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.
What makes you happy? According to the Bible – we are to rejoice in the Lord! Does God make make you happy? I mean really does He make you happy? For most folks, if they were honest – the answer would be no! God does not make us mad or sad, in fact we won’t allow God to make us anything. We just tend to have God around as a fixture, safety net or crutch. We need Him in our lives so that people will know that we are spiritual. We need Him close by, just in case we get ourselves into something, we can’t get ourselves out of. We need Him in our lives, so we will have someone to shift the blame toward! God is so much more that most of us will allow Him to be!
God is real! God cares about you and me! God has a plan for our lives! Stop trying to find happiness and allow happiness to find you! Happiness will find you, when you realize that you can have a personal and meaningful relationship with the God that has always had you best blessing in mind and heart! Take some time today to fix your relationship with God by making sure that you allow it to be all that He created and crafted it to be! Happiness, real happiness comes through our relationship with Him. Stop running, stop making excuses and start getting the real deal!
I have been in church most of my life! I love the church, because God changed my life through the church! It was at church that I learned things that make me who I am today! I think most people go to church and never take advantage of the opportunity that it offers them to really experience change and growth! I believe that the reason most people fail to experience growth at church is because most never really get focused. We think about what we want, what we need and what we would like to have and be, but thinking is about as far as most of us ever really get! If we are going to be the success that God has called, created and gifted each of us to be, then we must put forth an effort. We must put forth an effort, if we are gong to experience God’s best! God’s best does not happen by accident!
Listen to the things that God is speaking into your life and make an effort to work on those things! When you start, God will succeed! Take a few moments right now to think about some of the things that God has been trying to challenge you to work on! What are they and what are you going to do about it?
Have you ever prayed and asked God to help you fail? Of course not, that would be foolish! Have you ever prayed and asked God to help you live a mediocre and hum-drum life? Of course not, because who wants to live a hum-drum life? We will not pray such prayers because God did not create us to pray such prayers. God created us to desire something better. God created us to achieve, grow and be blessed! God created us and gifted us for success! And if God created us for success, then we must set goals that drive us in the direction of our creation!
It is God’s desire for each and everyone of us to experience and live lives of success and blessing! We just need to make sure that we have the right definition of success! God has placed inside of each one of His special creations the potential to contribute to His glory and every-ones blessing. God blesses us with success so that He can share His abundance. When I succeed it benefits me and blesses others!
True success for the Christian is discovering God’s plan for your life and pursuing it with all of your strength and energy! We will experience success when we figure out what God created us for, take the time to write out a plan and start to make the plan a reality! Pray about goals you need to have in and as a part of your life. Write your goals down and stay accountable! Take some action everyday that will help you get closer to accomplishing these goals! Go ahead and get started right now! Don’t wait – you might miss a blessing!
Michael Joe Harvell 