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
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 Thursday, September fourteen, twenty 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. Our caption for today is Wrestling against Evil Powers. Wrestling against evil
Powers. We'll get into that in just a moment, but first i'd like
to say welcome to you and ask you to please go over to your Daily
Portion dot com join our online community if you have not already done so,
and also please pick up the Your Daily Portion book and let us know where
you are in the world. There's a little form to say, this is
where I am in the world, and that is encouragement to me and to
my son Josiah when we look at where people are to say, wow,
this is spreading around the world like God's word is moving and we are thankful.
Let's go ahead and pray and then we will get underway. Father in
heaven, thank you for giving us this new day and for the privilege we
have to be in your presence. Yes, thank you for the radio,
television, the Internet and all of the different platforms, and for the fact
that you bring us even together and fellowship through these virtual means. I pray
that we will now wrestle not with our own strength, but that we will
yield our will to you in Jesus name. I pray Amen and Amen again
wrestling against evil powers. Now, it's interesting that we keep going over and
over the passage in Ephesians chapter six, and I want to make sure that
we get it at least at the base level, like foundationally. And so
with our takeaways for today, I want to begin with the intimacy of spiritual
warfare. And you're like intimacy that sounds like a strange word. Maybe I
can say closeness like closed quarters are close. Pardon me, quarters combat kind
of style. Right, And so the Bible reads in Ephesians chapter six,
in verse twelve, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. And you're like, well, we've read
this before. You have said many times before that it is not against humans
that we fight. We don't use weapons of human ingenuity in this battle because
we would lose. Right, we yield our will to God. So what
did we miss in the passage, Dave? Well, maybe it's one word
wrestle to wrestle. Yeah, it doesn't take much, no matter what culture
you're in to begin to understand that wrestling is not a long range experience.
You can look it up on the internet. Like, wrestling is very close.
It is very intimate. It is a struggle, and these spiritual battles
that all of us face are intense, they are close, they are personal,
and it's not a distant conflict. Like you don't send long range missiles
to a wrestling match, right, it is not long range, and it
impacts our daily lives and our inner beings. This means that we have to
have a close connection with God. This means that when Jesus said that he
wants to dwell in us, he said, abide in me and my word
must abide in you. And if you do that, you will ask what
you will and it shall be done unto you. So the battle is close,
and therefore we need our God to be close. That seems rudimentary,
but sometimes we forget that, like we make it seem as if it is
some distant thing, some big cosmic conflict that does not include us right where
we are, like me in Saint Catherine in Jamaica, Land we love at
five minutes after the hour, like right now, there is a battle going
on right in where I am, like the space that I'm in. And
then also in my mind there is a battle of supremacy, a battle for
supremacy. Maybe that's a better way of saying it. Where God is like,
just yield, Dave, yield your will to me, and I will
deal with the devil. Number two takeaway. All evil powers are subjugated,
subjugated to Christ. Jesus is in control of all powers. See, all
we need to do is yield our will so he can be in control of
those powers, so those powers do not overcome our lives. He wants us
to give him permission, okay, to work in our behalf. And so
in Ephesians chapter one, verse twenty one, and you need to think about
that as you are deciding what you're going to eat today, what you're gonna
drink today, how you will relate to people in your intimate relationships or in
business relationships, right, how you're going to relate to your governments, how
you're going to relate in every way, Like, is this something that you've
given to Christ so he can be powerful over all things in your life?
And so in Ephesians chapter one, in verse twenty one, the Bible reads
far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is
named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come.
And so our takeaway is despite the magnitude of the evil forces, remember
we're not talking about flesh and blood. We're not talking about people we can
see who can be wounded, right, people that can be locked up if
they if they do something illegal. Right, The security forces in your country
have no power against the enemy, the devil. Right, But despite the
magnitude of evil forces, Jesus is supreme over all in him, we believers,
if we're surrendered to him, and you need to be answering that question
between you and God, like have I surrendered my will to Him? And
if you have surrendered to him? The assurance of victory is there over all
spiritual opposition, and you need to take that to heart. You need to
take it to heart when you are dealing with a temptation that is hard to
bear. You have in the past made poor spiritual decisions, and now you're
faced with another decision. And sometimes people are fearful and like, Lord,
will I go down the right pathway? Like will I open the right door
and walk through it? Or will I allow the enemy to overcome me?
I'm struggling right now. I'm talking about David, like the one who is
right here speaking to you. You're listening to me, you're watching me.
Yes, every day there is a battle, a battle of the mind,
a battle of my will, a battle of your will. But know that
the victory is in Christ, and all we need to do is surrender to
him. Number three. God equips us for the battle. See, he
did not leave us in a position where we don't know what went next.
How are we gonna deal with this? When David was to face the giant
Goliath, he was given some armor from the king, and he's like,
no, I haven't tested or proven this armor. This is not for me.
This is not for me. I need to go to God and God
give me the armor I need. In fact, we see, of course
that God says in Ephesians chapter six and verse eleven, to put on the
entire the whole armor of God. So God does not send us into a
battle without appropriate armor. When Jesus was in the wilderness, he was tempted
of the devil. He was first led by the Holy Spirit, filled with
the Holy Spirit, and then comes the battle. Jesus didn't go in there
alone, he didn't go in there unequipped. God gave him what he needed
in order to win. We are not left defenseless in this spiritual battle.
God provides every necessary tool truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation you
see it, and the Holy Spirit to ensure that we can face and overcome
all spiritual challenge challenges and four and number four and final dependence on Christ's victory.
The Bible reads in Romans chapter sixteen, in verse twenty, and the
God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Jesus already defeated Satan, and
he is giving that victory to you so that you can win in this battle.
If a wonderful day. 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.