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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Juggling Too Many Balls!

Up In The Air!Lately, I have become too busy!  I feel like I am running a never-ending marathon.  I am not complaining, just realizing that I cannot keep up this pace.  I was not created to live life this way and neither were you.

I spend almost all of my days taking care of other people and their needs.  I don’t regret this, I love that I get to do this, but then add-on top of this all the stuff that other people throw your way and that’s when it gets crazy.

Sometimes I feel like a guy juggling three balls, now that’s not so bad, even a little entertaining, but then someone throws in a fourth ball and then a fifth and a sixth.

I started out juggling three.  Three is what I juggle and now I am juggling six!  But that’s okay, because I got this.  And then all at once come balls seven, eight, nine and ten.  I think this is insane!

I finally get ball ten thrown back out.  I work my way through balls nine, eight, seven, six and get them returned to their rightful owners.  I actually pull off a pretty cool trick with balls five and four.  And now I am back to the three balls that I started with.

This is what I was created for.  Juggling three balls is a piece of cake.  I can’t stand all those other balls and I am glad they are gone.  Then I think – I was juggling ten balls and it did not kill me.  Look at how many more lives I was able to impact.  Look at how cool is was to juggle ten balls – baby!

Now I look at my three that I am very comfortable with and I think “one more won’t hurt!” and this is where the craziness starts all over.  In life, God gives you a certain number of balls to juggle.  Figure out what you are comfortable with, what you enjoy, what allows you to give Him glory.  It’s not about the amount that you juggle, it’s that you juggle for His glory.

Every now and then life will try to add something extra, if God gives you permission – take it on.  If God does not give you permission, then stay satisfied with what you’ve got and make sure you do the best with it by making the most of it!

I am still learning and I have had to learn a lot the hard way.  My main three are God, Family/Friends and Ministry.  Anything else is going to have to come with God’s permission and empowerment!

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Don’t Be A Hater!

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Most of us are basically good, or at least that’s what we like to tell ourselves.  Today as I was spending a little time in the Word, I got to thinking about love and hate and how easy it is to dance across the line that separates the two.  Hope this video encourages you to love.

Don’t Be A Hater!

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Better Than A Pinky Promise!

Pinky Promise!

What do you want for yourself, for your life?  What does God want for yourself, for your life?  I am discovering that what God wants for me and my life is much better than what I want for myself and my life.  As I look back on my life, I can see where I actually kept getting in the way of what is best.

Look at this amazing passage of Scripture, it says it so beautifully:  “2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  4Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”  2 Peter 1:2-4

God wants grace and peace to be multiplied into and through our lives.  It is multiplied as we step out of our own knowledge and into our knowledge of Him and His Son, our Savior.  This allows us to yield to His Spirit and experience His purpose and plan.

His divine power has given us everything we need to live the life of Godliness that He has called us to and created us for, a life of virtue and glory.  When I depend on my power, I rob myself of the opportunity to participate in the divine.

He has given us His exceeding great and precious promises, so that we might be partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that comes from the lust of the world.  We have a choice to make and our choice determines where and how we will live.  Notice, God does not just give us promises, He gives us His exceeding great and precious promises.

God has and wants what is best for us and our lives, lets step out of our selfishness and into His promises – we will be glad we did!