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 Friday, September twenty nine, two 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 for the last day in our lesson
study through the Book of Ephesians under the caption Battling in peace the Church's armor,
the Church's armor. I thank God for the privilege to have had this
time like through the Book of Ephesians. What a wonderful study. And we
are preparing. We are preparing for our next study through the Book of the
Gospel of John. But I don't want to get too far afield, because
we have something right here, right now that God wants to say to us,
battling in peace, the armor that God has given his people. I
want you to please go over to your Daily Portion dot com, join our
online community and pick up your Daily Portion book. Also let us know where
you are in the world with that little form there at your Daily Portion dot
com. Let's go ahead and pray, and then we will get underway.
Father in Heaven, thank you for the privilege you have entrusted to us to
do your will like thank you for your words. Thank you for the fourteen
whole weeks that we have had through the Book of Ephesians. And I pray
that we will live according to your principles as a result. In Jesus name,
I pray Amen and Amen again, battling in peace the Church's armor in
the Book of Ephesians. And so we need to really make everything that we
study practical, everything that we read from His word practical. And I think
the Bible says that we are to live peaceably with all people inasmuch as it
lie unto us. That means that we're not to stir up war, we're
not to cause conflict. There are ways that we must deal with conflict when
they come. Yes, and of course there are challenges sometimes when we are
in a battle against evil, where you know, people are trying to get
us to do stuff that we must not do. People are trying to separate
us from God. So of course we don't just lay there, right,
We don't just say, oh, I'm peaceful, No, that's are right.
We fight against evil. But God is saying that where it is possible
to be in a reconciled relationship with people, that we can, we will,
and we must. And so the first takeaway as we round the corner
in this study for today is to stand firm, or really it's not a
takeaway, it is a call to action, like stand firm in unity.
According to Ephesians, chapter four and verse three, make every effort to keep
the unity of the spirit. Now we're not just talking about generic unity.
We're talking about unity of the spirit in God's fellowship right through the bond of
peace. There are people who are are rabbel rousers, like there are people
who stir up controversy among the people of God. There are people who call
away and catch away silly individual from the faith because they have some new found,
some new fangled what they call truth, and then of course it gets
people all mixed up and bound into all kinds of darkness. So God wants
us to stand firm in the unity of faith through the Spirit, in the
bond of peace. And so the question really is, how are you How
am I fostering unity in my community today, my community of believers that are
my friends, in the people that I encounter on the road on a regular
basis, Like am I reconciling people to God through His Holy Spirit so that
we can be bound together in peace? It's something that we all have to
consider. I'm not the most friendly person that I know, but somehow when
I go to the gym, I have to greet as many people as possible
before I can exercise. I walk through every room in the gym and say
good morning to people. And I even am amazed myself because I'm like,
why am I doing this? I'm not this friendly naturally, I'm an introvert.
Yeah, some of you are confused, like he's an introvert. Yes,
I'm an introvert. But God has me driven to build relationships and I
literally cannot help it. And it is for the purpose of bringing people closer
to God through a positive interaction with one of his humans, and in this
case it's me. That's a long story, but I think you get it.
How about speak life and love. Verse twenty nine of Ephesians chapter four
reads, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such
as is good for building up. Here is my challenge for you today.
Share a word of encouragement with someone today. Share a word of encouragement.
It's not that difficult. Yes, good morning, It's wonderful seeing you.
I didn't see you for two days. Is everything okay? Good morning.
Hey, it's been a long time. I heard that you were having some
challenges. Is there anything I can do for you? I'm here for you.
Just let me know. Hey, good afternoon. How you doing.
Oh you're not doing well? What can I do for you? Can I
pray for you? Is there anything else that I can do? Let me
know how I can be of service. I love your smile. Yeah,
sometimes when we see people. This happens to me all the time, really,
because I just love children, and so I'll see you with your child
and lose focus of whatever in the world I was doing, and I'll just
immediately light up with passion and build with the child, no matter how young.
And that can be encouraging to parents that feel like they're alone. Can
you imagine, so, speak life and love into someone today, and resist
corrupting talk, resist that tend to break down, no gossip, no backbiting,
or any such thing. Also be a champion of the Gospel of peace.
The Bible reads and Ephesian chapter six and verse fifteen. Having shot your
your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, how can you spread
peace in your surroundings today? Talking about godly peace? Now we're talking about
the Gospel of peace. How can you spread that gospel into wherever you happen
to be? Yes, I'm online and on the radio, two hundred radio
stations right online, thirty plus platforms that I know of those are the ones
I intentionally put this program into, and other communities that I'm a part of
where I'm sharing great news concerning God. But that's not what he's talking about.
In particular, there are individuals he wants you to look in the eye,
right into their eyes, be a part of their lives, to be
able to share the Gospel into their lives, giving them a transformative experience with
God. How can you do that? How can you spread peace in your
surroundings today? And here comes another one. Recognize your real enemy. In
Ephesians, chapter six and verse twelve, the Bible reads, for our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil.
So when faced with opposition, I need you, brothers and sisters to remember
who the real enemy is. Do not fight with people. Do not fight
with people. People are not your real enemies, even though that's who we
see. These are the ones that are spewing vitriol and poison venom our way.
These are people who are looking like they want to destroy us, and
indeed they have, unfortunately, if that's their reality, have yielded themselves to
darkness. But in fact, it is the devil himself who's behind all of
it. So see it for what it really is. See it for what
it really is. When we face this opposition, remember who he is the
real enemy. Don't fight people. Fight against darkness, fight against unholiness with
people, fight the good fight of faith with other people. So if you
have humans who are annoying to you or unholy somehow, who are enemies,
then those who are friends. You pray with your friends, intercede on behalf
of those wicked people who seem to have no good intention for you, so
much to say no time will see you tomorrow the Lord's fears 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.