Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Proverbs 20:7   NLT The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them. We are blessed so that we can bless others.  As I sit thinking about what is coming I have this overwhelming feeling that I am blessed. I can count those blessings.  Often tears start flowing because I recognize the amount of blessings and the people who have impacted my life.  And I stop again, or at least slow down, to realize that my life was made to be a blessing to others. God gave His first offering, the offering for our sin, in the person of His son, Jesus.  Literally, that gift was a sacrifice.  He gave the perfect for the imperfect.  Or if you will, He gave the blessed for the unblessed or that they could also be blessed. The children that will be served through back2school this year remind me of the blessings, the huge and lasting blessings, that God has resourced us with so that we can give them away.  Some of these children might not have what you and I have.

John 13:35  NLT Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. It is back2school week.  That means the next several days are going to be busy and excited.  Many of us are a nervous, but we are expecting God to do incredible things.  This will be the biggest and wildest outreach of our year. Help us celebrate. And join me and others as we pray for the impact we will have on these students and their families.  God has provided the items needed.  He has given us partnerships of various kinds. Let’s celebrate what God celebrates. That would be people.  God has given us some incredible people making it all happen. Pastors, church leaders, community leaders and many other people have decided to be part in this event.  It takes a lot of people to pull this off, and God has given us many who are huge blessings. Celebrating people is an important thing. Say thank you to someone who does something for you.  Write a card, I mean hand written

What a week.  It is the fastest and fullest of our church year because back2school is here.  Please pray for the students and their families that will be served.  Because of Covid-19 things have to be done differently.   Yet these kids still have needs.  Pray for them.  School is different.  It will be strange for the administrators, teachers, students and for families.  Pray for each. That is another reason we need to share hope and life and give strength away.  All of that God has provided for us. Lamentations 3:21  NASB This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. We will give hope.  We will share life.  That is why back2school is so important. This year there will be 17 locations, and there are more, who will be part of the back2school outreach.  All of us are serving because we believe in God, and we believe that God has a plan for each of these students. But that is not all that is going on this week.  I will wait to share more. May God use u

1 John 5:11-12  NLT And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. The last two verses of 1 John might be some of the most powerful we will ever encounter.  Do not discount them because they show what so many other verses show.  Ask God to open your thinking and acting to line up with what God says about you. In yesterday’s message at The Community I shared three confessions that I think are extremely important for someone who desires to follow Christ. I am a child of God. I believe in Jesus. I will trust God. They seem simple.  Why?  Because they are.  A testimony is a powerful thing.  It cannot be discounted because a testimony is person.  But this one belongs to God. God spoke and something happened.  God desired to share life and hope and eternal life, and that is where the Son of God comes in to life.  As this passag

There are some things that ought to stand out.  This is not about standing out in a crowd.  It is not about standing out because of being stronger or better or something like that. What should make us stand out is our great character.  As Martin Luther King Jr said in his great speech and alluding to his children, he desired that they be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. That is why I will take this day, the last day of the week, and give you some things that out to stand out in our lives.  Read on and apply what God places on your heart. Philippians 4:8  NLT And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Choose to think about the good stuff.  Set yourself up with great character. Colossians 3:12  NASB So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and be

I have heard people talk about a sure thing in many different forms.  Some use this term when it comes to gambling.  Others use it in reference to a relationship or the weather.  Seems to me that the biggest and best sure thing is faith built on someone stronger than we are.  That would be God. As I was reading my Bible one day I came to Lamentations chapter 3.  I had read it before.  But it caught my attention again.   T his hits close to home.  It really is a sure thing.  God’s promises are sure, fool proof, strong and so much more.  Take a look: LAMENTATIONS 3:22-26 NLT The faithful love of the lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  I say to myself, “The lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”  The lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.  So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the lord. I am not going to go very deep but simply list the su

Welcome to another edition of the e-devotion, and this day I ask that you spend some time with mewling through five verses from Mark 4.  Powerful verses.  Some of this has to sink in but may take a while. Read through this passage.  Maybe grab your Bible and highlight what stands our to you.  It might be more than eye opening. Mark 4:21-25  NLT Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. 22 For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. 23 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 24 Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. 25 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding

This year #back2school is needed more than ever, maybe for the biggest opportunity of giving hope.   How can you help that be a reality?  First,   pray for all involved (those served and those serving), volunteer at one of the locations, give to support the events, be part of the big event, AND finally, help celebrate by sharing and continuing to serve! Matthew 18:20  NLT For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them. Tonight, Tuesday, July 21st from 6 to 8 is the last time to register students to be part of this event.  Help us tell others about the opportunity! It is for the children and their families.  When they receive their backpack and shoes, we will be able to bless them and tell them about the hope that comes from Christ.  The partnerships of church groups and friends coming together is like an exclamation point at the end of a huge event.  This is the 14th year of the #back2school outreach.  There are several new locations

Hebrews 12:28-29  NLT Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire. There are many things that stuck out in these two verses.  Take a few minutes to scan them and see how God guides your thoughts or even your beliefs about Him. We are receiving a kingdom that is prepared by God.  What does this kingdom mean to us? God has given us life, salvation, abundance and so much more.  In the middle of it is a kingdom.  That is God’s kingdom that we are to enjoy and even to be a citizen of.   Notice the word ‘unshakable’.  This kingdom is like none other that humans build or even that some say was built by another God.  Our God is the only God, and His kingdom is for our good and His glory.  In the middle of it we will not be shaken. In fact in this kingdom we will find help and peace, strength and support, life and love, purpose and power for living forwa

I can not stress this truth enough.  But hold on with me for a few minutes.  There are all kinds of pain.  There is pain from health or injury.  There is pain from growing or growing old.  And many more examples that could be shared. But the kind of pain on my mind today is one that we have all experienced and rips up open.  It is the pain that comes from a broken heart.  I am sure you have been there as I have Psalm 147:3  NASB He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. God is close to the broken. God heals the broken hearted. God can be trusted always and with everything. That is the place where I look at or think about my personal wounds and the wounds of the people I care about deeply.  That is why I share the following quote with you.  Read and take this in… Nobody escapes being wounded.  We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually.  The main question is not, 'How can we hide our wounds?'

Proverbs 30:5 NLT  Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection. Hebrews 4:12 NLT “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.” What you say and what you do don’t match.  What do you call that?  Hypocrite is the word that comes to most of our minds on this subject, but what the people of God need to see and remember is that God desires us, His people, to be full and over flowing with truth. When we minister to others and share God’s truth, we are giving away what God has given us.  Not like a pack rat or selfish person that saves everything for a rainy day or for personal use, this person gives away freely what God has given to them.  Test what you say.  Test what you give.  What are your motives?  What do you want? Matthew 5:16 NLT “In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so

Thoughts about courage are so needed.  Too many people live their lives based upon what others think about think.  It is more important to live based on what God says about us. God loves you.  God sent His son for you.  God is with us and for us and ready to help us.   Take a few minutes to read through the following thoughts that will help center our thoughts and actions on the truth of our God: — No matter what we see in the news, what we learn about friends or ourselves, we will be strong because of some real truth, not fake news. Joshua 1:6-9  NLT Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and

There are many things that are linking together.  Two of the best and biggest and brightest spiritual things linked are LOVE and PRAYER.  I want to to take a short trip down a road we have been on, actually a few times.  Connecting these two spiritual attributes will make us stronger and even more reliant on our God. Ephesians 1:15-18  NLT Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Verse 18 is one that I cannot overlook.  It has been shared in these devotions many times, and I desire to have that light f

Victory really is ours.  In a new series I am sharing at church we are examining Scripture for what is and what it is not victory.  There are things that keep us from victory, and there are some things that allow us to embrace victory. Romans 8:37  NLT No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Despite trouble we will have victory.  Despite poor understanding we have victory.  It is our promise from God, our destiny and will be our reality.  Learn with me about our God given victory. In fact today I want to examine the reality of what it is to head toward victory even when we cannot see it.  It might be because we literally cannot see, it might be because we cannot understand.  But look a little different.  It might be because we aren’t listening. Throughout the Bible we find people who understood that they were destined for victory, but there were many who missed the possibility of victory. Hebrews 11:8  NLT It

I started received a new devotion from the Navigators, and it is good.  That is why I am sharing with you Day 1 of 31 Days of Soul Care for Hard Times – navigators.org/soulcare .  Read and be blessed. Fear with the Scary Element Deleted by Eugene Peterson We’re afraid when we’re suddenly caught off our guard and don’t know what to do. We’re afraid when our presuppositions and assumptions no longer account for what we’re up against, and we don’t know what will happen to us. We’re afraid when reality, without warning, is shown to be either more or other than we thought it was. . . . In the Hebrew culture and the Hebrew Scriptures . . . the word fear is frequently used in a way that means far more than simply being scared. . . . Fear-of-the-Lord is the stock biblical term for this either sudden or cultivated awareness that the presence or revelation of God introduces into our lives. We are not the center of our existence. We are not the sum total of what matters. We

Psalm 139:23-24  NASB Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Today’s devotion is going to be a little different.  The verses above were first underlined in my Bible by a friend that was about to move across the country.  Well, she was a friend that I had a crush on.  Since them it has been a favorite of mine. There are lots of things that are favorites and things that stick out as important.  That is what I am going to share out of the ordinary.  Are you ready. Some places I really like: (1) sitting on the beach with the wind in my face and listening to waves, (2) looking out my grandparents dining room window at the Rocky Mountains, (3) enjoying the calm of a huge lake early in day.  There are more, but that is enough. Some songs I really like recently: “Graves Into Gardens” by Elevation Worship, “The Father’s House” by Cory Asbury, “21 Years” by Toby