Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 09 04 2026 Authentic Ministry Examined

Transcript

09 04 2026 Authentic Ministry Examined · 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 2: Welcome to Your Daily Portion. with your host, author, speaker, L.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: David Harris. Good morning, good morning, good morning. It is Friday,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: the fourth day of September in 2026. Hello, my name
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: is L. David Harris. I am your host, and this
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: is your Daily Portion, where we give you God's Word
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: every single day, and today is no exception. We are
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: continuing in our lesson study series through the books of
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: 1 and 2 Corinthians, and our caption for today is...
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Authentic Ministry Examined. We're going to take another look before
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: we move on to our next lesson in the morning.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: And before we do, I'd like to say welcome to
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: you and ask you to go over to yourdailyportion.com. Will
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: you please go ahead and click that button right below?
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Stop guessing what to do with your life. Discover God's
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: design for your life. Let me just say it. I
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: never say it fully. In your mother's womb, God lives.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: has already at work. He was already at work knitting
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: you together and weaving gifts into your life on purpose
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: and for his purpose. And that's the assessment that we
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: have created over the last couple of years. Designed to
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: serve is a guided walk through the scripture that helps
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: you name those gifts and to see where you belong,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: a step into the good work he has already prepared
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: for you to do. And please, please go ahead and
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: click that button to begin that assessment. Also, also, if
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: you are so inclined, please, please go ahead and click
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: the contribute button because your daily portion ministry is a
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: listener and viewer supported ministry. Let's go ahead and pray. Father,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: we thank you for this day of preparation and for
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: the privilege you've entrusted to us to take another look
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: at what authentic ministry is like. Please help us to
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: see Jesus in all of this. In Jesus' name I pray,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: amen and amen again. So for me, the most important
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: thing this morning is that God's people have been given
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: the ministry of reconciliation. The church, God's people were given
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: the ministry of reconciliation. So in the same way that
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ has done everything that he can to remove
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: the hostility between us and God, we are to do
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: the same. I mean, as human beings, of course, we're
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: not dying on the cross to save anybody from their sins.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Jesus already did that. But what I'm saying is, in
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: the same way that he did that, we have the
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: privilege to do the same, to bring people back together
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: with God. Okay? With power from Him, we are to
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: call men, women, children to be reconciled to God. That
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: is the assignment for every single one of us. And
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: I know sometimes people are like, an assignment? That just
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: seems heavy. That seems like fifth grader-ish, a school-like setting. Like,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: an assignment? Yeah. Yeah. Imagine you were the ambassador for
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: the king of the universe, and he has assigned you
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: to go into a place and to speak his words
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: on his behalf so that the people will know his
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: heart and the people will be empowered to live like
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: he has given us the power to live. Yeah, that assignment,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: that assignment. Let's go ahead into our first lesson coming
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: in from 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 7. Verse 7,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: 2 Corinthians chapter 4, the Bible reads, But we have
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: this treasure in earthen vessels, or clay jars, that the
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: excellency of the power may be of God and not
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: of us, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: and does not come from us. And I know that
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: some of us, most of us probably don't live in
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: cultures where this whole clay jars or earthen vessels makes sense.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: But what Paul was talking about meant it was breakable.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: These clay jars made from earth, right? Breakable. The clay
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: jar in Paul's world was the most common, most disposable
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: container available. I wish I could pull up. Something that
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: my former pastor, Pastor Zolman, gave me. He gave me
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: like a lamp, a small lamp, because he's an archaeologist.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: He gave me this small lamp, but it was an
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: earthen vessel. It's some ancient small lamp. I'm sure that
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: it's of value to people who excavate and do that
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: kind of thing. And I'm like, whoa, this is how
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: they did it? Yep, that's how they did it. But
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: it was disposable, chosen precisely because no one would credit
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: the jar for what was inside of it. Slow down
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: for a moment. So if this clay vessel, this jar,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: is easily broken, easily disposable, it was so common. Nobody
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: would credit it for what was on the inside. Can
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: I just give you an example? Remember when Jesus turned
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: water into wine? Suppose he put that special blessing that
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the Bible calls in the cluster of grapes. And he
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: had them put that blessing inside those clay jars. And
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: the people at that wedding, especially the one that was
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: in charge, was like, listen, people usually give this stuff.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: you know, at a different time, but you saved the
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: best for last. So the best for last was in
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: these clay or earthen vessels. So we don't glorify the vessel.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: People should not glorify us, but if Christ is in us,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: the hope of glory, if we are shining as lights,
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: which God is from our life, then God is the
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: one being glorified, not the earthen vessel, not the one
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: that in our own strength is disposable. You see where
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: I'm going with this? And so human weakness does not
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: undermine the proclamation of the gospel. It enhances it. It's
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: like I have seen God, I don't know if you've
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: heard this before, do so much with so little. I
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: now believe that God can do anything with nothing less.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: earthen vessels, meaning me. Let me say it again. This
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: is from E.E. Cleveland, the late preacher, evangelist, church leader. E.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: Earl Cleveland, I have seen God do so much with
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: so little. I now believe that God can do anything
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: with nothing, meaning me, and it's God using us. That's
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: the whole point. That's the whole point. When a broken
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: person carries a transforming message, the power is unmistakably God's.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: The crack in the jar is is where the light
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: gets out. Did you see and hear what I just said?
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: The crack in the jar, the fact that we are broken,
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: the fact that God is using common human beings, those
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: leaks that are the reality of our humanity, is how
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: God is glorified. The light gets out that way. So
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: what do we do with all of this? You've been
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: shouting at us for a second. Well, stop waiting until
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: you feel adequate to carry the gospel. Don't do that. Like,
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: stop feeling, waiting until you feel adequate. Like, if you
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: feel fully equipped, you feel fully adequate, then something's wrong.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Get on your knees immediately because something's very wrong. God
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: is saying, don't wait till you feel that you're adequate.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Bring your weakness to God, even in this moment, brothers
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: and sisters, on this day of preparation, and trust him.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: trust him to make his power visible through your brokenness.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Let me read a quote to you before we come
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: to a swift close. Let me read a quote to
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: you from Letter 32, 1903, one of Ellen White's letters.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: That's how they designated them. As a church, we have
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: received great light. Would you agree? I agree. We have
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: received great light. This light is The Lord has entrusted
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: to us for the benefit and blessing of the world.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: To us has been given the ministry of reconciliation with
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: power from on high. We are to beseech men and
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: women to be reconciled to God. I'm grateful that God
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: is willing to use me.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Are you? Yeah.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Make it a great day.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Peace. Thanks for joining us, listening friends. Always remember, we
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: cannot live by bread alone. but by every word that
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: comes from the mouth of God. This has been your
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: daily portion with L. David Harris. Make it a great day.