Michael Harrison's e-devotion

It is a new day.  That means possibilities and opportunities of many different kinds, and it also means that will be people that we meet that need Jesus.  Maybe they need to see an example.  Maybe they need to hear His story. You might remember a saying that I have heard many times: “what you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” That is a tough truth.  So, I stop today to give you some spiritual thoughts.  That is because of our walk with God, our spiritual life, ought to be changing our words and our walk.  We don’t change so others can we see are godly or good.  We change because God is working in me to make me more like Him. Take a few minutes to read some verse from Galatians 5.   Galatians 5  NLT 1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. 5  But we who live by the Spirit...

1 John 3:18-21  NLT Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.   19  Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.   That is just a few verses from the message I shared yesterday at our Faith In Action service with Rich Acres Christian Church.  The idea of confidence got my attention. What gives us confidence? Often in the world we live in confidence seems to be based on what you have or the position you hold or the authority you’ve been given.  But confidence from God is very different. We are confident when we choose to embrace the fact that God loves us and to love others.  We are confident when we know that God ...

Psalm 34:18  NLT The   Lord   is   close   to the   broken hearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. One of my favorite people in all the world sent me a message this week that has continued to roll through my mind and tug at my heart.  Luke Walters is the guy.  I met Luke in Louisiana, and he has even come to Virginia to be with me.  He loves racing, is a great friend, but most of all he loves Jesus. His work is called MAP 1040 which illustrates well the fact that their impact is world wide but focused on what is known as the 1040 window where more people on earth have not heard the name of Jesus. Recently when I was in Cuba I found out that Luke was in Cuba at the same time.  We connect at the strangest or unplanned times, but it is always because of his commitment to make Jesus known to the world. Early this week I got a short message that he was headed to “his beloved peo...

Luke 4:18 NLT “ The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me ,   Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor .   He has sent Me to proclaim release to the   captives ,   And recovery of   sight to the blind ,   To set free those who are oppressed , Jesus read those words in the temple during His ministry.  Right after reading this from the scroll and from the book of Isaiah, Jesus said that this Scripture was fulfilled in their hearing. There was so much more to that than words.  It was a new day.  Many who had been slaves would be set free. Psalm 146:8  NLT The   Lord   opens the   eyes   of the   blind. The   Lord   lifts up those who are weighed down. The   Lord   loves the godly. Spiritual sight is needed by all people.  But we do not have sight if we don’t have Jesus or follow Him.  We are so blessed to have a God ...

Today’s post is from the devotions of Henri Nouwen and titled  We Meet the World with a Heart at Rest.  I pray you are encouraged by this as I was… Colossians 3:15  NIV "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace." The prayer of the heart is indeed the way to the purity of heart that gives us eyes to see the reality of our existence. This purity of heart allows us to see more clearly, not only our own needy, distorted, and anxious self but also the caring face of our compassionate God. When that vision remains clear and sharp, it will be possible to move into the midst of a tumultuous world with a heart at rest. It is this restful heart that will attract those who are groping to find their way through life. When we have found our rest in God we can do nothing other than minister. God’s rest will be visible wherever we go and to whomever we meet. And before we speak any words, the Spirit of God, pra...