Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  The short ones.  Wait, I am not talking about people who are not very tall.  Not even the signs on the road or the height of some buildings or any thing else that is considered short.  That is not what I am talking about. It is those verses in the Bible that are short but pack a powerful word for us.  Today I share some of those short verses with hopes that these will encourage each of us. John 11:35  NLT   Then Jesus wept 1 Thessalonians 5:16  NLT   Always be joyful.  1 Thessalonians 5:17  NLT  Never stop praying. Romans 12:18  NLT   Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Psalm 31:24  NLT   So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord! Luke 1:37  NLT   For the word of God will never fail. 1 John 4:8  NLT   But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. That is not an exhaustive list, but each of these verses have a story.  In co...

  John 13:34-35  NLT   So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”   This Sunday we continued our study in Romans, and we dealt with the ending of chapter 14.  This passage also went in line with current events of our world.  My prayer is that we learn through God’s love to share our faith with others and to live lives that are an example of God’s goodness. It is easy to look down on and judge others, but it is also not something that God called us to do.  He called us to speak truth and build others up. Lets call it the law of love like the verses above share.  It is not a license to tolerance or to overlook wrongs.  It is not an invitation to be judgmental to those who disagree with us and our convictions.  It is a mandate to love others the way Jesus loved others. How did Jesus lov...

  Proverbs 3:25-26  NLT   You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, 26 for the Lord is your security.  He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. Sitting my desk 24 years ago I got a phone call.  On the other end of the phone was a friend, church member and father whose son was missing due to some kind of accident at the Pentagon where his son worked. Over the next several hours I watched the news, and there wasn’t one accident.  There were four accidents that are now known as 9/11.  The terror of that day really was the fact that things happened in our country that rarely are seen or heard of.  So many lives were lost. That night there was a gathering at our church where lots of people joined to pray.  Our country has not been the same since, and we continue to pray for those impacted by the horrific events of September 11, 2021. Turn to the news of this week where a man was murder...

  As I look through some old e-devotions I found some thoughts that are powerful.  These are random quotes from e-devotions over the last 7 years.  Read on, and may we be inspired to walk even closer to Jesus. — It really is a sure thing.  God’s promises are sure, fool proof, strong and so much more.  — Think about weakness.  Does some weakness have no answer?  I subscribe to a theory that there is weakness that we cannot overcome, but we know someone who can and will overcome our weakness.   That would be God. In our relationship with Christ we find strength. — David Platt said this:  in the church we spend lots of hours working and only minutes praying .  That fact pierced my heart.  I ask you to think through it. — Jesus said that people were on His heart because they needed a shepherd to guide and love them.  That is what God wants to do for each and every one of us.  He is guide and ...

  Let’s consider truth.  I am not talking about what the law books or the science books might suggest.  What I am talking about what God, our guide, friend and Savior puts forth about us. Through seeking the truth in His word, there are so many places we can go and things we can name.  For this time of considering I point us only to one chapter, Colossians 1, and what God says about His kids. Colossians 1:4-5  NLT    For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. Love the way Paul reminds us that others are watching and need to see an example of faith and hope.  Fact is we can be confident with our hope because of who God is and what He has done. On to more of that truth from Colossians 1… Colossians 1:15-20  NLT   Christ is the ...