Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Over the next several days I am going to share one passage of Scripture.  Just two verses.  We will take the verse apart and simply learn from it as well as apply what it says. You heard me right.  And here we go… Philippians 4:6-7 NLT   Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. So many things stick out in these verses.  We will talk about the trouble of worry.  We will talk about being thankful.  We will talk about having God’s peace.  We will talk about how God’s peace guards us. But today I want to give you one piece that we all need to hear. Pray about everything. There is nothing too big.  There is nothing too small.  God reminds us to pray about everything.  That is everything that is in our liv...

Sunday we finished our series at The Community Fellowship titled DRIFT, and we offered an invitation to all who listened.  It was and is simple.  It is for all and full of love and grace, as that is the character of our God. Come back.  Come home.  There is a place for you.  The title of this message is COME BACK.  Return to the place where you found love and strength.  Come back to God and know that restoration is possible, life can return to you and there is more to come. DRIFT happens which reminds us we need to be careful.  Remember what we have learned.  Run to the examples of those who love and know God. DRIFT is not good.  Drifting from God is something we all know about too much.  Drifting can happen quickly, but much of the time DRIFT is subtle and slow. That is why God reminded us to be light to this world.  We are not the light, but we hold the light.  We point to the light, and the light is Jesus. Matthew 5:14-...

There is power in connecting to God.  The more we connect, the more power we experience.  The ultimate person is the creator of all and the one who sustains it all is God. Think about it.  What is too big and too much for our God? The answer is nothing and no one.  When we believe this about God, we will want to connect with Him even more.  Connecting to God is often through prayer, and you can connect in other ways, whatever you call them. I leave us with one simple prayer from a letter that the Apostle Paul shared in Ephesians 3.  The things that are in this prayer remind us of God’s character as well as His abilities. Spend some time reading this prayer.  If you feel led, use it as a prayer today. Ephesians 3:14-21  NLT   When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner stre...

There is so much more going on with God and His love for us than we know.  It is important that we pour in to our lives from the truth of God.  The more we think of Him, read the Bible, and choose to take in even more from God. Psalms is one of those places that fills my soul and fuels my walk with God.  I have shared several times recently about the book Praying the Psalms edited by Daniel Henderson, and this book reminds me of the depth and power of prayer.  Use the Psalms to guide our prayer lives. Here are plenty of reminders of God, His character and work from Psalms.  Dig in.  Note what stands out to you: Psalm 18:2  NLT   The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my rock! Psalm 37:39  NLT   The Lord rescues the godly; he is their fortress in times of trouble. He rescues the godly! Psalm 54:4  NLT ...

Be who you are created to be.  Too many people try to act like and make others think they are people they are not.  Be you and be the real you! That is the journey God places in front of us.  It is not a trick.  He is not hiding our identity or what He says is best for us and our future.  We serve a great and a good God who is for His people. This past Sunday I shared from Matthew 5 about the basics of our faith.  Those basic truths will keep us from drifting from God.  In those verses are some pointed thoughts that help us understand how living out our faith can make a difference in the lives of us. Just be you.  If you do, here is what will happen. Matthew 5:13-16  NLT   “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.  14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15...

Hebrews 10:23  NLT Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Every now and then you need a list.  I have been listening to my wife the last couple of days talk about a list of items she needs to bake a cake she is excited about. Maybe you have done what I have a time or two. You get excited about something. Then, you go check the list of what you need to make it, do it or accomplish what you are wanting to work on only to find out you don’t have all you need. The first time I remember this I was like 10 or 11 years old.  I came home from school and wanted a hamburger.  We are the kind of people that use bread as a bun.  So, I got the bun ready with all the right condiments and cheese. Then I remembered we didn’t have any hamburger patties.  oops! We need lists.  We need reminders.  Sometimes these list remind us of truth and st...

We continue our series at church called DRIFT.  One of the most powerful things that happens in our lives is confidence, and that will keep us from drifting further from God. Confidence is clearly built by knowing who you are and being good with that fact.  God made you.  God loves you.  He has a plan for your life. Stay tied to what you have have learned and the examples of those who love and know God.  Why?  Because drift happens. It can happen radically and quick.  Yet far more over DRIFT is subtle and happens over time. Hebrews 2:1  NLT   So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. How do we battle drift in our own lives?  Jesus told us in this passage some of the greatest things.  I shared three simple facts from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.  We need God … we must choose humility … and we should want more! Matthew 5:3  NLT   God blesses those who are poor an...