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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It’s A Big Deal!

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WOW!
WOW!

It is natural to want to know our place in this world.  Wisdom teaches us that knowing our purpose is not really the most important thing.  The important thing is know that we have purpose.  We search for answers that really will not make much of a difference in our lives.

Look up at the sky.  Now, look around you at the earth.  Isn’t that profound?  You did not get it?  Do it again!  Look up at the sky, really look.  Now, look around you at the earth.  Did you see it?  You are a spiritual being, existing in a human body.  You are on the earth and Heaven is above you.  In reality, you are right now living between heaven and earth.

When we look at the sky, we should contemplate heaven.  The sky is above us and we are below it, what does that tell you?  The sky is endless, vast, right before you and way beyond you.  The sky/heaven is not some abstract philosophical concept, it is a daily reality that is ever-present in our lives.

The clouds come and go, but Heaven is always there.  It is the air we breath and so much more.  It is home to the sun which warms us and gives us life.  We cannot live without the heaven and the earth.

Our spirit is in great need.  It’s contentment comes from the unlimited vastness of the Heavenly domain.  Our spirit never runs out of a new place to roam and call home.  Don’t allow your view of this world and our heavenly home to become too small, because if you do, then you might just miss a very important part of your journey…

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Open Your Eyes!

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Open Your Eyes And See!

If we want to learn, then we must open our eyes to the things all around us that are inviting us to enlightenment.  If we want to learn, then we must be willing to seek out the right teachers and not waste time with teachers of idleness that we often allow to come into our existence.

The greatest learning comes from walking through life together.  It is the simple conversations while sitting in the cool shade of the big tree, or the quiet invocations while sitting on a rock by a running stream.  When you decide that you want to see, then it is amazing what you see, simply by walking and looking through life.

The animals, plants, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes and ocean all communicate truth that will set us free.  The sun, stars and moon tell us things that take us to places that we could never take ourselves.  There is limitless variety in this world and it is all provided to guide us on our journey.

The wise teacher understands that making a student see is not education, instead they provide the opportunity to see and the student in seeing is learning.  We do not learn from words or ritual, we learn best from observation and participation.

Live, travel and walk in the steps of the teachers that have been provided for you.  Learn in this moment, what the Creator has for you to learn.  Open your eyes and see all that is around you.  See what can’t be seen and learn the secrets that make life amazing.

We are physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.  Our spirituality does not come through a teacher, we are spiritual with or without a teacher.  The right teacher simply provides us with opportunity for better understanding and application.

Open your eyes and trust what you see!

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The Path Is Your Friend!

The Friendly Path
The Friendly Path

We know the way that we need to go, but we are not willing to follow it.  We think about it, we start, but we never end up following through.  Doubt finds its way into our thinking and interferes with our traveling forward.

If we are to make it through the flood and famine, earthquakes and hurricanes, monsoons and droughts of loneliness, fear and depression, then we must stay on the path and follow it wherever it intends on taking us.

Good and bad are a part of our life.  If we turn around at the first encounter of bad, then we will miss the good that lies just beyond it.  What good is it to walk in circles?  You have a path and what you are going to encounter on the path cannot be avoided, for each of us must eventually face and deal with whatever our path has for us to face and deal with.

You will exhaust yourself, if you try to do this on your own.  The reason we encounter bad on the path of life is to teach us, grow us, develop us into the special creation that we were created to be.  Follow the path that has been marked out for you, it is your friend and will take you to amazing places of genuine happiness…