Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  At the end of my sermons for as long as I can remember I have put this phrase “bring it home”.  It means finish it up, lead to an invitation and make sure this applies. That phrase “bring it home” was the title of the sermon I shared with our church Sunday.  Seems to fit well what Paul was sharing with the church in Rome at the end of the book of Romans.  It comes from the middle section of chapter 15 of Romans where Paul reminds his readers of what they have learned, about his calling from God and how we are to give God glory in everything. Don’t let the struggles around you keep you from remembering what God has given you and what we have learned. Isaiah 9:1   NLT   Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles , which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. Jus...

  One week away from the back2school big day and outreach.  Pray for the students we will serve and their families.  Pray for the teams of people who will serve students.  Pray for the final resources needed (wide ruled notebook paper and 1” three ring binders, as well as a few other items).  God will supply and will bless these young people. I have asked us to go through what we know as the Lord’s Prayer.  One of Jesus’ disciples asked for him to teach them how to pray.  This prayer guides us how we pray as well reminds us of the importance of prayer.  Here is what Jesus shared. Matthew 6:9-13  NASB   “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Th...

  We finish out the week as we have been talking about the fact that struggles are real with some insight on how to get through struggles.  Struggles are real, and each of us have faced them. Deuteronomy 20:4  NLT   For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’ Did you get that?  Victory belongs to God.  He will fight for us and promises to be with us no matter what. 2 Corinthians 10:5  NLT   We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. That is one of my favorite verses about dealing with things that are out of my control.  It reminds me that the person of God holds the truth about my life and sees me through whatever might comes my way.  I do not have to let my mind run wild through the things that seem to tear away my hope and confidence.  What God says is true.  Hold...

  The struggle is real, but it is not always what it seems.  As we talked about on Monday much of the struggle is in the spirit world and not in what we can see or feel or is right in front of us. We have heard that for a very long time, and God has been transforming our lives, making us more like Jesus, while we in a world that is fallen and broken.  People live in the middle of struggles and are being continually bombarded with pain.  Yet God meets us in the middle of the struggle. God has reminded us over and over that He is what we need, better yet who we need.  Often people seek what God can do rather than seek God.  Stop there.  Ask yourself a vital question.  Do I want more of His presence or more of His blessings? The answer might lead you to understand the struggle even more.  That is why we keep on for the rest of the week examining how the struggle is real.  Now it is our choice how we deal with the struggle we encounter. Prov...

  Job 11:18  NLT Having hope will give you courage. You will be protected and will rest in safety. One of the greatest things that our faith does for us is give us hope when the wold seems to be crashing around us us.  The struggle is real.  Hope and courage are linked in so many ways.  They are family members.  Each is a characteristic of people who care about the things of God, for other and caring too for themselves.  That is why God builds His people. God has used struggles through our lives to guide us give us hope and courage in this adventure called life.   Hope reminds us that there is more to life than the struggle.  Courage helps us press on.  It may not seem that simply, but it seems to make sense.   Psalm 31:24  NLT So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!   That is a command.  Not one of those like the sign th...

  This week we are taking a look at the various struggles that go on around our lives.  Yesterday we talked about the spiritual struggle comes with our enemy.  That struggle is one we cannot see, and it can be easily missed. The struggle is real.   One of the struggles that has been so real in my life is the struggle of worry.  You might call is anxiety or doubt or uncertainty.  There are plenty of other words that come to mind, but it really is plainly marked as worry. Philippians 4:6-7  NLT   Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Last week we took a deep through Philippians 4 which is where those two verses come from.  But I return to it in thinking about worry. Worry is one of those things that kills our...

  The struggle is real.  This is one that we all have to deal with, but if we are honest, we might miss is, neglect it or even think it is not real. I am talking about the struggle that is in the spiritual part of our lives where our soul is in the middle of some of the most difficult times.  Whether we choose God or self, savior or satan, trusting God or doing something else, it is a real struggle, and this week we are going to look at the different struggles that happen in our every day lives. Ephesians 6:12  NLT   For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. There is the struggle.  We have an enemy that has been around since the beginning of time, and he is good at what He does.  At times he looks like an “angel of light” but is not that.  At times what the enemy wants us to do is so...