power has left him. But he did not know it.
The power has left him. But he did not know it. Now, beloved, listen to me. This is a picture of the church of Jesus Christ today. It's a picture of many a believer today.
This is a picture. We have large crowds and mass congregations, but we do not have the power of the Holy Spirit. Because the secret of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit is being continuously filled with the Holy Spirit. And the secret for continuously being filled with the Holy Spirit is the shedding of the garment of self-sufficiency, is the shedding of the vestments of the flesh, it's the brokenness and surrender to God. I want you to remember this.
It is the power of the Holy Spirit. Do you know what that means? It means that he is the sole owner of that power. That he is the sole proprietor of that power. That he is the sole exerciser of that power.
Oh. But he longs He longs for his children. to walk in that power. He longs for that power. To resurrect failed marriages.
He longs for that power to strengthen lives. He longs for that power to have victory over sin. He longs for that power. To work in the lives of his children. He longs for his children to appropriate his power in their lives.
Not for selfish use, not for manipulating others. Not for software grandson, no, no, no. In fact, let me tell you something. That Power works best. When you are weak, When you are broken That's when the power really works.
It only works when you begin to empty yourself of yourself. Why? Because listen to me. If I'm full of my ideas, if I'm full of my strength, and if I'm full of my plans, and I never seek the mind of God, never seek the will of God, never seek the mind of the Spirit. Sadly, I may succeed.
In my own eyes, I may even succeed in the eyes of others. Oh, but that's not the important question. The important question is. Am I succeeding in the eyes of God? That's the question you need to ask yourself.
He'd be right. Like Samson. Oh, we could be successful. But the power of the Spirit is gone. And we're still operating.
We're still functioning. We're still going along. We don't know it. There may be someone here today. who's spending their time spending their effort, spending their energy.
beating themselves with all sorts of false guilt. all sorts of patch problems. Feeling of inadequacy. You're sitting there saying to yourself, Well, I don't have this power, I can't have this power. This power is for people in the ministry, this is for people who are serving God, but this is for preachers.
Beloved, let me tell you something. I can't find this anywhere in the Bible. If you find it, show it to me. This is the power. that God wants every one of His children to operate in and with, in your homes, in your businesses, in your coming and in your going.
Beloved, listen. Do not sit and compare yourself with others. It is a formula for disaster. It really is. Don't sit back and say Well, you know, I don't have this, and I don't have that, and I don't have the other thing.
I can have power. Let me tell you what you're doing. I know you don't mean it. Here's what you're doing: you're saying God is a liar. When he says, I long for you.
To be filled with my spirit and walk in the power of my spirit. And that is a recipe for a defeated Christian life. Don't sit there and deprive yourself of the only power that God the Holy Spirit can give you. I believe with all my heart the Holy Spirit speaking to some of you right now, if not all of you. And I don't know.
Everybody's life. But there may be someone who's living a defeated life.
Someone who's being controlled by an addiction. There may be somebody here. whose marriage is falling apart. And it looks like there's no hope.
Somebody may be here defeated by sin and can't seem to overcome. There are some who feel they're trapped in their job and they just lost all of their joy. Today, the Holy Spirit of God. Once you To begin to learn what it means to be filled continuously with His Holy Spirit so that you can walk in His power. Oh, but there are some pitfalls.
Let me list them for you very quickly. There are some pitfalls. There are pitfalls for forfeiting the power of the Holy Spirit. Here are the biggies. Focusing on your inadequacies instead of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Focusing on your struggles instead of the power of the Holy Spirit. Focusing on your challenges that you are facing right now instead of the power of the Holy Spirit. Focusing on your performance instead of the power of the Holy Spirit. Even focusing too much on how to avoid sin. Say, Michael, did I just hear you say that?
Yes. Because when you are living and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, you're not only going to avoid sin, you're going to have victory over sin. I want you to imagine this scenario with me. Do you get up in the morning? And you turn the lights on, no lights.
You want to make coffee? Coffee maker's not working. Try to get some hot water, not hot water. What happens? You become irritated.
You become frustrated. What happened? The power has been cut off. The power has been shut down. And my beloved friends, listen to me.
The same thing happens. When the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and in mine. is shut off. Still have the connection, we are connected to the source of power. but has been turned off.
And you're frustrated. You feel defeated. You can't see any answer. You're living in quiet desperation. And you say, oh God, what's happening?
And God says, Today you can begin to change this. Today you can begin to change this. And you can say, Holy Spirit of God, I surrender to you. All areas of my life. Every chamber every department.
Everything that is me. It's yours. But then you don't stop there because that is not a one-time experience. This is something that has to happen again and again and again, moment by moment, day by day. And then experience the power of the Holy Spirit.
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Before we run out of time for today, As an encouragement to our fellow listeners, I would like to invite you to share how God is using this program to encourage you in your walk. of face. You can call our testimony line. At eight seven seven. 941 seven nine three four.
Now I want to hear all about it. and we just might share it on the program. That is 877. 941 Seven nine five. 3-4.
Do it today. Thank you in advance and God bless. Yeah.
