Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  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 ...

  Keep going in the vein I have shared all this week.  We have ready through Hebrews 12 and how we can stay close to God, to maintain the new life God is given us. I love those verses from Hebrews 12.  Yet what amazes me more is how God backs up what He teaches us.  Just in the chapter before 12 we see a list of Bible people who chose new life and to live by faith.  You see the way to new life and to grow in this new life really is faith in Jesus. Remember that Hebrews 12:2 tells us to set our eyes, that is our heart and eyes, on Jesus.  No one else cares for us, directs us and even empowers us as our God does. But faith can be a tough thing.  Look at Hebrews 11.  Here is what God says: Hebrews 11:1-2  NLT   Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. Hebrews 11:6  NLT   And it is impossible to please God...

  Be a blessing to others.  That is a choice we make because our actions, our thoughts and really all we have is linked to how we look at life.  We should be a blessing to others because we know that we are blessed.   Ephesians 1:3  NLT   All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.   God has blessed us with so much and in so many ways.  This is just one part, and the real blessings begin on the inside, in our hearts and minds, as we realize who we are and what we have.   Choose to be a blessing to others each day.  Pray for others.  Speak well of others and speak blessings to others.   Here are some blessings from the Bible that come to mind as I think about being a blessing…   Numbers 6:24-26  NLT  ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. 25  May the Lord smile on you and be gracious t...

  Yesterday I shared with you from Sunday’s sermon and Hebrews 12.  What an incredible passage that I quote often.  But I want to move on in the same chapter with a few points that I need to hear once again. This is what I referenced on Monday: Hebrews 12:1-3  NLT   Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. This admonition is something that will radically change the way we live and the way we look at life.  We are n...

  Our annual theme and current preaching series at The Community Fellowship is “A New Thing” based on Isaiah 43:19 that says God will new thing around us and in us.  We have been looking at Scripture passages that remind us of how God makes us new. Since we are new in Christ remember that our enemy want us to not believe that.  The question is how do you maintain the truth that God has made us new?  That is what we answered yesterday. Satan’s biggest lie is all about YOU.  He says you aren’t enough.  He says you have been lied to by God and the church.  He says it is all about you.  All of those are lies, and to believe the enemy’s lies we miss what God says. 1 Thessalonians 4:8  NLT   Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. God’s biggest truth is that life is about Him and others.  Other people help us maintain the facts, the truth...

  Remember them.  Wait.  Over the last couple weeks I have asked you to remember several different people.  That would include Abraham, Job, Joseph, and people who have encouraged you.  Let’s take another step forward in remembering. There are people in your past who poured in to your life.  As Julie and I were having a conversation last night we talked about people who helped build our faith.  It was so awesome to talk about some of those people. Jude 1:20  NLT   But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, I thought of a family friend who I remember from my earliest years.  That sweet lady taught me at church, shaped my faith when I was around her and much more.  Then I remembered a Sunday School teacher from 4th or 5th grade.  And older man who was missing a finger on one hand.  He loved Jesus and us boys in his class.  Then there was the couple that...