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Prayer Helps Us Be Ok When It’s Not Ok

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:7-8

Our praying to God doesn’t mean that everything is going to work out the way we’d like it too. In the case of the Apostle Paul who wrote these words, he had been shipwrecked, arrested, beaten, tried, and executed. He had some condition he referred to as a thorn in the flesh which never got better despite his repeated prayers.

My dad was a good man. He spent a lot of his life as a pastor and as a social worker. On top of that he spent a lot of what little free time he had volunteering for a community organization. He took good care of his health. That didn’t stop him from getting cancer. Neither prayer nor medical intervention cured his cancer.

Both Paul and my father prayed regularly and faithfully. What they got out of it, Paul described as peace, and my father quoting the hymn was able to earnestly declare that it was well with his soul. Their prayers let them be ok when it wasn’t ok.

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

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Acceptance Is More Than Tolerance

“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters” - Romans 14:1

In a pluralistic, multicultural, group as the early Jesus movement was, disagreements and disputes were inevitable. They may have agreed that they were all called to love God and their neighbor, but they were never going to agree on what love looks like when put into practice.

For Paul, the first principle is mutual acceptance. We may believe or even “know” we are right and our neighbors are weak and wrong. But they belong to God and not us. They have a right to serve and follow God according to their understanding and consciences without us being condescending, without us condemning them.

We don’t have to affirm the correctness of their beliefs. But we do need to go beyond tolerance. I’m not talking about the dictionary definition of tolerance which means acceptance. I’m talking about the common usage of the word where we tolerance means merely putting up with something with neither agree with nor respect. Judgement and condescension are embedded in our tolerance.

Acceptance is more than this kind of tolerance. The acceptance Paul describes demands that we honor and respect each other’s perspectives even when cannot affirm them.

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

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“Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” - Psalm 100:3

We are God’s people, not some of us, but all of us. The challenge that many of us have is that we like to think of ourselves and maybe our family and friends, and maybe people who think and believe like us as God’s people. Then we want to exclude those folks over there from being among God’s people.

All the sheep to God. Sheep that stay, sheep that stray, smart sheep, dumb sheep, spotted sheep, plain sheep, young sheep, old sheep, black sheep, white sheep- all sheep belong to God. The sheep in a thousand flocks, the sheep in every flock, belong to God.

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell in it. (Psalm 24:1) We all belong to God. We are all God’s people.

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

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Surround Yourself With Good People

“… for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” - from 1 Timothy 6:12

Taking hold of life and fighting the good fight is hard. We get retired. We get discouraged. We get distracted. We get disappointed. We get hurt. There will be times when we feel like giving up and giving in.

That’s why it’s so important to surround ourselves with good people. We need to be around people who will protect us, nurture us, and care for us. We need to be around people who equip, empower, and inspire us. We need people around us who will hold us accountable.

We need people who can bear witness to our struggle, who have been there and done that. We need people who can share their own stories of how their faith brought them through. We need people with whom we can share our own testimonies with- so that we never forget what God has brought us through.

Some people we need to love from a distance. We only want to keep good company, and surround ourselves with good people.

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

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Take Hold Of Life

“Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” - from 1 Timothy 6:12

The gospel meaning of eternal life is not a life we are waiting for after we die. It is a richer, fuller, more meaningful life that we begin to experience and participate in now and continues on, into eternity.

This experience is available to all of us, but it doesn’t just happen to us. We have to be intentional. We have to purposeful. We have to take hold of it.

Many have spoken and written about how we go about this. Rooted and grounded in love, we transform our lives into living sacrifices. We develop a new mindset. And we do everything we can to guard are hearts.

Take hold of life.

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

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How We Fight The Good Fight

“Fight the good fight of the faith...” - from 1 Timothy 6:12

How do we do we fight the good fight? What does it look like? How do we prepare ourselves?

The writer of Ephesians suggests putting on the full armor of God:

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” -The central truth of the Gospel is love. Stand firm, rooted, grounded, and centered in love at all times, in all places, under all circumstances.

“With the breastplate of righteousness in place,” -The breastplate protects the heart. May our hearts always long for and desire righteousness, equity, and justice.

“With your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” - May we always be ready to serve in ways that edify and bless others.

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith…” - It’s going to be hard, but we have to determined to let our faith be bigger than our fears.

“Take the helmet of salvation…”- The helmet protects the head. Our minds should always be focused on finding was to liberate folk from whatever is oppressing them.

And finally take the, “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” - The logos, or word, in the Gospel of John refers to the creative presence of God as found in Jesus and promised to all who would follow.

This is how we prepare. This is how we fight.

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

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It’s Not That Kind Of Test

“For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.” - Psalm 66:10

The meanings of words change and evolve over the centuries. Today when we think of the word test we think of an exam or evaluation where we will be given a pass or fail grade.

Depending on the stakes, a failed test can cost us our jobs, our raises, our promotions, our college admissions, our graduations. A failed test often brings disaster.

The word test comes from the Medieval Latin word “testum” which was the earthen vessel in which precious metals were tried.

Today when we think of someone or something being tried, we usually think of a court case where a losing verdict means the loss of our money or our freedom. Where the word tried in this passage means refined.

God testing us in this passage means that God is protecting us because we are precious to God.

God trying us in this passage means that God is refining us because God has a higher purpose for us.

So don’t be afraid of failing the test. It’s not kind of test.

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

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

#personalresponsibility #selfcare #selfhelp #Psalm66

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God Is Faithful Even When We Are Not

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful-- he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13

God loves us even when we don’t love God, our neighbors, or ourselves.

God takes joy in us even when we are unappreciative and ungrateful. We are God’s children.

God is patient with us, even when we aren’t patient.

God is kind and gentle and always seeks to give us good, better, and best, even when we are unwilling to receive it.

God is calm, steady, and peaceful even when we are a whirlwind of negativity.

God never gives up on us. Even if we create hell for ourselves and each other, God is present.

God’s mercy is everlasting. God’s love endures for all generations.

God is faithful to us, even if we aren’t faithful to God

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

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