Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 08 23 2024 Childlike Qualities

Transcript

08 23 2024 Childlike Qualities · 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 Friday, August
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  Speaker 2: twenty three, twenty twenty four. 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 day,
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  Speaker 2: and today is no exception. We are continuing in our
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  Speaker 2: Lesson study series through the Book of Mark and our
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  Speaker 2: caption for today is Childlike Qualities. Childlike Qualities. We'll get
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  Speaker 2: into that in jail a moment, but first I'd like
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  Speaker 2: to say welcome to you and ask you to please
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  Speaker 2: go over to your Daily Portion dot com. Please join
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  Speaker 2: our online community, pick up the Your Daily Portion book,
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  Speaker 2: and 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 then we will get underway.
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  Speaker 2: Father in heaven, thank you for giving us this day.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to pray, and
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  Speaker 2: for the Holy Spirit who teaches us. Father, I pray
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  Speaker 2: that we will value our children and also that you
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  Speaker 2: will show us how to have childlike faith, have childlike
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  Speaker 2: trust in you. Father, Please teach us the blessing of children.
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  Speaker 2: In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen and Amen again. I
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  Speaker 2: just want to say that my son, our son, Josiah,
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  Speaker 2: teaches me how to be a father. He teaches me fatherhood.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe that's a better way of saying it, like it's obvious,
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  Speaker 2: like if you have a child, then you learn more
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  Speaker 2: about fatherhood if you're a dad, right, because you have
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  Speaker 2: the child. But it's not that. What I'm saying is
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  Speaker 2: I did not get the I did not get the
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  Speaker 2: understanding of fatherhood from my dad. But somehow God saw
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  Speaker 2: fit to give us a man child. And through the
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  Speaker 2: relationship of this manchild and I I am able to
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  Speaker 2: understand what I didn't understand as a man child myself.
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  Speaker 2: God has a wonderful way of bringing us into understanding
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  Speaker 2: and to bring us into relationship with him. There are
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  Speaker 2: things that I understand about my connection with God now
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  Speaker 2: because of Josiah, and I'm like God, I thank you
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  Speaker 2: because I couldn't have calculated this. I couldn't have planned it.
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  Speaker 2: If I had planned it, I would have planned it
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  Speaker 2: another way, you know what I mean, and then been
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  Speaker 2: off track. So God gives us ways, and your story
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  Speaker 2: may be different. He gives us all ways to see
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  Speaker 2: and appreciate childlike qualities so we can have a right
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  Speaker 2: relationship with God and right standing with him. Okay, so
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  Speaker 2: that sounds all well and good. But let's go ahead
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  Speaker 2: and begin reading from the book Desire of Ages, page
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  Speaker 2: five hundred eleven and see where we can go from here. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: And it reads Jesus was ever a lover of children.
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  Speaker 2: So if you're if you are, Almos said, if you're
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  Speaker 2: a child, you are obviously someone's child. Doesn't matter what
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  Speaker 2: your age is. Right, Maybe you didn't feel loved by
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  Speaker 2: your parents, or maybe you did. I don't know, but
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  Speaker 2: Jesus was a lover of children. He accepted their childish
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  Speaker 2: sympathy and their open, unaffected love so they didn't put
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  Speaker 2: boundaries on this thing. They had a way of brightening
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  Speaker 2: up and opening up in relationship that didn't have all
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  Speaker 2: of the filters that humans have, didn't have all of
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  Speaker 2: the discrimination that adults have. Right, these children were open
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  Speaker 2: and their love didn't have all these unnecessary boundaries. Let
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  Speaker 2: me keep reading. Their grateful praise from their pure lips
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  Speaker 2: was music in his ears and refreshed his spirit when
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  Speaker 2: oppressed by contact with crafty and hypocritical men. I hope
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  Speaker 2: you heard that the language was complex, I admitted. So
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  Speaker 2: he had people that were supposed to be his people.
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  Speaker 2: I'm talking about grown folks who were leading among the
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  Speaker 2: fellowship of believers if you want to say, the synagogue
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  Speaker 2: at the time, and those individuals who were supposed to
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  Speaker 2: be a welcome place, who were supposed to be a
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  Speaker 2: place of reprieve so that they, together, them and Christ
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  Speaker 2: could go into the world to win people for the kingdom.
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  Speaker 2: But instead he found hypocrisy, He found criticism, he found hatred,
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  Speaker 2: He found people who were really kind of wanting to
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  Speaker 2: kill him, and some who would have if they had
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  Speaker 2: the opportunity. I'm talking about early right, But somehow the
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  Speaker 2: father positioned children in Jesus's life, that when they would
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  Speaker 2: give their love, when they would give their praise, when
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  Speaker 2: they would show sympathy toward Jesus, when they would show affection,
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  Speaker 2: it was like it was like water to refresh a
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  Speaker 2: dry soul. You see what I'm where I'm saying where
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  Speaker 2: I'm coming from here, And so we need to learn
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  Speaker 2: how to appreciate the children that God puts into our
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  Speaker 2: space and not see them as a burden, not see
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  Speaker 2: them as an interruption to the things that we would
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  Speaker 2: like to do today, not to see them as blockers
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  Speaker 2: and air quotes those who know, No, you know what
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  Speaker 2: I'm saying, right, If you don't, don't worry about it,
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  Speaker 2: it doesn't apply to you. We are to see our
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  Speaker 2: children and children in general, as what a heritage from
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  Speaker 2: the Lord. That means an inheritance. How do you feel
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  Speaker 2: when you get an inheritance? You may not know what
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  Speaker 2: it feels like, But if you today, whatever your financial
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  Speaker 2: status is, if you receive an inheritance of a million
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  Speaker 2: US dollars, how would you feel about that? You see
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  Speaker 2: where I'm coming from. If you were to receive an
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  Speaker 2: additional ten million US dollars as an inheritance how would
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  Speaker 2: you feel about that? And so these children are an inheritance,
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  Speaker 2: God said through the Psalms to us, And so the Bible,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the quote continues. Wherever the Savior went, the
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  Speaker 2: beignignity of his countenance and his gentle, kindly manner won
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  Speaker 2: the love and confidence of children. When you're around children,
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  Speaker 2: they are they drawn to you? Or are they afraid
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  Speaker 2: of you? Do they want to talk to you and
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  Speaker 2: hear from you? Do they want to touch your face?
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  Speaker 2: Do they want to give you hugs? A Are they
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  Speaker 2: drawn to you or are they afraid of you? Are
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  Speaker 2: they drawn to you? Or do they show distrust of you? Yeah? Well,
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  Speaker 2: I will leave that right where it is. We're going
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  Speaker 2: to page five hundred and twenty three. To those who,
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  Speaker 2: like the young Ruler, are in high positions of trust
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  Speaker 2: and have great possessions. It may seem too great a
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  Speaker 2: sacrifice to give up all in order to follow Christ.
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  Speaker 2: But this is the rule of conduct for all who
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  Speaker 2: would become as disciples. Nothing short of obedience can be accepted.
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  Speaker 2: Self surrender is the substance of the teachings of Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Often it is presented and en joined in language that
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  Speaker 2: seems authoritative, because there is no other way to save
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  Speaker 2: me man than to cut away those things, which, if entertained,
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  Speaker 2: will demoralize the whole being. There are times that we
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  Speaker 2: have to hear like children who are being corrected. There
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  Speaker 2: are times that when God comes to us, we have
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  Speaker 2: to hear it like a loving parent who is stern,
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  Speaker 2: who is authoritative, not having any other interest except our
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  Speaker 2: best interest at heart. We have to hear it that
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  Speaker 2: way because otherwise we would take it too lightly. There
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  Speaker 2: are times that God has to chide us. There are
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  Speaker 2: times that he has to chastise us. He said, like
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  Speaker 2: children whom I love, I chastise you, I rebuke you.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not treating you like fatherless children. I am treating
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  Speaker 2: you like the one who has accepted you in the
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  Speaker 2: beloved Jesus Christ. And there are times that you have
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  Speaker 2: to be corrected, and it's painful. I get it, and
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  Speaker 2: so I thank God for giving us a well rounded
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  Speaker 2: reality about childlike qualities. Children who know that they are
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  Speaker 2: loved take the discipline. They take the discipline from loving parents.
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  Speaker 2: And so first of all, we want us to cherish
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  Speaker 2: these childlike qualities. We want to value simplicity in worship. See,
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  Speaker 2: children don't have complicated worship thoughts. We want to embrace
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  Speaker 2: the refreshing spirit of children, and we also want to
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  Speaker 2: be in obedience. It's a non negotiable in discipleship or
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  Speaker 2: relationship with God. And of course we want to sacrifice
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  Speaker 2: self for the blessing of others. Make it a great day, 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,