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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Give God Your Best!

Promotion is God’s business!  Stay faithful right were God has placed you!  Give your best today! 

This world almost pushes you to push yourself.  Much of our energy is spent on our trying to get ourselves to somewhere that we think the world says that we have to be to be successful.  Stop trying to get yourself to whatever place it is that you think you have to be to be happy.  Happiness is not found in our arrival at a destination, but in our learning to appreciate the journey that God allows us to travel.  Learn to enjoy the journey -one moment at a time, one day at a time! 

You are where you are today and that is where God has you!  Remember that God has a perfect plan for your life.  Don’t get in the way and mess that perfect plan up.  Stay faithful to Him and trust Him to grow and move you to where He wants you to be.  Wherever you find yourself today – GIVE GOD YOUR BEST and know and trust that HE WILL TAKE CARE OF THE REST!

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Powerful Emotions!

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img000057Emotions are powerful things!  I am going to tell you something you know, but seldom really think about:  You can control your emotions or your emotions will control you.  Some of the emotions that we experience in life are negative and they seek to dominate and control us.  Fear, anger, frustration, lust and discouragement will turn you into a slave, if you are not careful.  These negative emotions eat at us, steal our joy and rob us of our peace.  Negative emotions are like a cancer, they seek to destroy everything they can.

God wants you to have positive emotions such as love, joy and peace!  Jesus Christ came and died on the cross, so that you could have love, joy and peace!  The Holy Spirit is active and alive right now, so that you can have love, joy and peace!  Don’t let the devil and the negative emotions of this life keep you from having, experiencing and living in all of the amazing power that God has for you.

You will have challenges and you will face hard and difficult times, but stay positive, trust God and you will discover that your courage and confidence in Him, will empower you to think, feel, act and experience victory – no matter what the circumstances!  Emotions do not have to be a bad thing.  We just have to learn how to use our emotions, rather than have them use us.

Here are a few things that you can do today to deal with your emotions:  1.)  Take some time to pray!  Just talk to God and tell Him what is going on in your life and how you feel.  He will not be surprised or caught off guard.  2.)  Make some time to listen!  Open your heart and mind and listen for what the Spirit of God is saying to you.  (The Bible is always a good resource in listening!)  3.)  Refocus your life!  Take what you have said to God and what God has said to you and get your life into alignment with Him!

God is who He says He is and you can trust in Him!

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Freedom!

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  Galatians 5:13

God came into this world and died on a cross to buy and pay for our freedom!  Jesus set us free so that we could be free!  And because we are free, we should give of ourselves for the Kingdom.

We abuse our freedom, when we fail to use it for Jesus!  God loves us and has an amazing plan for our lives, but we miss out on that plan because we fail to live in the power of the freedom that He has granted!  Don’t waste the freedom that Jesus has given you!  Use it for Him and for His glory and you will be amazed at how He will use your life to generate and share blessing!