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 of
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 Friday, All Gets twenty five, two twenty three. Hello, my
name is El 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 lessons study series through the Book of Ephesians.
Our caption for today is Follow God. Follow God. We'll get into
that in just a moment, but first I'd like to say welcome to you
and ask you to go over to your Daily Portion dot Com. Click that
online community link. It says join, and there we can find faith and
fellowship. And also, please, on this preparation day morning, pick up
the your Daily Portion book, which is another opportunity for us to continue to
grow. Hopefully you will share with me where you are in the world.
There's a little form there so that I can continue to build my map and
see from what vantage point this gospel of the Kingdom is being preached into all
the world for a witness, because we are all looking forward to the day
that the end will come. At your Daily Portion dot com, let's go
ahead and pray, and then we will get underway. Father in Heaven,
thank you for giving us this preparation day morning. Please give us the impetus,
give us the desire, give us the ability to follow you in Jesus
name, I pray, Amen and Amen again. One of the most known,
let's call it sayings of Paul was follow me as I follow Christ.
So in that case, who are we really following? We're following God,
right, we're following Christ. There is another place that says that we should
be following in God's footsteps, and the only people who can actually follow in
God's footsteps are people who are surrendering our will to him. Yeah, I
remember an elder said to me many years ago when I was in training to
be an elder he said, Dave, when we or before we submit ourselves
to God, Jesus is our savior, right, Okay. And then he
said, once we submit ourselves to God, then he becomes our example.
So he's our savior and example. And I'm thinking, well, what does
that mean? You see, before an individual surrenders our will to God,
we cannot do what he says. Yeah. Romans chapters seven and eight make
a big discussion of that fact. And so once we are surrendering to God,
there is no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. So we
learn how to walk in the spirit once we begin to surrender our will to
God. And ye do surrender our will to God. So now we have
a context to whom am I speaking When I say follow God, Follow Christ.
I'm speaking to those who are yielding our will to God. And if
you are not surrendering your will to God, I am asking you, even
this morning, like this twenty fifth day of the month in August, I'm
begging you to please consider yielding to God today. Right. Choose you this
day whom ye will serve, Because in my house we've already chosen to serve
the Lord, but we want you to do the same, all right,
And so we're going now to the Book of Ephesians, chapter five. We're
moving steadily right along here in the book Ephesians chapter five, and I will
read beginning at verse one, and the Bible says, be ye, therefore
followers of God, as dear children, yes, walk in love. As
Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us and for us
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. And so
we're talking about the love of God again. God has loved us. Jesus
has loved us. Right, God, our Father. For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. Right, God did not send his
son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. And we also see that, of course Jesus, Jesus
has given all voluntarily. He laid his life down for us and took it
up again, and now is ministering in heavenly places for us, so that
we can be saved because he loved us. He loves us. Yeah,
the Bible does say we love him, meaning we love God because he first
loved us. We love him because he first loved us. His love is
the cause of our ability to love him in return. Okay, And so
this is why when it says here that we are to walk in love for
Christ hath also loved us. That is the empowerment that we receive. God's
love empowers us to do his will. God's love empowers us to love him
in return. Okay, let's continue. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness,
let it not be named among you. You see, there are so
many faith communities that have to struggle with this fornication concept. And pause for
a moment. Some of you think that fornication and adultery is like so totally
different, because adultery supposedly is for people who are married and fornication is for
people who are unmarried. Really, when the Bible discusses this stuff, it
is from a word that sounds like porno, porn nea, pornnia, and
that means all sexual impurity. So whether you call it fornication, you call
it adultery. Whatever it is. If it's something that you're doing to yourself,
like self abuse, or you're doing by yourself by watching stuff that you
shouldn't watch, or hearing and listening to things that have sexually explicit content,
like, all of those things fall into that immorality or sexual impurity space.
So God is saying, put away all of that, all uncleanness, all
covetousness, and let it not be named among you. Well, why is
he able to say that, because we've already said that. When God perfects
us in love, when we are surrendering our will to him, we are
now empowered to reciprocate love and to do his will. So God doesn't just
go to the street where people are not yielding to him, who are not
surrendered to him, have not made a decision to follow him and say,
don't do uncleanness. It's not that his commandments change for those who don't love
him. But there is another approach that he takes its repentance right follow me,
he's saying. He's saying repent, he's saying, confess your sins.
Agree with me. But when we are his children, he just comes to
us directly because he's already empowered us and say, flee, fornication, flee.
According to the rest of this verse four, filthiness, foolish talking,
jesting, huh, but rather giving of thanks. He wants us to have
a different mindset. No more foolishness, brothers and sisters, right, no
more silliness, no more believing lies, no more fornication, no more idolatry.
And that's okay, And it's more than okay because Jesus didn't do it.
Yeah, we are free to do everything Jesus did. We are free
to live in the way that Jesus lived. Remember, Paul said, follow
me as I follow Christ. Who's the best example, Jesus Christ. Okay,
let's keep going verse six. Let no man deceive you with vain words,
because for because of these things come at the wrath of God upon the
children of disobedience. So I'm not going to palliate you this morning. Neither
am I going to palliate myself. I'm not going to make us feel good
in our sins like God loves you so much that and then somehow take responsibility
from us. No, the wrath of God is coming to anyone who does
not repent. H does not repent I don't have another way of saying that.
But be ye, therefore partakers, not with them. For ye were
sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the world. Walk as children
of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord Final Verse. And have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Bible
is giving us clear indication about how God's people can follow him today. 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.