Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 10 08 2026 John the Baptist, Preparing a People

Transcript

10 08 2026 John the Baptist, Preparing a People · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too much,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy for
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: today's needs. Why then do some of us expect yesterday's
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: portion of heavenly manna, the word of God, to keep
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: us through today's challenges? On this program, we are going
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to change all of that. Let's experience God's words today
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and receive the power we need to live healthy, vibrant lives.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Your Daily Portion. with your host, author, speaker, L.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: David Harris.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Good morning, good morning, good morning. It is Thursday, October 8, 2026. Hello,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: my name is L. David Harris. I am your host,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: and this is your daily portion, where we give you
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: God's Word every single day, and today is no exception.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: We are continuing in our lesson study series, The Gift
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: of Prophecy, and our caption for today is John the
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Baptist Preparing a People. That's John the Baptist preparing a people.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: I'll get into that in just a moment, but first
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: I'd like to say welcome to you and ask you
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: to please go over to yourdailyportion.com. Will you please, please
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: go ahead and click that button that says begin? It
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: says stop guessing what to do with your life. Discover
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: God's design for your life, and once you've invested just
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: a few minutes in After that, you will get a
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: personal blueprint, a clear picture of how you were gifted,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the word behind each gift, and a first step toward
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: using it. So please go ahead and click that button.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: And if you are so inclined, please contribute to your
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: daily portion ministries because we are a listener and viewer
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: supported ministry. Let's go ahead and pray and then we
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: will get underway. Father in heaven, thank you for giving
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: us the opportunity to come together again. And we are
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: getting so close to Sabbath again, and I know I'm
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: rushing it, but we're also getting really close to the
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: second coming of Jesus Christ. Father, will you please open
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: up our understanding today? Will you help us to have
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: the same mindset of John the Baptist, especially considering the
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: times in which we live? In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: and amen again. John the Baptist preparing a people. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Do you believe that we are living and dwelling in
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: the last days? Do you believe that people should be
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: prepared for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Because really, I do, and I'm thinking about what that
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: ministry would look like if it were in our day,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: because John the Baptist gave his entire life to prepare
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: the way for Jesus Christ, staying faithful even in prison
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: and unto death. Think about it. I know that sometimes
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: when people talk about the Elijah message, they miss the fact,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: in fact, during John's day, they missed the fact that
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: John had a similar message to Elijah, and now we
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: in our day should have a similar message to John.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: It's still one message, but it's preparatory for the king
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: who's coming. Yes, there are times that we need to
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: amend our ways. There are times that there has to
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: be a line in the sand where we decide, like,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: are we on the Lord's side or are we on
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: another side? You see, idolatry was rife during John's day,
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: rife during Elijah's day, rife during our days. Maybe Not
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: as many people in our communities are bowing down to
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: literal visible idols, even though in some of your communities
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: they are. There are many things that people are still
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: putting before God. And even God's people, in air quotes,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: are still many times putting other things before God. And
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: so when circumstances make no sense and Satan uses uncertainty
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: to shake our faith, we can still reach out to
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: God who leads us and will answer us. And so
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: we begin looking at that ministry or that style of
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: ministry from the Bible book of Mark. Bible book of
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Mark chapter 1 and verse 3. Mark chapter 1 and
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: verse 3. where the Bible reads, the voice of one
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: crying in the wilderness. This is under the Holy Ghost.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: This is John's self-identity. He's identifying who he is. He's
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: the voice of one crying in the wilderness. And what
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: is he crying? Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: make his path straight. So, of course, Now John is
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: living in a prophetic moment because Daniel was told when
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Messiah would show up as the anointed one. We're not
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: talking about when he was born, but when he would
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: show up just in that moment when John saw him
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: and said,' Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the sin of the world.' In that moment is what
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: we're talking about prophetically. He would show up as the
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: anointed one, and of course, we saw Jesus being filled
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: with the Holy Ghost, hearing the words of approbation from
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: the Father, saying, this is my beloved Son, listen to him.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: And in that moment, John, being the one preparing the people,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: making ready the people, putting in order beforehand the people,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: He was showing us what our ministry needs to be like. Yeah,
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: in 2026, we don't know how far off the second
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: coming is, but we have the blessed hope that his
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: coming will be soon. We know that it is near,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: even at the door. And so John's whole ministry was
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: to prepare hearts to receive Jesus Christ. God still sends
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: the call to make room for the Lord in lives
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: cluttered by sin. Clear away one thing today, brothers and sisters,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: just in the same way that John was teaching the
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: people in his day. For you, I want you to
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: be the John the Baptist to yourself today under the
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: Holy Ghost to clear away one thing that crowds Jesus
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: out as he is preparing to come. There is something, perhaps,
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: something in your life that is standing in the way
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: of a perfect relationship with God. I know some people
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: are afraid of the word perfect. It drives you crazy. Like,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: it makes you want to run away. But Jesus said it. Like,
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: be perfect. For I, the Lord, thy God, am perfect. Like,
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: God has made it very clear that we can be
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: complete in Him. We're not relying on ourselves. He's saying,
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: I want you to have the kind of relationship that
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: I did when I was with Moses, where God spoke
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: to him face to face, mouth to mouth. He was
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: as God to Pharaoh, as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: was like a prophet. You understand, like, this is the
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: closeness to where you are in his presence. And when
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: you come out of his presence, there is a brightness
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: that surrounds you like it did in the case of
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: Moses and others, of course, that were his children, God's children. Okay,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: so our second lesson now is coming in from Matthew,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Matthew chapter 11, verses 2 and 3, where the Bible
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: reads in Matthew chapter 11, verses 2 and 3. Now,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: when John had heard in prison the works of Christ,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: he sent two of his disciples and said unto him,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? Now,
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: the thing about John is that he wanted his disciples,
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: John's disciples, to look at Jesus and know that he
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: was in fact the one that died. of whom the
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: prophets wrote. He wanted them to have the encounter with
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Christ that John had. He wanted them to know Jesus
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: like John knew Jesus. You understand? And so even faithful John,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: even though he had that connection with Christ, he had
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: difficulties at times. And we do. Sometimes we have difficulties
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: at times. I'm not going to call these doubts because
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: John didn't doubt Jesus. At no moment are we seeing
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: in Scripture where John doubted Jesus, but he wanted his
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: people to know that this is in fact the one
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: of whom the prophets spoke. And so Jesus is tenderhearted
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: toward us, and he wants us, if we do have doubts,
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: I'm sure that his disciples, John's disciples, were unsure, but
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: John wanted them to be sure. So even if you're
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: like one of those disciples, bring your honest doubt or
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: confusion directly to Jesus. I know there are a lot
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: of Christian-y speaking people who would probably maybe chide you
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: for the times that you're wondering. But who do you
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: take it to? Take it to Jesus and say, God,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I need a little extra help today. Will you do that?
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Jesus is tenderhearted, and he will give you the reassurance
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: that you need and the power you need to follow him.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: So much more we can learn from John's story. But
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: I'll pause right here, and you all make it a
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: great day. Peace.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, listening friends. Always remember, we cannot
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: from the mouth of God. This has been your daily
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: portion with L. David Harris. Make it a great day.