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, November twelve,
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 continuing in our lesson
study series Lessons of Faith from Joshua, and our caption
for today is written on Stones, Written on Stone. Before
we get into that, I'd like to just say welcome
to you and ask you to please go over to
your Daily Portion dot com, please join our online community,
pick up the Your Daily Portion Life application guide, and
also 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 pray and get into our written on stones discussion today. Father,
we thank you for keeping keeping us aware and in
remembrance of the greatness of your power. Please, Father, help
us to serve you with everything we are, and help
us to teach others your way. In Jesus' name, I pray,
Amen and Amen again written on stones, written on stones.
So let me first read from Joshua chapter eight Versus
thirty two through thirty five, and the Bible reads, and
there in the presence of the children of Israel, he
wrote on the stones a copy of the Love Moses
Wait a minute, which he had written. So we're revisiting
the time when God inscribed upon the table of stones
those ten words yes, okay, and okay. So he had
written the copy the same way. Then all Israel, with
their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side
of the ark before the priests, the Levites who bore
the ark of the Covenant of the Lord and the Stranger,
as well as he who was born among them. Half
of them were from Mount Jerzim, and half of them
were from Mount Ebel, as Moses, the servant of the Lord,
had commanded before and they should bless the people of Israel.
And afterward he read all the words of the law,
the blessings and the cursings, according to all that was
written in the Book of the Law. Oversimplified a little
bit earlier, but you understood what I meant. There was
not a word of that that Moses had commanded which
Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel,
with the women and the little ones and the strangers
who were living among them. So I'm not suggesting that
he inscribed just the ten Commandments law. But what I
am saying is in the same way that God showed
those ten words on those sapphire stones to get the
people of God started on what is this covenant, this
connection with God. And then later, of course, we see
that Moses, that Moses had the law, the law that
you heard him speak in the book of Deuteronomy, as
he taught the people of God before his own death.
We see this happening again. So what did that act
mean and what does it say to us today? What
does it say to us today? And so when Joshua
wrote the Law on stones, he wasn't just doing some
ritualistic stuff. It was about the relationship with God. It
declared publicly that God's word was the unchanging foundation of
the people of God's identity. You know, sort of like
a contract. Wait a minute, contract, covenant, covenant, contract. You
see where we're going with this governance and worship. Every Israelite,
from the elders to the youngest child, could see the
law written before them as a visible reminder of his will.
In writing in the presence of all the people, Joshua
made sure that the Covenant was not hidden in scrolls
or left for the priests alone. You may have heard
in history of some religious entities where the the Word
was bound was chained to a desk, and some priests
or some other people were supposedly the ones who were
able to interpret for the people. Well, this is not
what God was doing. It was a national declaration that
the Lord was their king. And in Deuteronomy, chapter six
and verse twelve we read, then, be where lest thou
forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the
land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage.
This act of inscribing the law on stone was a
safeguard against forgetfulness. It proclaimed that God's truth was not
to fade with the memory or with the generations. It
was to be preserved, It was to be recited, and
it was to be obeyed. So the question really is,
are you inscribing God's words on the lives of the
people in your household, brothers and sisters. Is there a
core value system in your household where you can say,
where with me, but for me and my house, we're
gonna serve the Lord. Y'all can decide you choose this
day whom you will serve. But I'm telling you, I'm
choosing to serve the Lord. My house and I we
are choosing to serve the Lord. And so another lesson
is that God is still writing today. He's still writing today.
We see under the New Covenant in Jeremiah chapter thirty one,
and I'll just read verse thirty three, and I will
put my law in their inward parts and write them
on their hearts. And so Joshua, just as he engrave
the Covenant into stone, God desires tongrave his truth within
our lives. He promised that he would take out from
us a heart of stone and instill within us a pliable,
receptive heart of flesh when we surrender to him. The
same spirit who inspired Moses now writes upon the human
heart through faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, the Bible
says in the Book of Psalms, chapter one hundred nineteen
and verse eleven, thy word have I hid in mine heart?
There it is again that I might not sin against thee.
And so when we allow God's word to take root
in our lives, it becomes something that's beyond Bible teaching.
It's the teaching that becomes our direction. It becomes, like
my pastor used to say, a part of the warp
and wolf, of who we are not even sure how
to say that in modern language. Right, his word guides
our decisions, guards our motives, and grounds our faith in
the chaos of life. You can agree that life is
chaotic these days. Every time you switch on the news,
there's something really weird going on in the news, and
weird is really an understatement. There's some stuff that just
should literally never happen, and we're seeing this stuff happen
more rapidly, more frequently, and it's detestable. Some of the
stuff that we can't even mention on this program. If
we say all of the words, even the YouTube channel
could get into a problem. Wherefore we'll get an infraction
for even saying words related to some of the stuff
that we see happening in real life these days. And
so today I want you to invest some time and
write down, write down a verse. I mean really, actually
write down a verse or a promise that God has
impressed upon your heart. You see, I'm going through this
study of wisdom throughout the scriptures because I pray to
God to ask him for wisdom. So one day it
occurred to me that I need to be studying wisdom.
Really is what is it that makes us closer to God?
What is understanding it? Etc. So write it down, Write
it down, write it down, and then keep it visible.
Let it be your stone in air quotes of remembrance,
a constant reminder that God's word still stands even when
everything else shifts. When everything else shifts, I'll say, very
quickly from Great Controversy four thirty four, the law of
God being a revelation of his will, is a transcript
of his character, and it must and will forever endure.
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,