Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  We have just come through the love holiday.  I mean Valentine’s Day.  I do not want to miss an opportunity to remind us of what is most important.  You have heard this before.  1 Corinthians 13:3-7,13  NLT   If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance… 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. That is what love looks like.  We have seen in.  We have lived it.  We have most likely even allowed this true kind of ...

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  Earlier this week I shared some things about Proverbs, and I love how God uses Scripture in our lives.  So, let’s go in that same vein.  This is so good. Can you imagine how Paul fought the good fight of faith?  Just use the books that he wrote to see some of that great truth to change our lives, to re-enforce what God has done.  It is amazing to follow and hold on to this stuff. So let’s walk through some of those verses. Romans 1:16-17  NLT   For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Ephesians 2:10  NLT   For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 3:20...

  It is Valentine’s Day week, and I have a very important question for you.  What happens when we love the wrong things?  The answer is clear.  That is if you check out what God says, and my premise is this: whatever we look at longingly and lovingly we will become like and love more.   1 John 2:15  NLT Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.   Another thing about loving the wrong thing is that we will know less and less of what real love is.  We won’t have God’s love.  We won’t demonstrate the love of God.  We will forget that we are loved.  Why?  It is because we have left unconditional love for something that feels good.   1 John 4:10  NLT This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away...

  For the past month or so I have been listening to and enjoying music from my childhood.  Specifically early Christian music. Some of the songs have brought back memories, many brought smiles, some even brought tears, but each one reminds me where I came from and even how blessed I have been.  Music does shape and encourage us.   One song came across today, and I have to share with you.  It is called “We Are the Reason” by David Meece.  Check out some of the words from this song. As little children, we would dream of Christmas morn And all the gifts and toys we knew we'd find But we never realized a baby born one blessed night Gave us the greatest gift of our lives… As the years went by, we learned more about gifts And giving of ourselves And what that means On a dark and cloudy day A man hung crying in the rain Because of love, because of love I finally found a reason for living It's in giving every part of my heart to Him In all that I do, every word tha...

  It was more than 30 years ago when a pastor suggested to make Proverbs a part of my every day life.  I have shared this so many times in the e-devotion and with so many people.  It is important that we take in the word of God each and every day. Yesterday I listened to a high school student share how spending time in God’s word every day makes a huge difference in her life.  Last night I was talking with a young man who is incarcerated and how Proverbs has impacted him.  And others have said the same thing I have found true.   Proverbs has 31 chapters and most months have 31 days.  That means reading one chapter per day is a great addition for any of us that make that choice.   People have shared how God’s truth impacts their lives in this way.  This is one of those things that I say loud and proud, “test God.”  His word changes us.  It changes everything. Here are just a few of the verses from Proverbs that stick out in my brain ...