Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 11 17 2023 Purity in Action

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11 17 2023 Purity in Action · 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 us
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  through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all of
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  that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to live
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  healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host author speaker,
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  Elle David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good morning. It
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  is Friday, preparation Day, November seventeen, twenty twenty three. Hello,
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  my name is El David Harris. I am your host, and this is
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  your 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, and our caption for today is purity in action. Purity in
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  action. Okay, before we get into that, I'd just like to say
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  welcome to you and ask you to go over to your Daily Portion dot com
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  if you have not already done so, let us know where you are in
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  the world. Also pick up the book, Your Daily Portion Book, and
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  also join our online community at your Daily Portion dot com. Let's go ahead
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  and pray and then get underway. Father, thank you for getting us thus
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  far into our week, and I pray that you will help us to yield
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  our will to you and live pure purity. Let it be our action in
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  Jesus' name. I pray, Amen and amen again. Well, as you
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  often see when we are on Friday's lesson study, we read a passage from
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  Ellen White's writings, and this is no exception. We're reading from the book
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  Testimonies for the Church, Volume two, page twenty five. See if you
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  can get anything or glean let me put that way, glean anything that is
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  useful for you today. And as you see and experience something that is useful
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  for you, I want you to type it in the chat. What is
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  useful to you? Okay? Beginning the quote here pure religion and undefiled before
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  the Father. Is this that's right out of the Bible. By the way
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  to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted
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  from the world. Good deeds are the fruit that Jesus requires us to bear.
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  Hmm, kind words, deeds of benevolence, of tender regard for the
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  poor, needy, and afflicted. We realize that these are many of the
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  invisible people in society and air quotes the people we just drive on by,
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  right, the people who are in our church communities and the communities in which
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  we live that need us. There are people I am an orphan now right.
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  I'm not using me as an example. I just kind of had to
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  say it out loud because there are so many people like me. Some of
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  you are widows and widow words. You have lost your spouses, some God
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  forbid, but some of you, unfortunately, have lost more than one spouse
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  to death. Yes, there are people who, even though you have your
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  nice cars and your nice homes, are having difficulty finding money for food.
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  That's a different discussion how we get into those situations. But the fact is,
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  during the pandemic, we saw the so called middle class in a strange
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  predicament, having these things that looked like assets, but they were really liabilities.
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  To many people, big house, big car, but the resources were
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  not coming in in the way that they were accustomed. And then they had
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  to, unfortunately or maybe fortunately, I don't know, join lines where they
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  could get food and other needs met. From benevolent societies and churches and other
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  faith communities you see, and so anybody who has needs, whoever has needs,
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  God's people should be helpful toward those needs. Let me continue when hearts
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  sympathize with hearts burdened with discouragement and grief, When the hand dispenses to the
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  needy, when the naked are clothed, the stranger made welcome to a seat
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  in your parlor and a place in your heart. Angels are coming very near.
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  So when you are helpful to others, God comes near to you through
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  the ministry of angels. Angels are coming near, and an answering strain is
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  responded to in heaven. Every act of justice and mercy and benevolence makes melody
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  in heaven. Can you imagine you want to become a singer? Ha,
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  You want to be a to have the attention of God. Not just that
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  he loved you, but now He is smiling over you. He is hearing
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  rich melodies that come from your life to those who are experiential, like people
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  who love to experience. Now you can sense how you can give God.
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  Ooh, you can give God a rich experience based on how you live.
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  Okay, let me continue. I got a little bit in my feelings right
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  there. The Father, from his throne beholds those who do these acts of
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  mercy and numbers them with his most precious treasures. Oh God, continuing,
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  and they shall be mine, said the Lord of Hosts. In that day
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  when I make up my jewels, every merciful act to the needy the suffering
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  is regarded as through as though done to who Jesus. Remember, Jesus said,
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  as you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren,
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  you have done it also unto me. Have ye as ye have not done
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  it unto the least of these, my brethren, You have not done it
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  unto me. So Jesus so identifies with those who are in need, that
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  when we respond to them, verily, it is registered in heaven as responding
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  to Jesus Christ himself. What would you do if the person in need that
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  crosss your path was clearly identified as Jesus himself. Huh. Something that's something
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  to think about. Okay, When you succor the poor, sympathize with the
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  afflicted and oppressed, and befriend the orphan, you bring yourselves into a closer
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  relationship to Jesus. That is the end of the quote. Remember our caption
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  for today purity in action. All right, so let's do a few more
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  actions here. We want to go to James chapter one and verse twenty seven
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  again and look at the last part It says, and to keep himself unspotted
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  from the world. So God wants us to live holy lives. So we
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  see the activity, the action, the way that our hearts go out to
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  people, and our actions to be of service. But there are a number
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  of benevolent individuals who don't love God, and so what God wants us to
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  do is also as we become benevolent, as we are continuing to become the
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  hands and feet of God. If you want to say in air quotes,
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  in order to give people what they are in need of, the principal thing
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  that they need is godly life. The principle need that they have is to
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  be led into a right relationship with Him or encouraged in that relationship if they
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  already have one, and only people who are surrendered to God can do that.
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  So become unspotted from the world. Guard to guard your spiritual and moral
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  life by avoiding worldly things and influences that lead to sin regularly, engage in
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  self examination. You know, the Holy Spirit of Truth is come to guide
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  us into all truth about God, that He's wholly just and good, all
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  truth about us that is, we are miserable, poor, blind, naked
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  and don't even know it. And so we can now through the Holy Ghost.
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  Engage in self examination, also in prayer and Bible study, to ensure
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  as we ask God to give us strength, that we are pure, unspotted
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  from the world. This is God's calling on us. In fact, the
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  Bible says, purify yourselves even as He is pure, right as you await
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  the coming of Jesus, and do you help others to get closer to him?
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  Remember purity. Okay, every act of justice, I'm coming back to
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  that saying quote that we read a moment ago. Every act of justice,
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  mercy and benevolence makes melody in Heaven. Remember practice acts of mercy. I
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  think I will stop right there. Really, what we need in terms of
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  purity and action is to simply yield our will to God, and wherever God
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  leads us, we simply follow with the strength of the Holy Ghost, without
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  thinking of ourselves first or thinking of God first. A wonderful day peace.
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  Thanks for joining us listening. Friends, Always remember we cannot live by bread
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  alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This
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  has been your daily portion with El David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,