All posts by mjharvell

Welcome, friend—I’m glad you’ve pulled up a chair on the front porch of my little corner of the internet. My name is Michael Joe Harvell, and I live my life with one simple mission: to glorify God, encourage people, and leave this world a little better than I found it. I’m a husband, father, pastor, writer, Jeep enthusiast, and front-porch thinker who believes that life is best lived on purpose. I serve as pastor of Eureka Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina, where I get the joy of preaching, teaching, and walking with people through the ups and downs of everyday life. Over the years, I’ve discovered that faith isn’t just about Sunday mornings—it’s about living every single day in the presence and power of God. I’m also an author. My books—including The Grace Exchange: How Forgiven People Forgive People and The Word Works—grow out of the sermons, stories, and lessons I’ve learned on this journey. I write in a style that’s conversational, a little front-porch-rocking-chair, and full of stories, quotes, and Scripture that point us back to the goodness of God’s Word. When I’m not writing or preaching, you might find me sitting outside with my Bible and journal, cruising the backroads in my Jeep Gladiator, or sharing a meal and some laughs with the good folks God has put in my life. I love helping people find peace in their spirit, strength in their body, and encouragement in their soul. This blog is simply an extension of that mission. Here you’ll find devotions, encouragement, reflections, and practical insights for living a life of purpose, peace, and joy. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a rocking chair, and stay awhile—I’d be honored to walk this road of faith with you.
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TRUST!

One of the most powerful gifts ever given to man is the gift of trust.  God has given us the ability to trust in Him and as we learn to trust in Him, we find the answers to the questions that really need answering.

Whatever you are facing, simply learn to say:  “I trust you!”  As you learn to say “I trust you!” in whatever comes your way, you will begin to see your Creator at work even in the challenges of life.  Realize that your Creator is in control and allows whatever flows to flow to and through you, if you will trust and allow it.

Learning to say and believe “I trust you.”, enables you to see things from the divine perspective.  Trust chases away the darkness with the light of God’s universal presence and power.  Fear, anxiousness and worry cannot exist in the light of His presence.  Challenging circumstances become dynamic opportunities for growth when we learn to affirm our trust in Him.

Open your life to receive blessings gratefully, challenges hopefully and your life will learn to trust, and trust will strengthen the most important relationship of your life, which will in turn strengthen and grow the meaningfulness of all your other relationships.

Trust and live blessed!

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Beginnings And Endings!

Change is the real constant!  Change is an expression that life is still going and evidence that there is purpose and meaning to our existence.  If you are paying attention then you realize that there is a cycle of life and that we are all apart.  Things come and things go.  We often view the coming and going as temporary, but in reality, it never stops – it is a constant.  We can count on the coming and going everyday of our human experience.

When something comes to an end, we often want to mourn.  It may be the closing of a phase in your life, the ending of a relationship, the completion of a project, the termination of a meaningful connection or death itself.  The wisdom writer of Ecclesiastes 3:1 puts it this way: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”

Realizing that this process of coming and going in life should produce rejoicing, not sadness in our lives and living.  We should live in peace knowing that we are a part of the whole.  Everything comes from the Creator and everything must return to the Creator, for the Creator to do with as He pleases.

What we perceive as an ending is really a beginning.  There is life beyond this present moment.  That is not to say that you should not get the most out of this present moment, because you certainly should.  It is to say that life is made up of many moments and we should never miss the enjoyment of next because we are stuck morning the passing of the last.

Stop and observe life and realize that endings are beginnings, because life is constant!   Remind yourself that your Creator is at work within you and through the events of life, and make the decision to connect and not miss a thing.  When you begin to think this way, peace will take the place of despair and you will have hope and with hope comes amazing blessing.

Someone once coined the phrase:  “This too shall pass!” and they were exactly right!  The stuff of life comes and goes.  You can rely on the reality that all of life is either coming or going.  Look around you and see the evidence – spring flowers, wrinkles, birth, death, relationships beginning and ending.  All the stuff of life – coming and going, beginning and ending is all a part of the journey, a journey where hopefully you are living blessed…