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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 keep

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

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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 L David Harris. Good morning, good morning, good morning. Can

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you believe it? It is Wednesday, September twenty seven, twenty twenty three.

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Hello. My name is EL David
Harris. I am your host,

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and this is your Daily Portion where
we give you God's word every single day,

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and today is no exception. We
are continuing in our lessons study series

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for this final week in the Book
of Ephesians. Our caption for today is

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the unity of faith. The unity
of faith. We have been touching that

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for a couple of days, but
we'll look at it a little bit more

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closely today. I'm thankful to be
here and I hope you are too.

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Please go over to your Daily Portion
dot com click that Join button to join

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our online community. Also, please
pick up your Daily Portion book and also

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let me know where you are in
the world by typing in that little box.

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There's a little box there that says
where are you in the world,

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And that will help me to know
and to be excited by the fact that

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you are in different parts of the
world spreading the great news of Jesus Christ,

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because one day Jesus is going to
come, but he's only gonna come

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if we will do what share this
gospel of the Kingdom into all the world

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for a witness, and then and
only then shall the income. So go

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to your Daily Portion dot com.
Let's go ahead and pray and then get

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underway. Father in Heaven, thank
you for this new day and for the

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privilege that we have to open your
word. And I'm asking you to Father,

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to fill us with your holy spirit, teach us how to love you

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and give us unity above all things. In Jesus name, I pray,

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Amen and amen again unity of faith. And we are covering aspects of Ephesians

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chapter chapter four. And I have
said to you before united we stand,

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and divided we And if you are
in the social media space or on YouTube,

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go ahead and type in the chat
united we stand and divided divided,

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And of course if you're typing fall
you are correct. And shout to the

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people who are on the radio wishing
that you could type into the chat.

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I know you're out there listening.
So thank God for your presence too.

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Unity of the faith, and so
God wants us to be united in holiness,

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united in the faith of Jesus,
because as we have seen many times

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in the news, some times wherever
you happen to live in the world,

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there are people who unify to destroy
stuff, who unify to break down and

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to tear down. That's not what
we're talking about. We're talking about unity

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in faith, in faith. And
so there are some things we're really going

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to just review the entire chapter of
Ephesians four and just break it down with

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a few things here, okay,
And so number one things believers must stop

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doing, according to Ephesians Chapter four, verses seventeen through thirty one one,

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living as the gentiles do in the
futility of their thinking. Of course,

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there were so many things that we
could say in twenty twenty three that people

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who don't know God are doing in
their thinking, their mindset, their thought,

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processes, and so God is saying
that if we live according to the

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principles of the world and how the
world thinks those who are unlike God,

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then we will not get anywhere.
There are people who put money above relationships

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right There are people who put their
own selfish desires above the safety and the

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growth of their family members. There
are people who overwork and underpay others.

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They overwork themselves and then brag about
how wonderful and successful they are, and

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then underpay people that may be under
their care in terms of employees or contractors.

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And so we must not live in
the thought processes, the paradigms,

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the practices of the world, because
those are futile. Here's another thing that

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we must stop doing, being darkened
in our understanding and alienated from God.

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Alienation from God has to do with
us sinning and not agreeing with God about

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it. If we sin and don't
agree with God about it, we are

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alienated from God. We are enemies
of God. So if God forbid I

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an addiction to alcohol or elicit drugs
or pornography, if I am proud,

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if I allow my rage to leak
into other people's lives, road rage,

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anger at work right, gossiping,
backstabbing, backbiting. If I'm one of

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those people who look down my nose
at you because I feel like I'm elite

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and you are not measuring up to
my level, so get out of my

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space. God is saying that that
is alienation, that is hostility toward God,

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and he wants us to agree with
him. He wants us to say,

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yes, God, what you say
about me is true. In this

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case, I need to do what
you say. Please, empower me to

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please, and that is confession.
Okay. Another thing we need to do

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is stop being sensual and bound to
set actual sin. First to the Corinthians

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and in the Ephesians, Paul sits
squarely on that point as well. Also,

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we have to stop giving the devil
a foothold. Stop allowing him into

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our lives to come sit down in
the living rooms of our of our minds.

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Stop giving him space under our bed, in that cabinet where we're hiding

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that thing that we know we shouldn't
be doing. Stop giving him a foothold,

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because when he puts a foothold in
our lives, we allow it.

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Then he breaks in fully and then
takes control of our lives. Of course,

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we need to stop speaking unwholesome words. We need to stop grieving the

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Holy Spirit. We have to stop
displaying bitterness and rage and anger and brawling

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and slander and malice. That is
in verse thirty one. But but that

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is not what the life of a
believer is a bunch of abstemious sort of

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sort of what we can't and don't
do life's style. In fact, some

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of you closed your ears because you're
like, okay, so it's a long

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list of what we can't do again, Okay, Well, there's some things

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that we must do, can will
and must do. Some of them us

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among them are work worthy, walk
worthy of the calling with humility. God

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wants you and has empowered you to
be humble and gentleness and patience, bearing

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with one another in love. Do
that? How about endeavor to maintain unity

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of the spirit in the Lord in
the bond of peace. That's reconciling relationships.

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There are people who come to you
with their problems in both parties,

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are in your ear about it,
and God is saying that you, inasmuch

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as it is possible, should live
reconciliation style, like do what you can

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to build peace in that situation.
If possible, but certainly to build peace

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between humans and our God. Yes, put on the new self. That's

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something else to do. Speak the
truth to our neighbors, work honestly and

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share with the needies. Speak only
what is helpful in building others up.

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Be kind and compassionate. Forgive one
another as God, through Christ, or

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for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. These are things that we must,

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can and will do. Also ways
to contribute to the unity of Christ,

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we can prioritize personal spiritual growth.
The more we are like Christ, the

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more unity we can bring into the
church. Right, So, personal spiritual

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growth and development are key to unity
in the church, because if everybody is

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doing it, then we also also
will be unified. Support good leadership,

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uphold and support church leaders in their
endeavors. To foster unity so much more,

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let's go with active participation. Engage
in church activity, services, and

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community outreach. This fosters a sense
of community and belonging. That is,

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be on the same team wherever the
church's marching. Ask God, where can

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I contribute? What is it that
you have put in my bosom, in

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my behavior style, in my spiritual
giftedness, so that I can also push

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forward in my case, where the
work of the Gospel is concerned. So

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much more to say, These are
just a few tips about the unity of

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faith in Ephesians chapter four, Peace, Thanks for joining us listening to friends.

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Always remember we cannot live by bread
alone, but by every word that

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comes from the mouth of God.
This has been your daily portion with l

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David Harris, make it a great
day.