Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  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...

  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...

  Today’s e-devotion is a simple thought from one of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen and is titled “A Life of Listening”.  I pray this encourages us to stop and listen even more. Galatians 5:25  “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit."  I began to understand that when we listen to the Spirit, we hear a deeper sound, a different beat.  The great movement of the spiritual life is from a deaf, non-hearing life to a life of listening.  From a life in which we experience ourselves as separated, isolated, and lonely to a life in which we hear the guiding and healing voice of God, who is with us and will never leave us alone.

  Listen and follow.  That is our call.  God shares and speaks. John 10:2-4  NLT   The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. We continued our series at The Community Fellowship yesterday “Get to Know the Shepherd”, and once again we learn that our good Shepherd, Jesus, is always leading. It is the people who know His voice that follow and find what we need and who we are in our choosing to follow.  Yet the two things we have to do, how we respond is to listen and do something.  When we don’t respond or don’t even don’t listen, that is when we will always miss the best that God has for us. The sheep recognize His voice and know Him.  They won’t follow the fake shepherds or the robbers.  This good shepherd goes ahead of them and lea...

  Our current series at The Community Fellowship is “Get to Know the Shepherd”, and Sunday I shared a message from Psalm 23.  David shared his experience as a shepherd and how it led him to know and follow God. Psalm 23:1  KJV The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. That is a personal word from personal experience.  Literally David that that God supplies his need through the relationship he has with God, the supreme shepherd.  What an awesome truth we need to hold to as well. 1 Peter 2:25  NLT   Once you were like sheep who wandered away.  But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. That is why Jesus came.  He is our shepherd and makes a huge difference because He seeks us, He died for us and He guides us all the time. Psalm 69:33  NLT   For the Lord hears the cries of the needy; he does not despise his imprisoned people. No matter our need, He knows and is ready to help.  Claim this truth.  He...

  John 10:3  NLT   The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  We are in a series at The Community Fellowship that is all about sheep and shepherds, and I have been so excited to share what I am learning.  “Get to Know the Shepherd” will take a look at some of the passages in the Bible that point out what sheep are like and how shepherds care for sheep. This coming Sunday we will focus on one of the most familiar passages.  Psalm 23 is exciting and is packed with promises.  Come join us Sunday morning at 10:10 and bring someone with you. But I draw your attention to the verse I started this e-devotion with.  There are a few things that every sheep passage in the Bible shares or assumes.  This is so good. “The sheep recognize his voice.” That one phrase is powerful and is a promise.  But the biggest problem is when we don’t know this truth....

  John 10:10-11  NLT   The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.  We began a new series at The Community Fellowship Sunday about sheep and shepherds.  My prayer is that over the next several weeks is that we will learn how we have a great shepherd as well as how we can help shepherd others. The verse I shared above is a double punch.  Well, may be it should be called something else.  That first part is our verse at church, but that verse is tied to one of the greatest promises God has given us.  Listen up and apply this truth to what very well might change you or others. Our enemy is hard at work to destroy God’s work in our lives, and if the enemy cannot destroy God’s work, he will do all he can to distract us.  Distracted sheep is something we deal with all the time.  His way is to ste...

  This week I am sharing several of my favorite scriptures that have become very important to me.  Many of these have become a “measuring stick” to help guide my decisions and keep me close to God.  Will we choose to follow what God says and where He leads?  That is a question that each of us has to answer.   I have shared that Proverbs has been an important part of my walk with God for about 30 years.  That is why today is a little deeper, or shares more verses than others. Read these and take it all in.  Study and meditate on it.  Ask yourself: what is God is saying to me in these verses?  Proverbs 3:5-6  NLT  Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Some great verses that many of us know and maybe even quote, but it doesn’t stop there.   More from Proverbs 3… 1 - My child, never forget the things I have taught...