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, Elle David Harris. Good morning, good morning, Good morning.
It is Sabbath, November twenty five, twenty 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 Lesson study series. God's Mission,
My mission, and our caption for today is Mission to the Powerful,
Mission to the Powerful. 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. This is where you can join our online community.
You can also let me know where you are in the world. I
won't lie, I really do find encouragement seeing when you are putting in that
box where you are in the world. Some of you are in Cambodia,
in Sri Lanka, in Liberia, right in other places on all continents of
the world. I haven't seen from certain places as yet, but for some
reason, I really just love to see from what vantage point you are spreading
the gospel. You're brightening the corner where you are, and again we can
continue to build faith and fellowship at your daily portion dot Com. Let's go
ahead and pray and then we will get underway. Father, thank you for
this new day, the Sabbath, that you have entrusted to us so we
can become more like you. We can be connected to you in a special
way. Father, Please give us understanding and wisdom while we are going through
this time of our lives. Teach us. If it is for us to
reach to the Powerful, help us to do it in the power the Holy
Spirit. In Jesus's name, I pray Amen and damen again. Of course,
this mission to the Powerful is for the entire body of believers, but
not necessarily for every individual in the household of faith. Okay, So I'm
not letting anybody off the hook. What I'm saying is, don't feel pressure
if that is not your particular calling. All of us have specific gifts and
calling to do whatever God says to do in a given time. That does
not mean that we cannot reach the powerful if it's not quote our gift.
But there are some people who are just even more gifted and called for that
particular ministry. I think of one man here in Jamaica from Andrew's memorial named
Elder Noel Jump. I'm talking about the dad I've seen where he has done
ministry up in Red Hills here in Jamaica and other places where he has been
reaching the soul called powerful for many years. Okay, And so what I'm
going to do now is read from the Book of Matthew Matthew, Chapter sixteen,
beginning at well, I'll just read verse twenty six to get us started,
and then I'll read from the Lesson study, and it reads, for
what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses
his own soul? So I want you to see the contrast here. Do
not read into this something that it is not saying. Okay, I'll come
back to that, or what will a man give in exchange for his soul.
So God is saying, we must, we can, we will,
We must prioritize eternity with God, prioritize a right relationship with God and holiness,
prioritize spirituality over material gain and wealth. Okay, so we're looking at
the priority. What does it profit us to gain everything, riches, wealth,
fame, notoriety, whatever it is that people are getting in terms of
power, yes, political position, whatever it is. What profit is it
to have all of that? If that says if we are not connected to
God and submitted to his will. So that is the contrast. Now,
this does not mean that individuals who have means, wealth and everything else I
just described. It doesn't mean that those individuals are lost. Like what.
There are so many believers around the world who are of means, who do
have wealth. Joseph of Arimathea back in Jesus's day was a good example.
Right, we could go down through the list. Job, we could go
down through the list. Abraham ah Lydia, the woman who broke open that
jar of spikenard and gave herself to Jesus in that moment. Yes, and
so what God is saying that we can yield our will to Him no matter
what our socio economic status is, but we must never ever prioritize our wealth
or anything else for that matter, above Him. Okay. Through written,
though written many years ago, the Bible, the Word of God is the
revelation of God's truth for our world. I'm reading from the Lesson, and
among the many truths it reveals is that of human nature, and that whether
in seventh century Judea or twenty first century Brasil, people are basically the same
sinners in need of grace. Okay, good, so far, so good.
This includes the rich and the powerful. The rich and the powerful of
the Bible times were no different from the rich and the powerful of modern times,
especially in their pursuit of wealth and fame and power, often but not
always, at the expense of the vulnerable. Did you get that? Often
but not always? Okay? Yet, God is as concerned about the salvation
of the rich and of the powerful as he is for that of the weak
and of the needy. Scripture provides some gripping examples of Bible characters who were
powerful or rich or both, or how God used them to be a blessing
to nations and I gave you some examples before, and we're going to explore
that in the coming days. Okay, So that is the baseline of our
discussion. Really, the question is what would you exchange for a connection with
God? Hopefully your answer immediately is nothing, like nothing would give you enough
drive, enough determination, like enough joy or happiness to say, Okay,
I don't need God, you see. So what God is saying is if
you no, Let's use Solomon as an example. Let's use Solomon as an
example. As God was preparing Solomon to lead his people and to become a
lighthouse to the world. He actd Solomon what he wanted, and Solomon said,
but I'm like a child, God, like, how in the world
can I lead this your great people? Please give me wisdom? And with
the wisdom God granted him wealth. Now what Solomon did with it in all
details, that's a different discussion. But it shows that God is willing to
give directly and intentionally that which would glorify him if we yield our will to
him. In the case of Solomon, in the cases of all these other
people that I cited a little bit earlier, he saw fit to bless them
with means can you imagine there are people who don't love God who are philanthropic.
There are people who don't love God who are giving to the poor,
making sure that those who don't have parents, those who have lost their spouses,
people who don't have places to live, people who are in dire need
of education, of nutrition, and other basic necessities of life. Wells being
drilled in different parts of the world where water is scarce. You see,
if people who don't love God have that capacity, can you imagine what God
would do with the means and wealth of people who aren't fully dedicated to God.
And so God gives us the privilege though, to see and to meet
those individuals who have not yet made a decision to follow God and say this
is the way. Walky in it right. There are habits, there are
mindsets, There are challenges in their minds that they had not yielded to God.
And it is our privilege to reach them for the kingdom. And then
those who are reached for the kingdom will, like everybody else, yield all
of who we are, all of what we have, for the work of
God. And so again God wants us to prioritize relationship with Him over any
earthly gain. So what we want to do this as we go into the
week is ponder the memory text, reflect on the true value of spiritual wealth
versus worldly wealth. Discuss with friends or family. But the text means today
in its context, well, come back to it tomorrow, have a wonderful
day. Peace. 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 El David Harris. Make
it a great day. Yeah,