Leading The Way

Guest (Male): Are you uncertain about what's ahead in 2026? Welcome to Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, pastor and author of more than 50 life-changing books, including his most recent, Winning the Invisible War, a book full of practical wisdom to tackle the battles of life. You can order Winning the Invisible War and other resources from Leading The Way at LTW.org or speak with a ministry representative at 866-626-4356.

Today, Dr. Youssef encourages you to lean into the words found in John chapter 17, words that offer an encouraging reminder that Jesus is going to the Father personally on your behalf. Because of that and the assurance that it builds, you will be able to face your future with faith and with confidence. So let's listen together as Dr. Michael Youssef begins today's message that he's calling "Facing the Future with Confidence."

Dr. Michael Youssef: Every new year, these fortune tellers—that's really what I call them, future predictors—they come out of the woodwork. Every year. Through the years, I've really tracked some of them. I've got to tell you that at least—and I want to be very charitable—at least 90% of their predictions never come to pass.

One predicted that this coming year, we're going to see a nuclear holocaust. Another one predicted that this is going to be the beginning of the Third World War, but it's never going to end. Another predicted a famine of biblical proportions. Another predicted a cyber attack on all the stock markets around the world and there's going to be economic collapse. Another predicted that Israel is going to be wiped from the face of the earth—you know where that comes from. And yet another is predicting a total collapse of law and order, and on and on and on.

If I were not a disciple of Jesus Christ, if I was not eternally saved, if I did not believe whether in this life or for eternity—it's both winners for me—if I did not know Jesus as my Savior and Lord, if I did not know that Jesus is interceding on my behalf and on behalf of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ right now, I probably would not have gotten out of bed. If I believed a smidgen of what these people say, I'd be depressed.

But I'm not. I am absolutely as optimistic as I've ever been. I'm as encouraged as I've ever been. I'm as hopeful as I've ever been because I know that my Redeemer liveth, and He is interceding for me at the right hand of the Father. And so I face whatever comes. Why? Because we fully trust in the promises of God in the Word of God.

His Word says in Hebrews chapter 7, verses 24 and 25, "But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood." Verse 25, "Therefore,"—remember I always tell you, when you see the word "therefore," find out why it is therefore—"therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to Him." He's able to save what? Completely those who come to Him. And here it comes, "because He always lives to intercede for them." Praise God.

Now, my beloved friends, that is enough for me to be able to say to whoever is predicting the future, bring it on. Why? Because my Savior is interceding for me right now at this very moment. I am thankful to the Lord that the Holy Spirit guided John, specifically John out of the four Gospels, to give us this word-for-word example of how our Lord is interceding for us.

Our Lord, while here on earth just before the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, He gave us an example of how He is now interceding for us at this very moment. So turn with me to John 17. Three things I want to share with you very quickly here about Jesus' high priestly intercession in John chapter 17.

First of all, in the first five verses, you notice our Lord is claiming His own glorification, which now He's appropriating. Before the cross and the tomb and the resurrection, He was claiming that glorification, His own glorification, as already been promised by the Father. Secondly, verses 6 to 19, that's the longest part, that He is praying for our sanctification. And thirdly, verses 20 to 26, Jesus is interceding for our unification. His glorification, our sanctification and unification.

Look at these very quickly, I want to unwrap them very fast. First of all, Jesus claims a promise of the Father for His own glorification. Now, remember, this is before the cross. Having obeyed the Father perfectly—and this could be a day before the cross, before the crucifixion—having obeyed the Father perfectly, His first intercession has been fulfilled, and now He is appropriating that glory with the Father.

Inasmuch as our Lord Jesus Christ now is glorified in heaven, Jesus was so confident of that coming glorification when He prayed those prayers. Why? Remember, before coming to earth as an embryo in a virgin's womb, Jesus dwelt in the glory and the splendor with the Father in heaven. Before His coming down to our broken and sin-filled world, before stepping down into this earth to deliver us from evil and the punishment of evil, our Lord Jesus Christ dwelt in the Father's power and great glory.

Jesus Himself said that He willingly obeyed and left the Father and left the glories of heaven to come to our broken world, so that He, the sinless, perfect Son of God, allowed repentant sinners who will come to the Father through Him and through Him alone to be accepted by God the Father. And you're accepted because of Jesus.

And thus, when He prayed for His own glorification, He knew that that glorification is coming, but only after the agonizing death of the cross, only after paying for your debt and my debt on that cross. His glorification is coming, but only after His perfect obedience to the Father.

Why was He so confident as He intercedes for His own glorification? Because He knew that His Father always, always, always keeps His promises. He was so confident His Father keeps His promises. So the question is: what does it mean to be glorified? Oh, glory. We sometimes use the word and sing the word and we don't really give it a great deal of thought.

Glory is the revelation of God's character. Glory is the highlight of God's attribute. Glory is the shining of the floodlights on what God is really, really like. Think about it this way. A person would land on the moon in a business suit. They'd be charred in the first nanosecond. Sometimes you see the sun, the heat of the sun, literally behind the cloud, and it melts the gloom away.

And that is why we must put on a glorified body before we get fully to heaven and see the full glory of our Father. Read 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It's a long chapter, 58 verses, but it will show you Paul's argument is that we get clothed. We're not going to be floating souls in heaven; we will have a glorified body. Otherwise, we could not see Jesus. We could not see the glory of God.

When Jesus went to the cross, the hidden riches and the radiance of God, His love, His truth, His mercy was partially revealed. And because of the fact that only Jesus is the full revelation of the glory of God, our pagan culture blocks His name. They hide His name. They deride His name. They even curse His name because they've rejected the glory that was revealed of the Father by Jesus.

Oh, but for us who love Jesus, those of us who love Jesus, those who have lived for Jesus, He's our only hope. He's our only power for living. He's our only strength in times of trouble. He's our only authority over demons and evil spirits. He's our only authority over sickness and disease and infirmities. He's our only authority over sin and addiction. He's our only authority over bitterness and fear. And oh, because Jesus' name has eternity built in it.

Look at verse 3: "This is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Your Son, Your only Son." And those foolish people in many a church who would say Jesus is just a founder of another religion, let them read that verse: "This is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Your only Son."

In so many people sometimes mistakenly think that they will experience eternal life after they die. Our Lord here in this very verse disabuses of that notion. How? By telling us that eternal life begins the moment we know God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Eternal life begins in us when Jesus is enthroned on our hearts as our Savior and Lord.

And that is why dying for the believer is only a change of clothes. It's only a change of residence. It's moving from the basement to the penthouse. It's moving from the tent to the mansion. It's moving from the slum to the posh. It's moving from the perishable to the imperishable. It's moving from the limited to the limitless. It's moving from weakness to strength. Praise God. Give Him praise.

So what does it mean for Jesus to pray for His own glorification? He was looking beyond the cross. He was looking beyond the resurrection, looking beyond the ascension. He's looking to returning to His former splendor before He left heaven to come to earth. And that is why I tell you that we can face the future with confidence. Our name is mentioned in high places. We are known to God. We are known to Him by name. He knows everything about us, and He still loves us.

Glorification. Secondly, it brings me to the intercession for the sanctification. Verse 6, talking to the Father, Jesus said, "I have revealed You to those whom You have given Me out of the world." After three years, our Lord Jesus poured His life into the disciples. He poured into them day after day.

But look at Jesus' model of discipling. He did not only intercede for them, but He did not try to control them. Never. Read the Scripture. He did not try to keep them under His thumb. No, no, no. He did not try to frustrate them as some of them displayed immaturity and selfish ambition, some of them displayed doubt and unbelief. But that never stopped Him from pouring into them.

Beloved, pouring oneself into another is Jesus' model, and we must do it. Serving and giving, mentorship is Jesus' pattern, especially as we possibly face some dark days. I believe with all my heart, not one in this body of believers should walk alone.

Look at verse 11: "Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name." The power is where? In the name. "The name that You gave Me." God the Father gave Him that name. Verse 12: "While I was with them, I kept them safe by the name that You gave Me. Only the son of perdition," referring to Judas Iscariot, who was pretending to be a believer. My goodness gracious, there's so many pretending believers. These are what I call the goats in the church. They're actually not pretending to be sheep anymore.

My confidence is not in my holding into God, as some people say. Let me tell you something, if that was the case, I would have been lost a long time ago. But my confidence comes from the fact that He's holding me. He's holding me. Jesus is interceding for His disciples right now, which means that those who are eternally saved, those who know and love Jesus, no one can steal their salvation. No one can deprive them of fellowship with Him.

Jesus is asking the Father that you and me be protected from the schemes of Satan, from what's around the corner that we can't see, from the blind alleys. Verse 15: "My prayer is that you do not take them out of this world, but you protect them from the evil one." And that is why you often hear me say, I'm indestructible until God says come home.

Verse 17: "Sanctify them by Your truth. Sanctify them by Your truth. Sanctify them by truth. Your Word is the truth." Your Word is what? That's the truth. That is the truth. And not what Dr. Smellfungus or Pastor Super Duck says. The Word of God is the truth. The Word of God is the truth.

Now, beloved, don't ever forget: nothing will protect you from the world, the flesh, and the devil like the Word of God. The Word of God will keep you from sin, or sin is going to keep you from the Word of God. The word "sanctify" here can be misunderstood because it's not in common use. And it's a big word, but some young people might say, "What's 'sanctify' mean?"

Well, it means just simply every day you grow more like Jesus. Every day you are more set apart for Jesus. Every day more and more of you belongs to Jesus. Let me give you something that even kids will understand, even children will comprehend. You know, this is a comb. This comb is sanctified in me and to me. It's sanctified; it's dedicated. It's set aside for the use in my hair, not for any other purpose.

You can't use it, I would not lend it to you because your hair might have bugs in them. I will not use it for anything else, for any other purpose except for that, what it means, for my hair. And let me go from the ridiculous to the sublime. You and I are set aside for Jesus. We're set aside for His glory. Mind, body, soul, everything belongs to Jesus, not to anywhere else. You cannot use it for junk and you cannot use it for other stuff that does not bring glory to Jesus. That's what it means to be sanctified, to be set aside.

He interceded for His own glorification, Jesus interceded for the disciples' sanctification. Thirdly, He interceded for our unification. Perhaps no one knows more about the abuse of the word "unity" than I do in my years of ministering in the apostate church, a church that turned its back on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The word "unity" was often used to silence the Bible-believing Christians in many mainline denominations. Why? So that they would get their apostate agenda through. Their motto was as follows: doctrine divides, but love unites. Meaning because they don't believe in the divinity of Christ, but I believe in the divinity of Christ, that is a disunity. I am causing disunity to the body. Doctrine divide.

If I believe that Jesus rose from the dead bodily, physically, when they don't, I shouldn't be preaching that because that divides. But love, love unites. But by love they mean is that you bring all sorts of abomination and be accepted into the church. That is not love. That really is not love. In other words, you Bible-believing Christians, you better shut up or otherwise we're going to call you unloving, no matter how abominable that agenda was.

And listen, that is not the unity that Jesus is praying for here in Gospel of John chapter 17. The unity that Jesus is praying for is not organizational unity, it is not institutional unity, it is not denominational unity, but rather unity on the substance of the Christian faith. Unity of seeking the glory of Jesus above all else in life. It's the unity of the centrality of the Gospel and the Word of God. It's the unity of believing that salvation is through Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, in the Scripture alone.

Verse 22: "I have given them the glory. I revealed to them Your character that You've given Me. I've shone the light on how loving You are." Don't ever fall in the trap of these false teachers who tell you that the God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New Testament, that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath but the God of the New Testament is a God of love. Absolutely false from the pit of hell. It is God of the Old Testament who sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross to redeem us.

Beloved, when we love one another, united on the Gospel, united on the Word of God, united on the death and the resurrection of Jesus as the only way to heaven, we are revealing the character of God by loving one another. That's the unity He's talking about.

Guest (Male): Encouraging words from Dr. Michael Youssef to explore and to find comfort in the biblical truth that Jesus is interceding with the Father as you face the unknown ahead in this year and in years ahead. Hey, thank you for making time in your day for Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading The Way.

Alright, now that the holiday activities and all the parties are over—at least for a while—it's time to stand up, time to launch into 2026 with a renewed passion to grow in Christ. And The Daily Way can be a tool to help you accomplish being consistent in your everyday growth, offering daily practical biblical insight into marriage, family, prayer, praise, and the challenges of today.

Begin your day with the timeless wisdom of Scripture and be encouraged as you reflect on Dr. Michael Youssef's daily devotional, The Daily Way. Journey with Dr. Youssef into the very heart of God through 365 daily Bible readings and devotional reflections designed to help you grow in Christ.

Whether you're looking for guidance in marriage and family, want a clearer understanding of prayer and praise, or are eager to explore the profound teachings of Christ, The Daily Way is more than a book. It's a companion for your spiritual journey. In addition to the teachings, it includes blank pages for your notes, prayers, and reflections as God works in your life throughout the year.

In The Daily Way, you'll be reminded that God's grace is for our past, present, and future, transforming us into the people He intends us to be. The Daily Way is available now for your gift of any amount to Leading The Way at LTW.org. That's LTW.org. Begin your journey today.

Learn more about this month's special offer to get The Daily Way into your hands. Call 866-626-4356 or online at LTW.org. You'll be glad you did. This program is furnished by Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world.