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.
God’s vision is our light and His will is our path!
This is not something that we have to discover and it is not something that we have to make up on our own. It is already in existence, just waiting for our yielding!
To miss His vision and will by choosing our own way is to be in bondage. To mentally disobey the Lord it to physically enslave ourselves and take ourselves away from the plans and blessings of God.
It is not my vision that matters, it is God’s vision and my surrender to it!
Do you ever feel like something is missing from your life? You can’t put your finger on it, but you just have this feeling that there has to be something else and if you can figure it out, then your life would be better!
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe instead of something missing from your life, that maybe you are missing from something? Your problem may not be that you are missing something, it may be that you are missing from something.
The issue is not something else that we need to bring into our lives, but something that we need to bring our life into! We spend most of the energy in our lives trying to bring things into our lives that we think will make them better or more complete. This is why most of us never seem to have enough time, because we have filled our lives with busyness and activity – trying to fill what we think is an empty void. We cram our schedules with activity hoping to find what we are missing, but always seeming to come up just a little short of what we are in search of, and ending up with more frustration than fulfillment.
Instead of bringing all of this stuff into our lives, maybe we would be better served if we brought our lives into something. Think about it – instead of working to bring it into you, start working to bring you into it! It’s a different way of thinking, living, acting and reacting to life around us!
This is what I am confident of: God made you and He made you for something! You are not random. You are not an accident. You have purpose and the ability to fulfill that purpose and in its fulfillment, the opportunity to become! Become what? Whatever it is that God has created you to become, something magnificent, beautiful and special. Someone who adds value and makes a difference.
Try today to bring yourself to the something, instead of trying to bring all the different somethings into yourself. There are some things in life that are too big and awesome to be brought to you, but you can bring yourself to those things and when you do, you are guaranteed to walk away with blessing of fulfillment!
There is a passage in the Old Testament book of Daniel that talks about Daniel’s fast. Daniel was heartbroken and gave up the very satisfying things of life, so that he might experience a greater satisfaction that comes not from the earth, but from the Heavens. He stayed at it for three weeks. For twenty-one days he gave up, so that He could get up!
“2 In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. 3 I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. Daniel 10:2-5
You may be going through a tough time, facing some discouragement or just be feeling blah! Why not think about what you could give up that would help you get up! There is something in all of our lives and when we are willing to make the sacrifice, it is amazing the results it will produce in our lives!
Go ahead and give it a try! Stick with it for the next 21 days and see if God will not come into your life and give you a lift!