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 Sabbath, April twenty seven, 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. This is Lesson number five, that's week number five. Our
caption for this Sabbath morning is faith against all odds, Faith against all odds.
We'll get into that in just a moment, but first I'd like to
say welcome to you and ask you to police go over to your Daily Portion
dot com, please join our online community, and then also let us know
where you are in the world at your daily portion dot com. This is
a way that we continue 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 this faith that we cannot fail if we are connected to you.
Father, I ask you now to help us to be holy, because you're
holy. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen and Amen again. Faith
against all odds. Now, you, obviously, if you're a person of
faith, have an inkling about what this could be like. Faith against all
odds, faith against maybe losing your job if you don't comply with something that's
not holy. You're like, come on, Dave, who does that?
Like nobody loses the job that way. Well, let me just say really
quickly, right, twenty eight years ago or so, I was a manager,
Right, I was a manager, a young manager and a new believer.
And I remember that my boss wanted me to give a report that was
going to the state and to change details. And I just say that really
quickly, to change details. And I had to go and I actually wrote,
I put it in writing. I put it in writing, and I
said, I cannot do that because that would be lying. I'm not willing
to do that. And if that means that I can no longer work here,
like if that is the culture of this place, then I guess I
have to go. And I needed the job, y'all. Like it wasn't
that I that I had like a big nest egg sitting around or was independently
wealthy and I didn't need the work. Of course I needed the work.
I was new to the psyche. And thank god, thank god, I
didn't lose my job. But even if I had, I needed to have
faith against all odds. And you have your stories. There are some that
are even more dire than simply losing a job over truth or lies. But
would ever challenge that God allows us to experience. We must stand firm no
matter what I think we understand now, So the Bible reads here in the
Book of Psalms, the Book of Psalms, chapter one hundred and nineteen.
In fact, in fact, it asks in that same chapter like how shall
how shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed? Thereunto according to
thy word? And then in verse eleven, the Bible says, your word,
have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.
So the only reason I knew the right path to take, the only reason
I could have any inkling of faith that would stand up in the face of
trial, is because of God's word. He has put his word in the
hearts of the people who are yielding our will to him. He promised that
he would write his laws in our hearts and on our minds. Yes,
so that we could live according to his principles. And of course we have
a certain context. We're still looking at the Reformation, more than five hundred
years ago, the Protestant Reformation, and the Lesson writer points out that the
Protestant Reformers had something the twenty first century desperately needs. What was that Paster
Finley a purpose for their lives. In his book The Empty Self, renowned
American psychologist Philip Cushman discusses people who live purpose less lives. Their beliefs are
shallow, little for of real significance matters to them, and they they have
nothing worth dying for. So they have little worth living for, little worth
living for. But men, women, and children of the Protestant Reformation were
dramatically different. They had an abiding purpose worth living for. What they believed
mattered, and they were not willing to compromise their integrity. Their core beliefs
were an inseparable part of them. To deny these beliefs was to deny their
very identity, and the face of death itself, they had inner peace.
I think the Bible says of people like these, people like these that they
they overcame the devil by the blood of the land. Yes, and by
the word of their testimony. They loved not their lives, even to the
point of death. And so God is saying that no matter what is going
on in your life, he will be with you, brothers and sisters.
It doesn't have to seem dire, it doesn't have to be a fearful thing.
But we know that in whatever challenge or trial or tribulation we experience,
whatever temptation we experience, that God is with us. How do we know
because He promised. Jesus said, I'll always be with you until the end
of the world. He said he will never leave us. Neither will he
forsake us. Even if we're having challenges in our actual households, our parents,
God forbid. Huh. If you're a young person and you're having a
challenge your parent wants you to do something that is unholy, and they are
giving you dire consequences. Stand in faith knowing that God is with you.
If you have a spouse in the same circumstance, stand in faith knowing that
the Lord is with you. If God forbids you live somewhere where the civil
law is in conflict with the law of God, stand with your loin's gird
about with truth. Stand on the truth of God's word. And Jesus promised
that he would be with you. I think Daniel would a test to saying
the three young men Hannah and Ayah, Michel, Azariah, ha Joseph would
a test to the same, and so many others, even highlighted in the
Book of Hebrews chapter eleven, would a test to the same. And so
here are a series of thought questions. Right, why is it important to
find joy in God's word? Why is it important to find joy in God's
word? Because really, the Psalm is said in verse one hundred and sixty
two of the Book of Psalms, chapter one nineteen, I rejoice in your
word or your instructions like one who finds much plunder, meaning a treasure ha
conquering people for treasure, like I rejoice in your instructions. What yes,
So we need to cherish God's word deeply. We can ask him to teach
us to do that and let it be a source of our joy and strength
as valuable as treasure. Here's another question, how does the Holy Spirit influence
our understanding of truth? The Bible reads in verse thirteen of John chapter sixteen.
But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide
you into all truths. So we're not making up truth. We're not having
to research and become people with PhDs in truth and defend a dissertation on truth.
God is saying, no, the Holy Spirit is going to teach you
the truth about you, which is that you're miserable, poor, blind,
naked, and don't even know it, by the way, hah. And
the truth about him that he is holy. He is holy one hundred percent
of the time, and he loves you despite the fact that you're miserable,
poor, blind, naked and don't even know it. And he is transforming
the lives of people just like us so that we can be guided through and
by the Holy Spirit into the paths of righteousness. And of course there's so
many other things I could ask, but this is another one. Why can't
we earn salvation through our own efforts? I think I answered that already by
saying we're miserable, poor, blind, naked, and don't even know it
spiritually speaking, and so we're not trying to earn brownie points. We are
saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves. It is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any one of us should boast.
So we're not able to boast and say, God owes us salvation,
He owes us eternity with him because we did good. No no no no
no, no no no. We have the kind of faith against all odds,
because of the power of God unto salvation and our thanks for joining us
listening to 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,