Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 10 28 2023 Excuses to Avoid Mission

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10 28 2023 Excuses to Avoid Mission · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Most of us eat every day, some of us too much because yesterday's food
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  is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do some
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  of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to keep
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  us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all
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  of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to
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  live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host,
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  author speaker Elle David Harris. Good morning, good morning, Good morning.
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  It is Sabbath, October twenty eight, twenty twenty three. Hello, my
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  name is El David Harris. I am your host, and this is your
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  Daily Portion where we give you God's Word every single day, and today is
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  no exception. We are continuing in our Lesson study series, God's Mission,
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  My Mission. Our caption for today is excuses, Oh, excuses to avoid
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  mission. Hmm. We'll get into that in just a moment, but before
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  we do, I'd like to just say welcome and happy Sabbath to everyone joining
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  us, especially those who are joining for the first time. And I want
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  to add one more, one more someone who has only kept Sabbath once,
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  which is today. If you are new to sabbath keeping, just go ahead
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  and put a one in the chat. If you are new to sabbath keeping,
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  go ahead and put a one in the chat. And I want to
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  celebrate you because you have made the right decision to prioritize God in the way
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  that he has said. You've chosen to remember what God said, remember and
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  to not forget to keep holy the seventh day Sabbath. And so I'm thankful
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  for you and for everyone who's joining us, whether by radio, television,
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  podcast, social media, YouTube, and whatever other way that you are getting
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  this. Let's go ahead and pray, and then we will get underway bother
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  in heaven. Thank you for this new day and the privilege that we have
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  to open your word together. Please teach us not to excuse ourselves from your
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  mission in Jesus Day. I pray, Amen and Amen again excuses to avoid
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  mission. Okay, So let's go ahead and begin with Isaiah chapter six,
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  and I'll give a quick primer on it, even though that is not really
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  the focus. The focus is Jonah, but I'm going to give a quick
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  primer on it. Let's start with verse eight, and the Bible reads here
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  also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send?
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  And who shall go for us? God speaking? Then I said, this
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  is Isaiah speaking. Here am I send me? And so this chapter opens
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  with the death of King Aziah. Right King Aziah dies. He has fifty
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  some years, if I recall correctly, of rain and he was pretty good
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  for a while, but then he started to trust in his own strength,
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  and long story short, he ultimately dies and the people of God are distraught
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  because they're thinking. But King Aziah really led us in a good way,
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  like what are we gonna do now? And so it was at that time
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  and by the way, he decided because he felt so strong that he could
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  go and really present himself in an unacceptable way to God, unwelcomed and yeah,
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  so that's what happened. He's in the presence without what he needed to
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  be in the presence long story. And so now in that year, Isaiah
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  is in vision, he's with the people of God. Yes, and he
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  realizes, wow, this is a serious situation. And now he is wafted
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  into the very presence of God and he is experiencing the worship of the angels
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  in the heavens, shaking and God is lifted up on his throne, and
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  he's saying, well, am I like I am a man of unclean lips,
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  and I come from among a people of unclean lips. But I have
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  seen the Lord lifted up like the Lord of hosts. And the angels are
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  there crying holy and he can recall what happened to Azaiah, like why am
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  I here? And why am I still alive? And the Bible says that
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  an angel, six winged angel did go to the altar and pulled a live
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  call from off the altar and then said, behold, this hath touched thy
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  lips. He put the call on his mouth, This has touched thy lips.
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  Her iniquity is forgiven, and so forth. And then he hears the
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  voice whom shall we? Who will go for us? And he says,
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  here am I send me? And so the question, really giving that backdrop,
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  is what was the reason that Isaiah was so eager to serve? If
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  you had to pick just one, I know there could be a number,
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  but just one. What was driving him not to give an excuse for himself,
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  but to say, yes, here am I. And of course the
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  obvious answer is that he experienced the mercy of God. He experienced the cleansing
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  power of God. And when God bids you come, when you are experiencing
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  his mercy, when you're experiencing his grace and his love to this degree,
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  then the only thing that is left to do is to say, yes,
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  Lord, yes to your will, into your way. And that's what Isaiah
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  did. Now, Unfortunately, Jonah did not give that same response to God
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  when God told him to go cry against the city. Let me go here
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  to Jonah chapter three and read it. And the word of the Lord came
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  unto Jonah the second time, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that
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  great city, and preach unto it, the preaching that I bid thee.
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  So God sends him, just like he sends Abraham. God sent him just
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  like he is now sending Isaiah. He sent him. But there's a problem.
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  There's a problem. Jonah was not receptive like these other two men of
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  God. No, he was not receptive, and so our action step.
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  In fact, he went the opposite direction and hid in the bottom of a
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  boat and rested, rather than to be active and go in the direction God
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  called him and equipped him to go so that others could be saved. Yeah,
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  But the first action step in this case, in terms of avoiding excuses,
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  is to heed God's call without hesitation. When he gives you a call,
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  when he says, this is what I need you to do, do
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  not hesitate. And so the action is when God prompts or calls you to
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  mission, instead of resisting. There are times you may not want to do
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  what God says, but instead of resisting or running away, respond immediately.
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  Don't let any grass grow under your feet. Don't allow your mind to wander
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  and turn over and turn over and turn over, and then you spiral into
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  this decision making process that can take you the wrong direction. You know it's
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  God speaking, Go and do it immediately, and then ask God for a
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  willing heart, understanding that His ways are higher than ours. Here is another
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  one. Here is another one. In verse nine of Jonah, chapter two,
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  the Bible reads, but I will sacrifice unto THEE with the voice of
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  thanksgiving. I pay that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.
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  So what we want to do is overcome prejudices and biases. Overcome prejudices and
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  biases. We've talked about this before where Peter is concerned and so forth.
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  But this time. The action is instead of allowing personal biases and fears or
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  past experiences to dictate your decisions, surrender them to God. Because see,
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  he would have had a view of the Ninavites, he would have had a
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  view of God in his mind. God was so merciful, he wasn't going
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  to do what he said that he was going to do against Ninevus, So
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  why should he go over there and be seen as a false prophet when God
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  did not do what he said he was going to do. God said,
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  I'm going to destroy this city, and then he's thinking, well, God
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  is going to be merciful, and then I'm going to look like a false
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  prophet. Well, no, do what God says and overcome whatever it is
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  that you have in your mind about the Ninavites, and know that God's intent
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  is to save them, and if they will respect then He will indeed save
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  them. Okay, one more passage Jonah, chapter four and verse eleven,
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  and the Bible reads, and should I not spare Nineveh, the great city
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  we're in, are more than six score thousand persons that cannot descern between their
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  right hand and their left, and also much cattle. And so when Jonah
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  was upset with God because he was a merciful God. Let that settle in.
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  He needed to recognize God's sovereignty and his mercy, and the action would
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  be understand that God desires to save everyone, even those who seem to be
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  the least worthy. We'll come back to it peace. Thanks for joining us
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  listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but by
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  every word that comes 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,