Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 10 02 2026 A Kind and Tender Parent

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10 02 2026 A Kind and Tender Parent · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too much,
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  Speaker 1: because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy for
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  Speaker 1: today's needs. Why then do some of us expect yesterday's
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  Speaker 1: portion of heavenly manna, the word of God, to keep
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  Speaker 1: us through today's challenges? On this program, we are going
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  Speaker 1: to change all of that. Let's experience God's words today
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  Speaker 1: and receive the power we need to live healthy, vibrant lives.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Your Daily Portion. with your host, author, speaker, L.
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  Speaker 1: David Harris.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, good morning, good morning. It is Friday, October 2, 2026. Hello,
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  Speaker 2: my name is L. David Harris. I am your host,
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  Speaker 2: and this is your Daily Portion, where we give you
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  Speaker 2: God's Word every single day, and today is no exception.
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  Speaker 2: We are continuing in our lesson study series titled, The
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  Speaker 2: Gift of Prophecy, and our caption for today is, The
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  Speaker 2: Gift in Modern Days. The Gift in Modern Days. We'll
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  Speaker 2: get into that in just a moment, but first I'd
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  Speaker 2: like to say welcome to everyone joining us, especially those
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  Speaker 2: joining us for the very first time. Welcome to our
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  Speaker 2: Preparation Day edition, if you will, every Friday, of course.
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  Speaker 2: Please go over to yourdailyportion.com. Will you please click the
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  Speaker 2: button under that big header that says Stop Guessing What
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  Speaker 2: to Do with Your Life, Discover God's Design for Your Life,
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  Speaker 2: And once you invest a few minutes there, you will
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  Speaker 2: come away with a personal blueprint, a clear picture of
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  Speaker 2: how you are gifted, how the word behind the gift
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  Speaker 2: relates to it, and the first step toward using it.
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  Speaker 2: So please, please go ahead and do that. And if
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  Speaker 2: you are So inclined, go ahead and click the contribute
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  Speaker 2: button because Your Daily Portion Ministries is a listener and
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  Speaker 2: viewer supported ministry. Let's go ahead and pray and get underway. God,
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  Speaker 2: we thank you for giving us this day of preparation
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  Speaker 2: and for the Sabbath that will be here. in just
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  Speaker 2: a few hours. Father, I'm asking you to please open
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  Speaker 2: up our minds. Help us to see that you have
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  Speaker 2: not allowed the church to come behind in any gift,
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  Speaker 2: even all the way into 2026. And I pray that
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  Speaker 2: we will receive your spirit today. In Jesus' name, I pray.
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  Speaker 2: Amen and amen again. Okay, so God has manifest the
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  Speaker 2: spiritual gifts throughout the life cycle of the church. From
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  Speaker 2: the very first century church until today, the church, as
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  Speaker 2: the Bible writer would have said, has not come behind
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  Speaker 2: in any gifts. And so I will introduce you to
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  Speaker 2: Ellen White. I'm not going to teach a study on Ellen.
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  Speaker 2: Ellen White, because, of course, our focus are the scriptures.
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  Speaker 2: Our focus is seeing how God is at work. But
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  Speaker 2: we do see a manifestation of the gift of prophecy
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  Speaker 2: in the sister, Ellen White, who, you know, passed away
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  Speaker 2: way back in 1915. But she served her God and
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  Speaker 2: the Church of God well during her ministry. And so,
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  Speaker 2: for me, the most important thing today is is that
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  Speaker 2: God's communication did not end in Bible times. I've said
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  Speaker 2: that to you already. For he continues to speak to
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  Speaker 2: his people until Christ returns. The story of young Ellen
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  Speaker 2: Harmon shows a God who reaches into fear and despair
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  Speaker 2: to reveal himself as a kind and tender parent whose
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  Speaker 2: love pardons sin. And so, we begin by reading from
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  Speaker 2: the Bible book of Jeremiah. Hopefully, you have your Bibles.
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 3. Our first lesson comes
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  Speaker 2: from Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 3. And the Bible reads,
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  Speaker 2: The Lord hath appeared unto me, saying, Yea, I have
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  Speaker 2: loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness have
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  Speaker 2: I drawn thee. And so we see that God has
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  Speaker 2: a steadfast love, covenant faithfulness. That is what the loving
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  Speaker 2: kindness word means in the text from the Hebrew word
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  Speaker 2: where we got it. So God drew this young woman
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  Speaker 2: way back, way back in the late 1800s. Ellen with
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  Speaker 2: the same everlasting love he extends to you and he
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  Speaker 2: extends to me. In 2026, when you feel unworthy, when
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  Speaker 2: you feel afraid, his steadfast love is already reaching out
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  Speaker 2: toward you. And so the real big question is, are
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  Speaker 2: you ready to receive that love? In whatever ways that
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  Speaker 2: God has gifted you, which is why if you look
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  Speaker 2: back up on your screen, I keep asking you to
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  Speaker 2: stop guessing what to do with your life, right? Discover
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  Speaker 2: God's design for your life. In the same way, the
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  Speaker 2: pioneers of this faith fellowship and the pioneers of the
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  Speaker 2: overall Christian ministry back into the first century, and then
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  Speaker 2: the ancient people of God before we even started using
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  Speaker 2: the word Christian, there is something that is consistent. what
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  Speaker 2: somebody else is not doing. You understand? So if I'm
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  Speaker 2: an eye and you're an eye, well, I'm me as
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  Speaker 2: the eye. You are you as the eye. If I'm
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  Speaker 2: a foot and you're a foot, I'm me as a foot.
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  Speaker 2: And you are you as a foot. And God has
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  Speaker 2: stamped a particular DNA on each of our lives so
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  Speaker 2: that when we come into ministry, whatever that means, however
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  Speaker 2: God has called us, then we can do it in
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  Speaker 2: a way that nobody else can do it. Not that
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  Speaker 2: we're better, not that we're elite and somebody else is
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  Speaker 2: not elite. That's not the point. It's more like, well,
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  Speaker 2: based on the experiences of each one of us and
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  Speaker 2: our calling by God and the faith that he instills
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  Speaker 2: in our hearts, we come into the world to glorify
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  Speaker 2: God and, of course, to help as many people as possible.
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  Speaker 2: So what do we do, though? Step back and then
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  Speaker 2: go to God today. and speak to him about the
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  Speaker 2: truth that he loves you with, an everlasting love, even
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  Speaker 2: when you feel least worthy of it. Even when you
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  Speaker 2: feel the least worthy of it. That's what our late
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  Speaker 2: sister Ellen used to feel. She used to feel unworthy
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  Speaker 2: on a regular basis. But it's God's love. It's not
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  Speaker 2: our deserving of God's love. The Bible reads in 1
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  Speaker 2: John 3 and verse 1, where we go to our
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  Speaker 2: second lesson, 1 John 3 and verse 1, Behold, what
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  Speaker 2: manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
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  Speaker 2: we should be called the sons or the children of God.
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  Speaker 2: God wants you to look into, like, with appreciation, not
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  Speaker 2: just take a peek and run away, but with appreciation,
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  Speaker 2: with the ability to embrace now what you're seeing. When
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  Speaker 2: I see my wife, I'm beholding my love. I'm not
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  Speaker 2: just looking at somebody. You understand where I'm going with this?
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  Speaker 2: So I'm longingly looking at and appreciating the love of God. Well,
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  Speaker 2: when he says what manner of love, he's talking about
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  Speaker 2: how great and remarkable this love is. God's love is
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  Speaker 2: great and remarkable. And so in Ellen's case, she came
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  Speaker 2: to see God as a kind and tender parent rather
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  Speaker 2: than a stern tyrant. And that was a big deal
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  Speaker 2: in her day because, of course, people We're always looking up,
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  Speaker 2: like often, especially within the faith fellowship, looking up for
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  Speaker 2: fire bolts, lightning bolts. Like, if I do this, then
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  Speaker 2: God is going to strike me from heaven. And then
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  Speaker 2: he's going to make up arbitrary rules. This is what
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  Speaker 2: people thought, especially during those days, that God would make
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  Speaker 2: up arbitrary rules that we can't follow and then punish
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  Speaker 2: us for not being able to follow them. And what
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  Speaker 2: she learned, like you and I must learn even now,
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  Speaker 2: is that he is not a stern tyrant. He's a loving,
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  Speaker 2: tender God who is like the parent that you always imagined.
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  Speaker 2: And that change of view is the gospel, and it
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  Speaker 2: can remake your heart in the same way. When we
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  Speaker 2: come to this realization, we know that God can remake
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  Speaker 2: us and we can be holy again. And so examine
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  Speaker 2: your wrong picture of God. Is there something about God
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  Speaker 2: that you have either contrived or you learned from, I
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  Speaker 2: don't know if it's your foreparents or somebody in society,
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  Speaker 2: your faith fellowship, or one that you used to be
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  Speaker 2: attached to? It could be television, radio, or the internet.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know what I just almost said, but the internet.
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  Speaker 2: And God is saying, well, yeah, those are not where
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  Speaker 2: you find out about me. You go into my word
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  Speaker 2: and through the Holy Ghost, I will show you my son.
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  Speaker 2: And that is what I am like. So go to God.
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  Speaker 2: Go to God. Examine that wrong picture that you have
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  Speaker 2: carried and let the tenderness of the Father who loves
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  Speaker 2: you correct that today. Let me read from the book
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  Speaker 2: Life Sketches, page 39. My views of the Father were changed.
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  Speaker 2: I now looked upon him as a kind and tender
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  Speaker 2: parent rather than a stern tyrant, compelling man to a
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  Speaker 2: blind obedience. My heart went out toward him in a
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  Speaker 2: deep and fervent love. That is the outcome we desire.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, listening friends. Always remember, we cannot
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  Speaker 1: live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
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  Speaker 1: from the mouth of God. This has been your daily
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  Speaker 1: portion with L. David Harris. Make it a great day.