1 00:00:01,159 --> 00:00:05,559 Most of us eat every day, some of us too much, because yesterday's 2 00:00:05,599 --> 00:00:10,400 food is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:15,359 some of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna the word of God to keep 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:20,079 us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:25,120 of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:30,800 live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host, 7 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,799 author speaker L. David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good morning. 8 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,880 It is Monday, August fourteen, twenty twenty three. Hello, my 9 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,799 name is L. David Harris. I am your host, and this is 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:46,000 your Daily Portion where we give you God's Word every single day, and today 11 00:00:46,119 --> 00:00:50,600 is no exception. We are continuing in our lesson study through the Book of 12 00:00:50,719 --> 00:00:56,320 Ephesians, and our caption for today is a dramatic change of clothing. A 13 00:00:56,479 --> 00:01:00,679 dramatic change of clothing. We'll get into that in just a moment, but 14 00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:03,240 first I'd like to say welcome to you and ask you to go over to 15 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,120 your Daily Portion dot com, pick up your Daily Portion book, and also 16 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:12,000 join our online community where we grow and build faith and fellowship, and of 17 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,680 course I'd like to know where you are in the world, so just type 18 00:01:15,719 --> 00:01:21,200 it into that website, your Daily Portion dot com, and I get text 19 00:01:21,239 --> 00:01:23,719 messages all day long. When you do that, that lets me know where 20 00:01:23,719 --> 00:01:27,640 you are, and it encourages me because now I know that you're brightening the 21 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:33,400 corner where you are, as the songwriter would have penned, and the gospel 22 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,560 is being spread from the vantage point of where you are. Right if you're 23 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,239 in a crow in Ghana, then I know from that vantage point the Gospel 24 00:01:41,359 --> 00:01:45,480 is moving. And if you are in Finland or in Norway, if you 25 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,599 are in Nigeria or somewhere else in the world Fiji, you are sharing the 26 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:55,159 gospel and we know that Jesus Christ will come back very soon. Please let's 27 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,040 go ahead and pray and then we will get underway. Father in Heaven, 28 00:01:59,079 --> 00:02:01,400 thank you for the privilege that we have to come together, and for my 29 00:02:01,519 --> 00:02:07,680 brothers and sisters who are literally all around the world, hundreds of radio stations, 30 00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:13,199 scores of websites and stuff on the Internet that are broadcasting the message of 31 00:02:13,199 --> 00:02:16,759 the gospel where your Daily Portion is concerned, and Father, I pray that 32 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:23,039 we will all be holy and that we will have this new change of clothing 33 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:28,000 in Jesus name. I pray Amen and Amen again. Pardon that sound, 34 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:34,719 My mike is creaky. Yeah, So retelling the story of his conversion? 35 00:02:35,879 --> 00:02:42,280 What is essential to Paul? What is essential to Paul as he shares the 36 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,400 story. So we're going to go to Ephesians chapter four, the Book of 37 00:02:46,439 --> 00:02:52,120 Ephesians, chapter four, and I will read Versus twenty through twenty four. 38 00:02:52,159 --> 00:02:55,400 We want to see what is essential in his discussion. All right, and 39 00:02:55,439 --> 00:03:00,719 so it says here, but ye have not so learned. Of course, 40 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:07,240 we're talking about that unholy living, the uncleanness, and the greediness and lasciviousness, 41 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:12,080 and all of that kind of stuff, blindness and ignorance of our hearts. 42 00:03:12,479 --> 00:03:15,800 What God is saying here is like, that is not how you learned 43 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,719 Christ. He's saying that through Paul verse twenty one. If so be that 44 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,960 ye have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is 45 00:03:24,159 --> 00:03:32,599 in Jesus put off, put off concerning the former conversation, that is behavior 46 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:39,879 or lifestyle, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 47 00:03:40,439 --> 00:03:46,479 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Notice that the transformation 48 00:03:46,719 --> 00:03:53,400 takes place in the mind or the mind set verse twenty four. And that 49 00:03:53,479 --> 00:03:58,280 ye put on the new Man, which is after God or after God, 50 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,039 is created in righteousness and holiness. I want to read a couple of more 51 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:08,800 verses here, wherefore putting away lying, speaking every man truth with his neighbor, 52 00:04:08,919 --> 00:04:13,479 for we are neighbors of one another. Be he angry and sin not, 53 00:04:13,639 --> 00:04:17,759 let not the sun go down on your wrath, neither give place to 54 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:23,839 the devil. And so now we see in clear terms a contrast of lifestyles. 55 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,759 But really sometimes we get caught up on this concept of lifestyle, not 56 00:04:27,879 --> 00:04:33,319 understanding that it is our mindsets that drive lifestyle, not behaviors. Can I 57 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,519 just say that for just a moment, I'm going to sit here. There 58 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:41,959 are times that people who claim to love God, and maybe we even do 59 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,879 when we're doing this and we just need more understanding. Right, we are 60 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:51,600 focused, hyper focused on behavior as not an indicator of our mindset, but 61 00:04:51,759 --> 00:04:58,120 as a way to prove who we are. Right. So if I behave 62 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,720 just right, and I don't want to go down a list because you're gonna 63 00:05:00,759 --> 00:05:02,800 send me messages and then it's going to be clear that you didn't get what 64 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:09,079 I was saying. Right. What I'm saying here is that we focus outwardly. 65 00:05:10,399 --> 00:05:15,439 I'm gonna quote the Bible here, man looketh on the outward of parents. 66 00:05:15,759 --> 00:05:18,639 But God sees the heart. God looketh upon the heart. God sees, 67 00:05:18,759 --> 00:05:24,360 like Haygar said, right, God sees me. So God is saying 68 00:05:24,439 --> 00:05:32,000 that I will transform you from the inside out. Don't look at the white 69 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:39,439 washed sepulcher. Where on the outside of the cup, on the outside of 70 00:05:40,319 --> 00:05:44,240 the sepulker, it looks clean and nice, but on the inside it's dead 71 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:46,920 men's bones. On the inside it is dirty. So what God is saying 72 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:53,759 is I can transform you by the renewing of your minds. And so when 73 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,360 Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden, God had created everything to 74 00:05:57,439 --> 00:06:00,279 be good, good, very good. Right. He had given them everything 75 00:06:00,319 --> 00:06:05,639 that they absolutely needed in order to live a prosperous and holy life. And 76 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:11,040 they could make a decision simply and just do what God said, no problem, 77 00:06:11,399 --> 00:06:17,000 easy work. Until Eve was deceived by the devil who was disguised as 78 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,040 a serpent. She ate of the tree, that or ate of the fruit 79 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:24,160 of the tree that God commanded that she should not have eaten, and then 80 00:06:24,199 --> 00:06:28,199 she gave to her husband Adam, and he did eat. She fell into 81 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,000 sin through deception. He jumped into sin full volition, in the sense that 82 00:06:32,079 --> 00:06:35,759 he knew exactly was it, what was at stake. He had no spell 83 00:06:35,879 --> 00:06:40,439 over his eyes, like he knew exactly what went wrong, and he still 84 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,199 jumped into sin with Eve. So now both of them are naked, they're 85 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,720 ashamed, they're hiding in the bushes. And by the way, they come 86 00:06:47,759 --> 00:06:54,120 to a point where they try to cover their sins, cover their guilt. 87 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,439 I think you know where we're going now. They try to cover up their 88 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:03,759 inadequacies with something that is artificial, something that cannot actually accomplish the goal, 89 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:09,560 and that made them be even more separated from God. Like they try to 90 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:15,800 cover their sin and shame with self righteousness fig leaves. The Bible says they 91 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,120 were aprons of fig leaves. Now, I don't know how aprons were in 92 00:07:18,399 --> 00:07:21,399 Eden, but I can think of the way they are now. Even the 93 00:07:21,439 --> 00:07:25,519 biggest aprons, right that go around your neck, go over your head, 94 00:07:25,759 --> 00:07:29,040 and then you have this really big pad in front of you with pockets, 95 00:07:29,079 --> 00:07:32,199 and then you tie it around your waist and you look protected from at least 96 00:07:32,279 --> 00:07:35,680 the top of your chest down to the top of your knees. Right, 97 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:42,959 But just imagine turning around it now, Like imagine if this is covering your 98 00:07:43,079 --> 00:07:48,560 shame and you turn around and your nakedness is still visible. As you turn 99 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:58,240 your back, you see. Self righteousness leaves us uncovered, full stop, 100 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,800 not partially covered, not partially naked, like completely uncovered. Because the only 101 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:11,680 righteousness that matters, Yes, the righteousness that matters in the register of Heaven 102 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,439 is Christ's righteousness. And you're gonna say, but Dave, but what about 103 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:20,040 our own righteousness? Well, the Bible says our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. 104 00:08:20,319 --> 00:08:22,519 And so what he wants us to do is to yield ourselves to God 105 00:08:22,839 --> 00:08:28,600 and yield the wicked, wickedness that we have done, and yield even those 106 00:08:28,759 --> 00:08:39,720 filtered, curated, tidally organized holy things, at least in air quotes, 107 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,120 those things that we think make us holy. Like he wants us to give 108 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:46,440 all of that to him, give it all. He wants us to give 109 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,120 our so called tithe paying our so called Bible study. He wants to give 110 00:08:50,399 --> 00:08:54,159 wants us like say, I'm a preacher, and you know I am like 111 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,679 my preaching. He wants to give our Bible studies. He wants us to 112 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:01,679 give, pardon me, all of our great behavior years in front of the 113 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,200 crowd, like he wants us to give all of those sweet nothings that we 114 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,320 whisper to our spouses, and the ways that sometimes people try to hide in 115 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,480 front like we're doing well but we're really not. Yeah, he wants us 116 00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:16,039 to give him all of the so called good and all of the evil to 117 00:09:16,159 --> 00:09:20,320 him. And in our yielding he gives us a new change of clothes. 118 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:26,720 M He gives us the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the transformation is in 119 00:09:26,799 --> 00:09:31,200 our mind set. And then when we begin to act out or behave, 120 00:09:31,879 --> 00:09:35,159 we are behaving in the way that Jesus behaved. And we are holy, 121 00:09:35,519 --> 00:09:39,240 not because we are holy by ourselves, but because we have the life of 122 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:43,799 Christ covering us and the mindset of Christ in us. Have a wonderful day, 123 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:48,519 Peace, Thanks for joining us listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot 124 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,320 live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of 125 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,320 God. This has been your daily portion with l David Harris. Make it 126 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,320 a great day.