09 07 2026 Motivation

0:00Most of us eat every day, who some of us too much, because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then? Do some of us expect yesterday's portion of Heavenly Manna, the Word of God, to keep us through today's challenges? On this program, we are going to change all of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your daily portion with your host, author speaker, El David Harris. Good morning, good morning, good morning. It is Monday, September 7, 2026. Hello, my name is El David Harris. I am your host and this is your daily portion where we give you God's Word every single day and today is no exception. We are continuing in our lesson study series through the books of First and Second Corinthians and our caption for today is Motivation. Before we get into that, I'd like to say welcome to you and ask you to please go over

1:01to your daily portion.com. Will you please just go ahead for your own benefit? Click the button. I just put an arrow on my screen to that button to begin the assessment to stop guessing what to do with your life, discover God's design for your life. This is it. This is it. You will come away with a personal blueprint, a clear picture of how you are gifted by God, the Word behind each gift and a first step toward using it for God's glory and of course for the benefit of others. So go ahead and get that. It's a free resource. It's exceptional. If I must say so under God, myself, we worked on it for years and so I'm grateful and if you would please also click the contribute button because your daily portion ministries is a listener and viewer supported ministry. Thank you everybody who continues to type in the chat, type in the comments section who also do contribute in whatever way that you provide encouragement.

2:04I'm just very grateful for you and for those who are just ongoing, long time listeners and viewers, I'm very grateful for you as well. For our new listeners and viewers, yes, you are now part of the family. You can't do anything about it. Okay, you can, but I hope you won't. Let's go ahead and pray. And then we will get underway. Father, we thank you. Thank you for this day. Will you motivate us by the things that matter in Jesus name I pray, amen and amen again? Motivation. Let me just say that that's not a word that I normally use where I am concerned because it's just not a part of my vocabulary. Of course, I'm not saying I don't know the word or I don't value the word, but there are some people who don't use it in a way that really drives me. Okay, and so maybe that's you. Maybe it's a misunderstanding of the term motivation. It's incredible and I happen to work for and with the number one motivational speaker in

3:07the world right now, right now and he's a brother. He's a believer. He's a believer and I'm grateful that he has even ET, the hip hop preacher, Eric Thomas, Dr. Eric Thomas. But he has even changed my perspective about the term. Okay. And so when we're thinking about this, now I'm like, okay, wait a minute. It's not just the part that drives me, but what is my intention? What is the intention or motivation behind what I am doing? Are you starting to get a different picture for those of you who, who generally, who generally are not using that term from day to day? Are you starting to get a different picture? And so let me use it like this, okay? So my first or most important thing for today is giving is, is, is, is, I want to talk about God giving into the ministry. Sometimes people mistake that for a transaction, a financial transaction. Really, what God is saying, it's an overflow of the heart that has truly encountered the

4:12grace of God. God loves a cheerful giver. God loves a cheerful giver because, because that is a demonstration that the grace of God has landed. That is a demonstration that the grace of God has landed. Okay. And so our first lesson comes in from 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 7, 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 7, where the Bible reads, each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, the Bible says in the King James version, purpose in his heart. So let him give, not grudgingly or reluctantly, not of necessity or of compulsion because God loves a cheerful, a smiling giver. Is that the way that you are? I remember when God was having his people to build the sanctuary of them, build me a

5:13sanctuary that they made, that God made dwell among them. The Bible teaches us that and as God was calling for them to, let's say, give toward that building, he told Moses, go to the people and those who will give freely, take an offering, those who give freely receive that at their hands. But those who are grudging, don't like let them keep it. I'm not interested in the ones that are doing it without cheerfulness. Okay. And so that word actually is where we get the word hilarious. The Greek word is hilayros. Can you imagine? Cheerful, glad, hilarious in its giving. The English word hilarious comes directly from this Greek word. God loves the giver whose generosity is so free and so full that it borders on joyful abandon, grudging obedience to a giving obligation is not what he is after.

6:21And so and so God is not looking for the largest gift. Remember, the woman who gave that might, this less than a United States penny. I don't even know if you all use pennies anymore. But that might, the widows might in the scriptures. When she gave, the Bible says she gave of her need and she gave more than them all that gave out of their abundance. You see, God is looking for the freest heart like that woman. The cheerful giver has understood something about grace that reluctant givers are not seeing at the moment. When grace becomes real, giving becomes a part of their joy regimen. And I just call it a regimen rather than a burden. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you should be excited to give because God has been so good to you. You should be excited to return that which God has placed into your life, into your bank account, into your energy pool.

7:22Like when you are helping people and it feels like you're getting more tired, just know that God is the one that can help you have the rest that you need. He's the one that can give you that recovery regimen. He's the one that can energize you to continue going. So God is asking you or commanding in fact to give what he has only given to you before your next act of giving. This is how we actionize this. Ask God to fill your heart with genuine cheerfulness, not the performance of gratitude, but the real joy of someone who has seen what they have received and cannot wait to return to God. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Our next one comes in from verse six, second Corinthians chapter nine and verse six. By this I say, this is what Paul said, which show it, he would show it sparingly, shall also reap sparingly.

8:25He that sells bountifully shall also reap bountifully, selling a seed. I'm talking about like if you cast seed where you're growing things, I remember growing grass. I'm a city boy, but when we lived in the country, I remember getting rid of 30 trees in order to extend the backyard some because we had all this property in West Virginia. And I was like, God, that feels too close. Well, after we got all the stumps out and everything is like, okay, we need grass. And I would just broadcast the seeds literally just reaching to that bag and fling the seeds all over the place. My wife thought I had lost it, but when she saw that grass, she said this dude, she didn't say it in these words, but this dude, he sold the seed in a happy and abundant way. And we got abundant grass back there. So what God is saying is like the songwriter would have said, you can't beat God given no matter how hard you try.

9:25The more you give, the more he gives to you. So keep giving. The Lord is really true. You can't beat God giving no matter how hard you try. So let it be a generosity war. The Lord gives to you and you give to those that God has put into your sphere of influence. Now, make it a great day. Peace. Thanks for joining us, listening friends. Always remember, we cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This has been your daily portion with Ella David Harris. Make it a great day.