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 Monday, January twelve,
twenty twenty six. Hello, my name is Elle David Harris.
I am your host den 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 uniting Heaven and Earth, christ in Philippians and Colossians,
and our caption for today is to die is gain,
to die is gain. Before we get into that, I'd
like to say 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 Life
application guide, and please please click that donate button 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 get underway. Father, We thank
you for this new morning and for the work week
that you have helped us to embark upon. Please help
us to serve you with everything that we have, everything
that we are, and to just give it all away.
Give it all to you, and you will use us.
In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen and a man Again.
Before we read our Bible passage, let me give you
a couple of quick quotes. As per usual. One is
coming in from the General Conference bulletin in eighteen ninety five,
eighteen ninety five, and this one is by at Jones.
At Jones, victory is found only in the complete surrender
of self to Christ. We could really just end our
program right here. Let me read it one more time.
Victory is found only in the complete surrender of self
to Christ. See Jesus modeled that behavior we read about that.
I think it was Friday when we read that. He
right out of the lesson that he made no plans
for himself, but he surrendered his will to the Father.
And allowed him day by day to mark out his path.
And so a lot of times we're looking for victory.
We're looking for success by generating it or strategizing it,
or somehow mapping it out for ourselves and then saying God, now,
could you please bless this and listen? There are some
nuances in what I'm saying that would make that seem logical,
like that actually makes sense. But if you're trying to
be an overcomer, overcoming sin and self, overcoming selfishness, overcoming
the foibles that come with us as a package deal
when we are humans, then that must come from Jesus Christ,
full stop. We cooperate with him. We don't operate without him.
Somebody just got that, all right. And so something else
from Acts of the Apostles, actually some reading in the
Acts of the Apostles, not a direct quote, but submission
to God will. God's will is the only way to
be victorious the warfare in which we find ourselves. Now
let's go back up to our lesson number one. Now
you know how my notes are organized. I have my
quotes at the bottom and my lessons at the top.
So now you know, lesson number one is coming in
from Second Corinthians, chapter ten. Second Corinthians, chapter ten and
verse four, and the Bible reads for the weapons of
our warfare are not carnal or not human weapons, you know,
the ones people go to war with. Okay, now we're clear,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
So our instruments of battle must be spiritual. Remember when
we went through that whole quarter on how Joshua led
the people of God by faith through to the promised land.
And there were times that God would say, stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. There were times
that he would say shout, he would say blow to trumpets.
He would say, do not war like, do not do
the things that make actual sense. It's logical that if
you're going to go and have war, then you should
bring your armaments. And God was saying, no, no. The
only reason I would have them do that. Have you
do that was because you wouldn't cooperate with the miraculous
in this case. And so if you need to know
what the weapons of our warfare that our spiritual are,
then one quick place is to go right to Ephesians
chapter six, where it gives us the mandate to put
on the whole armor of God. Seven implements of war.
I want you to count them when you have an opportunity.
I've said this many many times over the years to you,
but I want you to count them from the very
top of the text, straight through until it's over, and
tell me if you found seven. Okay, So please do
that for me, and we'll come back to it at
another point. But the instrument of our battle to pull
down the strongholds in our mindset, in our lives, the
things that cause people to turn away from God must
come from the Holy Ghost. Must come from God himself.
Not brute force of will huh, not will power, not
cessation plans which may have some place in the equation.
But that is only after we have yielded our will
to God and if He gives us that guidance as
our direction. So the action step in this case is, well,
we submit ourselves to God first, as the Bible writer says,
submit yourself therefore unto God, and then resist. Okay, so
we submit ourselves to God. We submit ourselves to God
and then resist one negative thought today by responding to
it or reply lacing it with a Bible promise, you're
not good enough. You see, if that thought, that negative thought,
that thing, you're going to fail. Well, the Bible says
what I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.
So as soon as the mind goes in that wrong direction,
or in that direction that is contrary to what God
has taught us, then we go to the scriptures. I'll
never overcome this temptation. I'll never overcome I keep doing it,
and my parents did it, and their parents before them.
And then you can say, well, there hath no temptation
taken you, but such as is common to man. But
God is faithful, who will with the temptation provide a
way of escape that ye may be able to bear it.
I'm not wise enough, I'm dumb. I'm stupid. Sometimes people
say these kinds of things. I'm so stupid. I keep
making that mistake. If any man lacks wisdom, let him
or her ask of God, who will not withhold any thing. Yeah,
and so we replace that negative thought today by responding
with a Bible promise. Lesson number two. In the Great
Controversy we talked a lot about that last quarter. Paul's
life was completely surrendered to Christ. As we read in Philippians,
chapter one and verse twenty one. For me, to live
is Christ and to die is gained. That means he
sees an advantage, He sees profit and yielding his life
for Christ. I wish I had the time. Let me
go to the action step. Ask God to help you
live one action today that reflects full surrender. You see
Jesus when he was in the garden of Gethsemity. Think
about what Paul said. When Jesus was in the garden
of Gethsemite. He said, if there's another way, please God,
let this cup Father pass from me. Nevertheless, not as
I will, but as thou wilt. Whatever your will is, God,
let me live it out lessen number three and final.
Even death cannot defeat the believer who remains connected to Christ.
The Bible reads in Philippians chapter one and verse twenty two.
But if I live in the flesh, this is the
fruit of my labor. Or now, if I am going
on living in this body, this will mean productive work
for me. Since I'm still here. The result of my
steel here nests the outcome of that. The fruit of
that is production. For God, make it a great day. 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,