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 Friday, February sixteen, twenty twenty four. Hello,
my name is El 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 this preparation day
through the Book of Psalms, and our caption for today is mercy. And
I put an exclamation point here, Mercy. We'll get into that in jail
a moment, but first I'd like to say welcome to you and just give
thanks that you are here. You're watching on television, you're listening on the
radio. Hundreds of radio stations around the world and devices that you call out
to and say play your daily portion and it happens, Oh my goodness.
And then there are some apps that you all have that are coming in from
various faith communities. I am so thankful that you are here on social media
and on YouTube. This means that the gospel of the Kingdom is being preached
into all the world for a witness. And you know what the promise of
God is As a result of this, the end will come. We're not
looking for some cataclysm to take the world out of here. No, we're
looking forward to the day that Jesus Christ comes with clouds, and we understand
that every eye shall see him and we're looking forward to that day. Let's
go ahead and pray and then get underway. Father in Heaven, thank you
for the privilege you've given us to make it thus far into the week,
and for us to be able to prepare our minds and hearts and lives for
the Sabbath that is upon us. I pray God that you will give us
understanding, teach us how to love and to serve You. Please help us
to be holy. We need to be holy, and then to appreciate your
mercy and then we can be merciful to others. In Jesus' name, I
pray Amen and a men again. Have you ever needed the mercy of God?
Yeah? I should probably not have asked that question because it's obvious,
Like the answer is obvious. Sometimes questions are just too obvious. Why are
you wasting our time? Dave? Well? The fact is that sometimes we
forget how merciful God has been. See yesterday I barely scratched the surface under
the caption. Forget not all his benefits, right, don't forget his benefits.
One of the benefits of God is his mercy that is enduring. And
there are times that people offend us. Have you ever been offended by anyone?
There are times that people abuse us. I wish I had the time.
Have you ever been abused? I have in many ways as I was
a young guy growing up. Yes, this world is not our home as
it is today. It is not where we will reside throughout eternity, not
as it is today. We look forward to a new Heaven and a new
Earth. Right, and once we do inherit this earth, it will be
the earth made new. But until then we will encounter bumps and bruises.
We will encounter all kinds of unmentionable things, and God has been merciful toward
us throughout all of those things. And there are times that we will have
to be merciful to others. Jesus said, blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. You see, this is a reciprocal thing. We
are merciful by God's grace, and we will receive mercy from God. And
so this is a principle like his. It's a principal element if you want
to say of God's character his mercy. He does not give us what we
deserve. There are people who feel like we deserve all kinds of positive things,
and God is saying that I am giving you unmerited favor. Now let
me jump in here to this book. I've never read before, but it
seems interesting. Page one hundred and seventy eight of Deliverance in Psalms, and
it reads, not to praise God would mean to forget all of his benefits.
We talk about one of them this morning, mercy. Not to appreciate
God's gifts. Only those who praise do not forget. Thinking and speaking about
God is not yet praising him. So it's not enough to just sit and
meditate and say, God, he's there. He created the sun and the
moon and the stars. He created the fish of the sea and all the
other creatures in the sea, and the landing in the air. No,
that is not enough. Praise begins, and one acknowledges God's majesty and works
and responds with adoration of his goodness. I have often said, brothers and
sisters, that we should be amazed by God, but not surprised. So
when we praise God, we see praise him for his mighty acts, praise
him according to his excellent greatness, and we begin to appreciate the beauty of
the love that is a part of his character. Yes, and we are
not surprised because God promised that he would be good to us. We're not
wondering, well, why is it that God is good to us. We're
not surprised because we just take Him at his word. It's not because we're
more beautiful than anyone else. It is not because we are more in number
as people of God. If you're one of God's people than anyone else,
it is not if you are not one of God's people. Today and I'm
asking you, please just to say yes to God so you can become one
of his children and experience all of the benefits of his beauty and his love.
Yes. But if you are not one of his children, and you
are on the fence trying to decide if you can turn away from those things
that you think that you love today that are really destroying your life, we
have to remember, like you can adore God. You can say like,
wait a minute, why has he allowed me to come thus far in my
life and I've not yet yielded my will to him? Why is he so
good to me? And then when you say yes to him, you will
continue to be amazed. But don't be surprised. Because he promised. He
promised that he would never leave his people nor forsake us. He promised that
he would he would make it like flourishing water streams in the wilderness, that
he would lead us day and night until Jesus comes. He will have us
to lay down beside the still waters. So when he does this, when
he sets a table for us in the presence of our enemies, yes,
don't be surprised, but be amazed and adore him and say, what a
good God and then share your adoration with others. Let me read that sentence
without interrupting it. This time, praise begins when one acknowledges God's majesty and
works and responds with adoration of His goodness, mercy, and wisdom. I
need to ask you an honest question. I'm not asking you to respond in
the chat unless you just choose to. It's up to you. It's up
to you. Are you a complainer? Do you complain every ache and pain?
Do you complain about it every time something does not go right in your
life? Do you complain about it you lament and say how tired you are
of every detail of these things that are not going your way? Are you
a complainer? Why is it that we are so driven to hear our voices
complaining, to type into social media how horrible things are? Seeing the clouds
as really instruments of the wrath of earth and of the heavens. Why do
we see things as cloudy most of Some people see things as cloudy most of
the time. And again, I'm not asking you to be an optimist.
I'm not asking you to stop being a pessimist. What I'm asking you to
do is to put your faith and trust and focus on God. And then
that discussion becomes irrelevant because you know that you're a child of the King and
that whatever goes on in your life, he has measured it and He will
get you through it. There are times of trial, yes, but there
are also times of triumph. Like there are times of difficulty, yes,
but there are times that we can just say, thank God, look at
what you have done. The sun is shining again today. The sun is
shining. We have water today, yes, And when those difficulties come,
we just continue to yield ourselves to God and He will take care of us.
Does life manufacture reasons for you to complain? Brothers and sisters? Ah,
When you see a rose, do you see the thorns rather than seeing
those beautiful, blessed pedals that give and waft the aroma of beauty into the
air and into your nostrils? What do you see? Do you see thorns
and thistles? Or do you see the petals of that great and beautiful flower?
And so there is so much I could say, but not enough time.
I think we can just say here that we should foster hope and assurance,
cultivate repentance, and then share share testimonies of God's mercy every opportunity that
we have. Have a wonderful rest of your day, 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,