Leading The Way

Guest (Male): We discovered Dr. Youssef years ago as we have grown as Christians in our lives as the Holy Spirit has led us closer to the Lord year by year. What we have yearned for and been drawn to more than anything is the truth of the gospel, the absolute total truth, because there is so much going on in the world that is apostasy.

We praise God for Michael Youssef and for his life in allowing the Lord to work through him to us and feed us with the truth. And as it is said in your programs, you always use the word passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth, and that is exactly what you do. It is critical in this day and time when we are trying to stand firm for the Lord in a time that although there is so much evil, we know that the opportunities abound to help bring as many as possible to Christ. Praise the Lord for you and your ministry and God bless you.

Guest (Male): Thank you for taking time out of your day for Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading the Way, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth for more than 35 years. Today Dr. Youssef takes you to the place that God asked Abraham to leave, the home that he and his family had always known, and to obediently go to a new, unknown place.

This is a picture of obedience that mirrors each Christian's call to step away from their life before Christ, following God toward new and unknown adventures in faith. And a quick reminder before Dr. Youssef begins, Leading the Way is a listener-supported ministry, meaning that Dr. Youssef and his leadership team rely on God's provision through God's people to take the gospel worldwide.

Visit ltw.org for details about the ministry and how you can be a part while the door is still open. You can also learn more about the ministry by subscribing to the monthly My Journal. More later, right now though, here is Dr. Michael Youssef to continue his faith-inspiring series called Counting Stars in an Empty Sky.

Dr. Michael Youssef: There is a classic Christian book that was written in the middle of the 1600s. The book is called Pilgrim's Progress, and the author John Bunyan, who lived between 1628 and 1688, was thrown into prison for preaching without a license in England. In prison, he wrote this book as a Christian pilgrim progressing through life heading for heaven, his ultimate destination. Throughout his journey, he encounters all sorts of challenges just as we do as Christian pilgrims: temptations, difficulties, and yes, thank God, some places of rest.

What is a pilgrim? I think that's an important thing because the Bible refers to Abraham as a pilgrim. So you have to ask the question, what is a pilgrim? It is not just a person who leaves home and wanders around aimlessly. That's a drifter. But is a person who leaves home heading for another home.

A pilgrim has a vision to accomplish. A pilgrim has a goal in mind to reach. A pilgrim has a destination that he's aiming at. A pilgrim has a determination to reach his destination regardless of the difficulties, and regardless of the suffering, and regardless of the pain. And because of this vision, because of this goal, and because of this determination, he or she holds everything else in life with open hands.

Look with me, please, at Genesis 12:5. We looked at the first four verses, the promise of God, the covenant of God, and here we look at verse 5. It says when Abraham left Haran, he accumulated a great deal of wealth. The Bible does not waste words, let me assure you. It does not waste a single word. At this time, Abraham was 75 years old. That is considered middle-aged, for he lived to be 175.

Now, I want you to go to the Book of Acts in the New Testament, chapter 7, because I am going to show you something very significant in relationship to this Haran destination. Stephen, the very first Christian martyr, the first Christian to be killed for Jesus Christ, was stoned to death. Before they killed him, he stands before the Sanhedrin. Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin. Paul stood before the Sanhedrin. Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin. This is the Supreme Council. This is the Supreme Court of the Jews.

He decided to give a speech that is to walk these religious leaders through the history of their nation, but specifically pointing to the hand of God working despite of them. And this is something that they saw as an insult. Who is this young deacon who is telling us about our history? We know the history. But he does that deliberately.

And so in chapter 7 of the book of Acts, verse 3, he said, "In the beginning, God called Abraham. God told him to leave your country and your people. God said, go to the land which I will show you." Verse 4: "And so he left the land of Chaldeans and he settled in Haran." Haran is that land of vanity fair where the temptations of alluring enticement have taken place. Look at the rest of the verse. I'm going to come back to that.

After the death of his father, that's saying volumes. I told you, the Bible does not waste words. After the death of his father, God sent him to the land where we are now living. He was standing there in Jerusalem in front of the Sanhedrin speaking. Now, I want to give you a Middle Eastern perspective on this. What I'm going to tell you is not in the Bible. I don't want anybody to go home and start looking for this and trying to find it. It is not in the Bible. It's a Youssef thing.

After God told Abraham, "I want you to leave your old life behind and leave the Ur of Chaldeans and go to the land where I am going to show you." A good Middle Eastern guy that he was, he basically pulled the flap of the tent of his father Terah and he said, "Abba, I'm leaving you. I am going to go somewhere. I don't know exactly where, but God called it Canaan and He is going to show me where to go. I am going to leave this hometown. I am going away from my past and I'm going to a new land." Just like I told you, it's the life of every believer in Jesus Christ. God calls us from the life of sin with which we were born, calls us from the old life before Christ into life with Christ.

"Abba, I don't know where this land is, but I'm going." Upon hearing this news, old Terah freaks out. "What? You are going to leave your poor old father here? You're deserting your old man who has been good to you? Who is going to take care of me in my old age? I mean, your brother Nahor, he is such a scatterbrain, he can't even take care of his son Lot. And you're going where? What did this God say to you? Are you going to count stars? You don't even have any children. Rub it in. You are going nowhere fast without me."

Parents of adult children, let me just have a word with you. A very simple word. Cut the apron strings. Possessiveness of the life of your adult children is not very healthy for them. To be sure, you should never stop loving them. You should never stop serving them. You should never stop helping them. You should certainly never, never, never stop praying for them. But they are called by God to leave and cleave. Amen belongs here.

One of the reasons God called His future friend Abraham to leave the old life and leave Ur and get out, get away from home, He wants to get him out of idol worship. He wants to get him from that environment. He wants to get him away from bad companions. He wants to take him away from the old life to the new one. Now, I have a word to believing children who have non-believing parents. You must always love your parents, always respect your parents, always honor your parents. Above all, you must never, never, never stop praying for your parents if they are not believers. If they are believers, respect them, but always do what God calls you to do.

And so Abraham comes back from work and he sees his dad had all the bags packed. "Father, what are you doing? Where are you going?" "With you, of course. You're not going to go without me. Did you think I'm going to let you leave me here? I am going with you." Now, I want to show you something here in the scripture. Go up one chapter, Genesis 11, just a few verses up, verse 31. Just a reminder before I read the verse: God called whom to go? Abraham. Good.

Now you can look at the verse 31. Terah took his son Abraham. Wait a minute. God called Abraham. Here called Terah. But he wasn't going to go without him. So he takes his son Abraham. If you can't see the funny side of this, you don't have a sense of humor. I'm telling you. God calls Abraham, but the father says he took Abraham. And then he took the grandson and Abraham's nephew Lot and Abraham's wife Sarah. Together they set from the Ur of Chaldeans to go to Canaan. Don't miss this.

But when they got to Haran, they settled there. Why Haran? When God said that the pilgrim's destination is Canaan? Why Haran? Well, I am glad you asked because I have really been anxious to tell you. Haran is the city where the great temple of the Moon God is placed. And pagan Terah saw the temple of the Moon God in Haran and he thought that he died and went to heaven. Actually, he loved the Moon God so much and he named one of his three sons Haran. This is like 10 Las Vegases put together.

Haran to the moon worshipper would be like Mecca to the Muslims or Salt Lake City to the Mormons. This is the place of all places. Again, let me give you a Middle Eastern perspective here. Abraham's father Terah got to this Las Vegas kind of thing and he said, "Whoopee! Abraham, my boy, I am glad I came with you. Forget about Canaan. Let's stay here and take some night shows. Let's experience some nightlife. Haran is a place of fun for the pagans. This is great." "But dad, God said Canaan." "Oh, one place is as good as the other."

"This is better than Canaan. Canaan probably is going to be boring. This is where the fun is." "But God told me to leave the Ur of Chaldeans and go to Canaan." I told you in the last message, there are so many Christian believers who start their Christian life well. They get saved and become joyful and they have what the Bible calls the joy of salvation. They're excited about their faith. Then they walk for a little while and then they come to what I call the land of compromise. Where they begin to marry materialism to the Christian faith.

Where they begin to put the old life with the new life and then they start rationalizing it. Well, the grace of God will take care of it, basically giving themselves a license to compromise. And there they sit. Beloved, if you are in Haran right now, get out while the getting out is possible. Turn to the grace of God while it can be found. Christian believers, please listen to me. All of us, your pastor is included, all of us try to settle in something that falls way, way, way short of God's perfect plan for us.

I know I have experienced at least two Harans in my life. Why do you think I get emotional when I talk about the grace of God? Because He took me out of my Harans before it was too late. I wonder how many of us have come to a certain point in your Christian life's journey on this pilgrim with God and you said, "That's enough. I have come so far but no more. I have given so much but no more. I have done so much but no more. I've served so much but no more."

Today I implore you in the name of Jesus, get out of Haran while you can. Say to the Lord, "Lord, I'm sorry I wandered away. I'm sorry I got to Haran and stayed there. Lord, I know You wanted to take me to a greater height of serving You. You wanted to take me to a greater height of loving You. You wanted to take me to a greater height of sacrificing for You. You wanted to take me to a greater height of glorifying Your name. You wanted to take me to a greater height for my prayer life, and I am sorry I got stuck in Haran."

I know without a shadow of doubt from the word of God that this is the prayer that God would rejoice over, and He will empower you to do it. I know God loves it when His people begin to move out of their comfort zone. God loves it when His people begin to implicitly trust Him with all of their heart. God loves it when we get off our blessed assurance and do something great for God. God loves it when you begin to invest your all in His kingdom. God loves it when you begin to invest your life in the lives of others on His behalf.

And I believe with all my heart if there is a lesson that God wants to teach us, it is this: counting the stars when you can see none is going to get you back on the right track. Get back to be restored in your vision for God. God wants you to learn not to settle in Haran. Get out while the getting out is possible. Let me ask you, are you stuck in Haran? Whatever your Haran may be, and it is different from one to the other.

Are you reluctant to take the first step and move out of your Haran right now? Have you allowed your life to be so cluttered up with all kinds of junk that you do not want to leave behind and you're clinging into it? Remember this: whether personal or corporate revival will not come to us just because we want it. Revival will not come just because we are waiting for it. Revival will come when each individual, and I am talking about each individual believer, moves out of their Haran and builds an altar in Bethel.

You see, building an altar back then is a symbol of renewing of your vision, the vision of God for your life. And that's exactly what Abraham did when he got out. He started by building an altar there in Bethel. Start counting the stars even when you see none and renew your vision and God's vision that He has for you. The late J. Edwin Orr of New York used to say something that is really right on the money. He said there are too many people today who are having emotional experiences and they call it a revival.

Revival will not come unless truly people run away from sin, build an altar for God in Bethel. Abraham learned the hard way that personal revival will not be found in part-time obedience. Personal revival will not come when there is partial obedience. The secret is not in the place, but in the place of obedience, when we go where God calls us to go. The place of holiness. You haven't heard that word very much. Holiness. You heard tolerance, I know. Holiness, and yet the Bible said without holiness no one can see God.

The place of holiness begins by thorough self-examination. Not pointing a finger at somebody else, but pointing a finger at me. Examination to find out all of the things in us that are displeasing the Lord and get rid of it. You know, there are so many people, they just love to quote 2 Chronicles 7: "If my people humble themselves and pray and repent and seek my face." Here is why I cringe. First of all, this is not for the New Testament. It is not for the blood-bought children of the living God in the New Testament.

This was a promise to the land of Israel. It's a promise to people who were worshipping in a temple offering animal sacrifices. But it's more than that. Most people when they pray this prayer are pointing their finger at the sins of others instead of repenting of their own sin. They kind of say, "All these are the bad people." Let me tell you, God cares about His children, not the devil's children. He can take care of them and He will, make no mistake about it. But He called us to repent individually.

Until we come clean with God as individual believers, our own disobedience, our own stubbornness, our own wanting to stay in the place of our own choosing, and wanting our comfort and wanting our ease and wanting our conveniences and what we like and what we don't like; until we come clean with God, until we do that, we are still in Haran with all of its muck and we will never make an impact on our culture. I pray to God that this will be a day of renewal, of turning from our individual Haran into the Canaan of God.

I want to tell you this as I conclude. My dear friend Dr. J. Edwin Orr, the late J. Edwin Orr, if you find any book by J. Edwin Orr just get it, read it. You will be blessed, I assure you. I am so grateful to God that in the '70s, I had the joy of sitting at his feet. He was considered to be the foremost authority on the history of Christianity in America, particularly the history of awakening and revivals and in the condition of the church. In 1990, he wrote an article and he was talking about true revival.

He said that before the War of Independence, the morals and the spiritual condition of the nation were in a tailspin. Alcoholism became rampant. Crime was fast on increase. Churches were on the decline. So much so that John Marshall, the Chief Justice of the United States at that time, wrote the following: "The church was too far gone to be revived." Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. But God raised up a man by the name of Jonathan Edwards. He was without a doubt probably the poorest communicator of his day.

He had such poor eyesight that he read his sermons word for word and he had to put his notes so close to his eyes so he could see them. But you see, God specializes in that. He doesn't specialize in using slick Willies. He uses unlikely people. Jonathan Edwards was influenced by a godly Scottish minister who wrote a book. Fasten your seatbelt just for the title of the book. Imagine what the book is about, and here is the title: *An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God's People and Extraordinary Prayer for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom on Earth*.

That book ignited what is known back then as a concert of prayer. This was a network of prayer meetings across the country. And as they say, the rest is history. And God sent an awakening like He has never done since. He's done it a couple of times, but not like that. I can tell you categorically the change will happen when God's people, not the outside world, when God's people, not the government, when God's people, not society, but when God's people repent of their sin and turn to Him and become fervent in prayer. Then you can watch out.

My beloved friend, get out of your Haran. Whatever your Haran may be, get out of Haran and start counting the stars even when you see none. For counting the stars will most certainly lead you back on the right track even if you wandered off. God is waiting with open arms.

Guest (Male): A challenge to lean into prayer and accept the power that it offers from your teacher on Leading the Way audio, Dr. Michael Youssef. Now, if after hearing this message you have questions about living a faith-filled life, connect with one of Leading the Way's compassionate pastors or counselors. Fill out a contact form at ltw.org/jesus.

ltw.org is also where you can begin a life-changing subscription to a monthly magazine. It's produced by Dr. Youssef and the Leading the Way team and it's called My Journal. I know that you and your family will find this content so encouraging. Many subscribers share how they keep a copy of My Journal in their work bag. That way, when break time comes, they can browse and read and grow in areas like Christian living, understanding the Bible, theology, and more.

So start your free trial subscription to My Journal when you give us a call: 866-626-4356. Or you can visit us online at ltw.org. It may take a few weeks to get your very first copy, so go ahead and sign up today at ltw.org or call us: 866-626-4356. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.