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 Sabbath, December
twenty seven, 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 beginning with lesson
number one in our new Lesson study series christ in
Philippians and Collacians. Really, it's the title, is You Nighting
Heaven and Earth? So I need to figure out how
I'm gonna say that quickly in the mornings. But whatever
the case, I am so glad you're here. And let
me just say again a great, big, happy Sabbath to
everyone joining us, especially those joining us for the very
first time. Our caption for this morning is persecuted but
not forsaken. Some of you feel like that right now,
you feel like, oh, oh God, where where Wait a minute,
I'm being persecuted, but you're still with me. I am
not forsaken. Before we get into that, I'd like to
just say welcome to everybody joining us, especially those joining
us for the very first time. Did you enjoy our
worship experience last night? If you did, go ahead and
type of one in the chat, type of one in
the chat. And for those of you who are on
radio or on Facebook, I need you to go over
on Friday evenings for our Really, we're teaching the Bible
through music for just about an hour's time based on
the week lesson. So again, we enjoy it together and
hopefully you'll continue to share. Let's pray, Father, we thank you.
We thank you for this day. Thank you for giving
us another Sabbath morning to worship and to experience you.
Please please help us to know that you are with
us always. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen and Amen again.
Persecute it but not forsaken. Now. This dude, Paul was
very interesting to me because he is locked up, he's
in prison, he's incarcerated. And the Bible says that this
is what he said to the people, to the people
at Philippi in Philippians, chapter four and verse four, rejoice
in the Lord always and again. I say rejoice. Now,
it's easy for people to say those words, but this
dude was. I don't know if the prison was a
hole in the ground. I don't know if it was
a stone prison. I promise you he did not have
a lot of the comforts of home in this prison situation.
He's locked up, and he's telling the people of God
to rejoice in the Lord always and if, in fact,
or in case, excuse me. They did not get the point.
They didn't get the message he was saying. Okay, let
me say it again to you again, I say rejoice.
And so let's go ahead and begin with our lesson
number one, which is joy remains possible because the presence
of Christ remains constant. You see his rejoicing. Paul's rejoicing
had to do with knowing that he had been delivered
from sin, knowing that Christ is now with him, knowing
that in his mind he was a servant, a bond
servant to Christ and that Christ would never lead him astray.
And he's saying, if for the rest of my life
I am in this situation, I have learned, whether I
am in struggles, whether I have had to abase or abound, Like,
no matter what situation I am in, I have learned
to be content in God. And I need you all
to be content to and beyond that, I need you
to have a rejoiceful spirit. Is that a word? Somebody
look it up? Let me know if rejoiceful is an
actual word. I may have made it up. But I
need you to have that kind of spirit because sometimes
happiness comes, sometimes sadness and grief come. But we rejoice
because Jesus is with us. And when I say that,
I don't mean we're jumping up and down and clapping
our hands at all times and get so many. Jesus
wasn't jumping up and down and clapping his hands and
making it seem as if nothing was about to happen. No,
he said, let this cup if there's another way to
affect salvation for these people that we have created, like,
let this cup pass from me. But nevertheless, not as
I will, but as thou wilt Your will be done.
Paul was living the your will be done lifestyle, and
so joy remains possible because the presence of Christ remains constant. Now,
the word, the word for rejoice means to be glad,
to be glad, to rejoice. It's a verb. It describes
a deliberate spiritual posture, not an emotional reaction. So Paul
wrote these words again while imprisoned. I'm going back to
my notes. His condition did not block his fellowship with Christ.
His union with Christ allowed him to practice deliberate joy.
This shows that joy is a response to who Christ
is and not to what life feels like. I wish
I had the time to go into all of these references,
but I won't. Let's go into lesson number two. Lesson
number two is trials give believers a platform. It's a
vantage point, a platform to reveal Christ's power and not
our own. Now, Paul, he said it in Two Corinthians,
Chapter four, Versus seven through nine, seven through nine. But
we have this treasure in earth and vessels, that the
excellency of the power may be of God and none
of us. We are troubled on every side. Are you
troubled on every side? And you're like, well, why are
you clapping if you're asking me if I'm troubled on
every side? Because God said he would be with you
in trouble, the Lord, the Angel of the Lord, and
campus round about those who love him. Even when you
are in trouble yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but
not in despair. There are times you don't understand what's
going on. Even Paul himself, God, will you let this
thorn in my flesh pass from me? Three times? He asks,
and God said, nope, My grace is sufficient for thee.
My power is made perfect in your weakness. And then
Paul transitioned and said, therefore I rejoice now. And all
of these things that seem to be broken, these things
that are seemingly going against me, those things that seem
to be keeping me down. But when I am weak,
then I am strong. Let me continue the passage, because
I interrupted the rhythm. We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair,
persecuted but not forsake, and cast down but not destroyed,
not destroyed. And so that word, that word means, the
word not abandoned means, means, means to leave helpless like God.
God is not leaving him helpless. Paul said, believers are
not left helpless, not abandoned. God stays present even when
the circumstances are rough. Is that a theological way of
describing the reality. Well, I don't know, but that's the reality.
The early Church saw suffering as a place where Christ's
power became visible. Did I not cite Really, I didn't
cite it, but I recited the passage where he said,
your powers made perfect in my weakness. Paul understood that
prison did not change his purpose. Prison did not change
Paul's purpose. Lesson number three and final, God uses difficult
places to advance the mission and transform lives. In the
Book of Colossians, Chapter four and verse three, the Bible
reads with all praying also for us, or at the
same time pray for us too, write that God would
open unto us a door of utterance to speak the
mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.
He knew that he was bound to Christ because he
decided to surrender his will to him. But he also
knew he got locked up because he was doing what
God had said. For the time being, he's locked up,
so John Paul saw incarceration as an opening for the gospel.
He didn't view it as hardship or interruption. It was
an assignment that God had given him. He was persecuted,
but not forsaken. Is that your mindset? Make it a
great Sabbath, peace. Thanks for joining us listening. Friends.
Speaker 1: 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.