Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Some of my favorite people who have made a difference in my life are coaches.  Not really the athletic coach but the leadership and ministry coaches that I have spent some time with.   Two of these that have impacted my life are Scott Couchenour and Blaine Bartel.  You can find Scott at www.servingstrong.com and Blaine at www.blainebartel.com.  Both have poured in to my life in various ways and challenged me to pursue God more and to lead better. Another coach that I have enjoyed interacting with and learning from is Tom Ziglar.  Tom is the son of the incredible business coach and author Zig Ziglar.  You can find Tom at www.ziglar.com/tom-ziglar/ as well as many of the resources from his dad. It is important to learn from great people and to choose keep yourself around people who will challenge you to be better.  You have heard something like this before…  1 Corinthians 15:33  NASB Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” If th...

Never give up. I have heard that in many different places.  I heard those words, never give up, from speakers in all kinds of situations that were Christian and many that were not Christian.  Why is that?  Even Sir Winston Churchill spoke these words in a pivotal speech.  We all need that encouragement.  Keep on.  Don’t stop.  You have purpose.  You are important.  There is more to this life than stopping right where you are. Do we believe that?  Never give up. This past Sunday I continued our series called “Treasure”, and two of the verses in the passage from 2 Corinthians 4 use this phrase of “Never give up”.  It hit me.  In fact the last point of the message was intended to remind those who listened to the sermon of four bigs ideas. Those four things are titled “Remember These Things”.  I know.  Genius?  Right?  Not really.  But here are the four things: 1.  Don’t give up. 2.  Pain has a pu...

Proverbs 3:25  NASB Do not be afraid of   sudden   fear Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; I will never forget. Even though I admit it is easy to forget.  Honestly, it is. Today marks the anniversary of that horrible, terrible, dreadful day we know at 9-11.  Thousands lost their lives that day in New York City, in a field in Pennsylvania and in our nation’s capital.  It was a sad and difficult day for our nation. I was sitting at my new desk having recently become the pastor of a rural church in Virginia when the phone rang.  A frantic father asks me to pray that his son is found.  His son worked in the Pentagon near where the plane crashed. His son was found and was not hurt a short time later.  Praise the Lord.  Many were not that blessed on this fateful day. I got up from the desk and hurriedly made my way the 100 yards away to our living room where ...

We get tired.  Often our strength is zapped and we are weak.  That is life.  Therefore, we need some reminders about what matters.   Be careful when you feel like you are being drained.  God has some things to say to us that will help us keep going, some advise that will focus our attention and some energy that doesn’t come in a bottle or in the form of a pill. Luke 18:1  NIV Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always   pray   and not   give   up. 2 Corinthians 4:1,16  NASB Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not   lose   heart…  Therefore we do not  lose   heart , but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. Galatians 6:9  NASB Let us not   lose   heart   in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow we...