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 a great day we had at both campuses yesterday! God blessed with a beautiful day and everyone seemed to be excited and happy about being at church! I really enjoyed sharing the message on SABBATH and believe that this is a very important message for so many of us! God gives us six days to go all out for Him, and during these six days we need to give God, our employer, family and friends our absolute very best! Then on that seventh day we need to take some time to really rest.
You know that you are really resting when you are able to reflect and re-energize! God not only wants you to take and make a day of rest – He commands it! So take some time to prove your trust of God by taking Him up on a day of rest. Just a few things to keep in mind about your sabbath! The day is not the big issue – taking the day is! What you do is not that big of a deal, as long as it works for you and is pleasing to God!
So make sure that you pick a day – remember six days of work for seven days of provision! Make a plan for that day – what you will do and what you will not do. If you don’t protect it, you will lose it. Try to answer the question: What is it that will allow me to rest, reflect and re-energize?
Experiment with your SABBATH! Just give it a try for thirty days! Four days of SABBATH a month could change your life! I pray that God will give you some sweet rest and success this week!
There are some things that I love to do and there are some things that I can’t stand to do. Occasionaly in my life, I have had no other choice, but to do some of those things that I don’t really care to do! In almost every situation – it required that I step out of my comfort zone = the major reason why I did not want to do it! But in everyone of those situations, when I stepped out of my comfort zone and did the thing that I dreaded, I was glad that I did, after the fact!
I am trying to remind myself of this truth now a days. It seems that as we get older, we get more stuck in our ways and less willing to move out of our comfort zone. The sad reality is that when we refuse to move, we often miss blessings! You may have a way that you like it, but think about this: Would you move out of the way that you like it, what’s comfortable for you – if it means that you would experience something extraordinary? Just think of how many extraordinary blessings we miss because we are unwilling to move.
Let’s all look for some opportunities to step out of our comfort zones! Let’s seize those opportunities and see what God has in store for us!
When Jesus comes into your heart you are a child in the faith! You have received knowledge of God and forgiveness of sin. If you know God, you will seek to be saved and if you are saved, you will seek to know God. When you accepted Christ, you were forgiven and you are forgiven right now. Forgiveness is because of the death and resurrection of Jesus and has as it’s purpose making mercy and grace available to those that repent and enter into relationship!
When we confess our sins, salvation comes into our lives. Salvation provides us with access to God. Access to God enables Him to give us power, victory and growth. When we receive Christ and become a child of faith, we should immediately begin growing. So HOW MUCH HAVE YOU GROWN LATELY?
Michael Joe Harvell 