Michael Harrison's e-devotion

MARGIN: the amount available beyond what it NECESSARY.   We live in a day that is in desperate need of margin.   That is something we agree on for sure, yet this is also a day where morals or the lack of morality has become common place, the norm.   This is demonstrated by the crime rate, the abortion rate, the abuses and addiction we see so often and more.   Morality is not only something that we talk about in the political world and at home.   Morals has to do with our lives, our thoughts, our words and actions.   We can be measured by our morals.   One specific area of morality seems to be the most critical.   This is an issue from my heart.   Do you know someone whose life has been wrecked by sexual sin?   Maybe someone who struggles with pornography.   Or maybe someone who got pregnant out of marriage and had an abortion or even had the baby.   Or maybe someone got a sexually trans...

I love the book of Proverbs, and for years I have read it daily and encouraged others to do the same.   Reading through the Bible is a habit that I cannot and will not live without because it continues to change me, challenge me and confront me with what God says.   Today is one such day. It is the 27th of the month so I was reading Proverbs 27.   Several verses came screaming my direction.   Well, maybe not screaming at me, but each of these was a piece of something that God has been speaking to my heart about the last couple weeks as I ask myself if I am a good friend to the people who call me friend? Lets take a look at the verses and then at some important thoughts: Proverbs 27 NLT 5  An open rebuke
is better than hidden love! 6  Wounds from a sincere friend
are better than many kisses from an enemy. 9  The heartfelt counsel of a friend
is as sweet as perfume and incense. 10  Never abandon a friend—
either y...

Two different stories that I have read this week have stuck in my mind.   Both deal with how people responded to Jesus after a miracle had taken place and lives had been touched.   It has left me asking the question: how do I respond to Jesus? The first group of people were farmers, or herdsman of pigs, and community people who saw Jesus cast demons out of a man, and the demons asked to be put into a herd of pigs.   That is what happened, and the pigs ran off a cliff and died.   The people didn’t know how to respond.   Here is what the Bible said: Mark 5:17 NLT And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone. Maybe they were scared of what they saw.   Maybe the herdsman were furious about losing their pigs.   There could have been a number of reasons for asking Jesus to leave them alone.   The second story is from the time Jesus was in the boat with His disciples when a storm came u...