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

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

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

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through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all of

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

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

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speaker Elle David Harris. Good morning, good morning, Good morning. It

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is Sunday, February twenty five,
twenty twenty four. Hello, my name

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

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

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exception. We are continuing in our
lesson study series through the Book of Psalms,

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and our caption for today is Divine
Self Sacrificing Shepherd, Divine Self Sacrificing

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Shepherd. We'll get into that in
just a moment, but first i'd like

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to say welcome to you and ask
you to go over to your Daily Portion

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dot com. Please join our online
community, pick up the Your Daily Portion

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book and let us know where you
are in the world at your Daily portion

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dot com. This is the way
that we continue to build faith and fellowship.

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

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and Heaven. Thank you for this
Sunday morning and the opportunity we have to

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come into a new week. Father, I pray that you will give us

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a new mindset, a new determination
to be holy, a new experience with

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you and with others. I pray
that you will give us the fullness of

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your Holy Spirit so that we can
see Jesus Christ as the good shepherd who

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gave himself for us, and then
live because of what he has done.

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In Jesus name, I pray,
Amen and a man again. And so

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what I'm going to throughout this week, if the Lord Spaar's life is,

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is to look for Jesus. Yesterday
we barely scratch the surface. I gave

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you a rambling example of some of
the things that or some of the ways

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excuse me that Jesus is identified in
the Book of Psalms. And then we

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rested just for a moment on one
aspect of the blessing of who Jesus is.

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And so today we're going to do
a little better job of it,

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but we're going to focus on a
different aspect yet again, this time Jesus

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being the shepherd. Now, shepherds
have to have a flock, a flock

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of what in this context, a
flock of sheep. And so before I

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even really get into Jesus as as
the divine self sacrificing shepherd, I have

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to answer the question to satisfy my
curiosity, like why sheep? Like why

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are we sheep in this scenario?
Well, there are a few reasons,

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a few reasons, and this is
by no means an exhaustive list. Dependence

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and trust. Sheep are known for
their tendency to follow their shepherd. So

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this is a great symbol in that
regard in a sense and purity, innocence

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and purity. How about community and
flock. Thatt's people are to be in

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a community, a flock who all
mutually remain together and follow whom the great

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shepherd. And then comes pastoral care
in the pastors. The shepherd takes care

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of the sheep, and of course
we know that represents God's care for us.

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And of course the Bible is full
of references that show us or portray

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us in this light, also the
sacrificial symbolism. The sheep in many aspects

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of the sacrificial system of the Old
Testament, are seen as the animal of

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choice. This adds an additional layer
of meaning, particularly in our theology as

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Christians and Jesus himself becoming the lamb
of God that takes away the sins of

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the world, and then of course
comes vulnerability, vulnerability and need for protection.

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Like sheep are not known for their
strength and their abilities to fend for

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themselves, which can symbolize the blessing
of the human need for God. Okay,

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so those are some quick reasons why
Like why a sheep in this discussion?

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So now we have the good shepherd? What do shepherds do? Brothers

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and sisters. You can go ahead
and type in the chat, like what

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are some of the things that shepherds
do. I'll give you my list in

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a moment. Go ahead and start
loading the chat. What do shepherds do?

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Okay, So shepherds, Like I
grew up in New York City,

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so I've never seen a shepherd and
I just say that, but I've seen

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him on the internet. Okay,
Internet. I apologize for not enunciating.

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Okay, but shepherds protect shepherd's correct
nurture, lead and feed, protect correct

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nurture, lead and feed. Okay, so this is the good shepherd,

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Jesus Christ. Now let me go
to a passage here that is interesting in

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the Book of John chapter ten,
and then we'll circle back to the Psalms

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John chapter ten. Beginning at verse
eleven, Jesus speaking, I am the

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good shepherd. The good shepherd lays
down his life for the sheep. The

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hired hand, who is not a
shepherd and does not own sheep, sees

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the wolf coming and abandons the sheep
and runs away. So now we see

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the protective nature of Jesus Christ,
the divine self sacrificing shepherd. Okay,

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verse thirteen, Well, let me
continue in verse twelve. He sees the

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wolf coming and abandons the sheep and
runs away. So the wolf attacks the

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sheep and scatters them. So hirelings
or hired servants, people who are self

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serving in this context, who supposedly
are religious leaders of the flock. Those

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individuals who don't care like the good
shepherd, Those individuals will scatter you.

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Those individuals will not protect you.
Those individuals will drain you for all that

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you have and all that you are. Those individuals will not do what the

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good shepherd does, okay verse thirteen. Because he's a hired hand and he's

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not concerned about the sheep, he
runs away Verse fourteen. I am the

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good shepherd. I know my own
and my own know me, just as

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the Father knows me. And I
know the Father. And I laid down

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my life for the sheep. And
so this great shepherd, Jesus Christ,

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is not just looking for someone to
follow him. He's looking for you,

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brothers and sisters. He's looking for
me so that he can give his life.

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He gave his life for us.
He came in search of all human

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beings who have separated ourselves from God, so that He can save us from

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our sins, so that we can
live eternally, so that we can say

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no to those things that displease Him, so that we can say yes and

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live the abundant life. According to
Deuteronomy, Chapter twenty eight, Verses one

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through fifteen. We can live that
life as we are obedient to His commandments

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and his statutes, and his judgments. And blessings of all sorts come and

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overtake us when we are following God. And so Jesus came to give us

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at least minimally everything that I have
said. And so we see in the

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Book of Psalms chapter twenty eight and
verse nine, Save thy people, bless

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thine inheritance. That's us feed them
also and lift them up forever. I'm

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thankful that God feeds us real and
practical food every single day. He leads

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us and feeds us with his word, those words of God that can extend

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our lives spiritually into eternity. And
then in the Book of Psalms chapter eighty

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and verse one, the Bible reads, give ear, Give ear, oh

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Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest
Joseph like a flock, Thou that dwellest

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between the Cherubims, shine forth.
So now we see sanctuary language. Jesus

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Christ as the great high Priest,
Jesus Christ as the God who is giving

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himself in human form, is seen
as between the Cherubims in the Holy of

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Holies, in the sanctuary, that
position of power, that position of authority.

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And yet he humbled himself. He
humbled himself and gave himself a ransom

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for many. He became. He
became the good Shepherd in order to save

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the sheep and to lead us.
Then, of course, the Bible says

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in verses fifty two and fifty three
of Psalms chapter seventy eight. Yet he

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brought out his people like a sheep
and led them through the wilderness like a

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flock. He guided them safely along, and they were not afraid. But

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the sea covered their enemies. This
is speaking of God delivering his people from

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bondage and captivity. God is the
good shepherd in Christ, Jesus, are

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you a good sheep? Thanks for
joining us listening. Friends, Always remember

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we cannot live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the

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mouth of God. This has been
your daily portion with el David Harris,

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make it a great day. Yeah,