Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  We closed our series yesterday at The Community Fellowship of “Amazing Grace”.  It has been good to hear the voice of God and how He proclaims and rolls out the flow of His grace in our lives.   There are several things that are true about our faith.  They are rooted in how God first connected to us, and that connection continues with our lives changing. We aren’t puppets, yet God has a plan.  It is our choice to follow.  It is our desire to know God, to be changed by God and to have a life that makes much of faith and the character of our good and great God. Matthew 16:24-26  NLT   Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Want to know God or follow Him?  Then make this choice.  Give up our wil

  It is important to know what you believe.  In fact when our beliefs are weak or even unknown, we will be confused about truth.  The things that happen to us and the people around us will be able to shake us when all the time God intends for us to be convinced and strong. 1 Timothy 1:12  NLT  …But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. We ought to know what we believe and why we believe.  That understanding may change a lot for us.  It will give us confidence when some of the most difficult things come in to our lives.  Confidence in God will also give us peace and joy on a daily basis. I often wake with a song on my mind.  This is something God does, and I am grateful.  Today that song was I Believe by Phil Wickham.  Read some of the lyrics. I Believe by Phil Wickham  I believe there is one salvation One doorway that leads to life One redemption, one confession I beli

  What a week it has been, and it is not over.  The mission team in town is doing a great job working on our new building as well as serving in a local apartment complex.  Also, we are gearing up for a great year with back2school with the last planning meeting being tonight. So much going on, and even our youngest grandson’s first birthday is tomorrow.  That is making this week even more fun, greater and … you get it.  But it is a full and blessed week. As I was headed home late last evening a song caught my attention.  You know, it is one of those songs that leads me to think about God and even to worship.  The words took on a life of their own.  It was a song of several repeats and strong words that helped me seek God. Isaiah 55:6  NASB   Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. To seek God is to pray.  It is to focus and worship Him.  It is to let the other things that have our attention fade in to a blur as we look to and worship our amazing God. Here ar

  Truth based on the foundation that I choose to stand on makes a difference in my life and in the people around us.  It is all about Jesus.  It is faith in Jesus   Romans 5:1-5  NASB Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.   It all begins with faith.  Stay with God, and you will have peace.  There will be times of trouble and struggle as we have shard earlier this week.   But how will we make it through?  Again, it is about our choices.  Choose to look at things differently.  That

  Emotions are raw.   Looking around us, listening to the struggles and acknowledge that there are so many things going on.  Seriously. They might not hot our home, but they impact our emotions, change our thinking and even make us stop what we are doing.   There are many topics that run through my mind, and I know we must share that God will meet our needs.  He will different days to do it.  He will use the trials, pain and struggles to teach us, and I choose to trust Him.  What I need to do is encourage those who are following God to stay faithful.   Choose today.  Be faithful in your time with God.  Be faithful to the people God has put around you.  Be faithful with the resources you have been given, be generous and support your church.    Turn around and keep moving.  This past week, and really the last month or so, we have heard about failure of pastors, families that are falling apart, many battles sickness like cancer and more.  All of them remind us that we need to understand t

  There are so many things in life that we just don’t understand.  There are also lots of things that are out of our control.  Difficult times are going to come our way.  Let’s get some perspective.   James 1:2-4  NIV   Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  Think about and hold on to joy when the difficult times come your way.  That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.  What does make sense is that there is something or best yet someone who has everything in control when it is out of my control.  That same person knows all will be ok when those difficult times seem overwhelming. The struggle is real.  But so is God’s Amazing Grace.  It is a must to decide before something happens how you are going to respond.  You cannot predict everything, but we can plan and do our best

  We’ve come to the end of another week, and there are so many things ahead for us this summer.  Maybe you have some excited times ahead.  Maybe you have some trying times ahead.  Whatever those things are, I challenge you to look to the Lord for strengthen, insight, light, help, and so much more.  You are loved by God.  He has a plan for your life.  There are people around you and me that need to know the same.  They are loved by God and there is a plan for their lives too.  Maybe that is for a child under your influence, a neighbor who is watching, your spouse or co-worker or maybe even a stranger.  Whoever that person is, including yourself, there are some things I would like to say or to claim… Psalm 121:1-2  NLT   I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? 2  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! Psalm 148:8  NLT   The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. 1 Thessalonians 5:14  NLT