Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 12 20 2023 For Such a Time as This
Transcript
- 0:01Most of us eat every day, some of us too much because yesterday's food
- 0:06is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do some
- 0:10of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to keep
- 0:15us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all
- 0:20of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to
- 0:25live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host,
- 0:31author speaker, Elle David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good morning.
- 0:34It is Wednesday, December twenty twenty twenty three. Hello, my name
- 0:39is El David Harris. I am your host, and this is your Daily
- 0:42Portion where we give you God's Word every single day, and today is no
- 0:46exception. We are continuing in our Lesson study series. God's mission, my
- 0:52mission, and our caption for today is for such a time as this,
- 0:57for such a time as this. We'll get into this in just a moment,
- 1:02but first I'd like to say welcome to you and ask you to go
- 1:03over to your Daily Portion dot com. Please join our online community. Please
- 1:08also let us know in that box when you get there where you are in
- 1:14the world and pick up your Daily Portion book at your Daily Portion dot com.
- 1:18This is a way that we can build faith and fellowship. Let's go
- 1:22ahead and pray and then we will get underway. Father and Heaven, thank
- 1:26you for giving us the privilege of opening up your word today. And I'm
- 1:30asking you to please give us understanding, teach us how to love you and
- 1:34to serve you. Today. Father, I'm asking you now to give us
- 1:37the fullness of your Holy spirit, and understand when you position us in certain
- 1:42ways that it is for such a time as this. In Jesus's name,
- 1:46I pray, Amen and Amen again. So I spoke to a friend and
- 1:53business owner the other day, and I've spoken to teachers here in Jamaica,
- 1:59an entire school full of teachers and principles and assistant principles and others about this
- 2:07one thing. Right, everybody is not a leader. And you're like,
- 2:14of course, everybody's a leader. Everybody needs to learn how to be a
- 2:16leader. And I'm like, well, okay, if everybody's a leader,
- 2:22then who are followers? If everybody's a leader, who are support staff?
- 2:27Like, if everybody's a leader, then what are they leading? If everybody's
- 2:30a leader? You hear where I'm coming from with this. So regardless of
- 2:37whether you're a leader, that's only eighteen percent of the population, and probably
- 2:40only one percent of those eighteen percent are really really good leaders. Sounds kind
- 2:49of harsh, but yeah, that means that whatever station we find ourselves,
- 2:57whether we are leaders, we are support orders, we are followers, we
- 3:00are whatever we are, God has positioned us in those spaces and places for
- 3:08such a time as this. I need you to wake up in the morning,
- 3:13regardless of your behavior style, regardless of your spiritual gifts, regardless of
- 3:19the number of spiritual gifts you have or don't have, I need you to
- 3:23wake up in the morning with this on your mind. God has positioned me
- 3:30in this particular place and space for such a time as this. Now you
- 3:37can determine whether Esther was a leader or not. You can determine whether Mordecai
- 3:44was a leader or not. But I promise you both of them, both
- 3:49of them were positioned in their places and spaces for the time that we are
- 3:54referencing in the Book of Esther, especially beginning in Esther chapter verse one.
- 4:00And so what I want to do is make application, because you and your
- 4:04spare time can read through the story of Esther and today focus on chapter four.
- 4:11But I want you to begin to personalize. I want you to say,
- 4:15God, what does this have to do with me in this country,
- 4:19this state, this province, this city, this parish wherein I live?
- 4:26How does this apply to me? Okay? So let's begin with Esther chapter
- 4:31four and verse fourteen. The Book of Esther, chapter four and verse fourteen.
- 4:36My Bible moved from here. Let me put it back up here Esther
- 4:41chapter four, and I will read just verse fourteen in this case, and
- 4:46I will read from the King James version of the Bible. Let's go here
- 4:50here, And I think I got it, y'all, I got it.
- 4:54I got it. For if thou all together holdest thy peace at this time
- 5:00you are coming into the conversation late. You haven't read the story yet,
- 5:02but you can catch up a little later. For if thou all together holdest
- 5:06thy piece at this time, then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to the
- 5:13Jews from another place. But thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed.
- 5:17And who knoweth whether thou art come to the Kingdom for such a time as
- 5:24this? And so now Esther is given, is given some good counsel and
- 5:30advice about wait a minute, you're in this space. I think I said
- 5:33that a minute ago. You're in this place, and there is impact that
- 5:39you can have because if you do nothing, it can have a negative impact.
- 5:45So God is calling you for such a time as this. Yeah,
- 5:48it was a question, but it was rhetorical. Okay, So embrace divine
- 5:53appointments. That's our point number one for today. Embrace divine appointments. Recognize
- 6:00that God places you in particular circumstances for a purpose. Just as Esther was,
- 6:08huh, be open to the roles God has for you in his larger
- 6:13plan. I wish I had the time. I have been in some really
- 6:16interesting, strange places and spaces since probably well many years, but specifically since
- 6:27about age twenty three. I'm fifty. Now I wish I had the time.
- 6:31I need to write a book just about that. And now I understand
- 6:35some of how these puzzle pieces came together short times, long times, various
- 6:43and sundry interesting assignments. Yeah, and so God wants us to be open
- 6:50to the roles that He has positioned us in for his larger plans. Some
- 6:57of the roles don't feel like big and in big and happy role. Sometimes
- 7:01they're painful. I've been through those. Too powerful to the outside people,
- 7:06but painful internally. Okay. Number two, act courageously for the right reason.
- 7:13See Esther's willingness to approach the king despite the risk shows the importance of
- 7:19courage when standing for what is right, especially when other people's lives are at
- 7:27stake. You see, there are some of you who are activists, and
- 7:30I'm talking about positive good activists. I wish I had the time to go
- 7:34through the Bible to show some positive good activists. Right. There are some
- 7:41of you who take up the cause of the poor, the laying, the
- 7:45main, the blind, the people who have no parents, the people who
- 7:47have lost their their husbands, their wives. And God says that this is
- 7:53there is a true religion that is undefiled, that looks out for these people
- 7:57and the oppressed. And to set the captive is free. Right. And
- 8:01so so God wants you to act courageously. He wants me to act courageously
- 8:07for the right reasons. Number three, fast and pray in crises. Fast
- 8:15and pray in crises, and so In Esther, chapter four and verse sixteen,
- 8:20the Bible reads, go gather together all of the people of God that
- 8:24are present in Shushan and fast ye for me, neither eat nor drink three
- 8:30days nor night or day. I also and my maidens will fast likewise.
- 8:35So Esther was getting armored up, like she was getting ready to go and
- 8:41to do something that she wasn't one hundred percent sure it would out how it
- 8:43would play out. But she said, you know what, my life may
- 8:48be on the line, but for God's honor and for the benefit of my
- 8:52people, I'm willing to do this. But I need you to pray.
- 8:56Would you fast and pray with me? And the Bible says, and so
- 9:00so I will go in unto the king, which is not according to the
- 9:03law. And if I perish, ooh, she said, if I perish,
- 9:07I perish. If I perish, I perish. And so when fasting
- 9:15and praying during crises, you're not worried about what happens to you. All
- 9:22you care about is God's honor, God's name and the desired outcome. Also
- 9:28stand for your community, trust God over fear, and then intercede for others.
- 9:37And while you're doing it, accept the sovereignty of God. He knows
- 9:41exactly what he's doing. Have a wonderful day, peace. Thanks for joining
- 9:45us listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but
- 9:50by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This has been your
- 9:54daily portion with El David Harris. Make it a great day, Yeah,