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 Sabbath, September twenty three, 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.
This is our final week this time we did fourteen weeks, yes,
and our caption for today is Ephesians in the Heart. We want to learn
from the lessons in the Book of Ephesians right and instill it in our hearts
through the Holy Spirit. Before we begin, I'd like to just say welcome
to you in a great, big, happy Sabbath to the first time viewers
and listeners. And if it's your first time and you're in social media or
on YouTube, please go ahead and type in a chat, this is my
first time. Or if you're on a podcasting aggregator site and you write a
review, go ahead and say this is your first time and share what your
thoughts were. All right, yes, and please go over to your Daily
portion dot com join our online community, and then also let me know where
you are in the world. This way we can continue to build faith and
fellowship. Let's go ahead and pray and then we will get underway. Father
in Heaven, thank you for giving us this new Sabbath morning, and for
the privilege you havn't trusted to us to open up your word and then round
the corner in particular Lesson study series. Please give us the fullness of your
Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen and Amen again.
So let me just share with you that the passage we are going to read,
and let me be honest while I'm saying it, but yeah, the
passage we are about to read is one of the most critical passages of scripture
that we can experience in all of the Bible. Now. Of course I
may say something different in two days, But right now this one is hitten
really strong in my spirit. And it reads from Ephesians chapter two, Versus
eight through ten. Four. By grace you have been saved through faith.
Did you get that? For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any one should boast aha, For we are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus, unto good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should
walk in them. Can we just begin with the early part of the text.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. See, it is
the power of God. It is by the power of God that we are
saved. Grace is the power of God to do his will. Grace is
also unmerited favor. It is a mix between mercy and power to do God's
will. It's a mix between mercy and the power of God to do his
will. Well, how do we access that power, Brother Paul? We
access that power through faith. What is the outcome, brother Paul? Salvation?
Because it says by the power of God you have been saved through faith.
So faith lays hold upon God's power, and then we are saved.
And by the way, if you ever get confused and say, well,
it is because of my filling the blank that I am able to be positive,
filling the blank saved. No, it says not of your selves.
Not of your selves. It is not about your strength, it is not
about your abilities. It's not about your obedience. And yes, we are
enjoined to be obedient to God. But that obedience only comes because God is
living in our lives. That comes after we submit to him. Right,
So it's not from our own works. It is not from our own ability
to do God's will. It is not because of our response to God's love.
No, it is about God first coming to us with his gift of
salvation. Well, where does it come from? Where does it come from
from? We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And
Isaiah chapter forty three and verse seven, the Bible says that God created us
for his glory. And of course, now in our context, we understand
that salvation comes through Christ because Adam sold us down the river. Like Adam
is the reason why you struggle with addiction, Like Adam is the reason why
you struggle with pride, or any of us struggle with any temptation and any
sins. Like the reason why we need repentance, the reason we need power
to do God's will is because Adam messed up and we inherit, inherited the
messed up gene. We inherited the sinfulness gene from Adam. And therefore therefore
now we have Christ, who, in the mind of God, from before
there was a beginning, was the fixer in the situation. So it is
because of Christ that we can do good works, which again God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them. So it was always God's goal and intention
for all of us to live according to holy principles. We were never intended
to sin, but since we did, God of course and his wisdom provided
a way of escape. There was so much I could say, but let
me call you to action. Now. What I want you to do.
Number one is embrace grace. Remember I did say that grace is God's power
to do his will and of course unmerited favor. Have you truly accepted God's
gift of grace? Take a moment and reflect and receive his unmerited favor.
Today, you don't have to earn it. In fact, you can't earn
it. Embrace it. Embrace it. Number two, I want you to
live by faith. Remember, faith is the kind do it through which it
is. It is what we use in order to get to get access to
the power of God. Right, So, so this is what we need.
We need to live by faith. Are you trusting God in every area
of your life? Step out of step out in faith today? Trust that
He has your best interest at heart, and let him guide your footsteps.
Number three, I want you to engage in good works. Notice all of
this comes after we have received this power of God. After we are enacting
the faith that God has put in us. Now, when we do good
works, we're doing it through the power of the Holy Ghost. We're not
trying to do it on our own. We're not coming up with our own
plans. No, the Bible says that we are saved by grace but called
for a purpose. Find one way. This is an action step, Find
one way to show God's love through a practical act of kindness. Today.
I know it's the Sabbath that's good, it's even better even more so today.
Remember you are His masterpiece, created to make a difference. Now discover
your purpose. Number four, God has pre planned good works for you.
Invest some time in prayer, Invest some time in looking through the scriptures to
discover what he has called you to do. What unique role will you play
in His grand design? And then finally number five, share the gift.
Know someone struggling with self worth or purpose. And some people are concerned,
like, why would you say self worth? Preacher like, because there are
people who really are down on themselves because somebody lied to them and told them
that they were worth less. So people who don't have any confidence, as
we receive God confidence, are self worth prooves. So share the message from
this same passage with them and remind them that they are God's Workmen's ship crafted
for a purpose. That is really the message, the message of the Book
of Ephesians. That is the message of the Book of Ephesians. When we
are victorious by having on the full armor of God, as we are overcoming
our challenges and temptations with immorality and all kinds of other things. That is
the message to the Ephesians that we live by grace through faith, and then
we share it with other people. It's our privilege of a wonderful rest of
your sabbath peace. Thanks for joining us listening to 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.