Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  People talk about what stands out.  Maybe it is a favorite team or a new found place.  It could even be some food that they love.  We talk about what stands out. In this simple e-devotion I share with you some verses that have stood out the last several days.  These have been encouraging, revealing and even strengthening to my faith.  I pray they are the same for you. Numbers 6:24-27  NLT   ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. 25  May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. 26  May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’ 27 Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.” Proverbs 17:3 CSB  “A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold,  and the Lord is the tester of hearts. ” James 1:2-5 CSB  “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your...

  You never know what people are going through.  We encounter people every day who are going through things we have no clue about.  It could be anything from sickness to extra stress or even war. So how should we pray for each other?  That is a good question. James 5:16  NLT   Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Pray for healing.  Pray for peace.  Pray for each person to know the God that we have come to know. Philippians 4:6-7  NLT   Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Pray for understanding and strength.  But most of all pray that we will see what God wants us to see...

  The New Testament is marked by a man named John.  He was the cousin of Jesus and was given the message that all of us need to hear.  Prepare yourself for the coming of the Messiah.  Literally “repent for the kingdom of God is near”. He was a strange man who dressed differently than most in clothes made of camel’s hair with a leather belt.  Camel hair sounds itchy.  And John ate locusts (think grasshoppers) and wild honey.  Not a diet I have ever tried.  John the Baptist lived, not in a city, but out in the wilderness. He sounds like a an isolationist and maybe a little eccentric.  But John the Baptist was by Jesus’ own words the greatest man living at that time. But what this man had to say is something that desperately needed to be heard and still does today.  Prepare yourself.  Prepare for Jesus.  Change is needed. Sounds like a political statement.  And it was.  But that is not the point.  Sounds like a spir...

  What a week it has been.  It is Friday, and what I have experienced over the past 5 or 6 days has been wide open and enlightening.   I do not intend to give you a play by play of all that happened, but I’d like to share a little of the things God has allowed our church, the ministries we partner with and myself encounter. Zephaniah 2:3  NLT   Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you— protect you from his anger on that day of destruction. Several weeks ago I got a message and a call that I did not expect from a church wanting to partner with our church.  There was an online meeting and then a face to face time  We are excited about what it is. Then I got to go spend time with the leader of ministry in Cuba.  Two full days of driving, meeting, sharing, learning and seeing how God is moving here in the states to impact the ministry and current...

  Mark 8:23-25  NASB   Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting in his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” 25 Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly.   We know and believe that God is the healer.  Do you believe that?  I am grateful that fact removes our doubts and even our own troubles.   But do we walk away from God in the middle of His healing or working in our lives?  I confess that might be the case several times in my life, and it may be the same for you.   The man in these verses had a problem with his eye sight, but Jesus began to heal his eyes.  In the process everything was blurry.  He wasn’t completely healed.   When we walk away from God, when we stop ...

  I continue to share about our new series “prepare me”.  Yesterday we talked David and his prayer after being confronted about his sin.  He turned to God in repentance and mercy. On to Moses and a glimpse of how God led him to prepare to forgive His people and spend time with them.  This preparing was God to spend time with His people.  Much preparation went in to this important time. Exodus 39:42-43  NLT   So the people of Israel followed all of the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 43 Then Moses inspected all their work. When he found it had been done just as the Lord had commanded him, he blessed them. People followed Moses instructions because Moses was following the command from God.  The reason for all this is so important.  Our example really does matter. Exodus 40:16-17  NLT   Moses proceeded to do everything just as the Lord had commanded him. 17 So the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the...