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 manner 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 L. David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good morning.
It is Sunday, August six, two twenty three. Hello, my name
is L. 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 through the Book of
Ephesians, and our caption for today is the Unity of the Spirit. The
Unity of the Spirit. Will get into that in just a moment, but
first I'd like to say welcome to you and ask you to go over to
your Daily Portion dot com, join our online community, and also please please
share where you are in the world. Apart from that, I want you
to pick up the your Daily Portion book again at your Daily Portion dot com.
Let's go ahead and pray and then get underway. Father and Heaven,
thank you for giving us this new morning and for giving us a start,
a great start to our work week. Father, please give us understanding while
we are here listening and learning. Give us understanding and help us to know
exactly what we are to do today. In Jesus name, I pray,
Amen and Amen again the unity of the Spirit. Now, I'm going to
ask you a question now as we read from the Book of Ephesians, chapter
four, want you to be thinking, what is the answer to this question?
How do we know we are maturing in Christ? How do we know
we are maturing in Christ? And I know that there are a number of
ways of looking at it, but I want you to hear in the context
of our reading here in Ephesians chapter four, and I will read beginning at
verse one, and the Bible reads here I therefore, the prisoner of the
Lord beseechs you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherein ye are called.
So God is saying he wants us to actually be in alignment with the calling
that he has given us. With all loneliness and meekness, with long suffering,
forbearing one another in love. So, now this is a relational thing.
It is not just about us in a vacuum. It is not just
about us sort of impressing people from afar, right, It is about us
now having a relationship in humility, long suffering, and yeah, forbearing one
another love Verse three, endeavoring. So now we need some action. We
need there is a struggle, There is a fight. Maybe that is not
for you, but for some people it is right endeavoring to keep the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace. Some people are not naturally peaceful
or peaceable, right, and so it takes some effort to keep this bond
of peace through the spirit. Yes. Verse four, there is one body,
not multiple bodies. We are not splintered. We are not fractioned.
No, we are not fractured. Okay, one body and one spirit,
meaning the Holy Spirit. Even as ye are called in one hope of your
calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of us all, who is above all and through all, and in you
all, but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure
of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith. When he ascended up on
high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. I want you
to give keen attention here. Now that he ascended, what is it but
that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. He that
descended is the same also that ascended up for far above all heavens, that
he might fill all things. And he gave some So God in Christ right
through the Holy Spirit did a special work while on planet Earth right. And
Jesus said, I am going back to my father. And if I don't
go, then the Holy Spirit cannot descend upon you. So it is advantageous
for you that I go away, and then my other self, the other
comforter and for the theologians, the Paracletus, he will come back and he
will teach you all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And then Jesus of
course said that I will be with you always, even to the end of
the earth. So the Holy Spirit now is doing something very special within this
body of Christ right, so that we can have unity. I'll come back
to that, okay. And it says here verse eleven. And he gave
some apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
and you could go down the list if there were a longer list,
indeed there is in the Bible, but just anywhere. You're thinking about how
God equips his people, especially now in these last days, but how He
has always equipped as people in the context of the church. Right, he
has given you gifts in order. Well, let me see what it says
for the perfecting verse twelve of the Saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the Body of Christ. So if you are a
singer and you're not singing for the perfecting of the saints or for the work
of the ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ, and it's a
talent, it's a skill, it's something you do well. But if you,
in your singing, as an example, are doing it for the perfecting
of the saints, right, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the Body of Christ, it is a manifestation of the reality that
the Holy Spirit is working in you in a special way. We will call
this a spiritual gift. Am I oversimplifying well barely? Verse twelve I mean
thirteen pardon me till we all come in the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. I asked you a question
earlier. Now let me transfer now to a different version of the Bible,
reading verse thirteen again the new English version, Until we all attain unto the
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, a
mature person. I asked you a question, how do we know that we
are maturing in Christ? Verse thirteen gives us the key, until again we
attain unto the unity of the faith, one of the knowledge of the Son
of God, and a mature person, unto the measure of Christ's full stature.
God wants us to grow in power to do his will, grow in
knowledge of his will, grow in the power to do exactly what he has
called us to do, living like Christ lived while he was unplanted earth.
Yes, and so now we see that a measure of our maturity is that
we are growing up into these gifts, that we are humbling ourselves, that
we are giving God our best, that we are making every effort verse three
to keep the unity of the spirit of the bond of peace. So we
let bygones be bygones in the body of Christ. I'm not saying that we
act like things are not going on. If they're not going well, right,
if we have a relationship breach or challenged, then we do what Matthew
eighteen says. And you can go back there to read it, including the
forgiveness part. Right. And so God wants us to know that maturity is
found in growing up into the full stature of Christ. And of course we
have read about that verse fourteen. So we are no longer to be children
tossed back and forth by waves, and carried about by every wind of teaching,
by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes, but
practicing m living. Let me just say, ha, embracing and teaching.
I'm saying that the truth in love, we will in all things grow up
into Christ, who is the head. From Him, the whole body grows
fitted and held together through every supporting ligament, as each one does its part.
Oh pause, as each one does its part. So we're not just
laying down, laying low. We're not just kind of hanging out and hoping
that someone else will do the work that God has given for us to do.
No, each of us together we will do our part and the body
will be built up in love, the unity of the spirit and maturity is
coming into the mindset of Christ. 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
l. David Harris. Make it a great day.