Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Joel 2:13 (NLT) Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. The Community Fellowship’s theme for 2016 is RETURN.   It is a combination of invitation for people to come to know God who made them and loves them AND an invitation for those who know Him to come back. Our current series is LOVE DOES which examines the different aspects of love through the Bible and how God deeply loves us.   There are so many ways that the love of God is tainted by human thinking and action. Recently in a daily devotion I receive one of my favorite authors shared something that reminded me about the intersection of RETURN and LOVE DOES.   This is good stuff. It comes from Henri Nouwen’s Daily Meditation: We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval.   God loves us ...

Colossians 1:6   NLT This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. This coming Sunday we complete another session of COMMUNITY 101 which is a 4-week series where people can learn more about being a follower of Jesus and about The Community Fellowship.   It is always an honor to share the vision and history of The Community as well as to dream about the future. What we have come to understand is that the foundation God has given our church is that we are to share the Gospel as often as possible.   Much of the time that sharing will be tied to meeting needs and serving those around us.   It is the same good news that changed my life that is changing others. There are many people I am praying for God to get hold of their lives.   God can change anyone.   I ...

This month at The Community Fellowship we are sharing a series called A Heart for the House , and this past Sunday we talked through our core values.   Since the church began in 2006 these have helped to shape who we are and what we do. My prayer is that God would help us understand who we are and how we can make the biggest impact on our community and way beyond.   Our motto and theme is demonstrating the love of God to our community .   We do this by serving people and winning the right to share Jesus with them. "Whoever shows up the most in peoples lives is going to win the battle of influence" -- Matthew Barnett God loves people more than anything.   That’s what a song says, but it is what we believe as well.   The church belongs to God, and our core values help us understand what God is doing in our relationship to Him, loving God, and with the people around us, loving others.   That sums up what Jesus said is the most important co...

John 3:17   NLT God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world , but to save the world through him. The case is settled when it applies to Jesus.   He became a friend of sinners so that he could deal with sin in the most proactive way.   He takes sin, forgives sin and forgets our sin.   That makes Jesus not a judge, no ones judge. Since Jesus is our example to follow.   Far too often when our lives are off center or not focused on Jesus we become a judge.   It may seem innocent, but easily we become judge, jury and jailor when we look at the faults of the people we deal with.   That cannot be good. If we deal with people the way Jesus dealt with them, acceptance becomes our calling card.   It is my desire to err on the side of grace.   Loving people means that acceptance is a big deal to us. James 2:13   NLT There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to other s.   But if you have bee...

Psalm 86:15   NLT But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. There is nothing that compares to being loved by God, yet one of the things that sticks out to me is when I realized that God loves me.   That is a fact that no one can change.   God loves you. One of the greatest things we can do is allow someone we have influence over to experience God’s love through how we interact with them.   Think for a few minutes about the facts of God’s love.   Here is a quote that may help: “Love, no matter how you come at it, is a huge risk.   It makes it easier for me to remember that God will never reject me because I am not good enough and that any community that has His heart will embrace me as I am.   Jesus invites us into a community where imperfect people can find acceptance, love, forgiveness, and a new beginning.” ― Erwin McManus Loving is a risk.   I...

The most powerful thing for the follower of Jesus is simply Jesus.   Him in our lives changes how we thing about ourselves and how we deal with others.   Turn that around and understand why we often treat others so poorly.   If we don’t believe and apply what God says about us, we will believe wrong things about the people we are around. Below is a passage of Scripture that speaks directly to how we judge or how we accept others.   Read slowly through these verses and note the ways we are to treat the people we come in contact with. Matthew 7:1-12   NLT Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.   2  For you will be treated as you treat others.   The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.   3  “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?   4  How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,...