Michael Harrison's e-devotion

I remember as a child experiencing a horrible flood in our community.  Our home was on high ground and safe, but many neighborhoods around our church were under water and people were hurting.  Even our pastor’s home was flooded.  The coming days brought lots of help from friends across the region. This is a story that has been shared many times and in many situations where the weather and tough circumstances took people in a direction that was extremely painful.  Many times uncontrollable floods are filled with turmoil, but there are other times when the floods are a good thing. Ephesians 1:18 (NLT) I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Paul was not pleading with God about the flooding brought on by water.  He was talking about the God of the universe, the God of creation, our Sav...

Galatians 6:14 (NLT) As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. What is it that really gets your mind going and your heart pumping?  What do you like?  There are so many answers that we can give.  Some people would talk about where they like go.  Others will share about the food that they love to eat.  Some people will talk about things that they love to do.  We all have things that we like. But do we like the things that God likes?  That is a tough question because lots of people believe that to follow God you have to be stuffy and not have any fun.  That is just not true.  Be honest.  Do you think that you have to give up all kinds of fun things so you can do what God likes?  Nothing could be further from the truth. The more we follow God...

Galatians 5:24-25 (NLT) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.  Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. How do you deal with your troubles, your wrong choices or your issues?  By believing what God says about us after He saved us, we will think and act differently.  But it is a choice to apply what God says to our lives.  To act forgiven, we have to think and believe we are forgiven.  To live full of love, we have to believe that God loves us and that His loves matters. Choosing to crucify your issues and live by the spirit is not an easy task.  The verse above reminds us that to live forgiven and as children of God we will make a conscious effort to nail our sin to the cross.  That is to put our shortcomings in the past. To crucify is to kill.  To put something to...

Galatians 2:20-21 (NLT) My old self has been crucified with Christ.   It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.   I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. The choice is yours and mine.   We can live by the law or by grace.   We can choose to live by a set of standards that say things are white and black, right and wrong.   Or we can choose to live by standards that allow for us and others to have flaws and deal with them. I believe that living by the law means that you will never be able to come to the place where you accept yourself or are able to accept others.   Living by grace means that you give yourself and others leverage to admit shortcomings but deal with them.   Far too many people believe that living by...

Mark 10:45 NLT For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many. Mother Teresa lived to serve others. One of my favorite places is the Dream Center in Los Angeles .  I’ve spent the last day and half soaking in more of the vision and outreach of this place and how God is using it to serve the people of the Los Angeles area and far beyond.  I’d like to share some thoughts that have come out of conversations on this trip. For a long time I have believed that we will find purpose in life when we begin to serve others, and through serving God shows up in our hearts and through what we do.  The people who have influenced us are the people who show up the most.  They are servants.  So literally “who shows up the most wins”.  Want to change the world?  Then begin to show up in the areas where you want to see change. Jonathan Martinez leads outreach ministries here,...

Psalm 29:11 NLT The Lord gives his people strength, The Lord blesses them with peace. I am constantly amazed at the people that come into our lives.  Your outlook on life and your faith in God gives you perspective on these people and what is going on.  If we are a followers of Jesus, we ought to be looking for what God is doing, what God is teaching us, and how God wants to use us. Often I am so busy that I miss the people who come my way.  Some of them have a word to share with me.  I am not saying that person is philosopher or some kind of prophet.  It may be the person who simply wants to tell you their God story.  It could be that God sent that person your way to let you minister to them.  We should be ready for these people that God sends. It is time that we see people as “a God send” since God sent them our way.  Who came into your life yesterday that God sent?  Who might come into your life today...

2 Corinthians 3:12 (NLT) Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. Romans 7:6 (NLT) But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. When I was very young, one of my heroes was my uncle.  He was an Air Force pilot who trained other pilots.  We would visit my aunt and uncle and their family in Texas from time to time, and I have lots of great memories that include seeing air planes, jumping on the trampoline wearing his flight helmet and much more. My uncle had an old corvette.  I would guess it was from about 1967, and it was set up as a race car because I remember that the gas tank lid was bigger thank normal to accommodate how race cars are filled with fuel.  On one visit I remember my uncle taking me for a ride in his corvette on a b...