Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  This week we have taken a dive through Philippians 4.  This literally is one of my favorite chapters of the Bible.  I have a lot of favorites.  As I said a couple times earlier one of my first Bible promises came from verses 6 and 7 (my first Bible promises were from Psalm 139:23-24 and 150:6). We have talked about peace and how God gives us that gift for leaving behind worry.  His peace is stronger than anything we know and far beyond anything we have yet to experience.  But what we might not have heard, or at least mentioned in these e-devotion, is that the best thing we learn is from verse 9 as it says “the God of peace with be with you.”   Not only will we have peace.  We will have God with us.  He brings peace with Him.  I love that. But as we close out this week of e-devotions and our dive through Philippians 4 we find some final words from Paul.  Let me share and summarize those a bit for us… Philippians 4:10-23  NLT...

  I sure have enjoyed the e-devotions this week as we make our way through Philippians 4.  Each day opens some of the truths that Paul knew the people of Philippi desperately needed. Their minds needed to focus on God and what is good.  They needed to have their hearts and minds guarded by His peace.  Our lives will be better by seeking joy more than anything else.  Paul shared this and so much more that the church would be, wait we all would be, changed by. Walk on a little further.  We have two days left this week, and there are two more specific points I would like to draw our attention to from this chapter of the Bible.  Tomorrow we will talk about final comments, and today we get a reminded that is very important. Philippians 4:9  NLT   Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. The verse begin with the premise that this advise is ...

  Yesterday I shared one of the Bible promises God gave me more than 30 years ago.  This week we are taking a dive in to Philippians chapter.  Verses 6 and 7 are that Bible promise to let go of worry and find God’s peace. Today we go a little deeper and look at verse 8.  I believe that God is giving us His love letter, the entire Bible, to free us from the things that keep our lives mixed up and in struggle.  He intends for us to have peace and to know Him, yet many believe that God is giving us law to follow. This verse proves that point.  What we choose to think about goes a long way to transforming our lives and helping us become more like Jesus.  Colossians 3:2 says we can choose to point our minds and lives in His direction. Choose what you think about and dwell on. 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. ...

  Paul wrote much of the New Testament, and his testimony is one that inspires us and others.  He violently opposed any one who followed Jesus and even had the backing of officials before he met Jesus.  But that day, the day he met Jesus, changed everything for Paul. He went from killing Christians to spreading the news about Jesus all the time and with even greater passion.  His work starting churches and increasing faith around the world reminds us of what we are to be doing. In my faith journey Paul’s teaching has become very important.  Several Bible promises have come alive for me in the five decades I have been alive, but the one that sticks closest to my heart is the one we speak about today. 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 ...

This week we are going to take an extra look at Paul’s letter to the church at Phillipi.  So much to be shared.  So much to learn from this letter.  So much that we are only going to look a few verses, at least a few each day. Let’s dive in.  This is good… Philippians 4:1,4-5  NLT   Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work… 4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Oh this is good.  Hear Paul and his heart.  He says, “stay true to the Lord.”  That can go several ways.  But let’s take it as an encouragement to greater and stronger days.  It could be a correction and scourging, yet I see this as a word about their commitment to follow Jesus.  Stay at it.  Don’t stop now. Paul goes o...

Over the next several days I am going to share one passage of Scripture, Philippians 4:6-7.  Just two verses, and these God gave me three decades ago as a promise.  We will take the verse apart and simply learn from it as well as apply what it says. 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 have talked about praying about everything.  We will talk about being thankful.  We will talk about having God’s peace.  We will talk about how God’s peace guards us. Today we go a little further to give us one piece that we struggle with, or that I struggle with. Don’t worry about anything. Worry brings trouble.  All kinds of trouble come up in...

Philippains 1:9-11   NLT I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10  For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. There are people who we are connected with.   These hold a special place in ours hearts.   You have some as I do. The Apostle Paul wrote this passage to a group of people he cared for deeply.   He helped to start the church in Philippi.   He longed to see them again, but his prayer and push was for their growth and the spread of the good news that comes from Jesus. What are you praying for? How are you challenged others to live for Christ? Do we realize what really matters? How we ...