Leading The Way

Dr. Michael Youssef: My dearest friends, I am feeling the urgency of the hour. In my knowledge of history and in the 77 years that I have lived on this earth, and the 52 years of ordained ministry, I have never seen a more urgent time for the preaching of the gospel, the proclamation of the gospel in our nation as I do now.

The gospel is the answer. A great awakening is the answer. I am dedicating my time and my life to leading the way, and I'm going to be on the road and on television, on radio, urging my friends to join with me so together we can have an impact in these last days.

Guest (Female): Thank you for making time in your day for Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. After serving as a local pastor for almost 40 years, Dr. Youssef now completely devotes his time to Leading The Way, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth in 28 languages.

We invite you to learn more about Leading The Way and Dr. Youssef at ltw.org or call us. Speak with a ministry representative to find out ways to stand with him in generosity at 866-626-4356.

Guest (Male): God's word teaches that as a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. But what does that really mean? Today on Leading The Way, Dr. Youssef continues his life-impacting teaching series called Heal Me, Oh God, offering insight into the power and the healing available through a deep and growing relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. Listen along as Dr. Youssef begins.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Healing. You mention the word and anyone who is in need of healing and wholeness, or anyone who knows somebody who needs healing or wholeness, they will pay attention.

Healing is not only limited to Christians. The desire for healing is a desire that is longed for by all people everywhere in every culture, in every nation, every tribe. It is an intuitive need and desire that God created in us to need wholeness and healing. Whether it is physical healing, whether it is emotional healing, whether it is a spiritual healing, whatever kind of healing that is desperately needed from within us.

Because of that desperate inner feeling and inner need for healing, modern media has latched on the Siamese twin of spirituality and healing. Those have become the cry of many in our nation, if not a large proportion of people around the world. I want to give you just an example of how this has become a desperate cry in our nation and so many of your neighbors and your friends.

The University of Chicago conducted a thorough study and they found that 67% of the American people believe in the supernatural. Wait a minute, not the supernatural that most Christians would understand. It is not the supernatural power of the Lord Jesus Christ through the power of his blood. That is not what they are talking about.

Let me explain to you what they mean by the supernatural. The poll goes on to explain that 42% of Americans claim that they had contact with the dead. That is what they mean by the supernatural. Another poll showed that one out of four Americans believe in reincarnation. That is what they mean by the supernatural.

The reason I call all of this shadow spirituality is because the shadow is not the real thing. It is the fake. Shadow is the false one. It is not the real thing. Shadow spirituality sounds good. Please listen to me. I know some of you are troubled by what I have been saying, so I want you to listen to what I am going to tell you in this concluding message.

Shadow spirituality looks good on the outside, but it is hollow on the inside. Shadow spirituality looks very attractive from the outside, but it is empty on the inside. They are enticing anyone who craves for love and peace and contentment, but they cannot accomplish these claims.

I want you to hear me right, please. There is only one true spirituality. That only one true spirituality is only found in the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God can only dwell in the lives of those who have submitted to the authority of Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit of God, who is Jesus's gift to those who follow him, to those who are his, can produce the healing of the soul, can produce the peace of mind, that can produce the comfort of our emotions.

In the past few messages, we saw together the person of the Holy Spirit and how he seals everyone who belongs to Jesus Christ for life and eternity. Secondly, we saw the power of the Holy Spirit and how God longs for you who know Jesus, who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, to be daily filled of that power, every single moment of every single day.

Today in this last message in the series, we are going to look and see the promise of the Holy Spirit to the believers. The promise is this: if you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and he has his seal on you, and daily filled with the power of the Holy Spirit daily, often moment by moment of every day, then the promise is that you will, not may, you will bear the fruit of the spirit.

That is a promise. That is God's promise. But because we live in an age where people do not keep their promises habitually, because we have grown to distrust people's word, and we say we wait and see if they can really deliver, many of us have grown to distrust in God's promises.

We think God is a man and he is like so-and-so and he is like so-and-so, he is like my father, he is like my mother, he is like my boss, and he is not going to keep his promise. We have grown in the church of Jesus Christ distrusting in the promises of God, let alone claim the promises of God.

This is how it often works in the life of many a believer. They see a promise in the scripture and they claim that promise from God. They pray, and they pray, and they ask for that promise. Then they do not receive the promise. At that point, they become disappointed with God. Oh, God did not answer my prayer. I prayed and he did not answer me. Here is a promise.

Most often the situation is that this person has never read the conditions of the promise. Most Christians only want to latch on the promise and forget about the conditions for meeting the promise. We do not want to meet those conditions. We do not want to even think about there being conditions. We just want to claim the promises.

I was talking to somebody the other day. He said, "I got this Jabez book and I read, oh, God bless me, bless me, bless me, and he hasn't blessed me." I said, "Have you met the conditions of blessing?" "No, what's that?" What happens when they do not meet the conditions of the promise is they do not receive the promise, and then they cry out, "Oh, God, why?"

When they do not receive the promise of God, they accuse God of not keeping his promise. God will always keep his promise. They live the rest of their Christian lives not believing, let alone claiming, the promises of God.

I want to illustrate this to you. A friend of mine was telling me the other day a true story. A couple who were going away on an extended vacation, their married son and his wife, their daughter-in-law, promised them not to worry about a thing. Just go and enjoy their vacation. They will take care of everything. They are going to mow the lawn. They are going to keep the house clean. They will make sure it is locked every day. They are going to collect the mail. Just go and enjoy yourself.

Within few days, the older couple began to scratch their head. What if they forget to lock the doors? Or what if the robbers would come in and steal all of our treasured possessions? What about if they do not mow the lawn? What if they do not pick up the mail? It is going to be piling up. Within few days, they cut their trip short and they come home, only to find that the lawn has been mowed, house has been locked, mail has been picked up, and everything was done.

But they ruined their vacation. They ruined their time because they could not trust their son and daughter-in-law were going to keep their word. God is not like that. God keeps his promises. I want you to hear me right on this one. Think of how many Christians are living a life of turmoil. They are sealed by the Holy Spirit, they belong to the Lord Jesus, but they are living their life in turmoil because deep down they do not believe that God keeps his promises. They have distrusted God to do what he said he will do.

The question is, do you meet the conditions? Do you keep the conditions of the promise? I want to give you an example. The Bible is full of examples. Jesus said in Luke 6:38, "Give and it shall be given to you, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will put into your lap." I staked all my life on that promise of God. Listen to this because that's the condition.

Give and it is given to you, but here is the condition: by the measure you use will be measured the measure you get back. So many people running around give God the crumbs of everything. They are chinching with God. "Well, I give you this and I get this, and I get this and you get this." They give to God less than what they tip a waiter in a restaurant.

Then they sit there when they get into financial trouble or whatever trouble they get into, they say, "Oh, God, but I've given you 10% of the leftover. Oh, God, why am I not blessed? Why, God, you're not blessing me?" What you are doing when you are not being a cheerful giver, and I am talking about your money, your energy, and your time, is cheating God and not meeting the condition of his blessing.

It is more than just cheating God. You really are insulting God. You are insulting him. When you spend more money and more time on your leisure activities than what you do for the God who loves you, you are not only not meeting the conditions of his promises, you are offending a holy God. Hear me right, please. Whenever you claim a promise, read carefully the condition of the promise.

So what is the condition of the promise of the Holy Spirit? What is the condition of you bearing the fruit of the spirit? The condition of the promise of bearing the fruit of the spirit, number one, is that once and for all you become sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. Once that is done daily, moment by moment, decision by decision, action by action, continuously, you must be daily filled by the Holy Spirit.

What's the promise? The promise is that you will bear the fruit of the spirit. What is the fruit of the spirit? According to Galatians 5:22 and 23, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Shadow spirituality, and I have talked to enough people to know, they will tell you that they want all these things. Oh, yes, they want them desperately. They want peace, they want love, they want joy, and they want contentment. They want it all. Read my lips: they have diddly-squat of a chance of reaching those all.

Why? Because love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control cannot be manufactured. They cannot be organized. They cannot be orchestrated. They cannot be primed up. You cannot climb up to it. It is a fruit. There are two conditions for producing this fruit: being sealed once and for all by the Holy Spirit of God and daily being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit of God in order to have victory in your life. That is the two conditions.

If you have ever watched harvesting of grapes, you would know there are always two people involved. There is the person who is cutting the cluster of grapes. But then there is another person who is walking right next to that person with an open basket. As the person cuts those clusters of grapes, he places them in the basket. He will cut, place them in the basket, and he walks with the person who is cutting the fruit.

If he stops, he stops. If he goes this way, he goes this way. If he goes backward, he walks backward. Always the basket is open and he is closely connected with the fruit cutter. That is how it works. That is how it works. If that person tries to shut the basket, he ain't going to get any fruit. If he tries to run ahead of the cutter, he ain't going to get the fruit. If he's going to lag behind, he is not going to get the fruit.

As long as the person with the basket keeps the basket open and follows closely along with the cutter, then the fruit basket is going to be filled to overflowing with the fruit. But if the basket carrier chooses to go his way or her way, there will be no fruit.

How do you say, "Why? Why am I not fruitful in my life? Why am I not receiving?" There are one of two reasons, hear me right. You closed your basket. You are not being filled of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. Or you are running ahead of the cutter or lagging behind. Listen to me, my beloved. You and I get into trouble when we do not stay connected to the fruit producer. The fruit of the spirit is character, not conduct. The fruit of the spirit is being, not doing. The fruit of the spirit is the likeness of the spirit.

Those who claim to be spirit-filled and bear no fruit of the spirit, they have either never been sealed of the Holy Spirit to begin with, or they have closed their heart and they have ceased to be filled daily with the Holy Spirit. Spurgeon made a statement that has absolutely been a wonderful blessing in my life. He said, "The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul."

Isn't that powerful? The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul. Listen to that very carefully. Memorize it, write it down. A lot of people running around under the guise of grace, giving themselves a license to live and walk and practice sin. They say it is grace.

Beloved, grace is not a license to sin. The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul. If you have no genuine love, if you do not have peace of mind, if you have lost your joy, if you are full of anger and greed and selfish ambitions, you need to ask yourself the question: am I sealed of the Holy Spirit?

You say yes, I remember back in such and such time I came to the Lord, I committed my life to the Lord. In fact, I really pray every day, I read the Bible every day, I try to do my best every day. No, God does not want you to try to do your best. Because when his spirit fills you, you will do your best. Ask yourself the question: when was it the last time that I came in the presence of God like an open basket and said, "Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit today. Fill me to overflowing"?

Listen to what Jesus said. He said unless you abide in me, you will not bear fruit. I do not care how many Bible verses you have memorized. Unless you abide in me, and this is a continuous abiding, not on a Sunday, not on just a few moments of every day, this is a continuous abiding. So what does God do to his fruitless child?

If you are sealed of the Holy Spirit and you belong to the Lord, you are his possession, but you produce no fruit of the spirit, Jesus said that branch that bears no fruit, he lifts up. What does that mean? The non-fruit-bearing branch, obviously, there is a reason why it is not bearing fruit. Most likely it is growing downward instead of upward. It is growing into the mud and the dirt of sin instead of the sunshine of God.

So he takes that branch, he cleans it, he washes it, he takes that branch, he trims it. Have you ever felt this in your life? I know I have been there. Brother, I pray every day, and I don't want to get there. Listen to what Hebrews 12:6 says. The Lord disciplines everyone whom he loves.

I do not want discipline. God loves me, he just kind of winks at me. No, if he loves you, he disciplines you. I am not interested in disciplining my neighbor's kids. I am only interested in disciplining my kids. If you come and say, "Look at this guy, he's wild, he's doing this and he's doing that, he seems to be alright in his life." Well, he does not belong to the Lord. God is not interested in disciplining the devil's child. He is only interested in disciplining his children whom he loves.

Look at verse 11. God's discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. Isn't that the truth? But later it yields peaceful fruit of righteousness. Now hear me right. When we discipline our children, often it is because we love them. Most times it is more painful to the parent than it is to the child. As some children would say, not in the same place. That is true.

But because we want our children to be successful, we want our children to be blessed, we want our children to be productive. That is exactly what God does with his children. Because God knows that healing and wholeness and fruitfulness can only come when we are connected to the vine. That is why he makes sure that his children are connected and fruitful even if he has to train us and discipline us, even if he has to take us to the woodshed at times.

Even if he teaches us the hard way, even if he has to train us the hard way. Why? Because he knows what is best for us. He loves us so much. God desires for his children to be productive. He desires for his children to be fruitful. He desires for his children to be whole. That is why he wants them to meet the conditions of fruitfulness.

Guest (Female): If what you have heard about the Holy Spirit from Dr. Youssef has sparked some questions, then we hope you will consider speaking with a Leading The Way pastor or counselor. You can begin your personal confidential conversation by filling out a short contact form at ltw.org/jesus.

We thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef for Leading The Way. As you heard today, Dr. Youssef has a passion for leading people of all ages and stages toward a closer walk with Christ. To further expand his passion, Dr. Youssef recently enlarged the ministry of My Devotional from an email to also include a daily audio podcast.

My Devotional is a powerful tool leading you toward a closer walk with Christ by introducing you to a few Bible verses and ways that God's word integrates into life in 2026. Learn more about My Devotional email and podcast at ltw.org.

Remember, Leading The Way is a listener-supported media ministry. It is only through your prayers and faithful generosity that the truth of God's word continues to be passionately proclaimed at home and around the world. So partner with Dr. Youssef today when you visit ltw.org or call us. Speak with a ministry representative at 866-626-4356. This program is furnished by Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth.