Leading The Way

Dr. Michael Youssef: Some of you I know probably are miserable in your work and you're saying I know God doesn't want me here. Well, I've got news for you. If God doesn't want you there, he's going to move you from there. But you stay there until God moves you. All right? He has a purpose for you being there. Even the difficulty and the difficult circumstances and the difficult people that you're dealing with, they are part of God's overall plan to bless you and bless them.

Guest (Male): When your alarm sounds waking you up for another day, do you sometimes wonder why you're doing what you're doing? I mean, after all, there might be more enjoyable jobs out there with bigger paychecks and better benefits, right?

Welcome to Leading the Way. This is the place where Dr. Michael Youssef passionately proclaims uncompromising truth on each episode. And today Dr. Youssef answers some of the "whys" in life like why God placed you in your job, in your neighborhood, or family. He points you toward the life of Joshua and how God chose and grew him to become one of the greatest leaders in history. So join me now in listening to a challenging teaching from Dr. Youssef on this episode of Leading the Way audio.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Back in the 60s, there was a well-known spy by the name of Eli Cohen. In fact, he was probably the greatest spy in Israel's history. Eli has infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government. He had access to the high military secrets. He got the master plan of the Syrian defenses. He got the precise locations of the armaments and of the fortification of that country. And he transmitted all of these from a hidden location in Damascus all the way to Israel.

Eli Cohen lived deep into the enemy's territories. Eli Cohen became close friends with those who are at enmity with his people. And as a result, Israel experienced victory back in the 60s in what we call the Six-Day War in 1967. Now in many ways, this is a modern story that is a replica of the story that is found in the book of Joshua chapter two and I want to encourage you to turn to it. Joshua sent two spies to the enemy's territories. Their job, their task, their call, their mission, was to bring victory to their people.

Of course today we have satellites that are so powerful that can literally see into people's bedrooms. Today we have the AWACS planes, we have reconnaissance planes, we have drones, we have all kinds of technology. And yet the cry of all of the military experts around the world, particularly our military experts, is as good and helpful as all of these technologies may be, the greatest need and there are no substitute for people living and breathing behind enemy's line.

Military experts and by the way so many of our generals including MacArthur literally studied the book of Joshua and they followed the book of Joshua. And Joshua to them was a great military leader. But military experts will testify to you that there is nothing like sharing the experience and the life on the other side. And in many ways, I am grateful for technology. I am thankful for technology for the preaching of the gospel. I am grateful for television, I'm grateful for radio, I'm grateful for the internet, so many people watching around the world even now.

We use every form of technology that's available to us to penetrate into areas where no man has gone. We do it for gospel dissemination, we do it for gospel proclamation. But they are no substitute for a person, life lived with another person. Life on life. They could never take away from the absolute necessity of the walking and talking and breathing with another person on the other side of the divide.

Let me apply the word of God to every one of you whether you're at school, in college, whether you're at the office or the factory or in the golf course. Wherever you are. The call of God on your life is where you are and where you spend the majority of your time. And around there are many people who may be sitting next to you in an office or in a classroom, but in reality they are living deep into enemy's territories. They are living deep into Satan's domain. Many of them are living deep into the territories that most of us, if not all of us, have lived before Christ came into our lives.

Let me make this very clear. Your non-Christian coworker, your non-believing fellow students, your antagonistic neighbor, your hostile colleague, they are not, they are not your enemies. Did you get that? They may declare enmity on you but they are not your enemies. They may live in enemy's land and territory but they're not your enemies. They may be living under the control of the enemy's power but they're not your enemies. They may be enslaved by the enemy's chains but they're not your enemies. They may be enslaved by addiction but they're not your enemies.

They may have adopted the enemy's characteristics in their life and in their walk but they're not your enemies. When you see your work as God's gift to you, as God's opportunity to you, when you see your place at school wherever you are in the classroom or in the playground as God's mission field for you, when you see your neighborhood as God's mission field for you, when you see your workplace as a fishing pond and you are the greatest fisherman that's ever lived, when you see your surroundings as God's given opportunity to penetrate deep into the enemy's territories, then you will be able to reach people nobody else can.

You're going to see them as potential brothers and sisters in Christ. You're going to view them with sympathy. You're going to view them with compassion. You're going to view them with love and longing to help them be saved eternally. Now this is the second in a series of messages entitled what? "You Want Me to Do What?" You got it. Let me ask the question and you give me the first answer, okay? We've got the second today but let me ask the question. You want me to do what? Step up is the first step. And the second thing I want to talk to you about today if I ask the question, you can give me the answer. You want me to do what? Go to the enemy's territories.

That's what God wants you to do today. These spies went in and they saved a whole household and a woman who was the most unlikely woman, Rahab the prostitute. I couldn't help but think of another person in the Bible who went to the enemy's territories. But instead of preaching the gospel, instead of sharing the good news about Jehovah, instead of talking about the mercies of God and the power of God and the sovereignty of God that he had seen with his own eyes with his uncle Abraham, he went in and he became part of the culture.

His name was Lot and he lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. But instead of being a light in the dark city, he became an ember. Instead of being salt in that rotting place, he became dust. Instead of standing strong, he compromised. But not these two people who understood that the job was God's opportunity to minister to whomever he sent them to. Wherever you spend the majority of your hours, that's your mission field. Wherever you spend the majority of your time, that's your mission field. You are called by the Lord there to be a missionary.

And so the question that we need to ask ourselves is this: Am I helping to save those who are lost all around me or have I blended with the environment? That's the question. Have I forgotten why God has placed me in my work environment? Have I forgotten that? Have I forgotten and beginning to see my job, my work, my school, wherever I am, as a drudgery instead of an opportunity? Have I forgotten that?

Can you imagine if these two guys have gone to Canaan and there they saw the prosperity and they could have said man what we can do here. What a great business opportunity. We can just blend with the rest of that community. We can just blend with that culture. We can do great business deals here. Oh God can take care of his own. We don't have to worry about him. Ah, but they didn't. Why? Because they understood. They understood that they were on a mission. They understood that they were sent for a purpose.

That they understood that they were to fulfill the plan of God in the history of mankind. They were to fulfill God's plan for his kingdom and that's exactly what you're doing. You're fulfilling God's plan for his history and his kingdom. They were to fulfill God's plan for the future of their people. And in many ways your workplace, your school, or your neighborhood is your call. That's your call. That's your mission field. You see that's God's plan for you. That's God's plan for your life.

Some of you I know probably are miserable in your work and you're saying I know God doesn't want me here. Well, I've got news for you. If God doesn't want you there, he's going to move you from there. But you stay there until God moves you. All right? He has a purpose for you being there. Even the difficulty and the difficult circumstances and the difficult people that you're dealing with, they are part of God's overall plan to bless you and bless them.

You are on a mission. That's God's plan for your life. That's God's plan for someone in your workplace to come to the kingdom and to know Jesus and be eternally saved because of you. That's God's call on your life. In fact it is because of their focus on their mission in their workplace that these two spies were able to save Rahab and her whole household. Now here's a mistake that a lot of Christians make. They think that people ought to clean up their act before they can become Christians.

They think that they ought to look like us and dress like us and speak like us and live like us before they can become believers. That is a mistake. Big mistake. God saves from the guttermost to the uttermost. Let me repeat that. God saves from the guttermost to the uttermost. God saves the very ones that we think are impossible to be saved. God saves those whom you think are beyond reach. Jesus saved the prostitutes, he saved the tax collectors and the people that the Pharisees thought were beyond God's reach.

The very fact that God chose a harlot of all the Canaanites, he chose a harlot by the name of Rahab and her household, that fact alone that he would choose a woman of ill repute should be an encouragement to all of us who love the Lord Jesus and love people. God's grace is for the criminal. God's grace is for the rebellious. God's grace is for the most unlikely people. So don't ever say this person is beyond the grace of God. That is a mistake, a terrible one.

And don't ever forget that God has shown his grace and he's shown his mercy upon a brutal persecutor of the church of Jesus Christ by the name of Saul turned Paul and Paul turned to write one-third of the New Testament. Don't ever forget that. So your boss might be foul-mouthed. Your coworker may be living in an immoral lifestyle. Your fellow student may be strung out on drugs. Your neighbor may be angry all the time. But none of them are beyond God's grace. None of them are beyond God's reach.

And God placed you there wherever you may be for a purpose and the purpose is to save that which was lost. I know people ask through the years: was it right for Rahab to lie in protecting the spies? Read my lips: no. No, I want you to hear me right on this one. It is never right to do the wrong thing for the right reason. I want to repeat that. It is never right to do the wrong thing for the right reason. The Bible merely reports it, does not approve it.

And don't ever forget that at that point of her life she has only heard about Jehovah God. She had not experienced him yet. In fact when you see your workplace and your school and your factory and your neighborhood and your environment as your mission field, you are going to be amazed of who's going to come out of the woodwork. You'll be amazed. I am convinced, I'm convinced there are people who are just waiting for you to open your mouth.

You see it works that way. When you begin to see your workplace as your mission field, God is going to honor you. And these two Israelites probably could not believe their ears when they heard from Rahab what they heard. I mean they were not prepared for this. Look at verse nine of chapter two, book of Joshua. Here's what she said. She said, "I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you."

Look at verse ten. "We have heard about the Lord drying up the water of the Red Sea for you so that you can come out of Egypt." Can you imagine this? I mean they're probably looking at each other and said you know can you believe this? Is she for real? The king of Canaan is terrified of us a bunch of ragtag army of former slaves. But beloved listen to me. While it is important to be equipped for the task, while it is important to have knowledge, but you do not need a PhD in apologetics to tell somebody about Jesus who forgave your sins.

All you need is a God going ahead of you and preparing their heart. That's all you need. And that's why we pray for the lost. We pray because we know that only God can do it and therefore we trust the living God to go ahead of you and with you and beside you in order to accomplish his purpose. In fact Rahab told them all that they wanted to hear. All they needed to hear. I mean she just gave them encouragement they never thought was possible. They never dreamed that this would be the case.

God had already terrified the hearts of the Canaanites. He had gone ahead of them. He has done his spadework. He already prepared everything for them. All they need to do is to walk in and get it. Why would the Canaanites be terrified of this ragtag army of former slaves? Oh, they were not terrified of them. Listen to me. They were not terrified of them. They were terrified of the God of Israel. They were terrified of Jehovah because his reputation as a God of power and might had already gone ahead of them.

It is the power of God that melts people's heart no matter how hardened they may be. Let me review again. In the first message we saw that the answer to "You Want Me to Do What?" was step up. And the answer today is go to the enemy's territories. You see Rahab knew that a nation of former slaves had no strength of their own to take on the Canaanites. She knew that. Oh, but she heard about their God. She heard about their God. And now she's delighted to meet two of his children.

I have no doubt that wherever you are, wherever you spend the majority of your time in your office or school, the factory, clinic, or neighborhood, wherever you are, there are those who are in pain and anguish. There are those who are tormented and in sorrow. There are those who are lonely and fearful. There are those who are saying to themselves, "I've heard that Jesus saves. I've heard that Jesus heals. I've heard that Jesus transforms lives. I've heard that Jesus gives strength to the weak. I've heard that Jesus liberates the addicted. I've heard that Jesus sets a prisoner free. I've heard that Jesus binds the broken hearts. I've heard that Jesus forgives the sin and removes guilt."

And that person is waiting for you to speak a word of healing, a word of forgiveness, a word of restoration. They are waiting for you to say, "Oh, you know the Jesus that you've heard about? I have firsthand experience with him. I know him. I know him. Let me tell you about him. Jesus set me free from worry and anxiety. Jesus set me free from fear and dread. Jesus forgave all of my sins and took all of my guilt away. Jesus put my feet on the solid rock and Jesus gave me a spiritual garment that no one can take away from me."

And that person would say, "Where have you been all of my life?" And you say, "I've been here all the time. I just kept my mouth shut. I've been here all the time, but I've been waiting for an opportune time. I have been praying, spying the territory, and I've been waiting for you to give me the chance."

And just like God saved Rahab without regard to her former life, without regard to the life that she lived, God is ready to forgive the sins of any repentant person no matter what he or she has done. God is ready to give eternal life to those who come to him and ask for it. God is ready to dispense mercy to those who cry for it. God is ready to put out his welcome mat to those who seek him with all of their heart. That same grace that worked in a Canaanite harlot's life is available to all who ask for it.

Guest (Male): Thank you for making time in your day for Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Are you enjoying Dr. Youssef's content? We want to remind you that you can stream his teaching, past and present, in audio and in video format for free. Just go to ltw.org. You can download the Leading the Way app too for your favorite mobile device or subscribe to the podcast. Connect further today, ltw.org.

Now as I bring this episode to a close, I do want to do something just a little different. I just want to quickly say thank you. Thank you for being a faithful listener to Leading the Way and this station, this network, or this digital channel. We consider it a privilege to minister alongside those who have a passionate desire to see others come to know Jesus. And if you've given your time praying for Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way, or if you've shared in your generosity, we thank you for that as well. Many of you in fact are longtime faithful friends.

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Dr. Michael Youssef: As an encouragement to our fellow listeners, 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. I want to hear all about it and we just might share it on the program. That is 877-941-7934. Do it today. Thank you in advance and God bless.

Guest (Male): This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.