Michael Harrison's e-devotion

James 4:8  ESV   Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. What are the things that keep you going?  There are most likely lots of answers to that question.  Some are real good.  Some if we are honest are not good at all.  Yet we do know that some things in life are vitally important. It is kind of like a car.  There are many pieces that have to work together for the vehicle to preform as it it supposed to.  You have to have fuel that burns correctly.  There needs to be a battery that is charged enough.  And so much more. Our bodies are the same.  The heart has to be pumping, but there has to be plenty of blood, good blood, to flow through our veins as the heart pumps.  Our brain has to be sending the right signals for all things to work as they should.  We also have to be at the right body temperature. I think you get my point.  There a...

  James 5:16 NASB Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.   Do you ever have someone ask for you to pray for them?  I do and it happens often in my line of work.  One of the pieces of my life that I try to commit to is stopping to pray for that person when they ask.  That request may come in person, on the phone, via Facebook, in an email or letter and maybe several difference ways.  Praying at that point is important.   When we stop at that moment and pray for them, we say "you are important to me".  We might even say through our pray that "God cares about you" which is incredible.   I'm going to leave today's thought at this … "pray for each other" … make it part of your life.  It take 30 seconds or less to stop and take the time to pray.  It may change someone's life! ...

I am not stopping! When God spoke, when He pointed in the direction, when He answered the question I asked… I will not stop going in that direction. Confidence is a great thing.  When a person knows their purpose or why they are on earth, they have the confidence to live and speak and be who they were made to be.  That is when we need to not apologize and keep going forward. Do you know your purpose?  If not, it is time to ask God.  This asking doesn’t come with sitting still or stopping to live.  It comes with trying, checking, asking and even living.   There are plenty of truths in the scripture that we should hold on to before we know our purpose.  Live with strength and character before anything else. Colossians 3:13-15  NLT   Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in ...

  What’s next?  There are a lot of answers, but most of them include our calendar and busy lives that we lead.  But what is next? There are things that knock us off course each day.  That is like the conversation yesterday with a pastor friend.  We talked about family and some of the struggles that so many face, and then he mentioned seeing another shooting on the news. I went to see what was going on finding that a Christian school in Nashville was the place of the latest horrible story.  This one his home a bit. I went to a Christian school.  One of those who lost their lives was the pastor’s young daughter.  The pastor’s family was tragically hit.  No only does this pastor have to deal with the devastation of a shooting where he is the leader but in his home. My heart sank.  My prayers began. Easter is less than two weeks away.  It is what is ahead.  After that is an outreach weekend as well a mission trip and some family st...

  What are you expecting from God this week?  No I do not believe that our lives are just here to be a receiver from God, yet when we see what God is doing and expect more of the same we will know we are blessed and be a blessing to others.  Think about it.  Expect it! Ephesians 1:3  NLT   All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. God has blessed you.  Expect more and live in it. Deuteronomy 1:30  NLT   The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt.  God is going ahead of you because He is on your side and fighting for you.  Expect more and live like it. Psalm 108:4  NLT   For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. God loves you and He is reaching to you.  Expect more and share with others. Kind of si...

Friday!  For some it is the best day of the week.  For others is the worst day of the week.  No matter how you see the day I would like to encourage you with one simple prayer.  It is one that comes from a heart warmed by God and a person who has enjoyed seeking God.  There is more to come for the person who is expecting to spend time from God and enjoy the blessings that He gives and brings. Here is the prayer that His my heart.   Psalm 19:14  NLT   May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. That is good, but there is more to this prayer and more to this chapter in the Bible.  Everything from the heavens declaring the glory of God and the beauty of creation to the impact of Scripture truth on our lives. That same person, David, put meat in the prayer before that verse.  He said: Psalm 19:12-13  NLT   How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?  Cleans...

There is more to this life than just getting by.  Do you ever have things that overwhelm you?  I am talking about the times or situations or struggles that make you want to give in, give up or walk away.  I bet you have. We have all been there.  But there is more.  There is more to wait for.  There is more that God is preparing.  There are opportunities and challenges and blessings.  There are more days of celebration and even more days that will bring deep mourning and pain. Yet God knows and is in complete control.  May we find ourselves trusting God, listening to His word and seeking His presence daily.  It is time to believe there is more to come. 2 Chronicles 7:14  NLT   Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. Turn to God.  There are more promises. 2 Kings 18...

  Today’s e-devotion is taking from the Navigators and a devotion from last week titled “Living Out His Word”.  This spoke greatly to me, and that is why I pass it along to you… Psalm 119:160  All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. It is clear from the Bible and from the experience of God’s people, that as we seek God through His Word, our lives are changed. Of course our purpose in getting into the Word is not to become walking information booths with an answer for every question that comes along. We come to God’s Word to become people who are more like Christ. We can see this influence of God’s Word in the life of Daniel. In Daniel 9:2 we read, “In the first year of [Darius the king], I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.” Here is Daniel, having his daily devotions in the writings of Jeremiah, when he discovered somethin...

Hello!  I just returned from Cuba last night, and I want to make just a few observations about life, freedom and our calling from God. You and I have a few things in common.  God is still God.  No matter where we are or what is going on we have God who loves us and has a plan for our lives.  His plan includes us in His plan.  And His plan includes our influence on the people around us. How is that?  We must listen.  We must watch.  We must get involved. Ephesians 4:11-15  NLT   Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be i...

  Romans 1:10  NLT  One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. Paul spoke or wrote those words to a group of people who had his heart.  He loved them and was willing to use his life and talent to help them grow in family and make them more effective for the Gospel.  That is an awesome example. Today I am on my way back to Cuba and will be serving with MADEM / FCA sports ministry.  This will be seventh trip and first trip of 2023.  This week I will speak in several churches, meet with ministry leaders, plan a retreat for the sports ministry staff and families that will take place in May and continue to support the awesome team working in this ministry every day. I ask for your prayers.  Pray for Alex and his team.  Pray for opportunities to work with athletes and coaches.  Pray for the resources needed for this ministry.  Praise God for what has already happened.  Pray for wh...

  1 Chronicles 16:11  NLT  Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. I want to take you on a journey that started February 2019.  Yes, it was four years ago that God did something in my heart that continues to ring in my heart, gets my feet moving and helps me get others in the mix of serving. The outreach known as back2school is underway for 2023, and it is going to be another great year we believe.  In 2019 we took internationally what we have been doing in Virginia and other places across several states.  A trip to Cuba was organized with our shoe partner, Samaritan’s Feet.  Almost 30 people gathered, prayed, went and several. That was a great trip.  It had its issues, like the Cuban customs took hundreds of pairs of shoes we had.  That didn’t stop our pursuit of God.  Over that next week we served several hundred kids and lots of adults.  We washed feet.  We told stories.  We shared and prayed and...

What am I praying for you?   Thanks for asking!  I’d like for you to join me in these prayers, at least in the ones that hit you in the heart. I am praying for the sports ministry in Cuba.  On Monday I head back there to support and encourage Alex who leads that ministry.  We will meet with several of the ministry leaders.  We will plan for a retreat coming in May and other ministry later this year.  I will have the opportunity to preach in a few churches and encourage several pastors.  I pray for open lives, changed lives and the lost to be saved! Psalm 2:8  NLT  Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. I am praying for some friends that are going to be on an Emmaus Walk retreat this weekend.  If you have never heard of this or been on one, I would like to share with you.  My prayer is that many will walk closer to Jesus than every before and that our churches get stronger b...

Years ago there was a TV show that used the phrase “just the facts”.  The show was called Dragnet, and it was typically when an investigator wold be looking for evidence in a case.  He wold ask for “just the facts” as he talked to someone. We ought to be looking for the facts and make sure what is false, what is deceptive and what does not line up with truth is pushed aside, or even thrown away.  We need to know, hold and share the facts about our faith.   It is when life is dark that we need to know the facts.  It is when life is tough that we need to know the facts.  It is when we are going down the roads that lead to depression that we need to know the facts.  It is when we are sick or suffering that we need to know the facts.  It is when we think all is lost and we are out of control that we need the facts. Here ya go.  Just a few verses that scream at us about our faith.  I run to these often.  I run there in my thinking. ...

Today I want to call us to pray over our families.  You might be married or single.  You might has no kids, 1 or 10.  You might be getting married soon or have been married for years.  No matter your place in time, you have family. Your family might not be by blood but by choice.  That would be like a church family you are close to or friends that have surrounded you during dark times.  There are people who are like a family. This is a great day to spend some time praying over your family.  Why should you do that that?  Good question … A family that prays together stays together.  That might be a little cliche’ yet true. We can powerfully pray for our families, that our loved ones will be beacons of light and hope to a dying world in desperate need of a Savior. Through our prayer for our family, generations are impacted in the future, and all glory goes to our great God! Here are a few verses to give you insight in to those prayers: Exodus 20...

It is Monday and a new week that is going to offer each of us more opportunities and maybe a few challenges.  My prayer is that we will take our understanding and even more our faith in God and step in to each of those. Yesterday I shared a message with our church about blindness.  God intends to heal our eyes and allow us to see much of what He sees. Here are a few of the things I shared in the message and may this is your story … Isaiah 35:5  NLT   And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. Jesus heals our eyes and our ears.  Literally there were scenes where He healed people who had been unable to see and hear since birth and some for less time.  Each story and miracles reminds us of God’s love. We are also reminded that spiritually hearing and seeing is just as critical.  Let God deal with both for you.  Ask Him to bring that healing.  Ask for others as well. John 4:29-30  NLT   “Come ...

  I’d like to share a little something different today.  Maybe not real different, but it is something that I got to thinking about over the last month through the news of revivals happening with college age students across the nations. There are many ways to praise God.  The fact is we just need to praise Him.  Who we praise says a lot about us.  Think a little deeper with me. Stand Up Nehemiah 9:5  NLT  …“Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” Then they prayed: “May your glorious name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise! Posture speaks volumes.  In conversations we need to not only listen but look like you are listening. In praise posture speaks volumes.  When someone you want to honor comes in to your presence, you often stand to greet them. We can do the same for our great and gracious God.  Stand up to show honor.  Stand up to change your mindset or even to ...