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Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too

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much because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy

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for today's needs. Why then, do some of us expect

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yesterday's portion of heavenly manna the word of God to

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keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are

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going to change all of that. Let's experience God's words

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today and receive the power we need to live healthy,

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vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host,

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author speaker, Elle David Harris.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Good morning. It is Thursday, October nine,

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twenty twenty five. Hello, my name is El David Harris.

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I am your host, and this is your Daily Portion

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where we give you God's word every single day, and

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today is no exception. We are continuing in our Lesson

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study series Lessons from Lessons of Faith from Joshua, and

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our caption for today is Surprising Grace, Surprise Grace. Now,

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I'm gonna come back in a second and talk about that,

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but before we do, I'd like to say welcome to

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everyone joining us, especially those joining us for the very

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first time. I'm asking you to go over to your

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Daily Portion dot com. Please join our online community pick

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up the Your Daily Portion life application guide. Please please

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and thanks, and also let us know where you are

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in the world at your Daily Portion dot com. This

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is one of the ways that we continue to build

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faith and fellowship. Let's go ahead and pray and then

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we will get underway. Father, We thank you for giving

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us the privilege of coming together and being so far

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off into the week and getting closer to the time

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of preparation and Sabbath. Please please help us to be

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amazed by You. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen and

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Amen again. So let me just say this. And I

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know sometimes I'm a little bit petty when it comes

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to the use of speech and language. Right, surprising Grace.

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I don't really have a problem with it, but I

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did coin a new concept for me. It was new

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for me that we should be amazed by God but

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not surprised. And I know they some people think that

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those are synonyms of each other. Amazed by God but

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not surprised, So we should be in awe of God.

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That's amazement as far as I'm concerned. Okay, I'll keep

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it simple, but to be surprised, it's like you would

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do that for me. I can't believe you did that

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for me. Well, God promised that he would. He would

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save sinners. Yes, he promised that he would. He would.

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He would give us new hearts and clean spirits. He

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promised that he would take from us the heart of

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stone and put in us the heart of flesh. He

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told us that he would write his laws on our

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hearts and in our minds so we can be true worshipers.

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And so I'm amazed, I'm in awe of God. Like, Wow, God,

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you are so faithful. I cannot even imagine how you

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have been so good to me. But at the same time,

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I should not be surprised, like like I didn't know

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that he would do exactly what he said he would do.

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And so okay, that is my rant for now. That's

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my rant for now. Please don't call me or text me.

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And I know, I know, I know, I know. Sometimes

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I'm a bit picky with the use of words. But

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in any case, amazement or surprise, we see that God's

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grace is far beyond our capability of appreciating. Sometimes, twas

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grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my

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fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear? The hour

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I first believed, and so we're surprised or amazed, as

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the case may be. So lesson number one in this regard.

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From the Book of Psalms, chapter fifteen and verse four,

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the Bible reads, he that swearth to his own hurt.

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Let me say it from the New English translation, he

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makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise.

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So people who keep covenant God God honors that, even

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when it's costly. When we make a vow, we make

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covenant with God and keep it. God honors this, and

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so God wants us to keep our commitments. That's an

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action step for me, keep my commitment before God and

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before people, even when it costs you. Because integrity is

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part of true worship. So the people of God couldn't

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break their oath even though it was secured by deception.

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So the people of God now make an oath with

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the Gibbian Knights. And the Gibbian Knights used subterfuge and

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deception to get them to acquiesce or whatever. But the

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people of God made a covenant, and so the leaders

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upheld integrity, showing God's name and covenant are sacred. Keep

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your covenants. Here's my second lesson from the Book of Joshua,

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chapter nine and verse twenty three. Now, therefore ye are cursed,

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and there shall none of you be freed from being

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bond men and hewers of wood and drawers of water

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for the House of God. Now that's very interesting that

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they are bound the people who deceived in order to

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get a covenantal experience.

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Speaker 1: Uh.

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Speaker 2: Now they're they're bond men, but they're also servants in

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the sanctuary. So God can transform a curse into a blessing.

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I mean, we're talking about being bound to God, bound

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to the service of God, bound to illustrating the plan

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of salvation in the in the Old Testament, like bound

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to ushering people into worship in their in their you know,

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in their special way. Let me not overstate it, but

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the fact is that instead of God's wrath through his

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people destroying the Gibeon nights, they were drawn into service

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at the sanctuary. What looked like humiliation became participation in worship.

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When you humble yourself before God, you are a worshiper.

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Do you understand? Submission to God is worship, and so

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the action is to submit to God's purposes, even when

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it looks like loss, he can turn low positions into

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platforms of blessing. Here is our third lesson, and it

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comes in from Ezekiel, chapter thirty three and verse eleven.

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The Bible reads, as I Live, said the Lord God.

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I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,

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but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

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Are you one of those people that right now your record,

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your sin record, as the case may be, is not

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clear with God. There's something that you have not confessed

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to him. There is a sin that you have not

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yet turned from. And seven minutes into our broadcast today,

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God is now knocking on your heart's door and saying, turn, turn, live, live,

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yield yourself to me. And that thing that you want

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to keep a secret, that boy, if you continue on

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that pathway, then God's going to blow the doors off

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of that thing and You'll be exposed, but not necessarily

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to your detriment. It's up to you how this works out.

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Is there something that you have to resolve in a

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relationship that you have breached. Is there something you have

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to resolve in your workplace or in some other key

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area of life. God is saying that all you need

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to do is surrender your will. Though their method, meaning

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the Gibbian Knights, I'll say it again, was flawed. The

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Gibbeian Knights showed a desire to renounce idolatry and seek

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peace under Yahweh, blessed be his name his rule. God

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honored even perfect, imperfect part of me faith. He honored

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that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.

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He can grow our faith. We grow in grace and

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in the knowledge of God. Yes, and so this is

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what He's doing. God honored even their imperfect faith. And

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so the step for me is to not despise small

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beginnings of faith. So I could look back at the

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story and snub my nose and make it seem as if, well, look,

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God should have destroyed these dudes because they did what

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they did by deception. But well, I don't get into

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what God should have done, because judgment belongs to God.

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But I will say that I'm blessed to know that

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God was willing to accept Rahab. I'm blessed to know

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that God was willing to accept the Gibbean Nights because

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because the small beginnings of faith in her, in her

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lying and saying that the people of the men of

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God were not there, and these guys in deceiving God's people,

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specifically the small beginnings. But what God is doing is

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transforming our lives step by step, encourage and nurture people

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in those situations because God values even the first spark

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of surrender. God's grace is amazing. God's grace is surprising

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to some of us, but in any case, the grace

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of God through his Holy ghosts will transform our lives.

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Make it a great day, peace.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot

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live by bread alone, but by every word that comes

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from the mouth of God. This has been your daily

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portion with el David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,