Michael Harrison's e-devotion

You have felt like you are all alone.  Yesterday I reminded us that that is one of Satan's best lies.  We cannot and must not buy any of the lies that come from Hell.  I read this morning that another lie from hell goes like this: before you sin Satan says "that's just a little thing" and after you sin Satan says "that's so big you can't be forgiven".  You see the pattern. When are we strongest?  When in our lives and our situations do we finally realize that we are strong or have some strength?  It is when we have been honest and gone ahead to stand with other people.  Our strength is seen when we trust in and stand with God.  Our strength is real when we see other people standing with us.  Are you strong? 2 Corinthians 12:10 NLT That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Ecclesiast...

Check your attitude.   Maybe you have heard that a lot in your lot.   Or maybe you need to hear it from time to time.   I do.   Often my circumstances take me to places I don't want to go.   Good intensions for sure.   But poor follow through maybe?   Listen up…   Proverbs 4:23 
(NLT) --- Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.   Ecclesiastes offers us a new view into humanity and into our own souls.   We live in a broken world.   People in this world and in our community are hurting in so many ways.   Some we can help with and some we can't.   But there is no way we can make a difference until we understand what is going on around us.   But wait.   What is going on around us is often what's going on OR HAS GONE ON inside of us.   Get honest about that.   Think through where you are and where you want to be.   How have you experienced the love of God?   Do you want to experience it?   Do you have a desire to help others ex...

This morning I opened my email to see the newest edition of Samaritan's Feet newsletter.  And there she was our own Gloria Haynes has been named "Samaritan of the Month".  I am proud of our church family and how they serve others.  Gloria shares that in precious ways.  Below is part of their newsletter (see the original here ): Gloria Haynes Selected as Samaritan of the Month! First time volunteer Gloria Haynes  did not let her recent knee replacement surgery hinder the excitement of participating in her first shoe distribution with Samaritan's Feet in Collinsville, Virginia.     Arriving at 7am and carrying a small wooden stool, Gloria  helped Samaritan's Feet prepare for the distribution.  As the children filed in, Gloria sat on her stool so that when she washed feet she could look straight across rather than down, at the child across from her.  At 8pm that night, Gloria finally headed home.      "I wasn't sure what to expect but I prayed that eac...

The word 'authentic' refers to  the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions ( see Wikipedia ).  It is also one of our core values here at The Community Fellowship .  One of the things that I am so grateful for is that people can join us and just be themselves.  Nothing more and nothing less is asked.  People find they are accepted at The Community and that God accepts them. Yet one of the things that our culture and humanity seems to put on us is this thought that we need to "look right or make others think that all is fine" all the time.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We all have our good and bad days.   It is when people know we are real that we can best connect with them.  How often do you get real with anyone?  To be authentic essentially means to simply get real about who you are, where you are and what's going on in your life. Jesus was authentic: John 12:50  (NASB) ...

The word 'authentic' refers to  the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions ( see Wikipedia ).  It is also one of our core values here at The Community Fellowship .  One of the things that I am so grateful for is that people can join us and just be themselves.  Nothing more and nothing less is asked.  People find they are accepted at The Community and that God accepts them. Yet one of the things that our culture and humanity seems to put on us is this thought that we need to "look right or make others think that all is fine" all the time.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We all have our good and bad days.   It is when people know we are real that we can best connect with them.  How often do you get real with anyone?  To be authentic essentially means to simply get real about who you are, where you are and what's going on in your life. Jesus was authentic: John 12:50  (NASB) ...

There is power in community.  I am talking about the kind of power and strength that allows us to live lives full of courage and conviction.  When we walk with people and learn from people who walk with and learn from God, we will do the same.   One of our greatest examples in Scripture is the apostle Paul.  Here is what I read this morning as he wrote to one of the churches he deeply loved (when I churches, I mean the people of that particular area who accepted Christ): 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 (NKJV) But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire.  Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.  For what  is  our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?  Is it  not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?  For you are our glory and joy. His words were sent to encourage them.  He said that his hear...

Ecclesiastes 9:10 NLT Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. Opportunities to help others come often.  I hear from people almost every day about situations in their lives that come up where they can share, serve and point people to Jesus.  As the verse above say, what you find to do must be done well.  Find more truth in the Bible about using your opportunities, serving others, looking out for those in need and so many more things. I am encouraged by those reports.  To watch people share the love of Jesus is a phenomenal thing.  I mean we can do good things all the time that make us feel good, but it is not best until what we do come from a life motivated because of God's love for us and a desire to share His love with others. This summer I was honored to meet Joseph Dayamba.  He and his family are from Burkino Faso, Africa where they lead children's ministry and have a school that is working w...

Ephesians 5:16 NLT Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. This week I have heard many stories about lives that have been touched and changed.  We make a difference when we see and seize opportunities. The following story came from one of our The Community family yesterday: Just thought I'd share .....Think I may have helped save a man's life today. I had an mtg for work today along with the other 2 people in Roanoke. When we left around 12, we saw something in the road on 220N.  As we approached, it was a man! He was laying in the right lane. We pulled into the left lane to miss him and then pulled over. No one stopped for this man, and 220 is busy!  My coworker and I got out of the vehicle, called 911 and ran toward him.  We were sooo scared that someone would hit him.  When we began running to him, other cars pulled over, but no one dared get out.  They were closer to him.  Some even left before checking to see if he was even ok...

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. Let me tell yo a story that has really blessed my life. Last spring I got an email and then a phone call from one of our partners at The Community Fellowship.  This guy asked me a question out of the blue.  I didn't expect the question, the opportunity or anything like it to come our direction.  He asked if we would like a summer ministry intern. Of coarse I said that we'd love to talk about the opportunity.  We did.  Now we have come a long and blessed way since then.  A week or so later I met Josh Waltman for lunch with this friend.  We talked for about an hour, and it was a real blessing to all 3 of us.  We agreed to see what would happen as partner together. I knew we didn't have the funds to support and intern, but here was a blessing in front of us that we just had to accept.  It began the 1st of June and ended this past Sunday.  What has...

Tomorrow morning my kids will walk back into their respective schools for another year of learning.  I am proud of my kids, yet I understand that school is not one of their favorite things.  We've been preparing for this day for a while.  We've bought school supplies and school clothes.  Our big back2school outreach helped gets lots of kids ready as well. But what happens this year is still up in the air.  It is yet to be seen.  Have my wife and I prepare our kids for excellence and success?  Yes, that is our job as parents. Proverbs 22:6 NASB Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NASB Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. We make a difference in our kid's lives when we pour Jesus into their lives.  But that doesn't happen by chance and without a plan to do so.  How do build truth into the lives o...

2 Corinthians 3:4 NLT We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. When God begins to work in us, things change.  I change.  The way I look at people changes.  Serving and caring for others changes.  Dealing with myself, my habits and my hangups changes.  Why?  Because God changes us as we stand before Him and allow him to work. At The Community yesterday, our summer ministry intern brought an awesome message.  One of the things that I took away was the phrase "present yourself to God" from Romans 12:2.  It is not until we present ourselves to God that He begins to work.  We will never ever be the same. Philippians 1:6 NLT And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Incredible when we believe what God says.  He is working and will continue to make us more like Jesus.  I'll never be ...

Romans 4:21 NLT He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. Let's be honest.  Things that are bigger than us always scare us, and we shy away from them.  For some people, they have learned to be be so afraid, but this is something we have all had to deal with.  I have. There are times that my faith can held back because things seem bigger than me or bigger than I can handle.  Yet if that is the way we look at it, what does it say about our faith in God?  Do we think that anything ties God's hands or holds him back?  The answer is no.  It is always no when it comes to God.  He is bigger than everything and the creator of everything. Ephesians 3:20 NLT Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. The last week can well be defined for me as a challenge to see that God is bigger then us.  He is bigger and more able than any...

I   had the honor to visiting two pastors in Baltimore, Maryland on Monday and hearing what God is doing through them and their churches.  It was amazing.  Yet I have spent the last couple days living in and celebrating in the shadow of all God did on Saturday through our back2school  event.  986 kids was amazing, and I am blessed to be part of a church where God works in great ways. I wanted to take this devotion and just share some of the things that God has in my mind and heart as the over flow from the weekend.  You may not get much out of this, but you need to know that through what God did, we are about to see more outpouring of God's goodness and more people coming to know Him.  When we share Jesus with people, people change.  We change.  That is the number one reason we do anything.  Do you agree?  It is time to serve people with no strings attached, and while we serve them, share Jesus.  No.  Don't beat people over the head with Jesus.  Share as you serve and let...

In front of me is a window.  As I sit here sharing with you through the keys on my computer and this devotion, I am overcome by the people who will walk passed this window tomorrow during our back2school  event at The Community Fellowship.  Those faces from years gone by ring in my mind and heart. Some will be excited and full of joy while others will be looking down and filled with something less than joy.  Maybe it's fear or just being uncomfortable.  I've seen some who were so full of pain that almost nothing could make them look up.  Those young eyes and burdened hearts do a number on me.  They make me reach for someone who is bigger and more able than me. Jesus.  He is able.  He is able to celebrate with those that are excited.  He is able to lift the ones who are a little down.  He is able to reach way down into depression and pain pulling some from deep darkness into his sweet light.  By the way, God uses you and me to pull those people up. John 12:32  (NASB) ---  ...