1 00:00:01,159 --> 00:00:05,879 Most of us eat every day, some of us too much because yesterday's food 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:10,679 is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do some 3 00:00:10,759 --> 00:00:15,599 of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manner the word of God to keep us 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:20,160 through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all of 5 00:00:20,199 --> 00:00:25,399 that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to live 6 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:31,320 healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host, author 7 00:00:31,399 --> 00:00:34,679 speaker L. David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good morning. 8 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:40,200 It is Sunday, August six, two twenty three. Hello, my name 9 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,000 is L. David Harris. I am your host, and this is your 10 00:00:43,079 --> 00:00:47,240 Daily Portion where we give you God's Word every single day, and today is 11 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,359 no exception. We are continuing in our lesson study series through the Book of 12 00:00:51,359 --> 00:00:56,960 Ephesians, and our caption for today is the Unity of the Spirit. The 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,679 Unity of the Spirit. Will get into that in just a moment, but 14 00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:03,280 first I'd like to say welcome to you and ask you to go over to 15 00:01:03,359 --> 00:01:10,239 your Daily Portion dot com, join our online community, and also please please 16 00:01:10,239 --> 00:01:12,319 share where you are in the world. Apart from that, I want you 17 00:01:12,359 --> 00:01:19,239 to pick up the your Daily Portion book again at your Daily Portion dot com. 18 00:01:19,519 --> 00:01:23,519 Let's go ahead and pray and then get underway. Father and Heaven, 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,480 thank you for giving us this new morning and for giving us a start, 20 00:01:26,519 --> 00:01:32,040 a great start to our work week. Father, please give us understanding while 21 00:01:32,079 --> 00:01:37,959 we are here listening and learning. Give us understanding and help us to know 22 00:01:38,079 --> 00:01:42,640 exactly what we are to do today. In Jesus name, I pray, 23 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:49,480 Amen and Amen again the unity of the Spirit. Now, I'm going to 24 00:01:49,519 --> 00:01:53,560 ask you a question now as we read from the Book of Ephesians, chapter 25 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,280 four, want you to be thinking, what is the answer to this question? 26 00:01:57,359 --> 00:02:04,239 How do we know we are maturing in Christ? How do we know 27 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,159 we are maturing in Christ? And I know that there are a number of 28 00:02:07,159 --> 00:02:10,360 ways of looking at it, but I want you to hear in the context 29 00:02:10,439 --> 00:02:16,080 of our reading here in Ephesians chapter four, and I will read beginning at 30 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:23,319 verse one, and the Bible reads here I therefore, the prisoner of the 31 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:29,560 Lord beseechs you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherein ye are called. 32 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:35,240 So God is saying he wants us to actually be in alignment with the calling 33 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,520 that he has given us. With all loneliness and meekness, with long suffering, 34 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:44,360 forbearing one another in love. So, now this is a relational thing. 35 00:02:44,719 --> 00:02:46,479 It is not just about us in a vacuum. It is not just 36 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:52,000 about us sort of impressing people from afar, right, It is about us 37 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:59,319 now having a relationship in humility, long suffering, and yeah, forbearing one 38 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:05,039 another love Verse three, endeavoring. So now we need some action. We 39 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,520 need there is a struggle, There is a fight. Maybe that is not 40 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:13,879 for you, but for some people it is right endeavoring to keep the unity 41 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,080 of the spirit in the bond of peace. Some people are not naturally peaceful 42 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:23,479 or peaceable, right, and so it takes some effort to keep this bond 43 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:29,560 of peace through the spirit. Yes. Verse four, there is one body, 44 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,000 not multiple bodies. We are not splintered. We are not fractioned. 45 00:03:32,439 --> 00:03:38,159 No, we are not fractured. Okay, one body and one spirit, 46 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:45,360 meaning the Holy Spirit. Even as ye are called in one hope of your 47 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:51,360 calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father 48 00:03:51,439 --> 00:03:54,120 of us all, who is above all and through all, and in you 49 00:03:54,479 --> 00:04:00,240 all, but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure 50 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,080 of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith. When he ascended up on 51 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:11,080 high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. I want you 52 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,839 to give keen attention here. Now that he ascended, what is it but 53 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:20,680 that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. He that 54 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:27,360 descended is the same also that ascended up for far above all heavens, that 55 00:04:27,439 --> 00:04:32,079 he might fill all things. And he gave some So God in Christ right 56 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:38,000 through the Holy Spirit did a special work while on planet Earth right. And 57 00:04:38,199 --> 00:04:43,040 Jesus said, I am going back to my father. And if I don't 58 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:47,720 go, then the Holy Spirit cannot descend upon you. So it is advantageous 59 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:53,639 for you that I go away, and then my other self, the other 60 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:58,839 comforter and for the theologians, the Paracletus, he will come back and he 61 00:04:58,879 --> 00:05:02,879 will teach you all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And then Jesus of 62 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,519 course said that I will be with you always, even to the end of 63 00:05:06,519 --> 00:05:11,879 the earth. So the Holy Spirit now is doing something very special within this 64 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,439 body of Christ right, so that we can have unity. I'll come back 65 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,600 to that, okay. And it says here verse eleven. And he gave 66 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:29,480 some apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 67 00:05:29,879 --> 00:05:31,959 and you could go down the list if there were a longer list, 68 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,600 indeed there is in the Bible, but just anywhere. You're thinking about how 69 00:05:36,639 --> 00:05:42,519 God equips his people, especially now in these last days, but how He 70 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,600 has always equipped as people in the context of the church. Right, he 71 00:05:46,759 --> 00:05:50,480 has given you gifts in order. Well, let me see what it says 72 00:05:50,879 --> 00:05:57,600 for the perfecting verse twelve of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, 73 00:05:57,959 --> 00:06:00,040 for the edifying of the Body of Christ. So if you are a 74 00:06:00,079 --> 00:06:05,160 singer and you're not singing for the perfecting of the saints or for the work 75 00:06:05,199 --> 00:06:10,360 of the ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ, and it's a 76 00:06:10,399 --> 00:06:14,040 talent, it's a skill, it's something you do well. But if you, 77 00:06:14,399 --> 00:06:17,600 in your singing, as an example, are doing it for the perfecting 78 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,240 of the saints, right, for the work of the ministry, for the 79 00:06:20,439 --> 00:06:26,000 edifying of the Body of Christ, it is a manifestation of the reality that 80 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,160 the Holy Spirit is working in you in a special way. We will call 81 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:35,439 this a spiritual gift. Am I oversimplifying well barely? Verse twelve I mean 82 00:06:35,519 --> 00:06:42,839 thirteen pardon me till we all come in the unity of the faith and of 83 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,720 the knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, unto the 84 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,680 measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. I asked you a question 85 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:57,279 earlier. Now let me transfer now to a different version of the Bible, 86 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:03,279 reading verse thirteen again the new English version, Until we all attain unto the 87 00:07:03,519 --> 00:07:08,040 unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, a 88 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:12,720 mature person. I asked you a question, how do we know that we 89 00:07:12,759 --> 00:07:17,040 are maturing in Christ? Verse thirteen gives us the key, until again we 90 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:21,519 attain unto the unity of the faith, one of the knowledge of the Son 91 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:30,439 of God, and a mature person, unto the measure of Christ's full stature. 92 00:07:30,959 --> 00:07:36,879 God wants us to grow in power to do his will, grow in 93 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:43,519 knowledge of his will, grow in the power to do exactly what he has 94 00:07:43,519 --> 00:07:47,079 called us to do, living like Christ lived while he was unplanted earth. 95 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:53,079 Yes, and so now we see that a measure of our maturity is that 96 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:59,360 we are growing up into these gifts, that we are humbling ourselves, that 97 00:07:59,399 --> 00:08:05,720 we are giving God our best, that we are making every effort verse three 98 00:08:05,879 --> 00:08:11,040 to keep the unity of the spirit of the bond of peace. So we 99 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,519 let bygones be bygones in the body of Christ. I'm not saying that we 100 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,120 act like things are not going on. If they're not going well, right, 101 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,759 if we have a relationship breach or challenged, then we do what Matthew 102 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,240 eighteen says. And you can go back there to read it, including the 103 00:08:26,279 --> 00:08:31,519 forgiveness part. Right. And so God wants us to know that maturity is 104 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,960 found in growing up into the full stature of Christ. And of course we 105 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:41,360 have read about that verse fourteen. So we are no longer to be children 106 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:46,559 tossed back and forth by waves, and carried about by every wind of teaching, 107 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:52,240 by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes, but 108 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:58,879 practicing m living. Let me just say, ha, embracing and teaching. 109 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:03,919 I'm saying that the truth in love, we will in all things grow up 110 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:11,480 into Christ, who is the head. From Him, the whole body grows 111 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:18,440 fitted and held together through every supporting ligament, as each one does its part. 112 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,919 Oh pause, as each one does its part. So we're not just 113 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,639 laying down, laying low. We're not just kind of hanging out and hoping 114 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:31,600 that someone else will do the work that God has given for us to do. 115 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:35,360 No, each of us together we will do our part and the body 116 00:09:35,399 --> 00:09:41,039 will be built up in love, the unity of the spirit and maturity is 117 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:46,279 coming into the mindset of Christ. Peace. Thanks for joining us listening. 118 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,120 Friends. Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but by every word 119 00:09:50,159 --> 00:09:54,360 that comes from the mouth of God. This has been your daily portion with 120 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,879 l. David Harris. Make it a great day.