Most of us eat every day, some of us too much, because yesterday's
food is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do
some of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to
keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change
all of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need
to live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host,
author speaker, Elle David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good
morning. It is Thursday, May two, twenty twenty four. Hello,
my name is Elle David Harris. I am your host, and this is
your Daily Portion where we give you God's word every single day, and today
is no exception. We are continuing in our Lesson study series the Great Controversy,
and our caption for today is obedience the Fruit of faith. Obedience the
Fruit. We'll get into that in just a moment, but first I'd like
to say welcome, Welcome, Welcome, welcome, and ask you to please
go over to your Daily Portion dot com and pick up the Your Daily Portion
book, join our online community, and also let us know where you are
in the world at your Daily Portion dot com. We are continuing to build
faith and fellowship. Let's go ahead and pray and then we will get underway.
Father and Heaven, thank you for giving us the opportunity to open your
word today. Please teach us to do your will in Jesus name. I
pray, Amen and Amen again. Let me begin with a part of a
quote from yesterday's lesson that I didn't get to, but it's critical and actually
pivotal for what we'll talk about today. And it comes from the book The
Desire of Ages, page twenty five, and it reads, Christ was treated
as we deserve? Did you get that Christs was treated as we deserve that
we might be treated as he deserves. He was condemned for our sins in
which he had no share. See, he didn't have anything to do with
our sinning, that we might be justified or or seen just as if we
had never sinned, that we might be justified by His righteousness, which we
had no share. Mm hm, I'm pausing on purpose. He suffered the
death that was ours that we might receive the life which was his. What
a most what a powerful way for us to begin today's lesson study about obedience
the fruit of faith. And so Jesus already did the heavy lifting. He
has already done the hard work. And so when we begin to be obedient
to God by faith, right then that means we're doing it in His strength.
I'm deliberately pausing everybody, because I think sometimes we run through these things
and it's just like, okay, and then the next lesson and then the
next discussion in the next text. No, no, no, no,
no. The reason we are able to do what God wants us to do,
which is holiness, to be righteous one hundred percent of the time.
I didn't say that yesterday, Like what one hundred percent of the time.
Yes, we are able because Jesus was. He did that already, and
so if we yield our will to God, then we can be holy just
like Jesus was. And you're like, but David, we weren't born that
way. I know that that was that was our first birth. But after
we are reborn, we can live like Jesus lived. Yeah, yeah,
I know it's going to take some time to settle in. It's going to
take some time to settle in. Well, there was a new wind blowing
through the Christian Church in the days of Martin Luther ten thousands of people,
And I'm reading this from the Lesson where tens of thousands of people were taught
to look away from their sinful cells and look to Jesus instead. No doubt,
these people, looking to themselves and what they were like themselves, saw
only things to discourage them. That's what popped into some of your minds when
I said that we are to be holy one hundred percent of the time.
You're like, wait a minute, wait a minute, and you started looking
to you, look to Jesus. Let me continue, Let me continue.
What believer today doesn't have the same experience. That's why we need to look
instead to Jesus. See, this is what resolves pride in my mind.
Sometimes we manufacture rules, some of us, so that we can accomplish them,
tick them off the list, and then feel like we've done something right.
Ah, we can feel good about ourselves because it's like whoa, But
one hundred percent holiness one hundred percent of the time, that is impossible.
Well, with man, with humans, that is impossible. But with God,
all things are possible. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God.
The Bible says that job was holy he was holy, He was holy,
he was perfect. There was none on the earth like him. And then
he went through his trial, and then God doubled down on what he said
about him because he had learned to confess his sins. He had learned to
turn away from his sins. Do you think that God takes unholy people into
the Kingdom? Look at Elijah. We saw some of the things that he
did that were wrong, yes, but we also saw that he was able
to overcome those by the power of God. And now Elijah lives in heaven.
I don't know what he does on a day to day basis, where
he goes to visit Hah in some place that we don't have access to because
we're unholy. But I promise you Elijah, Enoch and others that we don't
know of are all ready in the Kingdom because they are holy, So we
can be holy. All right. So let's go into the scriptures and see
what the Lord has to say the Book of Romans, chapter eight. There's
just too much for us to cover, but let's cover the fundamentals Romans chapter
eight, beginning at verse one. There is therefore no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus. So if you want to resolve your unholiness problem,
if you want to resolve the consequence of sin problem, then be in Christ
Jesus. So God makes that first step in our lives within for us.
If we will surrender our will to God and be in Christ, make a
decision to follow Christ. Right, submit our will to Christ. There's no
condemnation. So now we can start with a clean slate for the law of
the life giving holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus has set you free from the
law of sin and death. In Romans chapter seven, there were two laws.
Two laws. One is the law of sin and death and one that
is, of course, the spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus.
So when we're in Christ, he delivers us from the law of sin
and death, that is that thing that is inside people, humans, every
human that drives us to do wrong because of our human and earthly dna.
God has delivered us through Christ from that law. Who has nothing to do.
Well, anyway, I'm not going to get in with it to what
it doesn't have to do with verse three. For God achieved what the law
could not do because it was weakened through the flesh by sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and concerning sin, he condemned sin in
the flesh. So let me just say this, as Paul said another place,
that sin no more has dominion over you, brothers and sisters, because
Jesus conquered sin while while living in human flesh. So now the covenant of
God, God's side of it as God, and now the human side of
it has been kept through Christ, which means now He can give to us
as a free gift what we need in order to not only be saved as
some kind of judicial act, but that we can actually live like Jesus wants
us to live. We can live like God wants us to live. We
can live like Jesus lived because of what Jesus did Verse four, so that
the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us who walk not according
to the flesh, but according to the spirit. This is good. It's
not just good, it's great. And you want to say, well,
why is it so great. It's so great because some of you have been
bound to the liquor bottle. You've loved rum and become drunken, and you
wonder, how can I be victorious you have been. You have been addicted
to sexual sin and wonder how can you be victorious. You've been addicted to
violence and things that are not leading you toward God. You love entertainment,
or have loved entertainment that leads away from God, and you're like, well,
how can I be delivered? Give God your faith, Lay hold upon
this great and precious promise that God can deliver you by faith, and then
by faith, simply do what he says. Faith lays hold on the power
of God, and then we can be obedient. Peace. Thanks for joining
us listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but
by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This has been your
daily portion with el David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,