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Most of us eat every day,
some of us too much, because yesterday's

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food is not enough to supply energy
for today's needs. Why then, do

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some of us expect yesterday's portion of
heavenly manna, the word of God to

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keep us through today's challenges. On
this program, we are going to change

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all that. Let's experience God's words
today and receive the power we need to

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live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome
to Your Daily Portion with your host,

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author speaker L. David Harris.
Good morning, good morning, good morning.

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It is Monday, September eighteen,
twenty twenty three. Hello, Madame

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Isselle David Harris. I am your
host, and this is your Daily Portion

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where we give you God's word every
single day, and today is no exception.

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We are continuing in our lesson study
series through the Book of Ephesians,

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and our caption for today is belt
and Breastplate. We'll get into that in

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just a moment, but first I'd
like to say welcome, welcome, welcome

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to you, and ask you to
go over to your Daily Portion dot com.

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Please go ahead and click the join
link so you can join our online

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community. Also pick up the Your
Daily Portion book again at your Daily Portion

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dot com and if you would just
let me know where you are in the

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world. There there's a little form
on the page as you scroll. Okay,

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let's go ahead and pray, and
then we will get underway. Father

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in Heaven, thank you for giving
us this new day and for the privilege

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you have entrusted to us. Please
teach us the way to prepare, prepare

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for battle, and yield our will
to you in Jesus name. I pray,

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Amen and amen again, belt and
breastplate. We're going to begin here

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in verse fourteen of Ephesians chapter six
Ephesians chapter six, and the Bible reads,

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stand there for having your loins girt
about with truth, your loins girta

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out with truth. So it's like
having a protective belt that keeps all of

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the armor together, and that protection
is truth. What is truth? I

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remember the disciples, Actually, no, it wasn't a disciple. It was

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it was I think it was pilot
that acts Jesus. What is truth?

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What is truth is? Disciples were
not very clear. The pharisees and haters

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were not very clear. Are you
clear? Are you clear on this Monday

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morning? Like do you know what
truth is? Because there is our faith

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community that always says we have the
truth, we have the truth. And

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I just want to give a shout
out to Pastor John Nixon. I'm talking

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about senior. It was many years
ago, near the time I had gotten

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baptized, and I remember he used
to sit on this point sometimes when he

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was the pastor at the Capitol Hill
Church in Washington, DC, and he

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said, you have the truth,
you have the truth. What is truth?

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And you realize, brothers and sisters, and Pastor Will Smith used to

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used to teach us the same thing. The truth is Jesus. The Bible

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says in John chapter fourteen and verse
six. I am the Way, the

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Truth and the life. And some
of you say, amen, yes it's

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true, But do you realize that
there is more? Yep, The Bible

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says Jesus speaking when he was having
his his prayer. I think it was

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in John chapter seventeen, what we
call the high priestly prayer or mediatorial prayer.

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He said, he said, please
please sanctify them by thy truth.

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Thy word is true. So we
have Jesus Christ as the epitome of truth.

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We have the Word of God in
it's entire to as truth and David

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taught us in the Psalms and multiple
places that his commandments are truth. So

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if we are saying that we have
the truth, we're saying that we have

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right relationship with God through Christ.
If we are saying that we have the

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truth, we are saying that we
have the word of God, those sixty

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six blessed books. If we are
saying that we have the truth, we

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are saying that the Ten Commandments are
not something that we throw away. We

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don't say it was done away with, We don't say we're under a new

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covenant, and therefore it is no
longer relevant, when in fact, the

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new covenant is to establish and to
write God's laws in our hearts and in

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our minds, so that no one
will have to teach any man or woman

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is neighbor to say no the Lord, because God is going to introduce himself

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to all of us and instill his
power in people who are willing. And

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so the belt of truth like having
our loins girt about with truth, having

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the entire armor sort of caught together
and bound by the truth. It makes

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sense now. And so the takeaway
today is, just as soldiers prepare themselves

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physic Kalif for battle believers, and
the question really is am I a believer?

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Are you a believer? Must prepare
themselves spiritually right. The first step

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is to be anchored in the truth. And we could really toy around with

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the argument here, but you get
the point. Truth is essential. Truth

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is key. It's not just cerebral. It's not just that I know what

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words are true in the Bible,
or that I understand intellectually that Jesus Christ

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is who he said he was.
No, this truth becomes a part of

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our fiber, a part of our
being through the Holy Spirit. And of

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course, the essentiality what makes truth
essential. The essentiality of truth and the

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Bible reads here in Second Corinthians,
chapter thirteen, in verse eight. For

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we can do nothing against the truth
but for the truth. Let me say

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it with a different accent, for
we can do nothing against the truth but

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for the truth. You hear their
emphasis there, And so our takeaway is

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that truth isn't just a weapon,
it's a defense. Believers must ground ourselves

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in the absolute truth of God's word. Of course, in Jesus Christ and

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his ten commandment law to successfully combat
deceit and falsehood, I think I made

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allusion to this the other day when
Jesus was speaking to his disciples, and

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they said, when shall these things
be? What shall be the sign of

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thy coming and of the end of
the world. And Jesus said, don't

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be deceived. There will be false
prophets, there will be false christs,

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but don't be troubled. There will
be all kinds of wars, rumors of

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wars, earthquakes and diverse places.
People are going to take you to law

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thinking that they're doing God's service,
and all of these wicked things. And

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so God is saying that if you
will, if you will bind yourself together

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with God through his truth, then
you have what you need by the power

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of the Holy Spirit. Let me
continue divine armor for the battles. In

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verse fourteen, it also says,
having on the breastplate of righteousness, takeaway

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battles. Believe the battles believers face
are not merely human, but they are

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divine. Can I say that again? We say that we don't wrestle against

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flesh and blood, but against principalities
and powers, and against the darkness of

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this world and spiritual wickedness and high
places. That is true. So we're

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clear about who our enemy is.
Ah but are we clear about who our

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God is? Are we clear about
who our God is? So so the

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battle is not yours, brothers and
sisters, but the lords. The battle

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is not yours. It's the lords. To face them, we must be

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armored with God's righteousness. Can I
say it in another way? Maybe I'll

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say it in a way that we
can catch it, Like when you want

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to say a bad word to someone
who seems to be an annoyance to you.

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Yeah, the battle is not yours, it's the Lord's. Right.

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When you're scrolling on Instagram or tick
talk or in some platform that I'm not

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familiar with as yet, but it'll
come up. Right, You're a scrolling,

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scrolling, scrolling, and then there
is something provocative, something enticing,

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that you want to pause on.
But you know because the word of God

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is clear. You know, because
the Holy Spirit has been convicting you.

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You know, because you just simply
know right from wrong that you should not

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pause there. In Gander, you
should not be looking over at Bathsheba while

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she's taking a bath. Brothers,
you should not be having an emotional experience

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with the man who is not your
husband's sisters, you understand. So when

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that happens, you can say,
wait a minute, now, this battle

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is not mine, It's the Lord's, and I, in the power of

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the Holy Spirit, can be victorious
in this moment. Let me just get

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to another one, the protective nature
of righteousness. I'm hoping this may be

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the last one for today. The
Bible reads here in Romans chapter one,

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in verse seventeen. For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to

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faith. As it is written,
the just shall live by faith. God's

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righteousness serves as a shield. Do
you understand that it is God's righteousness.

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It is the only covering that is
protective against sin. It is the only

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covering that is protective against condemnation right
when we are in Christ Jesus no condemnation.

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It is safeguarding us from the attacks
of the devil. Just as a

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physical armor protects the vital organs,
righteousness protects how we're being, our very

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soul. We are protected in the
armor, the breastplate, and the belt

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if we continue to yield to God. Peace. Thanks for joining us listening.

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Friends, Always remember we cannot live
by bread alone, but by every

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word that comes from the mouth of
God. This has been your daily portion

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with L David Harris, make it
a great day.