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.
Blogroll, life, mindfulness, purpose, responsibility, Uncategorized

Like What You See?

Do you like what you see? Take a good, honest look at your life and the answer might surprise you, because it may be that you do like what you see and you didn’t think you were going to, or it may be that you do not like what you see and you thought you were going to love it. Most likely you will find yourself some where in between, with some things you love, some things you hate and some things some where in between.

I have found that the great majority of us, just sorta tend to tolerate life. We have moments we love and moments we hate, but most of us end up living the majority of our lives in the “blahs”, stuck somewhere in between love and hate. On some level, we know we were created for more, but we are just too tired to even try to think our way through it.

Every now and then though, something comes along and moves us out of our comfort zone to the place that we can’t help but take a moment or two to imagine what our life might look life if we were really living it the way we sometimes catch ourselves dreaming. We think about the person we could be, should be and would be, if???

Have you ever caught a glimpse of yourself, when you had it all together? Have you ever seen the “put together” you, full of energy, great ideas and experiencing the miraculous in all directions? When we see it, we believe it and for just a moment want it, but then life wakes us up and we go right back to thinking about what might have been?

Could I suggest a different way to look at life? Could I maybe point out another possibility of how we can possibly see things? Rather than thinking about would’ve, could’ve and should’ve – how about we see ourselves as God our Creator sees us?

In Ephesians 1:3-4 it says: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”

God sees us from beginning to end and from end to beginning! God sees the total picture of all that we’ve been through, survived and grown from. If you are still living, then you are still a work in progress, so don’t you dare give up and don’t for one moment entertain the thought of giving in, because God has great big amazing plans for you! See it, believe it, live it – you’ll be glad you did!