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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Believe You Are Already Blessed!

The promise of God in Ephesians 1 is that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly Realms.  The child of God should never be desperate, hungry or anxious, because God in His infinite love has supplied all of our needs.  When anxiousness marries hopelessness, they give birth to a spirit of desperation, which causes us to resign ourselves to whatever, whenever, limited and defeated living.

As God’s children, when we live without hope, it is because we have made the choice not to appropriate what God in His amazing grace has given us.  We often spend our energy, asking God to give us something that He has already provided.  We need to stop asking God to do something for us that He has already done and start claiming what God has already done for us.

If you are hungry for the things of God, it could be because you have not taken the time to sit down at the banquet table that He has provided and taken nourishment from what He has given.  Jesus said in John 6:35 – “I am the bread of life;  He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

You are already blessed – receive it, be nourished by it and let the awesome stuff of God flow to and through you!

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Blessed From Desperation To Inspiration…

Michael Joe, a follower of Christ Jesus by the will of God and through the leading of His Spirit.  To the Saints who are living in the Upstate of South Carolina and who place, express and live out their faith in Christ Jesus.  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh how blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every possible spiritual blessing, blessings which we know are waiting for us in the heavenly places in Christ, just as we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, that you and I might be holy and blameless before Him.

In His unlimited love, He chose to adopt us as His sons and daughters though Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of His will and to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely gave to each of us in and through His beloved Son.

In Jesus we have redemption, restoration and relationship through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins and failures, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us, not because we have earned it or deserved it, but simply because He loves us.  

In all Heavenly wisdom and Supernatural insight, He made known to us the incredible mystery of His perfect will, according to the kind intention which finds it’s purpose in and through Jesus, with a view to an administration and application suitable to the fullness of the times, that is to the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

Also in Jesus we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, for the purpose and to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

In Him, we also after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of our salvation – having also believed, we were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given to us as a pledge and promise of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory as we move from desperation to inspiration.

-Scripture Adaptation From Ephesians 1:1-14

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Seven Steps To Experience Divine Repair!

Here are the seven steps that we each need to take, so that the Spirit can begin the process of “Divine Repair” upon our lives…

1.) Face Your Problem!  We all have problems,  Figure out what your problem is and then face it.  This is the first and most important step.  Stop pretending that you don’t have any problems.  Once you face your problems, you will begin to see what you need to do about it, now do it!

2.) Accept Responsibility!  While there may be others that contributed to the problems that you are facing, it is still your problem and you must bear the responsibility.  This is not necessarily easy, but it is right.  If things are going to be better, then it is because you have decided they are going to be better.

3.)  Ask Yourself If You Really Want Healing?  They say “misery loves company” and I guess that this is true for a great many people.  But why be miserable, when you can be happy, strong and fulfilled?  You have to decide if you really want to be happy and if you do, then you have to go all in and go for it!

4.) Forgive Yourself!  Stop beating yourself up with the same club over and over again. We all make mistakes and we all screw up at this thing called life.  If we learn from our screw ups, then they are not screw ups, they are education.  So you messed up, learn from it, let it go and move on.

5.) Forgive Others!  You can live in the prison of unforgiveness or you can live in the freedom of holding no grudges, it is up to you.  Just know this:  If you stay imprisoned, it is because you have made the choice to not claim your freedom by withholding forgiveness that sets everyone free.

6.) Ask For The Spirit’s Help!  You are not supposed to do this alone, because you can’t do this alone, so ask the Spirit to help you.  The Spirit will speak to you, guide you and grow you to a place that you cannot take yourself.  You need the Spirits help!

7.) Don’t Give Up!  If it was easy, then everyone would do it.  It’s not easy, but it is possible and with the possibility comes a new and better life.  Step out in faith and claim your better and blessed life today, you will be glad you did!