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 Wednesday, December tenth,
twenty twenty five. Hello, my name is Elle 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 exact exception. Before we get into our
lesson study series Lessons from Faith of Joshua and our
caption a gentle Answer, I'd like to say welcome to
everyone joining us, especially those joining us for the very
first time. 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, if you are so inclined,
please click that donate button 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 this day and getting us midway through our week.
And I know that you already have our entire lives
mapped out. But God, sometimes it's rough on us because
we don't know everything. Help us to know the way,
Jesus Christ, so that we can have our anxiety go
down and we can live in the fullness of faith
and trust in You. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen,
and a man again a gentle answer. Oh my, yeah.
I will just admit that there are some people that
I've encountered that have no idea what it means to
have gentle answers. Some people just aren't built that way.
And this is why we need the Lord. Okay, and
so I'll get into that in a second, But let
me just read a couple of quotes. First, first from
the Desire of Ages, page three hundred and one, and
it reads, when we are falsely accused or misjudged, Yeah,
that is the challenge. Sometimes the Lord desires us to
reveal the meekness of Christ. When when we are falsely
accused or misjudged. Oh, Silence, patience, and a gentle answer
are often the strongest rebuke. So there are times that
you you are running around chas chasing all of the
ways that you need to defend yourself. At least that's
what you're saying. You're to yourself that you need to
defend yourself. And God is showing us under inspiration that
many times, many times, we have to see ourselves like
Christ like to have power under control. Meekness, silence, patience,
and a gentle answer are often the strongest rebuke. Now
let me go back into the archives again. This one
is from the review in Herald June twelfth, eighteen fifty five. Wow,
that's a long time ago, and it reads, it is
better to suffer wrong than to do wrong. It is
better to suffer wrong than to do wrong. I think
the Bible writer said that in the New Testament. I
think it was Peter. Vindication belongs to the Lord, and
the Christian's duty is to hold fast his integrity in meekness.
That was written by James White. Very very very very good.
And so let's go ahead with the principle. And some
of you are already anticipating it. Our first lesson is
gentleness disarms anger and reveals wisdom. This one is coming
in from the Book of Proverbs, chapter fifteen and verse one.
A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir
up anger. So the meaning of soft in this case
is tender or gentle, as we will have said already.
So what happened in our lesson really the context. The
Eastern tribes modeled this principle beautifully. They listened, fully, responded patiently,
remember we were talking about that yesterday, and refused to
mirror the intense accusations brought against them. Their calm explanation
difused tension that could have erupted into civil war. Gentleness
is not weakness. Gentleness is spiritual strength guided by humility.
So they didn't have to get into a tizzy because wait,
how could you be accusing us of bringing back idolatry?
Where do you get this from? And then dot dot
dot dat back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,
when in fact they chose the right method. So an
action step for me, as I'm learning from this, is
to practice gentleness today. When someone challenges or misunderstands you,
let the Holy Go soften your tone before you speak.
Lesson number two coming in from the Book of Psalms,
chapter thirty seven and verse five, commit thy way unto
the Lord. Trust also in him, and he will bring
it to pass, or he will act in another translation,
on your behalf. If you trust in him, commit everything
to him, including your future. He will act on your behalf.
Who's going to act on my behalf? God? If I
do what, commit my future? Commit everything unto the Lord.
So our lesson number two is God's presence is the
foundation of unity. God's presence is the foundation of unity,
and so the word for commit in this passage it
means to roll upon to and trust completely, to trust
completely again, going back to those Eastern tribes, the Eastern
tribes open their defense by invoking God's name. I wish
I had the time twice with solemn force. Go back
to the text. Their unity with God's people rested not
on the territory, but on shared allegiance to the same God.
Someone recently, while we were drafting a partnership agreement, said
I have no worries about you in this particular context.
He said, because that I know your faith, I know
your faith I know that you value your faith in
God even more than you value this relationship. So we're
safe on our end of this agreement. And I'm like, oh, God,
please make me faithful. Like our brother was saying to me,
the unity of God's people rested not on the territory,
but on the same the shared allegiance to the same God.
When believers anchor identity and decisions in the Lord unit
to become stronger than think about the context of the
lesson than geography, than culture or understanding. So the action
step is to entrust every relational tension to God before
addressing it. Some people are too quick to pick up
your cell phones and what your two thumbs type of response,
I just need to get it out. No, you get
it out by talking to God about it. Get it
out by immediately dropping on your knees and laying it
bare before God and saying, God, what would you have
me to do? You knew that this was going to
happen before it happened. You know what this person is thinking. Please,
will you do what you promised to do? So and
trust all of that to God before addressing it, and
then ask Him to make your words truthful and peace filled.
Our third and final lesson is trust in God allows
you to endure false accusation without retaliation. Going back to
Psalm chapter thirty seven, we'll read part of verse seven
and go back to verse six. I know rest in
the Lord and wait patiently for him. He shall bring
forth thy righteousness as the light. In another translation, it
says he will vindicate you in broad daylight and publicly
defend your just cause. Praise God. So if you're feeling misjudged,
pray before replying. Ask God to vindicate you for his
name's sake and in his time, and protect you from bitterness.
This is good. 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,