Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Psalm 25:18   NASB Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins. Over the past several weeks I have thought a lot about the barriers that we come up against in life.   Similar to the barriers placed out on roads when there is danger or construction, there are barriers that are placed in our lives. Some barriers are physical.   There are limitations or barriers from illness or maybe sickness.   You or I may have a barrier of a disability.   Some of these come by our choices, yet much of the time barriers are simply part of life and living. There are other barriers beyond the physical.   I want to drawn our thinking today to a limitation or barrier that is all tied up in our spiritual lives.   It is the barrier of forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32   NASB Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgive n you. Forgiveness is seen in many ways in our lives. ...

Community Family and Friends It is do good to be home and preparing to spend time with my church family this coming Sunday.  I want to first thank everyone who called, sent texts, Facebook messages, emails, brought food, gave hugs, prayed and so much more.  You guys have helped us move through the last several weeks that haven't been easy.  Thank you. Sunday I will preach a message that God has worked on in my heart.  We will talked about the barriers that keep us from living and fighting for more life.  The largest barrier we will talk about is unforgiveness.  I challenge each of you to bring someone with you to church as the Gospel will be shared and each of us will be asked to take a good look at our hearts, beliefs and our actions. Please make sure to bring your baby bottle full of change for the Pregnancy Care Center of Martinsville and Henry County.  This is a great fundraiser that will help moms and babies, both those who have been born and those who have not.  Bring these o...

I come to end of the week realizing that I am low on energy and very tired.   Often times the situations of life will zap our strength.   Therefore, I want to simply unload some thoughts as this week of devotions comes to an end. Some of the following are my thoughts, some are Scripture, some are quotes from others, some come out of I don’t know where… but I pray for the inspiration you and I need to be strong in the Lord! Find a need and fill it.   Find a hurt and heal it.   Tommy Barnett You think much differently when you are preparing for death and know that it is near.   Mine Forgiveness is something hard to understand but vital for great living.   To hold on to unforgiveness is to cut off strength and to ask for less energy every day.   To freely give meaningful forgiveness is to be a giver of life, the conduit of dreams and an influencer of people living with purpose.   Mine Psalm 34:18   NASB The Lord is near...

Proverbs 29:18 NASB Where there is no vision , the people are unrestrained… I do not believe that God has placed any of us on a shelf.   In fact He has infused us with life, with energy and purpose.   That is why we have to know our purpose.   Pursuing God will define our purpose and motivate our continued action.   When the spies in Numbers 13 and 14 entered the Promised Land, they had a purpose, yet their personal fears or faith and perception either emptied or filled them with purpose.   We have to be careful to not allow our environment and situations to redirect or to determine our action and our direction.   Our life and purpose was given by, established by God.   We are accountable to Him and to one another for that.   Revisit why you live the way you live and do what you do.   What motivates you to keep on?   Is it living because you are supposed to live this way or because you are driven to? A living relat...

The following is an article written by the incredible Carlos "Los" Whittaker.  What he shares grabs my attention because our church deals with many of these things on a weekly basis plus I have struggling with depress for many years.  What Los shares is insightful and honest.  Read on... The first time it happened I was standing on stage at  Sandals . I had stood in front of this family every Sunday for at least 5 years. Nothing was different. Just another Sunday. We were singing Charlie Hall's "Salvation". It was the 2nd song of the set. All of a sudden I felt my heart skip a beat. Literally I felt it flutter. WHAT WAS HAPPENING? Then it happened again. Everything started spinning. My chest got tight. I remember almost blacking out. I put my guitar down and stumbled off stage. The band kept playing and our exec pastor ran up to me with eyes wide open. "I think I'm having a heart attack. Get a doctor please." I whispered. They stopped the service a...

One of the passages from the Bible that was read at my mom’s funeral is the part of Proverbs 31 often referred to as the virtuous woman or the perfect wife or mother.   I read through it with the reality of what I know of my mom and after looking through all the highlights in her Bible.   Really was eye opening. Now I have read it from a different perspective.   From this was for my special lady, my wife, the birthday girl, who is all over this passage.   Yesterday was her birthday, and I am so grateful for her as a gift from God to me and to our children. Here are some of the pieces Proverbs 31 that reminds me of Julie: 10 --- Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?   She is more precious than rubies. She is virtuous without question and more valuable than any other woman in my world.   11-12 --- Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.   She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. Co...

Psalm 50:14   NLT Make thankful ness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. This will be short.   It is time for some rest and reflection as our family arrived back in Virginia last night.   There are lots of things I’d like to share, but that will come in time. What I will share with you is that these feelings are ones I have had before, but I realize that I’ve never been here before.   Losing a parent is difficult, and I know that many have experienced far more difficult things. One of the things I am learning about is the grieving process.   You may know that I deal with depression from time to time, and these type of events send your emotions in all kinds of directions that help you lose control.   That is why I am looking forward to sharing, to writing, to learning through the process. My dad continues to be on my mind so much.   Losing my mom is much tougher on him than it is on my brothers. ...