Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 12 23 2025 Free to Serve

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12 23 2025 Free to Serve · 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.
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  Speaker 2: Vibrant lives.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host, author speaker,
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  Speaker 1: Elle David Harris.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Good morning.
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  Speaker 3: It is Tuesday, December twenty three, twenty twenty five.
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  Speaker 2: Hello, my name is El David Harris.
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  Speaker 3: I am your host, and this is your Daily Portion
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  Speaker 3: where we give you God's word every single day, and
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  Speaker 3: today is no exception. We are continuing in our lesson
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  Speaker 3: study series Lessons of Faith from Joshua, and our caption
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  Speaker 3: for today is free to Serve, Free to Serve. We'll
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  Speaker 3: get into that in just a moment, but before we do,
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  Speaker 3: I'd like to say welcome to everyone joining us, especially
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  Speaker 3: those joining us for the very first time. Please go
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  Speaker 3: over to your Daily Portion dot com. Please pick up
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  Speaker 3: your Daily Portion Life Application Guide. I want you to
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  Speaker 3: pick up the one for the coming quarter. Like, we're
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  Speaker 3: almost there. We're just a couple of days away, so
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  Speaker 3: you have time to download it there or pick up
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  Speaker 3: the physical copy and have it delivered to wherever you
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  Speaker 3: are at your Daily Portion dot com. This is one
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  Speaker 3: of the ways that we continue to build faith and fellowship.
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  Speaker 3: Let's go ahead and pray, and then we will get underway. Father,
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  Speaker 3: We thank you, Thank you for this day and the
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  Speaker 3: privilege you have given to us to serve you and
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  Speaker 3: to do your will. Please please help us to take
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  Speaker 3: this freedom that you have given to us seriously and
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  Speaker 3: actually serve you. Thank you in Jesus name, I pray,
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  Speaker 3: Amen and Amen again. Free You're free. You're free to serve,
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  Speaker 3: serve God. Yes, all right, So we're going to the
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  Speaker 3: review in Harold March seventh, eighteen seventy eight. It's interesting
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  Speaker 3: to see what the pioneers were. We're thinking about God's
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  Speaker 3: word back in those days. Okay, and so here is
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  Speaker 3: the quote. Choice is the crown of humanity? Where are
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  Speaker 3: crowns set on our heads? The crown of humanity? God
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  Speaker 3: sets life before us and then bids us choose it,
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  Speaker 3: not by compulsion, but by conviction. God is saying I've
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  Speaker 3: set two ways before you. That's the end of the quote.
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  Speaker 3: By the way, here are the two pathways. Here are
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  Speaker 3: the ways that I'm setting before you, life and death,
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  Speaker 3: blessing and cursing. Let me just tell you the answer
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  Speaker 3: to this test. Choose life like that's the right answer.
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  Speaker 3: That's the right choice. From the book Steps to Christ's
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  Speaker 3: page forty three, it reads God never forces the will
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  Speaker 3: or judgment of men. He takes no pleasure in a
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  Speaker 3: slavish obedience. You understand that it's not love when people
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  Speaker 3: are bound in handcuffs and said you're gonna love and
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  Speaker 3: you're gonna do no. God is saying you're free. You
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  Speaker 3: can do whatever you choose to do, and you will
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  Speaker 3: receive the blessing or the negative consequences of your choices.
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  Speaker 3: He doesn't want slavish obedience. Can you imagine being married
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  Speaker 3: to someone who was trying to force you to love?
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  Speaker 2: Some of you?
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  Speaker 3: Unfortunately or God forbid, are already in that kind of
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  Speaker 3: a situation where you feel like a slave more than
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  Speaker 3: you are the spouse that he or she chose and
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  Speaker 3: may covenant with. Let me continue before I go too
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  Speaker 3: far afield. He desires that the creatures of his hands
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  Speaker 3: shall love him because he's worthy.
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  Speaker 2: Of the love. You See, God doesn't like compulsion. Nope.
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  Speaker 3: Number one, God honors your freedom to choose him. Again,
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  Speaker 3: I'll read from the book of Joshua, because what repetition
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  Speaker 3: deepens the impression Joshua chapter twenty four and verse sixteen.
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  Speaker 3: And the people answered and said, God forbid that we
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  Speaker 3: should forsake the Lord to serve other gods. Okay, and
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  Speaker 3: so that word, that word for choose, for choose is bahar.
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  Speaker 3: I said it to you the other day, to select
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  Speaker 3: with intention and with preference. Joshua reminded the people of
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  Speaker 3: God that's serving God has never been a coercion. We
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  Speaker 3: see a lot about that in the news. Yeah, coersion. No,
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  Speaker 3: it's never been that. God elects his people to love.
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  Speaker 3: So he does that, and yet he never forces loyalty. See,
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  Speaker 3: God had a choice. He could have chosen not to
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  Speaker 3: love us, but he chose to love us. He could
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  Speaker 3: have chosen to forsake us, but he chose never to
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  Speaker 3: leave us nor forsake us. So he does not force loyalty.
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  Speaker 3: God's people had the freedom or liberty to say yes
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  Speaker 3: or no. And Joshua wanted there yes to be real
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  Speaker 3: and thoughtful. God grants his people the dignity. I love
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  Speaker 3: that word and the decision because love cannot coexist with compulsion,
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  Speaker 3: or it cannot exist without freedom. And so our action
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  Speaker 3: step is to tell God plainly today I choose you.
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  Speaker 3: That's what I'm begging you all to do. Like I'm
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  Speaker 3: making the decision myself today. Today I choose you, God,
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  Speaker 3: and to make that choice the starting point of every
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  Speaker 3: major decision you face. When you have more month than money, God,
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  Speaker 3: I choose you. When somebody is saying some things that
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  Speaker 3: are not true about you and it's getting under your skin.
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  Speaker 2: God, I choose you, huh.
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  Speaker 3: When you have an opportunity to do something dishonest in
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  Speaker 3: order to propel yourself into a level of a higher
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  Speaker 3: level in your mind, in your mind, a higher level
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  Speaker 3: of success. Lord, I choose you. You see, when somebody
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  Speaker 3: is acting a fool on the road and they are
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  Speaker 3: doing like somebody did to me in rush hour traffic,
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  Speaker 3: to quote, invite me out of the vehicle in the
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  Speaker 3: most vile way he wanted. He acted like he wanted
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  Speaker 3: a little violence, he wanted smoke from me. And I
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  Speaker 3: was like, God, I choose you. I rolled up that
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  Speaker 3: window and I pressed on the gas. Because I have
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  Speaker 3: a violent past. I'm not interested in exercising that on
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  Speaker 3: some What do you call it being out of control?
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  Speaker 3: One of the tentacles of the fruit of the spirit
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  Speaker 3: is self control under the holygos. So zuip roll up
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  Speaker 3: the window, boom, lock the door, and zuump hit the gas.
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  Speaker 3: Because God, I choose you today, I do not choose
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  Speaker 3: unnecessary violence lessen Number two, commitment to God must be thoughtful,
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  Speaker 3: not based on emotions or can we say principle base
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  Speaker 3: like he t always says. Eric Thomas always says, it
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  Speaker 3: needs to be It needs to be principle based, principle driven,
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  Speaker 3: and not emotions driven. The Bible reads in Joshua, chapter
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  Speaker 3: twenty four and verse nineteen, he cannot serve the Lord,
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  Speaker 3: for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God.
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  Speaker 3: He will not forgive your transgression nor your sins. Like
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  Speaker 3: what Joshua seemed to contradict their enthusiastic pledge. He was
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  Speaker 3: not discouraging faithfulness when he said that, he was exposing
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  Speaker 3: their shallow promises. You remember the first generation said the
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  Speaker 3: same thing. Whatever the Lord said, that shall we do?
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  Speaker 3: And the next thing. They're serving an idol almost immediately,
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  Speaker 3: it didn't even it didn't even take them a couple
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  Speaker 3: of months. Well, like they were all doing the wrong thing.
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  Speaker 3: So Joshua said, I've seen this movie before. We're not
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  Speaker 3: accepting that kind of stuff here. God's people had declared
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  Speaker 3: obedience before and failed almost immediately. Right in my notes,
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  Speaker 3: Joshua wanted them to see the weight of their words.
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  Speaker 3: Serving a holy God is not a quick and emotional response,
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  Speaker 3: but a lifelong covenant grounded in God's strength, grounded in
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  Speaker 3: his strength, not in the feeling of the moment. When
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  Speaker 3: they're playing the Hammond and they're saying, who will be
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  Speaker 3: the first? Will you yield yourself to God today? Look
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  Speaker 3: at what He's done on the cross to save you
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  Speaker 3: from your sins, And all you need to do is
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  Speaker 3: give me your hand, give God your heart. And the
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  Speaker 3: music is playing, No, don't do it that way today,
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  Speaker 3: not today. People of God, make your decision based on
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  Speaker 3: principle and not based on how you're feeling in the moment.
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  Speaker 3: And so the action step is to pause before you
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  Speaker 3: make spiritual commitments. Pray, Lord, give me a heart that
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  Speaker 3: keeps what my lips declare. Help me to do what
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  Speaker 3: I say, Help me to do what I say? And
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  Speaker 3: less than number three. Finally is serving God is about
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  Speaker 3: relationships with God. Relationship, excuse me with God. I want
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  Speaker 3: you to invest five minutes today today, or more five
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  Speaker 3: minutes today recounting how God has delivered you in the past.
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  Speaker 3: This is a recurring thing, I know. Let gratitude draw
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  Speaker 3: you into obedience. Let gratitude for what God has done
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  Speaker 3: for you, draw you into gratitude. Make it a great
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  Speaker 3: day or our obedience.
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  Speaker 2: Peace.
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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 el David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,