Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  Wednesday.  Today.  It is the first day of school for our local school systems.  That also means that my lovely wife begins teaching with 18 or so students in her 1st grade classroom.  And I think about all the classrooms and all the schools. What should we do?  We should pray.  We should support.  We should encourage.  And there is more.  But I ask you to do those things, but begin with prayer. Students.  Teachers.  School workers.  Families.  Pray for each. Guiding that prayer I give you a few verses that have stood out for me.  They all come from Colossians 3.  Read on and pray though. Colossians 3 NASB 2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. 15 Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another w...

  We have been blessed with some of the best of the best, but we have also been challenged with some of the most difficult things and high hurdles that anyone has dealt with.  That is why we need wisdom, the wisdom only God can offer The key to living a life of significance and honor and even success is to lean on a foundation that is stronger than you.  Take that even deeper or further to find truth that transcends yourself and your own thinking in God’s wisdom. James 3:17-18  NLT   But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. What is real wisdom?  What changes us and the people around us?  I need wisdom.  How about you? That is wisdom that takes us to understanding and stre...

This weekend I shared a message with our church that comes from our theme of “There is more to come”, and the sermon was titled “Pray for more”.  It hinged on these verses: Matthew 9:37-38  NLT  He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” When you see a need, stop and pray.  When you have a question or are dealing with stress, go to God in prayer.  That was the point Jesus was making in pointing His closest followers to the place where we all need to start.  That was go God. In today’s e-devotion I give you that challenge.  Pray.  Begin there. I then turn to a pray from King Solomon that is packed with truth that hit my heart.  It was the last piece of yesterday’s sermon.  Maybe this will work on you as a new week full of opportunities begins. 2 Chronicles 6:14-21  NLT   He prayed, “O Lord, G...

  I was listening to a powerful message from Pastor Benny Tate as he shared a point that stuck in my mind, and really in my heart.  He said something like this, “choose to start praying before the storm begins.” That is an amazing and important statement.   As humans we often don’t make a change until it is obvious a change must be made.  The pain begins and we need to go to the doctor.  We find ourselves broke and say we need to save money.  Our marriages are in dire need of fixing and we decide to do something about it. Yet the best thing to do would be to start praying before the storm begins.  Take care of your health before you need to go to the doctor and deal with the pain.  Begin saving money before you know that you are broke.  Work on your marriage before your marriage is falling apart.   Does that make sense to you?  It makes a lot of sense to me.  And that is a huge thought as we move through this week, deeper in to...

Yes, I am going to bring it up again.  Pray.  Yesterday, I reminded us that prayer ought to be our connection to God and allow it to keep us close to Him and to press our faith to be stronger. We ought to be people who want God more than we want the world and what it offers.  But there is something that has stumped me. There last couple of days at the meeting I am attending the same verses have been used a few times.  In them I am shocked at the answer Jesus gave.   Matthew 9:37-38  NLT He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Jesus didn’t say we are to pack our bags and leave.  Jesus didn’t say that we are to register for a mission trip or sign up for an outreach project. Jesus said pray. Pray to the Lord.  God will send laborers. ...