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We Don’t Need To Be Defensive

“So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance;” - Luke 21:14

Many of us spend a lot of time and energy worrying about what’s going to happen. We worry about defending our name, our honor, our reputation, our pride.

We worry about being disappointed by the people around us. We worry about being betrayed by the people we most care about.

We spend so much effort and energy protecting and defending ourselves that we don’t have any left to put into becoming who we are meant to be.

Luke 21 doesn’t say these things we fear aren’t going to happen to us. Just the opposite, Luke 21 declares that we will at times be hurt, disappointed, and betrayed, and often by the people closest to us.

But the gospel also declares that we will be ok, that God will guide us through. The chaos of the world around us will not shake the peace of the world within us. And “not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

God’s got this. We don’t need to be defensive.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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God Answers The Prayers We Don’t Know To Pray

“Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.” - Isaiah 65:24

Sometimes life has us all twisted. I could use another phrase, but I’m not going to drop any expletives today.

Sometimes we know something is wrong but we have no idea how to make it right.

If we have an idea of how to make it right, we don’t know where to begin.

If we have an idea of how to begin, we don’t know how to find the people and resources to see it through.

And if we know and have all those things, we sometimes still can’t seem to get out of our own way. We at times seem to lack motivation, character, and discipline to follow through.

God knows all this about us already. God guides our footsteps when we don’t know the way. God open doors that we cannot see and did not seek. God gives us the strength that we do not have.

God answers the prayers we do not know to pray.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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These Troubles Will Soon Be Forgotten

“For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” -Isaiah 65:17

Some of us are so tired, so discouraged, so overwhelmed that we feel like giving up. What’s going on within us, what’s going on in the world around us, it seems like too much sometimes.

The prophetic words of Isaiah 65:17 are written for such times. They encourage us to take heart. The power of God is at work within us and around us. The way things are, are not the way they shall always be.

Take heart. God is creating new possibilities and opportunities. God is creating a new reality for us as individuals and for our world.

These current troubles, they’re real, but they will soon be forgotten.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

#60secondsofhope #inspiration #Devotion #faith #hope #love #discipleship #devotional #growth #positivity #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #positivethinking #positiveattitude #positivemindset #dailymeditation #dailydevotional #dailydevotion #dailyinspiration #redemption #deliverance #salvation #Isaiah65

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Do We Trust That Our Redeemer Lives?

“For I know that my redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth;” - Job 19:25

Job endured. He endured pain and suffering, loss and grief, ridicule and derision. He endured his own disorientation and internal dissonance. He had no answers for life’s questions.

What made it possible for him to endure? I believe he was able to endure because of his decision to trust that his redeemer lives. Whether he trusted from a place of spiritual certainty and confidence, stubborn determination, desperation, or strong hope is open to interpretation.

People of faith whose stories are remembered in the scriptures are to be found from among all these groups. Their decision to trust that they had a redeemer and that their redeemer lives is the thing they all had in common. This commonality gave them the strength and resolve they needed to see their situations through.

Do we trust that our redeemer lives? This answer determines all the rest.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Strength Comes From The Heart

“Comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.” -2 Thessalonians 2:17

Where do we find our strength? From where do we draw our power? These questions emerge from this week’s lectionary readings.

Psalm 17 emphasizes how we don’t try to become stronger through violence, manipulation, or exploitation in declaring, “As for what others do, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.”

Our power is centered in peace. Our strength comes from the heart, hearts rooted and grounded in love. We love the world around us, and we love all the people in it.

We find ourselves getting stronger and gaining capacity and capability as we seek to be a blessing to others both in our words and deeds. When we can’t be a blessing to someone, we do everything we can to make sure that we do not harm them.

Strength comes from the heart.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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The Secret Of Happiness

“I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.” -Ecclesiastes 3:12

What makes for a good life? This was the question the writer of Ecclesiastes pondered.

Was it having money and power? Was it to be revered and respected? No. They had the wealth and status to do as they wished, and they were widely respected. True happiness wasn’t found in these.

Was it hedonist pleasure? No. The writer had denied themselves no physical pleasures. They had whomever and whatever they wanted, as much as they wanted, whenever they wanted. No happiness in these either.

Perhaps happiness could be found through gaining wisdom and knowledge, and through making significant achievements and accomplishments? But not even these brought happiness.

The writer found the secret of happiness comes, first, from taking joy in the world around us, living with a sense appreciation and gratitude. And second, from doing good whenever, wherever, to whomever you can.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Don’t Let It Shake You

“We beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.” - from 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2

The words of 2 Thessalonians were written in very troubled times. The times were so troubled that many wondered if the world was coming to an end.

There were many who cheered for the day of The Lord to come, for that day when God poured fury and vengeance on all the evil doers. But I believe the writer of 2 Thessalonians may well have had these words in mind from Amos as he wrote:

“Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.” - Amos 5:18

We don’t pray for judgment but for mercy. And while we fully acknowledge the very real troubles of the moment, we don’t let them shake us, because trust in the power of God’s redeeming love.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

#60secondsofhope #inspiration #Devotion #faith #love #discipleship #love #devotional #growth #positivity #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #positivethinking #positiveattitude #positivemindset #dailymeditation #dailydevotional #dailydevotion #dailyinspiration #mercy #redemption

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If Our Hearts Were Put On Trial…

“If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.” - Psalm 17:3

If our hearts were put on trial today, would they be found to be full of love? Or would we find hidden pockets of bitterness and hate, envy and resentment?

And if all of our secrets were to be revealed today, would the world come to know about all the ways and times we’ve helped and encouraged folk quietly? Or would the evidence of our hypocrisy be on full display?

If recordings of all of our private conversations were to be played, who they be filled with words of life and love, of hope and encouragement, of gratitude and praise?

The writer of Psalm 17 sets the standard of personal responsibility and accountability not only for our words and deeds but also for our hearts and minds. May we pray for clean hearts and the renewal of our minds.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

#60secondsofhope #inspiration #Devotion #faith #love #selfhelp #discipleship #love #devotional #growth #positivity #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #positivethinking #positiveattitude #positivemindset #dailymeditation #dailydevotional #dailydevotion #dailyinspiration #accountability #personalresponsibility

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