1 00:00:01,159 --> 00:00:05,559 Most of us eat every day, some of us too much, because yesterday's 2 00:00:05,599 --> 00:00:10,439 food is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:15,039 some of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:19,760 keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change 5 00:00:19,879 --> 00:00:25,120 all that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:30,800 live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host, 7 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,640 author speaker L. David Harris. Good morning, good morning, good morning. 8 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,320 It is Monday, October two, twenty twenty three. Hello, my 9 00:00:39,399 --> 00:00:42,119 name is L. David Harris. I am your host, and this is 10 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:46,520 your Daily Portion where we give you God's Word every single day, and today 11 00:00:46,719 --> 00:00:51,600 is no exception. We are continuing in our new Lesson study series, God's 12 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:58,560 Mission My Mission, God's mission, my mission, and our caption for today 13 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,840 is the God who longs to be with us. Did you know that God 14 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,640 longs to be with you? Yeah. We'll get into that in just a 15 00:01:07,719 --> 00:01:10,920 moment, But first I'd like to just say welcome to everyone joining us, 16 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:15,040 especially those joining us for the very first time. Please go over to your 17 00:01:15,159 --> 00:01:19,519 Daily Portion dot com. Join our online community, and also please click and 18 00:01:19,879 --> 00:01:25,640 pick up your Daily portion book that will help us continue to build faith and 19 00:01:25,719 --> 00:01:30,680 fellowship together. And please also let us know where you are in the world. 20 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,519 There's a little form right there that says where are you in the world, 21 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,640 and that will help to encourage me. I'm just going to tell you 22 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:42,239 straight like that is to encourage me because I love to see when God is 23 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:47,920 using his word through this program to spread into all the world to transform people's 24 00:01:47,959 --> 00:01:52,959 lives. And you really keep me encouraged by simply filling up that little form. 25 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,560 Let's go ahead and pray, and then we will get underway. Father 26 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,239 in Heaven, thank you for giving us the privilege of opening your word again 27 00:02:00,319 --> 00:02:04,920 today and for the privilege to come into this part of our work week. 28 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,879 Praise I praise you for being faithful to us. Please, Father, teach 29 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:15,879 us to long to be with you as much as you long to be with 30 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:21,879 us. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen and Amen again. Well, 31 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,080 let's go ahead and begin with the idea. Let me ask you a 32 00:02:24,199 --> 00:02:29,840 question. It's a question. Have you ever been in a relationship where felt 33 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:36,680 like you were forcing the issue? Yeah, where you were compelling even like 34 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,120 or at least trying to compel the other person in the situation in the scenario 35 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,639 to be with you, and that person didn't seem to really want to be 36 00:02:45,439 --> 00:02:51,080 Yeah, how did that make you feel? How beneficial to the relationship was 37 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:55,159 it that it felt like you were chasing your person, person who said that 38 00:02:55,199 --> 00:03:00,360 they loved you, the person that you have given your love to. Right, 39 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,680 how did it feel when it seemed to be one sided? I don't 40 00:03:05,719 --> 00:03:08,159 want to get just into the touchy feelings, but it is something to think 41 00:03:08,199 --> 00:03:15,400 about, Like how must it make God feel when we allow him to pursue 42 00:03:15,599 --> 00:03:19,759 us? But we just decide, You know, I guess if I have 43 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,280 a little extra time, I'll pursue him. Or if I find myself in 44 00:03:23,319 --> 00:03:27,280 a problem or a challenge or trouble, or if I feel like I need 45 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,879 something, then I'll go to him. And I know, like some people 46 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,800 would say, come on, Dave, you're being extreme, you're being too 47 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:37,039 hard. Well not really. Like some of us are fair weather friends. 48 00:03:37,599 --> 00:03:40,639 If everything is bright and sunny outside, then we are just so happy with 49 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,759 God. But the minute something is in our lives, we don't like He 50 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,879 allows the enemy to touch us. As in the story of job, where 51 00:03:50,039 --> 00:03:53,879 we experience a death in the family, or we experience pain in our bodies, 52 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:59,199 like we experience some trial or tribulation, we feel that we are not 53 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,680 as strong as we ought to be, and we begin to be despondent. 54 00:04:01,879 --> 00:04:09,639 We sometimes turn away from God when he's the one who always has longed to 55 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,599 be with us, He's the one who is always in pursuit of us. 56 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,879 How could we do that to God? I just need to start right there. 57 00:04:16,399 --> 00:04:20,800 Let me go now into of course, calls to action, because really, 58 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:27,079 in faith communities like these, it is easy for us to identify problems. 59 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:31,040 It is easy for us to feel intelligent and study a scripture, study 60 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,879 some other book and then wax eloquently for ten, fifteen, twenty or thirty 61 00:04:35,879 --> 00:04:41,120 minutes and then make people feel like we're intelligent. Right, But when it 62 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:46,000 comes to acting this stuff, to living it, it eludes many of us. 63 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:48,759 And so let's go into action. I want you to dive into the 64 00:04:48,759 --> 00:04:54,040 promise of God. I'm talking about head first. I'm talking about go in 65 00:04:54,079 --> 00:05:00,399 there and start to stroke and swim. In Genesis chapter seventeen, Genesis chapter 66 00:05:00,519 --> 00:05:05,040 seventeen and verse seven, the Bible reads, and I will establish my covenant 67 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:13,800 between me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an 68 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:20,120 everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I 69 00:05:20,199 --> 00:05:28,680 want you to jump right in and begin to experience the blessing of God making 70 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:39,040 a promise of establishing the covenant with our father Abraham. God made a promise, 71 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:45,480 and he has been keeping the promise ever since. How do you view 72 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:50,000 God's promises in your life? How do you view God's promises in your life? 73 00:05:50,399 --> 00:05:54,959 Or do you invest any time at all in reading the promises of God 74 00:05:54,959 --> 00:05:59,560 out of his word or being alone with God to the point that He can 75 00:05:59,639 --> 00:06:03,480 speak to you directly like he did Father Abraham, and like he sent a 76 00:06:03,519 --> 00:06:09,839 messenger to Hagar when she was desponding to say that God sees you. He 77 00:06:09,959 --> 00:06:14,720 sees your situation. So the God, who who will stop at nothing to 78 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:19,120 be with us, is in pursuit of you, wants to keep his covenant 79 00:06:19,199 --> 00:06:23,519 in you, that if you will love him, he will keep his commandments 80 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,600 through your life. And you're like, but God, how can I love 81 00:06:26,639 --> 00:06:29,279 you? How can I love you? Like? I don't know how to 82 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,199 love? Well? The Bible says that we love him because he first loved 83 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:36,720 us like he is the cause of our love. He is the one who 84 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:45,639 empowers us to love him because his love gives us strength. And as we 85 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,680 receive this love. As we receive this love, then we can more readily 86 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:55,839 accept his promises. Dive head first into his promises. Also, I want 87 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,639 you to seek his assurance. And when I say seek his assurance, I'm 88 00:06:59,639 --> 00:07:02,319 not saying for him to have to convince you that what he says is true. 89 00:07:02,399 --> 00:07:06,560 We're not talking about that. Let's go to Genesis chapter twenty six, 90 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:11,879 in verse three, where the Bible reads, Sir, journ in this land, 91 00:07:12,319 --> 00:07:15,199 and I will be with you and bless you. I want you to 92 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:19,000 go back to passages like these where God has made promises. Right, I 93 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:24,079 said, go head first into his promises. You want to be reassured. 94 00:07:24,399 --> 00:07:28,639 Go back to those same promises and said, Lord, you said that I 95 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:33,240 will be with you and bless you. The Bible continues for to you and 96 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:39,360 your descendants, I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath 97 00:07:39,399 --> 00:07:44,839 which I swore to Abraham, your father. And so God continues to tell 98 00:07:44,879 --> 00:07:49,480 his children over the generations that he will keep the promise that he made through 99 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:54,959 and to Father Abraham that he will be with you. He will cause your 100 00:07:55,079 --> 00:07:59,600 descendants to prosper. He will give you the lands that God had promises people. 101 00:07:59,639 --> 00:08:03,360 In those days, we are looking forward to a land that is a 102 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,439 city whose builder and maker is God. In two twenty three, we are 103 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,959 still looking forward to the day that Jesus cracks the clouds and then calls his 104 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,800 children to live with him for one thousand years in heaven. And after the 105 00:08:16,879 --> 00:08:22,839 thousand years are finished, according to Revelation chapters twenty and twenty one, he 106 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:28,720 will keep the promise he made in Matthew chapter five that the meek will inherit 107 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,799 the new Earth. God will give us a brand new earth where there is 108 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,879 no more sin, sickness, pain, and all of the former things are 109 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:41,080 passed away. So you need a blessed assurance. Go back and read those 110 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:46,799 same great and precious promises. And then finally I want you to think about, 111 00:08:46,879 --> 00:08:48,440 well, not finally, but I want you to think about like, 112 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:56,559 where do you need God's assurance today? Not convincing but reassurance, Like Okay, 113 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,000 I remember your promise. God, Please let that settle into my mind, 114 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,840 mind and heart today. Yes, So I want you also probably most 115 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:09,840 importantly, to embrace his presence. This is a call to action, embrace 116 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:16,639 his presence. The Bible reads in twenty eight chapter of Genesis, verse fifteen, 117 00:09:16,039 --> 00:09:22,240 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, 118 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:26,759 and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you 119 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:31,440 until I have done what I have spoken to you. Reflect on the situations 120 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,720 in which you feel God's presence the most, and guess what. The Bible 121 00:09:35,799 --> 00:09:39,600 says that if you will praise him, he inhabited the praises of his people, 122 00:09:41,159 --> 00:09:46,720 have a wonderful day. Peace. Thanks for joining us listening to friends. 123 00:09:46,919 --> 00:09:50,279 Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that 124 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,519 comes from the mouth of God. This has been your daily portion with l 125 00:09:54,679 --> 00:10:00,320 David Harris. Make it a great day.