Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  Our church is in a series called “silent killers”, and that series is discussing the things that we allow in to our lives that slowly kill us and remove things we desperately need. So many things that swirl in and out of our lives need to be dealt with.  Some need to stay.  These are the things that make us stronger and better.  Then there are the things that need to go.  They are toxic, robing us of our time, energy, resources and even of our joy. And this week we discussed the need for character in our lives.  Good character will keep us but bad character will corrupt us.  Great character builds us.  Lack of character corrodes us. I share some verses today and that will allow us to see how God builds our character and how we put it in to practice.  Take some time to examine your own character and how this is true about you. Colossians 3:2 NIV   Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. What we look at, what we hang on to...

  In keeping with our last conversation of praying the Psalms, I share this… Psalms 8:1-2  NLT   O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!  Your glory is higher than the heavens. 2  You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. Do you ever get just a little choked up when you see God do something? Do you ever just think WOW when you see something God created? Tell Him.  Let God know what you think, how you feel, where your mind is, and that you are in awe of Him.  Those “awe moments” are the ones that print a memory in our minds and even on our hearts.  Cherish those moments almost like a picture taken that you keep going back to for years. God is able.  God is good.  God is creator and keeper of all.  God is love, and we expect Him to respond in love, to give because of His love and to care for those we care about because of His goodness. That is a lot abo...

We serve the God that we can expect great things from.  But do we expect great things from our God?  He will take our faith and move in ways out of the norm.  He forgives sinners like us, comforts each of us when we are down or lonely, heals us when we are sick and shows up with new mercies each day.  That is what we can expect and more. I challenge us to make sure that our lives speak up as the life of Jesus spoke.  Few things speak louder than true, godly love. 1 John 4:7-9  NLT   Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.  We love because He loved us first.  He demonstrated that love in tangible ways and didn’t just tell us that we are loved.  That is...

There are some things that just don’t call for having a party.  Some do.  But not struggles.  Not stress and tribulation. God says different.  Or Paul does in his letter to the church at Rome.  One of the greatest books on the Bible as a theological text book.  We learn how to live by faith and live a transformed life. But back to the tribulation and throwing a party.  Just what did Paul say? Romans 5:3-5  NASB And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. The struggles we might qualify as tribulation have meaning in our lives.  God uses that and more to build character and to continue to reenforce true hope.  Hope in who we know loves us most.  That woul...

This past week has been tough for our family as we went through the death of Julie’s father, Ellis Howell, and his funeral.  It was good to be with family at such a difficult time. On a personal note I want to say thank you for your support and prayers.  We missed being with our church family on Sunday.  It was such a blessing to have our three children with us as we have not been together since July of 2020.  What a blessing to be with all our family. I had the honor to preaching at his home going service.  The entire family agreed that we wanted this to be a celebrate and not a sad time.  It was so good to hear and share stories about his life, and my father in law was one of a kind.  His humor was strong, yet what was so much stronger was his faith in God.   He was saved and secure in his faith.  He knew that heaven was his final destination for for decades he and his wife, Sandra, of 63 years lived out their walk with God for us to see....

The heroes we had as children were awesome.  Remember mighty mouse?  “Here I come to save the day”.  Or the one who wore a mask and cape proclaiming, “I’m batman”.  Or the one with the big letter on his chest, “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”.  Mighty mouse, batman, superman.   These superheroes were smart, always witty, with great costumes and muscles and extra ability.  Heroes like that are pretty cool. Move to the next generation of super heroes and you will most likely find sports stars, singers, media personalities and actors.  They have high salaries, most likely low morals and more.  They are anything but heroic. Then we move to the more genuine or hero like.  These people do great things but might be somewhat common.  People like Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, or maybe a soldier or a doctor that did something extra. I assert that there are people,...

  There are so many things wrong that we can talk about.  In fact we live in a day where most people want to agree, and someone is going to be offended.  Why does this keep going on? Please know that what I am sharing is not up for debate.  It is simply truth based on the foundation that I choose to stand on.  It is all about Jesus.  On Monday I reminded us that the Gospel is the central theme and the reason why the church is around.  Yesterday I shared about the power that comes from making Godly character part of our lives. Romans 5:1-5  NASB Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and prov...

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 ha...

Micah 6:8     NASB He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do   justice, to love kindness, And to   walk   humbly with your God? Our country and our homes as well as our churches need people who live with great character.    I push and pray for my children to live with honesty and much character that God reminds us is so important. I wrote the following in November of 2013, and it remains true today: It is through the situations of life that our lives and our character is refined by God.  He is the one who began our lives, the one who shapes our lives and the one who is life is about.  Yet it is through fire, the hot ones and the not so hot ones, that God molds our lives. You may have been through situations much worse than I’ve been through, but in any situation, God is at work.  His desire is for us to be stronger and to be more and more life Jesus, His son.  Real st...

There are no substitutes are great character.  Integrity is something that I have always known as much more important than anything we possess.   Our family devotion this week has been about integrity.  Even though I am out of town I want to share with you what I read today.  This is good stuff.  It is from youversion.com and a devotion titled “A Life of Integrity” day 2. Proverbs 2:7-8  NLT 'He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.'  Only God’s Spirit can create integrity within us, but everything in the world can rob us of it. People and situations will intentionally and unintentionally corrupt and compromise our integrity. We aren’t born with a heart of integrity, and if we want it, we have to fight for it.  If we want to fight for deep-rooted integrity, it means ...