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Most of us eat every day,
some of us too much because yesterday's food

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is not enough to supply energy for
today's needs. Why then, do some

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of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly
manna, the word of God to keep

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us through today's challenges. On this
program, we are going to change all

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of that. Let's experience God's words
today and receive the power we need to

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live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome
to your Daily Portion with your host,

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author speaker Elle David Harris. Good
morning, good morning, Good morning.

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It is Sabbath, October twenty eight, twenty twenty three. Hello, my

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name is El David Harris. I
am your host, and this is your

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Daily Portion where we give you God's
Word every single day, and today is

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no exception. We are continuing in
our Lesson study series, God's Mission,

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My Mission. Our caption for today
is excuses, Oh, excuses to avoid

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mission. Hmm. We'll get into
that in just a moment, but before

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we do, I'd like to just
say welcome and happy Sabbath to everyone joining

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us, especially those who are joining
for the first time. And I want

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to add one more, one more
someone who has only kept Sabbath once,

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which is today. If you are
new to sabbath keeping, just go ahead

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and put a one in the chat. If you are new to sabbath keeping,

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go ahead and put a one in
the chat. And I want to

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celebrate you because you have made the
right decision to prioritize God in the way

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that he has said. You've chosen
to remember what God said, remember and

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to not forget to keep holy the
seventh day Sabbath. And so I'm thankful

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for you and for everyone who's joining
us, whether by radio, television,

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podcast, social media, YouTube,
and whatever other way that you are getting

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this. Let's go ahead and pray, and then we will get underway bother

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in heaven. Thank you for this
new day and the privilege that we have

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to open your word together. Please
teach us not to excuse ourselves from your

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mission in Jesus Day. I pray, Amen and Amen again excuses to avoid

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mission. Okay, So let's go
ahead and begin with Isaiah chapter six,

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and I'll give a quick primer on
it, even though that is not really

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the focus. The focus is Jonah, but I'm going to give a quick

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primer on it. Let's start with
verse eight, and the Bible reads here

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also I heard the voice of the
Lord saying, whom shall I send?

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And who shall go for us?
God speaking? Then I said, this

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is Isaiah speaking. Here am I
send me? And so this chapter opens

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with the death of King Aziah.
Right King Aziah dies. He has fifty

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some years, if I recall correctly, of rain and he was pretty good

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for a while, but then he
started to trust in his own strength,

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and long story short, he ultimately
dies and the people of God are distraught

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because they're thinking. But King Aziah
really led us in a good way,

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like what are we gonna do now? And so it was at that time

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and by the way, he decided
because he felt so strong that he could

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go and really present himself in an
unacceptable way to God, unwelcomed and yeah,

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so that's what happened. He's in
the presence without what he needed to

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be in the presence long story.
And so now in that year, Isaiah

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is in vision, he's with the
people of God. Yes, and he

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realizes, wow, this is a
serious situation. And now he is wafted

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into the very presence of God and
he is experiencing the worship of the angels

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in the heavens, shaking and God
is lifted up on his throne, and

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he's saying, well, am I
like I am a man of unclean lips,

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and I come from among a people
of unclean lips. But I have

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seen the Lord lifted up like the
Lord of hosts. And the angels are

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there crying holy and he can recall
what happened to Azaiah, like why am

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I here? And why am I
still alive? And the Bible says that

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an angel, six winged angel did
go to the altar and pulled a live

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call from off the altar and then
said, behold, this hath touched thy

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lips. He put the call on
his mouth, This has touched thy lips.

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Her iniquity is forgiven, and so
forth. And then he hears the

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voice whom shall we? Who will
go for us? And he says,

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here am I send me? And
so the question, really giving that backdrop,

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is what was the reason that Isaiah
was so eager to serve? If

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you had to pick just one,
I know there could be a number,

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but just one. What was driving
him not to give an excuse for himself,

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but to say, yes, here
am I. And of course the

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obvious answer is that he experienced the
mercy of God. He experienced the cleansing

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power of God. And when God
bids you come, when you are experiencing

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his mercy, when you're experiencing his
grace and his love to this degree,

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then the only thing that is left
to do is to say, yes,

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Lord, yes to your will,
into your way. And that's what Isaiah

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did. Now, Unfortunately, Jonah
did not give that same response to God

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when God told him to go cry
against the city. Let me go here

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to Jonah chapter three and read it. And the word of the Lord came

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unto Jonah the second time, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that

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great city, and preach unto it, the preaching that I bid thee.

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So God sends him, just like
he sends Abraham. God sent him just

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like he is now sending Isaiah.
He sent him. But there's a problem.

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There's a problem. Jonah was not
receptive like these other two men of

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God. No, he was not
receptive, and so our action step.

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In fact, he went the opposite
direction and hid in the bottom of a

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boat and rested, rather than to
be active and go in the direction God

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called him and equipped him to go
so that others could be saved. Yeah,

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But the first action step in this
case, in terms of avoiding excuses,

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is to heed God's call without hesitation. When he gives you a call,

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when he says, this is what
I need you to do, do

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not hesitate. And so the action
is when God prompts or calls you to

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mission, instead of resisting. There
are times you may not want to do

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what God says, but instead of
resisting or running away, respond immediately.

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Don't let any grass grow under your
feet. Don't allow your mind to wander

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and turn over and turn over and
turn over, and then you spiral into

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this decision making process that can take
you the wrong direction. You know it's

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God speaking, Go and do it
immediately, and then ask God for a

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willing heart, understanding that His ways
are higher than ours. Here is another

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one. Here is another one.
In verse nine of Jonah, chapter two,

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the Bible reads, but I will
sacrifice unto THEE with the voice of

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thanksgiving. I pay that I have
vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

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So what we want to do is
overcome prejudices and biases. Overcome prejudices and

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biases. We've talked about this before
where Peter is concerned and so forth.

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But this time. The action is
instead of allowing personal biases and fears or

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past experiences to dictate your decisions,
surrender them to God. Because see,

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he would have had a view of
the Ninavites, he would have had a

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view of God in his mind.
God was so merciful, he wasn't going

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to do what he said that he
was going to do against Ninevus, So

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why should he go over there and
be seen as a false prophet when God

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did not do what he said he
was going to do. God said,

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I'm going to destroy this city,
and then he's thinking, well, God

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is going to be merciful, and
then I'm going to look like a false

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prophet. Well, no, do
what God says and overcome whatever it is

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that you have in your mind about
the Ninavites, and know that God's intent

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is to save them, and if
they will respect then He will indeed save

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them. Okay, one more passage
Jonah, chapter four and verse eleven,

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and the Bible reads, and should
I not spare Nineveh, the great city

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we're in, are more than six
score thousand persons that cannot descern between their

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right hand and their left, and
also much cattle. And so when Jonah

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was upset with God because he was
a merciful God. Let that settle in.

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He needed to recognize God's sovereignty and
his mercy, and the action would

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be understand that God desires to save
everyone, even those who seem to be

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the least worthy. We'll come back
to it peace. Thanks for joining us

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listening. Friends. Always remember we
cannot live by bread alone, but by

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every word that comes from the mouth
of God. This has been your daily

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portion with El David Harris. Make
it a great day. Yeah,