Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 01 24 2026 Shining as Lights in the Night

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01 24 2026 Shining as Lights in the Night · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too
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  Speaker 1: much because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy
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  Speaker 1: for today's needs. Why then, do some of us expect
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  Speaker 1: yesterday's portion of heavenly manna the word of God to
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  Speaker 1: keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are
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  Speaker 1: going to change all of that. Let's experience God's words
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  Speaker 1: today and receive the power we need to live healthy,
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  Speaker 1: vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host,
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  Speaker 1: author speaker, Elle David Harris.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Good morning. It is Sabbath, January
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  Speaker 2: twenty four, twenty twenty six. Hello, my name is El
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  Speaker 2: David Harris. I am your host, and this is your
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  Speaker 2: Daily Portion where we give you God's word every single
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  Speaker 2: day and today is no exception. We are continuing in
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  Speaker 2: our Lesson study series uniting Heaven and Earth, Christ in
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  Speaker 2: Philippians and Colossians, and our caption for today is Shining
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  Speaker 2: as Lights in the Night, Shining as Lights in the Night.
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  Speaker 2: Before we get into that, I'd like to say welcome
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  Speaker 2: to you and ask you to go over to your
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  Speaker 2: Daily Portion dot com. Please join our online community. Please
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  Speaker 2: please let us know where you are in the world
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  Speaker 2: at your Daily Portion dot com. This is one of
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  Speaker 2: the ways that we continue to build faith and fellowship.
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  Speaker 2: Let's go ahead and pray and we will get underway. Father,
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  Speaker 2: We thank you for giving us the light of the world.
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  Speaker 2: Please help us to reflect you in Jesus name. I pray,
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  Speaker 2: Amen and Amen again. Shining as lights in the night,
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  Speaker 2: May I just say yeah. Growing up as a city boy,
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  Speaker 2: I used to say, you know what, I'd never seen darkness,
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  Speaker 2: because no matter what's happening, even if it is nighttime
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  Speaker 2: in the city, there were the lights of the city,
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  Speaker 2: and the thing that I liked about nighttime was the lights.
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  Speaker 2: It's like, well, that's ironic. What I like about the
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  Speaker 2: night is the light because I grew up in the city.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, now I live outside of the city and
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  Speaker 2: there are not lights except the lights in the sky
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  Speaker 2: right that God has created. But it's interesting that we
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  Speaker 2: are put into a dark place to shine as lights.
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  Speaker 2: God said that we are to shine as lights in
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  Speaker 2: this wicked and perverse generation, and so in Philippians Chapter two,
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  Speaker 2: Versus fourteen and fifteen, the Bible reads, do all things
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  Speaker 2: without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and
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  Speaker 2: harmless children of God. Without fault in the midst of
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  Speaker 2: a crooked and perverse generation. Did I not just say
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  Speaker 2: this among whom you shine as lights in the world.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm hoping. I'm hoping that every day that you awaken,
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  Speaker 2: that you know that God is using you as a
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  Speaker 2: search light. He's looking for people to save. God is
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  Speaker 2: not lost, which is why in those testimony services sometimes
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  Speaker 2: you know, a sister would get up, a brother would
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  Speaker 2: get up and say, I'd like to talk about the
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  Speaker 2: day that I found the Lord. I found the Lord,
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  Speaker 2: and it's like, ah, well, God is not lost. We're
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  Speaker 2: the ones lost, and so we should be testifying about
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  Speaker 2: the day that God found us. Jesus came to seek
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  Speaker 2: and to save that which is lost, and therefore those
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  Speaker 2: who are found by God become like search instruments, the
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  Speaker 2: light in the dark place in order for others to
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  Speaker 2: be saved. Aren't you glad that God uses you in
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  Speaker 2: that way? Yeah. We often talk about how the moon
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  Speaker 2: reflects the light of the Sun, and of course that
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  Speaker 2: is the case. I'm not an astronomer, but I do
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  Speaker 2: appreciate one or two things out there in outer space,
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  Speaker 2: and I appreciate especially the planet Saturn, because not only
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  Speaker 2: do those rings reflect the rays of the sun, but
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  Speaker 2: they become generators of further light. Remember, God said that
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  Speaker 2: if we let our light so shine people or before men,
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  Speaker 2: people will see our good works and glorify that is,
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  Speaker 2: give further light, that is, magnify the light which is God,
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  Speaker 2: glorify our Father, which is in heaven. And so God
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  Speaker 2: is constantly teaching us in nature the way of the Gospel. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: so let me go to our life application guide and
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  Speaker 2: let's go to a personal application. We are using the
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  Speaker 2: framework win win. What is important now avoiding the trap
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  Speaker 2: of either expecting God to do it all or letting
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  Speaker 2: your own ideas and plans get in the way. And
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  Speaker 2: so we, as one of my friends said many years ago,
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  Speaker 2: he said, we are capable of living on either of
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  Speaker 2: the two extremes in our own strength. In air quotes,
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  Speaker 2: we can be on the wrong side, to the extreme,
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  Speaker 2: or to the side of trying fastidiously to be holy
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  Speaker 2: in our own strength. And sometimes we think we can
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  Speaker 2: merit our salvation. We can do either of the two
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  Speaker 2: extremes in our own strength. But he said that the
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  Speaker 2: truth is right there in the middle, a cooperation, a balance. Again,
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  Speaker 2: it's important that we avoid the trap of either expecting
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  Speaker 2: God to do it all that is one extreme, or
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  Speaker 2: letting your own ideas and plans get in the way
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  Speaker 2: that's the other extreme. Okay, sit with my hands folded
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  Speaker 2: and expect that God is going to do everything without
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  Speaker 2: mind cooperation, or go over here and think that I'm
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  Speaker 2: the one that does everything and God is just gonna
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  Speaker 2: I don't know rubber staff my efforts. So that's important.
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  Speaker 2: Now let's internalize the insight I we're spelling win. It's
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  Speaker 2: a framework. Too often you either expect God to do
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  Speaker 2: it all or your own ideas and plans get in
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  Speaker 2: the way. God calls you to surrender your life to
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  Speaker 2: him and cooperate with his work in you. You are
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  Speaker 2: not passive, but you are also not self reliant. The
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  Speaker 2: light and power of Heaven is available to you, but
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  Speaker 2: you must surrender and allow God to work through you,
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  Speaker 2: rather than depending on your own strength or waiting for
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  Speaker 2: Him to do everything. And so in that case, what
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  Speaker 2: is the next best move in Identify one area where
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  Speaker 2: you have either been passed just waiting for God to
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  Speaker 2: do it all or relying on your own plans. You
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  Speaker 2: could have anticipated this and ask Him to help you
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  Speaker 2: surrender and co operate, that is, operate at the same
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  Speaker 2: time with God, with God as the leader, with his
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  Speaker 2: work within you. That is the way we win in
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  Speaker 2: this case. As a personal application, I think we can
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  Speaker 2: drill now even a relationship's application. How do we apply
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  Speaker 2: this in our relationships? Well, here's the w What is
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  Speaker 2: important now doing all things without complaining and disputing, so
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  Speaker 2: that you can shine as a light in the midst
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  Speaker 2: of a crooked in perverse generation. No more complaining now.
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  Speaker 2: I think some of you need a diet. You need
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  Speaker 2: to be on a diet. You need to fast from complaining.
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  Speaker 2: And some people say, I'm not fasting, I'm just telling
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  Speaker 2: the truth about what's happening. It's like, yeah, well, why
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  Speaker 2: are you always often telling the truth about what is
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  Speaker 2: disagreeable to you, what is displeasurable to you? What is
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  Speaker 2: wrong with the situation? That is called complaining? I want
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  Speaker 2: you to get a dictionary. Get a dictionary. Look into
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  Speaker 2: your text messages. See when you're texting your friends at work,
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  Speaker 2: when you're texting your family members or loved ones. When
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  Speaker 2: you are texting them, is it something that you're voicing
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  Speaker 2: with your two thumbs in air? Quotes that is displeasurable.
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  Speaker 2: What's going wrong? What is not making you happy? And
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  Speaker 2: if that is your habit, look up in the dictionary
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  Speaker 2: what is complaining? You can type it into a search engine.
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  Speaker 2: Define complaining and if you qualify as a complainer, you're
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  Speaker 2: a certified complainer. Then we go back into the scriptures
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  Speaker 2: to do all things without complaining and without disputing, because
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  Speaker 2: complaining and disputing stand in the way of us shining
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  Speaker 2: as lights in this generation. Internalize the insight. You are
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  Speaker 2: called to do all things without complaining and disputing, so
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  Speaker 2: that you may become blameless and harmless children of God
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  Speaker 2: without fault. That's right out of the Bible. When you
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  Speaker 2: live this way, you shine as a light in the
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  Speaker 2: midst of this generation. Your obedience and attitude are a
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  Speaker 2: witness to the world. Complaining and disputing dim your light,
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  Speaker 2: but a spirit of gratitude and peace makes you stand out.
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  Speaker 2: What's the next best move? Identify where you're complaining and
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  Speaker 2: ask God to help you fix it, beginning like now,
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  Speaker 2: make it a great day.
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  Speaker 1: Peace. Thanks for joining us listening. Friends, Always remember we
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  Speaker 1: cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that
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  Speaker 1: comes from the mouth of God. This has been your
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  Speaker 1: Daily Portion with El David Harris. Make it a great day, yeah,