Tag Archives: Michael Joe Harvell

Unscrewing A Screwed Up Life!

Unscrewing A Screwed Up Life!

God Can Use Bad For Good! I know that there are a lot of people out there that are going through some very tough stuff!  Trials, frustrations, challenges and disappointments are never easy, but it is very important for us to understand that God can use the bad stuff for our good, if we will continue to love and trust Him.

In James 1:2-8 we read: “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends! It is through the tough and hard circumstances of life that our heart is purified and our faith is strengthened!  I need for my heart to be cleaned up, because living in this world causes it to get dirty and polluted pretty quickly!  I need for my faith to be strengthened, because I know that I cannot make it through without some help from my friends!  (Father, Son And Holy Spirit!)

The Wisdom Challenge! What I don’t always have and what I often need most is WISDOM!  Challenges and tough circumstances are a reality and there are times that they cannot be avoided, so I need to learn how to best respond to these challenges that the world throws my way – whenever they may come!  The last part of the above Scripture tells us what to ask for and exactly how to do it!

What And How! We are to ask for Wisdom – this is the what!  We are to ask “in faith without any doubting” – this is the how!  God created all things and so we know that God created wisdom.  Wisdom is what we need, so we should go to God and ask Him for it.  God created wisdom, so that He could give us wisdom, so there should be no doubt on our part about Him providing what we need.  We ask, we believe and we receive! It is often our lack of faith, our wavering in belief that keep us from getting the great stuff that God has for us!

You Need Wisdom! God made wisdom and He wants to give it to you!  Ask Him for wisdom and believe that you have it!  Now use that wisdom to go through your trials and troubles to the greater place of blessing that God has for you!

15 Questions!

Questions And Answers!

In the message yesterday, I challenged everyone with the scripture from 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” To help you do this I shared 15 Questions! Several of you have asked for a copy of the questions.  These questions grew out of my reading “Crazy Love!”  by Francis Chan.  Specifically out of chapters 4 and 5.  I hope the questions help you to do some self-examination and that the examination helps you to focus on and grow your love for God, His Church and others!

The Questions:

1.  Have you convinced yourself that attending church is enough?

2.  Are you willing to give money as long as it does not mess with your standard of living?

3.  Do you choose what is popular over what is right when in conflict?

4.  Do you want to be saved from your sin or from the penalty of your sin?

5.  Are you watching others do things for God, but never joining in?

6.  Do you share your faith?

7.  Are you comparing yourself to the world to find spiritual satisfaction?

8.  Do you allow Jesus to have all of your life or do you just give Him a part?

9.  Is there a limit to your service?  (Time, money, energy!)

10.  What do you spend most of your time thinking about:  Life here on earth or life there in Heaven?

11.  Do you allow guilt to move you closer to God or farther away?

12.  Are you more interested in how far you can go and it not be sin?

13.  Do you play it safe and fail to take risks for the Kingdom?

14.  Can you see that there is room for growth and improvement in your life?

15.  Are you willing to take the steps?

Take some time to really think through these questions.  I know that I have a lot of work to do.  I am looking forward to what God can do with me and through me as I work on some of this stuff.  I am praying for you and I ask you to please pray for me.  Remember:  We can do this for God’s glory and everyone’s blessing!

Don’t Give Up!

I had a hard time getting online this morning!  I kept getting an error message and nothing that I tried seemed to work in solving the problem, but I did not give up – I kept on trying.  So many times as we try to live our lives, we will get thrown a curve ball and things will not work out the way that we planned.  I am not talking about the easy stuff like trying to get online.  I am talking about the tough stuff – like life just sometimes being rough and not working out the way we had hoped and planned!

Don’t Give Up! On a good day – life is hard, and on a hard day – life seems impossible!  When times get like this, we are tempted to give in and give up, but don’t you dare do it!  Keep after it!  Here are some steps to make sure that you are doing the right thing!

First, make sure that you are in communication with God. Talk to God about your situation.  He already knows all about it, but loves to hear it from your perspective.  Sometimes, just taking the time to talk it over with Him will lead you to a moment of clarity that helps you to get everything headed in the right direction!

Second, check to make sure that you are not the cause of the problem. We always want to shift the blame, but ultimately – we all bear responsibility for ourselves.  I am responsible for my actions and reactions to life!  It is very easy for us to get out of God’s plan and focused on our very own and very limited agenda.  Make sure that you are where God wants you to be and doing what God created you to do!

Third, enjoy the journey! Life here on this earth is way to short to not enjoy every moment of it.  Don’t let anything or anybody rob you of the special experiences that God has for you in the failures and the victories!

I hope this encourages you today and helps you to get more out of this very special day that God has given you!