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. It's
August eighth, two thy 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.
I almost said through the Book of Moses, through the
Book of Exodus, and our caption for today is when
faith falters, When your faith falters. We'll get into that
in just a moment, but first i'd like to say
welcome to you and ask you to go over to
your Daily Portion dot com if you've not already done so,
and join our online community. 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. Father,
We thank you for this day of preparation, preparation day.
We know that Sabbath is coming on, but in the meantime,
we're preparing our hearts for you. Not just our bathrooms
and our cupboards, not just our kitchens and our bedrooms,
not just our clothing. We are preparing our minds God,
because we have an appointment with you. Please, Father, give
us faith, the kind of faith that pleases you. In
Jesus name, I pray, Amen and Amen again. There are
times in people's lives where their faith falters, Yeah, type
of one in the chat. If your faith has ever faltered,
I don't mean that you lost faith completely. Maybe you
had I don't know, but that's not what I'm saying.
I'm saying, has it ever faltered where it started to
get a little rocky? You needed help? Lord, I believe,
but help thou might unbelieve. Yeah, when that kind of
thing happens. God already knows who we are, but we
know that he's our compassionate God, Blessed be his name,
who will will will bolster our faith if we are
willing to receive this, so that we can lay hold
on the power of God. Okay, and so I'm going
to begin by reading from Patriarchs and prophet It's a
really good book, page two hundred and eighty two, and
it reads, for God was for no, no, no. Let
me start right here. The people of God had little
knowledge of God and a little faith in him, and
they would have become terrified and disheartened. If well, that's
not they. It just says disheartened. I was about to
give context. Let me just keep reading. They were unarmed,
unaccustomed to war, their spirits were depressed by long bondage
initially needs you to see this like generations of people
bound in captivity by a fearful, despotic leader, a tyrannical
leader who thinks he's God because the culture he actually
teaches it. So this false view of who he is
is tied to the culture of the people. The historical
mindset of the people had him as the God of
all the gods. They were unarmed, unaccustomed to war, their
spirits were depressed by long bondage, and they were encumbered
with women's and children, flocks and herds. In leading them
by the way of the Red Sea, the Lord revealed
himself as a god of compassion as well as of judgment.
You're like the Red Sea? Why is that? Why is
that like compassionate? That seemed impossible, Like why would God? Oh?
Because if they went another way, they would have encountered
some some real warriors. So imagine you have the Egyptians
on your heels, and then you got some real warriors
in another in another region, just waiting for some bait
to come into the water, you feel me. So God
is saying, no, I'm gonna take you away, because they
would have become so discouraged they would have just given up,
because even as they were taken through the Red Sea,
that journey wore them out in many ways. But God said, Okay,
I'm gonna take them this way because I know that
they're not gonna make it if I take them the
other way. Okay. And so God is compassionate, and he's
also judge. And we see the judgments. We've already read
about the judgment that came upon upon the Egyptians who
were chasing them. And so our first lesson comes in
from Exodus, chapter thirteen, Verses seventeen and eighteen. God led
them not through the way of the land of the Philistines,
although it was near. So let me just pause right
here and say that there are times that you wonder,
why is God taking me way around them? Alberry Bush?
Why is God taking me the long way to my success?
Like why do I have to go this way? Not
only because God is all wise blessed be his name,
and compassionate, blessed be his name, beneficent and merciful. We
thank God for God, but because he knows that if
He takes you the way that you desire, that fast way,
that highway, that quick way, that is the way that
you will lose your faith. That is the way that
you will lose focus. That is the way that you
did not anticipate. The things that were along, that were
littered on that pathway, the growth that you would not
have experienced if you went that way, and all of
these things that you just can't know. Because God's thoughts
are high above your thoughts, just like the heavens are
above the earth. That is the reality. And so what
God is saying is that he led us people just
like it says in the text, he led us people
about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea.
You see, God could pastor his people in the wilderness. Ah,
he could shuttle them through the Red Sea. And so
even when we don't understand the path that God has
laid before our feet, God chooses what will grow us
and not crush us. So think of a time that
God redirected you. You just knew the pathway to your success,
whatever kind of success was your promotion. You just knew
that your success was moving to this particular city or
this neighborhood. And God said, no, that's not the way
we're going. You just knew that your path to success
was healing on this date in this year. And God said, no,
where we're going to do is something else right now?
Write out how that detour showed his mercy, even if
it was uncomfortable. Our next lesson comes in from Exodus,
chapter fourteen and verse thirty one, and the Bible reads,
and Israel saw that great work which the Lord did
upon the Egyptians. So the people of God saw what
God did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lords,
they worshiped him, they believed the Lord and his servant Moses.
So finally, finally, the people of God are starting to
click it in, like, Wow, this God that we've been
moaning and groaning, unto this one who is close enough
to hear our groanings and to deliver us. Yahweh blessed
be his name, this God. We believe in him. So
God patiently builds our trust. Over time, he shows up
to teach us not to shame us. And our step
is if your faith is low right now, I'm talking
about right now, I'm talking about eight minutes and some
seconds into our broadcast this morning, invest five minutes to
recount or remember three ways that God has done some
things for you in the past, where He's come through
for you. And finally, in Exodus, chapter fifteen and verse two,
the Lord is my strength and song. He is become
my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare
him and habitation. Prayer is a weapon of remembrance and strength.
Worship seals our memory. Hm Worship seals our memory about
what God has done. It prepares us to face what
is ahead with courage. Because if God has done no,
not if since God has done these things, and he
has triumphed gloriously in my life, in the past and
in other people's lives, then he can do it again
and indeed will, and so we can sing. This is
our action step sing or speak a personal prayer of
praise to God today, Write it out or find one
in the Psalms. Not for what you're hoping he will do,
but for what he has allready done. When your faith falters,
give that faltering faith to God, and he will strength.
Speaker 1: When you're joining us people, 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,