Thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef for this special episode of Leading the Way. We've all heard those commercials or seen social media content offering what appears to be the magic ingredient that. newly discovered exercise routine, guaranteeing a long, healthy life beyond what anyone could have expected. Yeah.
We've also heard Christians declare how following this very specific spiritual discipline will guarantee growth and maturity in the faith beyond measure. The fact is that nothing Nothing, nothing, nothing but keeping our eyes on God's Word. And chasing the truth within the pages of God's Word will ever bring anything but frustration and failure. Up next, on leading the way, doctor Michael Youssef, Pastor and international Bible teacher candidly takes you into Psalm 119, words that offer unique guidance on how believers of any age and maturity can grow in their walk with Christ. Listen now to Dr.
Youssef's heart-changing message. The Secret of the Presence of God. as he begins today's leading the way. Psalm 119, verses 9 to 6, tells us exactly. How you keep On eyes on Jesus by keeping your eye on the Word of God.
And if I summarize this particular psalm, it will be like this: either God's word. will keep you from sin. And harm. or sin will keep you from the Word of God and the protection of God. Him or I please.
The secret of God's protection. is in the secret of his presence. And the secret of God's presence is in the secret of keeping His word. And that is why Psalm 119, verses 9 to 16, tells us two very important things. Write them down if you're taking notes.
First of all, it tells us About this indescribable power of the Word of God. Verses. 9 to 12. Then it tells us about the incalculable Preeminence. of the Word of God.
Verses thirteen to sixteen. Indescribable power of the Word of God. Why do I call it indescribable? Because you cannot describe it to somebody else. You have to experience that power for yourself.
If I stand here and I eat a nice piece of fruit, And I say to you, oh, that was delicious, don't you think? He said, I don't know what it tasted like. I didn't taste it. You tasted it. It's absolutely true.
And that is why It is indescribable. You can't describe it to somebody else. You have to experience it yourself. Question. How do you experience the power?
of the Word of God. Well In verse 9, it tells us that it has the power to cleanse us. And in verse 10, it tells us that it has the power to control us. And in verse 11, it tells us that it has the power to. to correct us.
Here it is. Cleanse. Control Correct. How can a person keep his or her way pure? By obedience to the word of God.
The psalmist is saying, that when it comes to character, when it comes to conduct, No amount of goodwill, no amount of good intentions, no amount of good efforts, no amount of good anything will. Achieve the desired effect. The best Borox. That cleanses, the best ammonia that whitens, the best detergent that purifies. is in the power of the Word of God.
There is a world of difference. between what the Word of God says and what the world says. The world says to a young person.
Sow your wild oats. While you're young. Get it out of your system. That's what the world says. The world says.
Have a fling. While you're young, Become religious later on. Listen to me. The problem with this lie. The problem with this fallacy is that the only thing you're gonna reap is the whirlwind.
These do-gooders give you false advice. Give you lies. They never take you to an STD clinic to show you the results. Of promisecurity. They never take you to a psychiatrist or a psychologist to show you.
How there are broken hearts and damaged emotions and shattered relationships and fear of intimacy and pain of addiction. They don't. You have to Sadly experience that for yourself, but the Word of God warns us. The psalmist is telling us something that the world will never, never, never comprehend, let alone understand. He is saying, the younger you begin.
filling the mind and the heart with the word of God. The more of his power you experience when you grow up. The younger you begin to make your heart a home for the Word of God. The more peaceful, contented, and joyful you will be later on. I cannot begin to tell you how many I have encountered in the ministry.
Who suffered this awful addictions and the destructive behaviors, the inability to relate to spouse, and the inability to relate just to love another person. These are all The results of bad seeds that have been planted Early in life. Habits and undisciplined life begins early in life. But thank God, thank God, thank God, thank God at any age and at any stage, the Word of God, when it's applied, it has power to purify. The power of the Word of God not only cleanses, but it also controls.
One of the things I did when I was doing my PhD at Emory in sociology, there were several studies. have been done But regarding how Controls. Talking about social controls. Help a person. But they're not talking about the word of God.
I'm giving you something that society can never do. In verse 10, With my whole heart I sought you. Don't let me wander from your commands. In other words, keep me under the control of the Word of God. When I was a young man, In my teens.
I could not wait to get away from home. I wanted it so badly. I want to bolt and get out of that home. After all, I had six. older siblings that they were all perfect.
And I figured that I will never measure up. I wanted freedom to control my life. I resented family pressures. I resented family control. I wanted to experience the world for myself.
And so in my late teens, I found myself 9,000 miles away from home. Man and I want to live wildly. No, but in you, me? There are no curfews. No one to hold me accountable.
And I'm going to run wild, right? Can you imagine me wild? Yeah. Not a chance. Not a chance.
Why?
Now I can look back. What kept me from sinning? What kept me from just living a life of sin, all the stuff that I want to do? It was the word of God that was planted in my heart early, early, early, early on. When the word of God is planted in an early age, It has a controlling effect.
You know, when Daniel and his friends We're taken out of the Jewish homes in Israel. and dragged into Babylon. I know because Modern transportation But back then, just think about it, 2,500 years ago, it felt like a million miles away. It was only a thousand miles, but it was a m it felt just Another world. There in Babylon.
Daniel was away from parental control. Uh he was away from religious environment. And he was under relentless pressure. Pressure From the officials in the King's College And yet the Bible said Daniel In his heart was determined not to be defiled by the Babylonian culture. Most likely I'm speculating, I always tell you that so you know ahead of time, I'm not saying it's in the word of God.
Most likely Somebody said to Daniel, And maybe even one of his fellow Jews. Mm-hmm. Dunny Boy. Women in Rome do what Romans do. Why?
Because I treasured the Word of God in my life. I treasured the word of God in my heart. And now I'm experiencing The control. of the Word of God. Tanny bohoy.
What would few sips of that delicious Babylonian wine are going to do? Probably nothing. But I know it's going to lead me. into idolatry. Situational ethics.
which is taught in many even Christian environments. And Christian colleges teaches. that our actions depend on the circumstances. It just depends on the surroundings. But God's word said, Do the right thing.
when nobody's watching. When Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt. As you know. The Bible was not written. The Word of God was not there.
Yeah. But that is Jacob. Granddaddy Isaac. and most likely great-grandpa Abraham. have taught Joseph.
to fear the Lord. And that did it. In the times of temptation. Joseph could have thought, man. I can get ahead in politics, I can get ahead with the ferris household, I can become rich, I can become powerful, I could experience success.
Man, this is my chance. But he said No. The power of the Word of God cleanses, the power of the Word of God controls, the power of the Word of God. Correct. Why?
because there is indescribable power in the Word of God. Secondly, There is incalculable Pre-eminence. In the Word of God. Look at verses thirteen to sixteen. Beloved, our generation seems to know the price of everything.
and the value of nothing. See, to treasure the word of God in your heart. is wonderful. It's Very good. But you cannot stop there.
For the Word of God to have preeminence. We must learn how to apply the Word of God in every Area of our life, and in every circumstance we face. I want to explain this. Having a headache medicine in your medicine cabinet is great. Right?
But not using it when you have a headache It's not very good. Having money in the bank is wonderful. But not knowing how to go and make a withdrawal, and get that money to use it when you need it. It's not very good.
Some people know the word of God. But they don't know how to apply it in every circumstance they face. I knew some people in the past who memorized the word of God and yet their life. was contrary to the word of God. What's wrong with this picture?
What's wrong with this picture? Well, that gives me.
Now the segue to come to those three exercises I want you to have. Write them down. The first exercise Is that you must speak the word of God? Verbalize it. The second exercise, that's verse 13.
The second exercise verses fourteen and fifteen is that you must savour The word of God. You speak it. And you savor it. And thirdly, the third exercise is that you must substantiate the word of God in your life. That's verse 16.
The psalmist said With my lips I have told of all your ordinance. Beloved, reading the Word of God right is wonderful. Meditating upon the Word of God rightly is fantastic. Saturating your mind in the Word of God, great. Absolutely great.
But then If it's really going to help you. If it's going to build you up, If it's going to bless you. If you're gonna experience its power, then you must be able to first of all verbalize it. Verbalize it. I know Enough of our Bible study leaders in this church, and we have many wonderfully gifted Bible study leaders.
And I talked to some of them, I can't speak for all of them, but I can tell you. They would absolutely agree with this statement: that they get more out of it than the people who are listening to them. I know in my life it's absolutely true. I am blessed by the preparation. I'm excited.
The preacher gets more. Then the heroes. And so I am blessed. by verbalizing it on Sunday mornings. as well as all the Babel teachers.
Oh, Michael? Are you saying to us that every one of us should become a Bible teacher? It's exactly what I'm saying. It's exactly what I'm saying. Every one of us.
Hmm. How? By sharing with family and friends. And whoever would listen, sharing what? Sharing what the Word of God taught you on a given day.
Sharing with others how the Word of God enriched your life. How, in reading and studying the Word of God, guided your steps as you verbalize the Word of God to whomever would listen to you. You are being built from the insider. The second exercise is savoring the word of God. What does that mean?
Verse 14. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as some rejoice in great riches. I'm going to take you into fantasy land. Just for a couple of minutes, no more. I want to bring you back, okay?
Don't stay there. Suppose you go home this afternoon and you get a phone call. And in that phone call, you're told that you have a rich uncle whom you really did not know existed. has died and left you a fortune. How do you react?
You call your pastor, right? Yeah. Listen, uh Yeah. I'm too realistic. I have no expectations, and I know human nature very well, but What's your reaction?
I mean, you're jumping up and down, you're excited. I mean, you tell your family members, you call them immediately, let them know. You want everybody to know what happened? You call your best friend, and you're celebrating. And I mean, you're on cloud nine, right?
And the psalmist said that this is how You should feel about the word of God. It's like having inherited a fortune every day. Every day. You are so joyfully overwhelmed, and you cannot wait to share it with others. The preeminence of the Word of God causes us.
To verbalize the Word of God to others. The preeminence of the Word of God causes us to savor and rejoice in sharing. with joy with others and thirdly, The third exercise. Because the supreme of the Word of God. is found in substantiating it in your life.
Substantiating it. What does that mean? Speaking it, yes. Savoring it? Yes, verse 16, substantiating it.
I shall delight in your statutes. I shall not forget your word. How? How? But allow the Word of God to be demonstrated in your life.
By allowing the Word of God to be proven Now the word of God is true whether it's proven or not, but when you allow it to be proven in your life, you receive blessing like you have never received before. When David Was on the run from King Saul. Just think about this, okay? Think with me. This young man, with a motley crew, The king of Israel and his whole army.
chasing this man. David knew he was anointed king when he was a young man. And he knew he was going to be king because God keeps his word. And he's done nothing wrong and everything right. One day David had a chance to be freed up from all this chasing.
from all of his trouble. He had the chance to be delivered from the pain and the suffering. David and his small motley crew were walking by, passing a cave. And there is Saul the king. And his entire army, they were in deep sleep.
There is no telling how long they've been walking, or they were so tired they were in deep sleep. A bomb would not have woken them up. They were so deep in sleep, and man. David got his chance. Sweet revenge, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. David, God brought you an opportunity. Kill the rascal.
What an opportunity, David, to finally you be king. What an opportunity, David, to save your life and save yourself and your family and your friends a lot of headaches and suffering. David not only knew the word of God, treasured the word of God, But he applied the word of God. He obeyed it even when it's not advantageous to him. He proved it in his life.
And God honored him for it. Demonstrating the Word of God. in David's life taught him The shortcuts Shortcuts in your business deals and your business negotiator. Shortcuts. in any decision you're making in life.
Shortcuts are no good. Shortcuts are filled with worse grief. Shortcuts are short-lived. David, who knew not only the word of God, but he demonstrated the word of God in his life. He comes as close to the king As to Take His garb and cuts a piece.
Of it. Imagine His motley crew probably was saying Stab him. Stab him. He's asleep. He won't even know what happened.
And he said no. He cuts Small piece of the garment in order to prove to the king what the word of God said. Harm not God's anointed Touch not God's anointed. as demonstrating. The word of God and trust.
In God's timing, let's say it again. Trust. Beloved, knowing the Word of God is good. But not good enough. Substantiating the word of God is what honors God.
Proving it in your life is what God blesses in your life. Applying it in everyday situation brings about God's pleasure. Over you. Do you want God's protection? You have to have God's presence.
You want God's presence? Allow the word of God. not only dwell richly, But be applied and demonstrate it. in your everyday decision making. Oh.
Encouragement from Dr. Michael Youssef. to prove the Word of God in your life. Thank you for making time to listen to Leading the Way. And if fully leaning in to the Word of God is foreign to you, won't you consider chatting with a leading the way pastor or counselor?
They'd be so happy to walk you through questions. Start that conversation at ltw.org slash Jesus. Leading the way is mobilizing for the next great awakening in North America. Join Dr. Youssef in this bold five-year mission to passionately proclaim uncompromising truth in three strategic areas.
Here at home, the Middle East, and remote villages, it's the Open Door Campaign. Thanks to generous ministry partners like you, we are seeing a dramatic increase in gospel impact in North America. We've stumbled and we've gone a different way, but. We can always come back and God is there. And he's willing to bless our communities, bless our neighborhoods.
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