Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Good morning. It is Friday, August thirty,
twenty twenty four. 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 through the Book of Mark, and our caption
for today is living to Give, Living to Give. We'll
get into that in just a moment, but first I'd
like to say, well, welcome to you and ask you
to please go over to your Daily Portion dot com.
Please join our online community, pick up your Daily Portion book,
and let us know where you are in the world.
At your Daily Portion dot Com. This is one of
the ways that we continue to build faith and fellowship.
Good morning again, Good morning. Let's go ahead and pray,
and then we will get underway. Father and Heaven. Thank
you for all of the people that you have brought
on these platforms all around the world. I'm asking you
please to transform all of our minds, transform their minds,
and people who are contemplating continuing in sin or to
serve you, help them to choose to serve you. Help
us to serve you with everything that we have. Live
to give according to your principles. In Jesus' name, I pray,
Amen and Amen again. Living to give, living to give.
If you want to enjoy a really really invigorating and
and really telling fascinating discussion, I want you to look
up symbiosis or symbiosis s Y M B I O
S I S I think that's how it's spelt, or
look up or look up the Amazon. The Amazon. I'm
not talking about Amazon dot Com. I'm talking about I'm
talking about the place on planet Earth called the Amazon.
And see how all of what happens inside of the Amazon,
that ecosystem in nature, how each of the creatures, each
of the things in plant life how things related to
water systems and everything else is symbiotic, meaning they have
relationships where they are living to give. Every part of
the system is giving to every or other parts of
the system. And I like it because it shows us
that God intended for us not to be solitary, not
to be by ourselves, not to just have life pass by,
not to be selfish. Oh, I think I'm getting somewhere now.
God intends for us to live and give like God does. Okay,
let me begin by reading I think it's starting to
settle in from the book titled The Desire of Ages.
The Desire of Ages, I will read from page five
hundred and eighty four directly out of the lesson, and
it reads Christ's act in cursing the tree, which his
own power had created, stands as a warning. And I
know that there are times that we believers don't like warning.
So we don't like how that feels. We feel like
that somebody is spying on us and looking for a
way to condemn us. That is not true. There are
times that we are on the precipice, on the edge
of something very destructive in our lives, and God has
to sound an alarm. He has to sound an alarm
and say danger, like you are on the wrong track.
And if you continue along that pathway and don't turn
around or repent, then you are going to self destruct.
You will destroy yourself. So God is giving us a
warning in this discussion about what happened when he cursed
the fig tree. This is a warning to all churches
and to all believers. Not one can live the law
of God without ministering to others. That's why I gave
you that whole discussion about living in order to give
Let me read that again. No one, not one of us,
can live the law of God without ministering to others.
Remember yesterday we said that the second and great commandment
is like unto the greatest commandment of all, it's miraculous,
and it's to love our neighbors as ourselves miraculously and
the fact that God has to empower us to love
Him with everything we have and everything we are. And
that is the first and great commandments, or the greatest commandment.
And then the second, which is like unto it is
to love others as we love ourselves. Well well, to
love others as we love ourselves is to minister to
them it's to minister to them. It is to give
what we can give for the benefit of their well being.
I said, what we can give, we don't worry about
what we cannot give. If we're in a symbiotic relationship. Remember,
you're going to look about the Amazon them on when
you have an opportunity and see like there are creatures
that serve other creatures in certain way. So God, according
to your gifts, can have you to serve people, not
with who you're not, but with who you are. And
then let me continue the reading. But there are many
who do not live out Christ's merciful, unselfish life. Some
who think themselves excellent Christians do not understand what constitutes
service for God. They plan and study to please themselves.
They act only in reference to self. Time is of
value to them only as they can gather for themselves
in all the affairs of life. This is their object,
not for others, but for themselves. Do they minister? Oh
wait a minute, wait a minute, you just said not
for them, not for others, but for themselves. They do minister? Well,
is that ministry really?
Speaker 1: So?
Speaker 2: Sometimes people feed the homeless in order to make themselves
either look big or feel good. Sometimes people do it
only so that they can receive some benefit. I said,
only only to receive or derive some benefit from a
government entity. If I give this so much of my
material resources, then this will be the outcome. And I'm
not saying that we should not benefit from those things
that the tax code does provide. But what I am
saying is that there are some people who only do
it in order to receive that benefit. That is their
only purpose. Remove that benefit, and they would not be
of service in that way. And so there are people
who speak and preach and teach the Word like I
do every single day of my life, every single day
for many years. I've been teaching this Word of God
for a long time. And some people who do what
I'm doing right now do it so that we can
fill in the blank something that has to do with
ourselves feel a certain way, be seen by others a
certain way. Sometimes even God forbid, people are preaching and teaching,
quote the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to gain
brownie points or somehow recommend ourselves to God, as if
God now has to give us some kind of a reward.
And the Bible is teaching us and this writing here
in the book Desire of Ages is teaching us that
we need to be transformed by God. We need to
be converted by God, so that when we are serving
or ministering, we are only serving and ministering because we
want to be a blessing to people under God. We
want them to be transformed, and so we are just
doing whatever it is that we can do so that
they can be benefited. God created, continuing the quote, them
to live in a world where unselfish service must be performed.
He designed them to help their fellowmen and every in
every possible way. But self is so large that they
cannot see anything else. They are not in touch with humanity.
Those who thus live for self are like the fig tree,
which made every pretension, but it was fruitless. They observed
the forms of worship, but without repentance or faith in profession.
They honor the law of God, but obedience is lacking.
They say, but do not, They say, but do not?
And so Jesus is giving us the opportunity today to
observe how he lived and then live in order to
give under the strength of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1: 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 El David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,