The Secret of the Presence of God

The power of infusing God's Word into your life from Dr. Michael Youssef. 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. Welcome to Leading the Way with pastor, author and International Bible teacher Dr. Michael Youssef. Today a reminder from Dr. Youssef that God has the answer for every problem you face. You will hear through the words of King David that the power and the joy of the Lord can rescue you in times of trouble if you pour God's Word into your life. And if you'd like to reach out to Leading the Way for any reason, maybe to lend your support or obtain a product or share with the team how Dr. Youssef has impacted your life, well the first stop is ltw.org or you can give us a call 866-626-4356.

Or later right now though listen with me to Dr. Michael Youssef. 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. Himirah 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 13 to 16.

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 has the power 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 borax 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, show 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 going to reap is the whirlwind. These do-gooders give you false advice, give you lies. They have never taken you to the Shepherd Spinal Clinic to show you the effect of drunken driving. They never take you to an STD clinic to show you the result of promiscuity. 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 who suffered these 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 that 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 the sociology, there were several studies have been done 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 is society can never do. In verse 10, with my whole heart I sought you, don't let me wander from your command. 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 nine thousand miles away from home. Man, and I want to live wildly. Nobody knew 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 wanted 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 were 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 felt just another world. There in Babylon, Daniel was away from parental control, he was away from religious environment, and he was under relentless 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, Danny boy, when in Rome do what Romans do? No.

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. Danny boy, 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. They just depend 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. Ah, but daddy 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 fairest 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 corrects.

Why? Because there is indescribable power in the Word of God. Secondly, there is incalculable preeminence in the Word of God. Look at verses 13 to 16. 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 is not very good. Having money in the bank is wonderful, but not knowing how to go and make a withdrawal, I've got the ATM machine these days, and get that money to use it when you need it is 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 the 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 14 and 15, is that you must savor 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 going to 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 on that with this statement.

That they get more out of it than the people who are listening to them. I know in my life is absolutely true. I am blessed by the preparation.

I'm excited. The preacher gets more than the hearers. And so, I am blessed by verbalizing it on Sunday mornings, as well as all the Bible teachers. Oh, Michael, are you saying to us that every one of us should become a Bible teacher? Yes. It's exactly what I'm saying.

It's exactly what I'm saying. Every one of us. 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 you, guided your steps as you verbalize the Word of God to whomever would listen to you. You are being built from the inside out. The second exercise is savoring the Word of God. What's 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? Listen, I'm too realistic. I have no expectations enough. 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 it's a preeminence 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? By allowing 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. They were so tired.

They were in deep sleep. A bomb would not have worked in the Bible. They were so deep in sleep, and man, David got his chance. Sweet revenge, right? No, no. 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 that shortcuts, shortcuts in your business deals, in your business negotiations, 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. He said, no, he cuts a 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. That's demonstrating the Word of God. And trusting, as I said in the last message, 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, it brings about God's pleasure over you. 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 demonstrated in your everyday decision-making. Dr. Michael Yusef challenging you to experience God's Word in a deeper way. Thank you for listening to Leading the Way, and if you'd like to find out more about the Christian life, speak to a compassionate member of the Leading the Way pastoral team.

Begin that conversation at ltw.org slash Jesus. Hey, before our time is gone, here is a short summary of a note we received from a listener to Leading the Way Radio in the United Kingdom. My faith walk has grown since discovering Leading the Way.

In fact, while working on a degree at the University, it struck me that I kept a notebook handy to take notes for lectures. But how much more important is it for me to take notes on what God is speaking to us about? So now I take notes from Dr. Yusef's messages, and it gives me wisdom to face the challenges in life. I am thankful to God for Leading the Way. And we are thankful for notes like this. They offer encouragement to Dr. Yusef and to the entire team.

Poignant reminders that God is using Leading the Way to reach the lost, to equip the Saints for ministry. So if you've been encouraged by Dr. Yusef and Leading the Way, consider partnering in prayer, and perhaps financially as well. Learn more when you speak with a ministry representative at 866-626-4356. That's 866-626-4356. Or you can visit L-T-W dot org. L-T-W dot org. Or you can write to us at Leading the Way, Post Office Box 2-0-1-0-0, Atlanta, Georgia, 3-0-3-2-5.

That's Post Office Box 2-0-1-0-0, Atlanta, Georgia, 3-0-3-2-5. Next time on Leading the Way. Some of us, God has to use the two by four to get our attention. You see, God knew that Saul of Tarsus was not the kind of man who would respond to the gentle voice. God knew that. God knew that Saul of Tarsus is such a stubborn man that only a surprising method of confrontation is going to get his attention.

Have you been there? That was just a preview of what Dr. Yousef will be teaching next time on Leading the Way. Make plans to join him for this powerful message when he digs further into this thought. Today's program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yousef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world for more than 30 years. Before we run out of time for today, I would like to invite you to share how God is using this program to encourage you in your walk of faith. I believe it is important to give testimony of how God is working in your life, and if Leading the Way is part of that, we would want to know. You can call our testimony line at 877-941-7934. That is 877-941-7934. Do it today. Thank you in advance, and God bless.