0:01

I don't know about you. You might

0:03

be a person who had the relationship with

0:05

the Lord Jesus Christ at one stage.

0:08

Sometime ago your life

0:11

was sweet and victorious. Maybe

0:14

there was a time when you had

0:16

triumph in your soul and smart

0:18

on your face, but not

0:20

now. Why? What

0:22

dragged you from the Lord? What made

0:25

you walk with the

0:26

ungodly? What made you stand with the

0:28

ungodly. What is making us sick with the

0:30

ungodly? Welcome

0:33

to leading the way featuring the bible

0:35

teaching of doctor Michael Youssef. His

0:38

new series is called God's

0:40

provision for your every need

0:42

containing biblical advice that just

0:44

might help you avoid wandering away

0:46

from God. Please do remember

0:49

that leading the way is listener supported.

0:51

That means that all ministry is made possible

0:54

through your prayers and through your generous

0:56

guests. You can learn more about

0:58

this ministry at ltw dot

1:02

org or by calling us 8666264356.

1:09

Join me now in listening to pastor and

1:11

teacher, doctor Michael Youssef.

1:15

I wonder how many of us really

1:17

understands that conformity

1:21

is a form of slavery. It

1:23

is far easier, at least we

1:25

think, to do what others

1:28

do, to go along

1:30

with the crowd, In order to

1:32

be accepted, it is

1:34

far easier to swim with the stream

1:37

than to stand up and to stand out.

1:39

Than to swim against the

1:42

current. I know

1:44

this is a special problem with teenagers.

1:46

I've read some statistics that have explained

1:49

that the major reason for

1:51

teen suicide and for alcoholism

1:53

and for drug addiction is

1:55

that most young people are conformists.

2:00

Now, of course, marketing executives and

2:02

commercial producers, they know that they

2:04

understand that. And they gear

2:06

their advertising accordingly. They

2:09

of course would tell us that

2:11

you're not okay until you drive

2:13

a certain car or wear certain

2:16

designer clothes or do this or

2:18

do that. And the problem is

2:20

that not only the non Christian

2:22

world fall in a trap, but the Christians

2:26

get trapped in that kind of

2:28

trick. And yet the

2:30

scripture again and again emphasizes

2:32

how important it is for the believer to

2:35

stand out, not to conform to

2:37

the world, and not to live by the

2:39

world standard, that even if to be alone,

2:41

it is better for the Christian than

2:43

to conform. We don't like

2:45

to be alone. We don't like to stand up.

2:48

We rather follow the standards of the world than

2:50

wanted to change the standards of the world.

2:53

One time, Harry Truman was asked

2:56

about public opinion polls and political

2:58

life, and under political leadership

3:01

and mister Truman who was not known for

3:03

mencing words said the

3:05

following. What would

3:07

Jesus Christ have preached if he had taken

3:10

a poll in Israel? Where would the reformation

3:12

have gone if Martin Luther had taken

3:14

a poll in Germany? It

3:17

isn't the polls of public opinion

3:19

of the moment that count. It is the

3:21

right and the wrong in leadership. Men

3:24

with fortitude, honesty, and belief

3:26

in the right that makes ethics in the

3:28

history of the world. That

3:31

this is the kind of men and women that

3:33

God is looking for in these last

3:35

days to do great and mighty things

3:37

for God. Not the kind

3:39

of men who want to lick their finger, lift it up

3:41

in the air, and see which way the wind is blowing,

3:43

and then follow that direction God

3:46

is looking for men and women who are ready

3:48

to stand up and pay the price and pay the

3:51

cost and do what God wants to

3:53

do and stand for what is right regardless

3:55

of the concept. Instance. According

3:58

to Psalm one, the ability

4:01

not to conform is

4:03

what brings ultimate blessing

4:06

Blesset is a man who does not

4:08

walk. Blesset is a man

4:10

who does not stand. Blesset

4:12

is a man who does not sit. Psychology

4:16

tells us and emphasizes the

4:19

power of positive thinking. God

4:22

is emphasizing the power

4:24

of negative thinking. Happy

4:27

as a man who does not do these things,

4:30

does not walk, does not stand, nor

4:32

sit in the counsel of the ungodly. Blasted

4:35

is the man who is marked by

4:38

what he does not do. Bless

4:41

is the man who is known for the books

4:43

that he does not read. Blessed

4:45

as the man who's known for the

4:47

places that he does not go to.

4:49

Blessed as a man, be known for the

4:52

people that he would whom he would not associate.

4:55

Bless it is a man who does not, does not,

4:57

does not. You see happiness

4:59

and blessing is not discovered in

5:02

the circumstances. Blessing

5:05

is not found in what you

5:07

are and where you are in

5:08

life. Blessings is not

5:10

found in another person. Listen

5:12

any other person is a flesh

5:15

and every flesh will let us down

5:17

sooner later. Blessings

5:20

does not come from keeping up with

5:22

the

5:22

Joneses. By bucking

5:24

the system. Yeah, I heard the story

5:26

that really illustrated this to me

5:28

of people who constantly instead

5:30

of listening to the voice of God, obeying God.

5:33

And with Martin Luther say, here

5:35

I stand, but always want to do with other

5:37

people tell them to do. This

5:40

man in Philadelphia started a fishing business.

5:42

And he opened a wonderful store, big

5:44

store, and he had a sign outside says,

5:47

fresh fish for sale

5:50

today. And then in

5:52

the opening day, he invited all his friends and they

5:54

came over and they began to celebrate the opening

5:56

of the shop. And

5:58

one friend said to him, he said, why

6:00

today? Of course, it

6:03

is today, not yesterday or tomorrow. Just

6:05

take today out. He said, okay. So

6:07

he took the day out. Well, then

6:09

another friend came by and he said, now, why for

6:11

sale? Of course, you have a shop and the shop

6:13

sells So, take for shale

6:16

out. I took for shale out. And

6:18

another friend give us complain as if not

6:20

why fresh. Your integrity communicates

6:23

that We know that you always sell

6:25

fresh fish. Take fresh out. So you

6:27

took fresh out. Finally, he ended

6:29

up with the word fish. And then

6:31

another friend, Kim, said, why do you

6:33

have fish outside? Just

6:35

take it out. You can split

6:37

it two blocks away. You

6:40

see, when you are outside of

6:43

the will of God and you're spiritual walk,

6:46

you are gonna be misled and misguided

6:48

and you're gonna follow anybody. And

6:51

you understand, don't godly advise and

6:53

ungodly wisdom. It's

6:55

easy for you to be misled. It

6:57

takes one step and you say, well,

6:59

it's not very harmful. And before

7:02

you know it, you're sitting with them godly.

7:05

Who are the ungodly? Most people

7:07

think when you talk about the ungodly, you talk about the

7:09

bank robbers or the criminals or the people

7:11

who are committed big crimes.

7:14

Now the scripture says, all

7:16

you need to do to be ungodly is leave

7:18

God out of your life. You

7:20

can be a very moral person and ungodly.

7:24

You can be a churchman and ungodly. All

7:27

it takes, leave

7:29

God out of your life. There

7:31

are more of people who are with that God.

7:34

All you need to do to be 01, leave God

7:36

out of your life. You'll

7:38

be highly desirable, highly

7:41

acceptable, highly respectable in

7:43

society. You are on top of

7:45

every invitation list of all

7:47

the high class society and you are in

7:49

godly. You see, you

7:51

don't have to do all the religious things

7:53

to be godly. You can

7:56

sing and acquire and and do all these religious

7:58

things and still ungodly. And

8:00

Paul said from scratch, run,

8:04

get away, escape. Don't

8:06

hang around them. Because sooner

8:08

or later, they will impact you. It will begin

8:10

by walking and the next thing you're standing

8:13

and ultimately you're sitting. You

8:15

see there are only two groups of people in the scripture.

8:17

There is no third. Exim in the scripture.

8:19

Look at the bible, read it carefully. There

8:22

is the godly and the ungodly. There

8:25

is the wheat and the tare. There

8:27

is the light and the darkness. There

8:29

is the sheep and the goat. There

8:32

are those with Christ and those against Christ.

8:34

There's nobody in the middle Nobody

8:36

neutral. There are no middle ground in the

8:38

scripture. Do you want to know

8:41

if you are godly or not? I

8:44

asked myself this question. Do

8:46

I confess Jesus Christ publicly

8:49

to my friends, to my neighbors? Do

8:52

I proclaim him in my life? God let them

8:54

know that he is my only lord, my only

8:56

savior. Do I

8:58

fellowship with god Do I fellowship

9:00

with the people of God or

9:02

churches a drag for me? Do

9:05

I spend adequate time on a daily basis

9:07

with God and intimate relationship with him?

9:09

And reading his word, pouring my heart over his

9:12

word. Do I involve God

9:14

in every decision that I make no

9:16

matter how small it might be? Do

9:18

I give of my substance to the house of

9:20

God or do I spend it on myself? Do

9:23

I serve the Lord with all my heart and

9:25

with all my soul? With all my mind,

9:28

or am I working so hard seven

9:30

days a week, then I'm only giving God the crumbs

9:32

of lifters. Do

9:34

I see to it that my children

9:37

not only adequately taken care of

9:39

materially, but are they instructed

9:41

in the Word of God and in the whole counsel

9:43

of God. That's how you know

9:45

if you're godly. Children

9:48

today know more about the latest pop song

9:50

than Psalm one. No

9:53

wonder the psalmist said, the ungodly

9:55

are not so. The

9:57

ungodly are miserable people because

9:59

they leave god out of the life.

10:02

I don't know about you. You might

10:04

be a person who had the relationship

10:07

with the Lord Jesus Christ at one stage.

10:10

Sometime ago your life

10:13

was sweet and victorious.

10:17

Maybe there was a time when

10:19

you had triumph in your soul and

10:21

smile on your face, but

10:23

not now, why? Why

10:27

is your song has turned into a sob?

10:30

Why is your smile become a smirk?

10:32

Why is your left has become sadism?

10:36

You didn't ever intended for it to go this

10:38

way, but what happened you began by walking

10:41

and then you began standing and then you

10:43

are sitting in the midst of it. It is easy

10:46

to take that first step. It is easy

10:48

for all of us. What dragged

10:50

you from the Lord? What dragged you from

10:52

there? Was it the wealth and the prestige?

10:56

Was it the power? Was

10:58

it the climbing of the social ladder?

11:02

Is it fear that people might reject

11:04

you and not be accepted in society?

11:07

What made you walk with the ungodly?

11:09

What made you stand with the ungodly? What

11:11

is making us sit with the ungodly? My

11:15

pray that you will

11:17

turn around today? Because

11:20

that has not brought you any happiness, I'm

11:22

sure it's not. Is the company of

11:24

the ungodly worth it now? Of course not.

11:27

You see, Christians don't

11:29

fall in transgression just

11:31

like that. Not overnight, it

11:34

doesn't happen that way. They

11:37

allude so granularly, so

11:40

subtly. First,

11:43

they walk. Then they stand

11:46

and then ultimately they're sitting with

11:48

the ungodly. The first

11:50

step away from god and God's

11:52

people is a step toward ungodliness.

11:56

It begins with walking with them. It

11:58

begins with accepting relativism by

12:01

accepting that there are no absolutes

12:03

in this day. It

12:05

begins with saying, as a minister friend

12:07

of mine, who was once turned for

12:09

fire for God and today he doesn't believe

12:12

anything that he preached many years ago,

12:14

who said Jesus never condemned anybody.

12:17

And I made the mistake of saying, you

12:19

must be reading the wrong bible because

12:22

he said, I don't read in the bible anymore.

12:26

You know what happened to him? He

12:28

started by walking and

12:30

in a matter of few years, he

12:33

was standing And now

12:35

he's sitting in the counsel

12:37

of the ungodly, accepting

12:40

the lifestyle. Abandoning

12:42

altogether any room

12:44

for the authority of the Word of God

12:46

that once he proclaim. And

12:49

all along, As I told

12:51

him that God says, I love you. He loves

12:53

you. He might not be able to look because

12:55

his eyes are purer than to look upon you

12:57

sin. But he loves you and he wants you

13:00

to come back. Listen

13:02

to me very carefully. Sin is not

13:04

what I say. Sin

13:07

is not what they say.sin is

13:09

what God said. And

13:12

that is why in the institutional church,

13:15

Before they legislated sin, they

13:17

began thirty years ago by saying, this

13:20

book is not the word of God. That

13:22

this book is not relevant, that

13:24

this book is culturally speaking

13:27

to the people of the past and has no

13:29

relevance to us today. And within a

13:31

matter of a generation, now

13:33

they have legislated for sin. I

13:37

am called of god to warn you

13:39

as well as feed you the word of God.

13:42

But I know the moment you start walking

13:44

with the ungodly, the first sign of

13:46

you walking with the ungodly is that you resent

13:48

warning. You

13:51

don't like it because it is

13:53

easy to go from walking to

13:55

standing to sitting. And

13:57

it's so gradual. You walk,

14:00

then you stand, and then you find yourself

14:02

sitting. Who are

14:04

the scornful that the Psalm was just talking

14:06

about? The scornful

14:08

are the doctors of damn nation. Those

14:11

who proclaim that Jesus is not the only

14:13

way to salvation. Those

14:16

who tell you that conscience is

14:19

nothing more than a primitive leftover.

14:22

The scornful at those who make

14:24

mockery of the statues of the

14:26

Lord. The scornful at

14:28

those who scorn the divinity of

14:31

Christ. And

14:33

if you are there sitting there, you'd say, well,

14:35

I never intended to go so far.

14:37

Nobody ever does. Well,

14:39

I only thought I could walk. Of

14:41

course, you didn't use those words. But

14:44

then I'm finding myself standing and now I'm

14:46

sitting in doubt that I'm sitting in

14:48

despair. It is

14:50

never too late. The

14:53

Lord is opening his arms

14:55

for you to come. And return

14:57

to him. He loves you.

15:00

His son died for you. And

15:02

what this Psalm, Psalm one is telling

15:04

us is this, that we

15:07

must say, noticing. We

15:09

must say, nor to conformity and

15:11

say, yes to Jesus. The

15:13

word know is the most powerful word

15:15

in the English language. It's

15:18

the smallest word. It's the most powerful

15:20

word. Adam was

15:22

created a brilliant man, a bright man.

15:25

But because that he did not know how to

15:27

say no, he got us all in the mess.

15:29

He lost his home, he lost paradise, he lost

15:31

the privilege of fellowshipping with God.

15:34

By contrast Joseph, when he was lured

15:37

by part of his wife, he said no.

15:39

And he was blessed to be the prime minister

15:42

of Egypt. You want to

15:44

live a blessed life? Learn to say no.

15:47

Mothers and dads, you

15:49

want to raise blessed children. Learn

15:51

to say no. But when they come to us

15:53

at all, but daddy, all kids are doing

15:55

this all the kids are doing that still

15:58

say the answer is no. I

16:00

don't get tired of saying it. Young

16:02

men, young women, are

16:04

you hearing me? You'll

16:06

be blessed of God when you learn

16:08

to say no to the millions

16:10

of temptations that are facing you every

16:13

day. Now,

16:15

this song in the word of God

16:17

said that the difference between those

16:20

who say yes and those who say

16:22

no. Is this,

16:25

those who say no to conformity

16:29

and to sin and to the council

16:31

of the ungodly, alike a tree.

16:35

It is planted by the streams

16:37

of living water. Those

16:39

who say yes to conformity are

16:42

like a handful of checks. If

16:45

it toss out in the wind, the hogs even would

16:47

need it. Think about

16:49

a tree, a beautiful tree.

16:52

It is planted, which

16:55

means it was placed by divine

16:58

will

16:59

You are where you are

17:02

by divine will. And

17:05

the streams of water

17:08

Are the endless supply by God

17:10

of all your needs? Do

17:13

you know how to kill a tree? The

17:15

best way to kill a tree is

17:17

move it around every ten days, get

17:19

it in the front yard, and then the next thing, no, it

17:21

won't want to put it back in backyard and then,

17:23

no, no, no, we'll get back to the side of the house and then this

17:26

side of the house and just move it around

17:28

a few times. And before long,

17:30

it says brown as dirt. Because

17:34

it never stayed somewhere to

17:36

dig roots and produce fruits. And

17:39

if God has placed you somewhere, stay

17:42

there. Let the roots sit there.

17:44

If God is calling you on from somewhere,

17:46

get out of there. But where you go, dig

17:48

your

17:49

roots, be there by

17:51

divine appointments, and bear fruit

17:53

for God, but don't sit on the

17:55

fence. Unmover and

17:57

criticize, get out, get

17:59

in, do whatever you wanted to ask

18:01

God to lead

18:02

you. Christian life

18:05

is not a psychotic or neurotic

18:07

fancy as some people would have you

18:09

believe. It is not

18:11

weak emotional moment

18:14

The Christian life is not sensation,

18:16

is not sentiment.

18:19

Life in Christ is the real

18:21

thing. It

18:24

has roots, it has divine

18:26

health, and you

18:28

are not living until

18:30

you discover it. And my

18:32

prayer if you have not known it today that

18:34

you would know it. You wanna

18:36

hear what is emotional? To

18:38

live without joy To live

18:41

without love, to live without

18:43

peace, to live, without hope.

18:45

That's emotional. I'll tell

18:48

you what is

18:48

emotional. It

18:49

is to watch your marriage brought

18:51

away one day at a time. I'll

18:53

tell you what is emotional. It's to see

18:55

sin dividing your family and tearing

18:57

them apart. That is emotional. I

19:01

tell you what else is is not emotional.

19:03

It is not emotional to stand in the congregation

19:05

of God, praising God and him honor

19:08

and glory, unashamedly of the foolishness

19:10

of the gospel. But I'll tell you

19:12

what is emotional. Is

19:14

not taking notice of

19:16

a day that is coming called day of judgment

19:19

when all the scornful will stand

19:21

before God's judgment bench.

19:24

We'll stand before the judge. There'll

19:27

be no clever lawyers there to bail

19:29

you out. There'll be no loopholes

19:32

in the law to exempt you.

19:35

Only god sitting on the bench in

19:37

the day of judgment. And

19:39

as you come in, the Angel will come and open

19:41

the book of life. What's your name? Smith.

19:43

Jack Smith. Oh, yes.

19:45

You have lived a life that is godly. You

19:48

kept God in your life. You honored God in your

19:50

life. You like a tree. You did

19:52

not walk, you did not stand, you did not sit.

19:55

Your life was like a tree by the streams

19:57

of the living water. Come, enter into

19:59

the joy of your Lord. And you'll take you

20:01

into heaven. And then if you come in

20:04

and you give him your name and

20:06

your name is not there, The

20:08

angel will lead you into the

20:10

abest that the scripture calls hell.

20:14

And Jesus said whom the Liberals say,

20:16

never condemned anybody. Never

20:19

talked about sin. Listen

20:21

to what he said about hell. He said

20:23

that there will be weeping and

20:25

gnashing of teeth. Don't

20:27

let them mislead you. Don't let them guide

20:30

you. I tell

20:32

you that is emotional. If

20:35

you keep ignoring the voice of God, the

20:37

angel will take you to the place where Jesus

20:39

said that the worms do not die and

20:41

the fire never quenched. You

20:44

must sit there and say to yourself, oh, I wish

20:46

I have listened to that loud mouth preacher

20:48

in Atlanta Georgia when you preach from Psalm

20:51

one, but that's not gonna help you. Why

20:53

will you stubbornly postpone your

20:56

salvation? Why will

20:59

you not Come with your godly

21:02

and loving parents into heaven. Why

21:04

will you not come with your godly and loving

21:07

children into heaven? Why

21:09

will you not come with those who love the Lord?

21:12

God is opening his hand to you. God

21:14

is calling you. Whether you

21:16

really like those words or not.

21:18

I believe that the holy spirit is

21:21

pointing his finger to you and saying you

21:24

turn to the Lord. You

21:26

who have known the lord and

21:29

the fellowship and the joy of

21:32

walking with him You

21:34

have been walking with the ungodly. You have been

21:36

standing with the ungodly. You have been sitting

21:38

with the ungodly for too long. Get

21:40

up. Leave and

21:43

he's stretching his arm to

21:45

receive you. Father

21:47

God, your boundless

21:51

love, you're an exhaustible

21:54

mercy, your abundance

21:56

grace, overwhelms

21:59

us. And

22:01

father and I do pray for these individuals,

22:05

and others who have submitted in

22:07

their heart to you, who

22:10

have returned from the wilderness, In

22:13

01' name, I pray for your holy spirit

22:15

to come upon them and

22:17

dwell in them and put

22:19

a hedge of protection. So

22:22

they cannot walk or stand

22:24

or sit, but

22:26

live in you day by day.

22:33

This is leading the way with

22:35

practical, biblical advice from pastor

22:37

and author, doctor Michael Youssef.

22:40

Learn more about what it means to have

22:42

a relationship with the savior when

22:45

you visit LTW dot

22:47

org slash Jesus.

22:51

The world is at a turning point. Disease,

22:54

economic crisis, wars, and

22:56

rumors of wars are overtaking our world

22:58

today. With this kind of

23:01

chaotic turmoil, people, both

23:03

Christian and non Christian, are all

23:05

asking themselves the same question. Is

23:07

this the end of the world? Doctor

23:10

Youssef's latest book is the end

23:12

near, will embolden you to stay

23:14

cemented in the hope and faith of Christ

23:17

regardless of what is happening in the world around

23:19

you. Yousef examines the end

23:21

times descriptions Jesus

23:23

first gave us in Matthew twenty four

23:25

and twenty five. Learn

23:28

how to get your copy of. Is

23:30

the end near? When you visit

23:32

LTW dot org, LTW

23:35

dot org.

23:39

Get your copy of is the end

23:41

of the year or any of the more than

23:43

fifty titles Dr. Youssef has written

23:45

right to you today. The website

23:48

is LTW dot

23:50

org. And also you can get direction

23:53

from a representative at the ministry call

23:55

center as well. That number

23:57

8666264356.

24:03

Again, that's 8666264356.

24:09

We also love receiving your cards

24:11

and letters. So right to us at leading

24:13

the way Post office box 20100

24:18

Atlanta, Georgia 30325.

24:22

That's post office box 20100

24:26

Atlanta, Georgia 30325.

24:31

Thank you for listening today. And do make a

24:33

note of this time. That way, you can join

24:35

us next time for leading the way.

24:41

This program is furnished by leading

24:43

the way with doctor Michael Youssef.

24:46

Connect with us through our YouTube channel,

24:48

Facebook, Twitter, and all

24:50

of our social media networks. Learn

24:53

more at LTW dot

24:55

org.