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 Thursday, August
twenty eight, twenty twenty five. 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 Exodus, and
our caption for today is vengeance. Uh oh, vengeance. Before
we get into the that, I'd like to say welcome
to you and ask you to go over to your
Daily Portion dot com. Please join our online community. Please
pick up the Your Daily Portion Life Application Guide 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. Let's
go ahead and pray, and then we will get underway. Father,
We thank you, thank you for giving us this day
and giving us what your desires for our lives is are. Father,
Please give us the fullness of your Holy Spirit so
we can actually live this. We want to live it. Lord,
not talk about it, not act like we're philosophers about it.
We want to live it. Please help us in Jesus name,
I pray, Amen and Amen again. It's no joke out
here these days because people listen, even high ranking officials
these days are looking for ways to get back at others.
Like it seems. It seems like it's getting worse and
worse and worse, like Pharaoh. The spirit of Pharaoh is
in the air where people are just ready to get
back at people. The Bible teaches us in Romans chapter
twelve and verse nineteen, and of course Paul borrowed this
from the Old Testament. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, Never avenge yourselves,
but leave it to the wrath of God. For it
is written vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord.
Before we go through the teaching, the heavy teaching on this,
I'd like to go into our life application guide. We've
not done it together recently. Hopefully you're still using it
in your churches, you're using it in your personal study
to go into the professional relationships the professional application section. Okay,
and so we're using the acronym when it's a framework
for our professional application for the w What is important now?
Leadership means guiding others without using your authority to settle
personal scores. I hope somebody is listening today. If you
are a leader, you know it doesn't really even mean
you have to be a leader for this to apply,
no matter what your position is. But if, especially if
you are a leader, don't use your position to get
back at people. Don't do that. I internalize the insight.
Your role as a leader is not to emotionally react,
but to wisely administer fairness while trusting God to address
hidden matters of the heart. Somebody's listening, and then what
is my next best move? Audit your leadership decisions. If
any action was motivated by personal offense rather than principle,
course correct and align with integrity. This is where really
the rubber meets the road. In the other three categories
as well. And so God wants us to see his
truth as something we have the privilege of living. Somebody
gets under your skin that has nothing to do with
how you treat them. Next, somebody has a habit of
doing things that are offensive to you. That has nothing
to do with whether you're gonna get back at them
or not. If they deserve to be condemned or somehow
corrected in a way that is beyond the pale of
human responsibility. Let God do his job and you do yours.
I wish I had the time. I just literally don't.
Somebody's getting it, and so in versus well, we already
read that verse. Let's go to the historical context. In
verse thirty five of Deuteronomy, chapter thirty two, Paul quotes
directly from there, reminding the early believers, many of whom
were persecuted. You have to think about it. They were persecuted,
just like in Martin Luther King Junior's time in the
nineteen fifties and sixties. Now as he's preaching that sermon
love your enemy, loving your enemies, he's having to actually
live that. I'm talking about stuff I can't even say
in social media or or on what do you call
it YouTube? Because they'll do something on the channel. But
the things that were happening, he had to still say,
I have the capacity that is greater. My capacity to
love is greater than my enemy's capacity to hate. Can
you imagine? So the believers, the early believers in the
first century, were being persecuted. They were not to take
justice into their own hands. This message reflects both a
command avenge not yourselves and a promise. How many people
missed the promise? The ones who like to fight probably
missed the promise. Yes, the promise is that I God
speaking will repay. Paul is not denying the reality of justice.
So I'm not asking y'all to lay down and act
like stuff is not happening. I'm not about that lay
down life. I'm about to stand down life like when
God says to ease back and let him deal with it,
then I'll deal with it. I'll let him deal with it.
And if there's a giant in the ravine who's being
disrespectful where the honor of God is concerned, that we're
gonna get those five smooth stones, and that stone is
gonna hit its target the biblical way. But when God
says he will deal with it, get out of his way.
He's affirming that only God can carry out perfect justice
because only God sees the entire truth, the motive, and
the impact. And so from the book The Thoughts of
Thoughts from the amount of Blessing, we read we are
not to set ourselves up as judges. Our work is
to bless others and lead them to Christ. So much
more to say, so little time. And so let's make
some more application.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: Let this application be vengeance's mind. I will repay when
you are wronged. Your job is not to punish. Your
job is to forgive. Set boundaries, and let God be
the judge. And let me just add a caveat here.
God has given has given guidance through the through Paul,
that the systems of law and justice are there. They
are there to correct those who need to be judged.
That's why law enforcement exists. That's why our systems of
laws and justice exist, and those should be in God's hands. Okay,
number two, avoid bitterness. Avoid bitterness and embrace mercy. Love
your enemies, pray for them. This doesn't mean pretending evil
didn't happen. We're not covering our eyes and saying peekaboo,
as if we poof vanished, we can still see each other.
We know what the reality is. It means choosing mercy
instead of letting hate in fact I use that word advisedly,
instead of allowing hatred to in fact our souls. And
then finally, trust God with the reward of faithfulness. Bible says,
your father will reward you. Your Father will reward you.
You don't need applause, and you don't need to pay.
You don't need paid back. Your quiet obedience is seen
by God. So you know, there's some people who say
try You know, I don't even really want to say it.
It's so for me, it's vile. People will say, try Jesus,
not me, meaning like I'm not saved enough not to
bust back or show retribution. That is so vile, Like,
don't say that, like that. Allow Jesus to become a
part of our lives so that we live like he lived.
And then let that be your peace. Let that be
your peace. God is always watching. He'll deal with wickedness
at the appropriate time and in his way. Peace.
Speaker 1: 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,