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When Facing Hard Times

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." - Jeremiah 8:20

The people of Israel were facing a bad situation and it wasn’t going to get better anytime soon. Sometimes life is like that for us. Sometimes it’s our fault, and sometimes not. Regardless of fault or blame, what do we do next?

The first thing Jeremiah does is acknowledge what he’s feeling and experiencing, “My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick.” (Verse 18)

Next Jeremiah gives himself space to mourn and grieve. “For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken, I mourn, and horror has seized me.” (Verse 21) We have to allow ourselves to feel.

When times get hard, we are tempted to close ourselves off, shut down our feelings and make ourselves hard. But the prophet chose to feel. “O that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Verse 9:1)

When facing hard times, it’s important to honest with ourselves about how hard things are. We need to give space to our feelings and allow ourselves time to grieve. Eventually, we will get back on our feet and back into the struggle, but when we do, we will do so with our humanity in tact.

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

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The Difference Between Forgiveness and Reconciliation

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” - 2 Corinthians 5:18

We have been called to forgive everyone preemptively, without preconditions, and unilaterally. We have also been called to the ministry of reconciliation. What’s the difference?

Forgiveness does not assume reconciliation. There are many examples particularly in the cases of exploitation and abuse where having any level of reconciliation with a person who is unrepentant and or unreformed is unhelpful and even harmful.

Reconciliation requires at least two willing parties, who are ready to listen, who are ready to speak the truth in love, who are ready to take responsibility, who are ready to learn, and grow, and change.

The ministry of reconciliation we have been called to means that we should always be ready to be one of the two parties. We will

1. Listen
2. Speak the truth in love
3. Take responsibility
4. Learn, grow, and change

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 #positiveattitude #positivity #redemption #forgiveness #reconciliation

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Be Street-smart and Gentle At The Same Time

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” - Matthew 10:16

There’s a big difference between living sacrificially, and being exploited, abused, and taken advantage of.

The first one means exercising our agency to give up something we value for something we value more.

The second means being cheated, deceived, and robbed of what’s precious to us nearly always for something that wasn’t worth it.

We may choose to live foolishly in the eyes of the world, but we have never been called to be fools. We know very well how the game is played. But we choose not play it for ill. We only play it for good.

Be shrewd as snakes, and innocent as doves. Street-smart and gentle at the same time.

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 #purpose #wisdom #gentle #streetsmart #discernment #wisdom #selfcare #personalgrowth #positiveattitude #positivity

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Who Are We Serving?

“No slave can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." - Luke 16:13

It’s easy to get ourselves twisted when it comes to dealing with money. We all need money and material possessions to survive in this world. Many of the things we want to experience and enjoy come with a price tag.

It’s easy for us to look at people who have more than we do and criticize them for either the way that got the money, or their lack of generosity with the money they have. These criticisms are not always wrong. However, the criticism is always wrong if it doesn’t start with ourselves.

Have we done or are we doing anything that violates the principle of loving our neighbor to get the money. Have we done anything exploitative, unfair, unjust, or deceptive (even if it was legal)? Have we been generous with others, either directly or through charity?

Has the pursuit of money become an end for us or does it remain a means to help us do good in the world? We always have to be honest about who we are serving.

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 #purpose #money

#stewardship #charity #generousity #giving #success

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When We Don’t Feel Supported

A few days ago I made a post called, “It Was Worth It” where I talked about giving up my previous life to answer my calling. A fellow TikToker asked about what happens when your family doesn’t support you.

I’ve been blessed to have pretty good support from my family even when they thought I was making a mistake. But Jesus went through this. His family thought he had lost his mind and literally came to get him.

“When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” - Mark 3:21

Jesus didn’t go with them. First he had a very clear sense of who he was and what he was about. Second, Jesus intentionally surrounded himself with a community of people who believed in him and supported him.

Jesus’s family didn’t believe in him, or at least they stopped believing in him. The folks in his hometown dismissed and disregarded him. But Jesus had already studied with John the Baptist. He had already spent time by himself in the wilderness. He developed a strong sense of identity and mission.

When family doesn’t believe in you, don’t seek out just any advice. Seek the advice of people who you respect, people who have gone through what you have gone through, and have overcome. Look to their example.

Learn from them, but don’t try to copy them. Jesus went on to spend some time praying in the wilderness. His ministry had some things in common with John the Baptist, but it was also very different. John’s harshest critics would not have dreamed of calling him a drunk and a glutton as Jesus’s critics called him. Jesus was his own person.

Finally, Jesus started to surround himself with like minded people, who respected him and shared his mission. They left their homes behind and put themselves in environments where they could become who they were meant to be.

When we don’t feel supported:

1. Seek out good advice
2. Take the time to understand who we are as we apply advice to our lives.
3. Surround ourselves with people who support us and share our vision.
4. Move ourselves into environments where we can thrive.

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

#60secondsofhope #inspiration #Devotion #faith #discipleship #positivity #personaldevelopment #devotional #selfconfidence #positivemindset #dailydevotional #dailymeditation #dailydevotion #dailyinspiration #growth #devotional #purpose #Mark3 #selfconfidence #selfesteem #selfcare

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What Does It Mean To Believe?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” - John 3:16

What does it mean to believe in Jesus?

It means that we trust all our footsteps to the trail he blazed. We learn to think and speak, act and react, hope and desire as he did.

We trust that the power of love is greater than the power of hate, and that good will eventually prevail over evil.

We will not bow down to the false idols of money, power, and social status. Nor will we be given to distraction.

Instead of only looking after our own, we seek to be a good neighbor to everyone we meet. We practice kindness, compassion, hospitality, and generosity.

We live joyful lives filled with gratitude for all the good, all the beauty, and all the love that we have experienced. We see the reflection of God on everyone we meet.

We forgive preemptively, serve willingly, and live sacrificially. We forsake revenge, retaliation, and retribution.

We free the oppressed, feed the hungry, and care for the sick. We encourage the discouraged, comfort the afflicted, and welcome the stranger.

Our full commitment and allegiance is to live this way. And even if living this way leads us to dying on a cross, there is still no other way we would ever choose to live.

This is what it means to believe in Jesus.

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

(Be sure to like, follow, and share. And go to the website on my profile and sign up to receive these messages delivered daily to your inbox for free.)

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How Successful Will Jesus Be?

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.” - John 3:17

If it is God’s desire to deliver the world, and if God has given Jesus this mission, how successful do we believe Jesus will be?

In a short reflection, I cannot begin to fully address this ultimate question. I can point out that Jesus has invited us to participate in his work.

The early church, according to the Gospel of Matthew, believed that the risen Jesus directed us to go into the world and make students/ disciples who learned to think and do as he did.

Jesus has invited us to join him in proclaiming the prophet Isaiah’s words that, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”

Jesus invited us to live with these words every day in the way we care for those the world deems to be the “least of these.”

How successful will Jesus be in fulfilling this mission? How successful do we want him to be? It seems to me Jesus has left that in no small part up to us.

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

(Be sure to like, follow, and share. And go to the website on my profile and sign up to receive these messages delivered daily to your inbox for free.)

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Show The World Something Different

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever trusts in him may experience eternal life.” - John 3:14-15

It’s not about the confessions we recite, or the speeches we make. Empty words have no power. It’s about lifting up a different example, a model of how to live, and be, and do. It’s about showing the world something different.

The world runs on fear. The world suggests that if we can get enough money, power and status, we don’t have to be afraid anymore. We can hold heads up high anywhere we go. The world suggests that anything we can get away with to get what we want is ok, and we can never have too much.

We lift an alternative way of living, being, and doing. We trust our footsteps to the way of love. We see everyone as our neighbor and do unto them, not as they do, but as we would like them to do to us. We practice kindness, generosity, and forgiveness. We live our lives centered in faith, hope, and love.

Anyone who trusts their footsteps to this alternative way will experience a peace and a wellbeing that the world can’t take away.

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

(Be sure to like, follow, and share. And go to the website on my profile and sign up to receive these messages delivered daily to your inbox for free.)

#60secondsofhope #inspiration #Devotion #faith #discipleship #devotional #growth #positivity #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #positivemindset #positiveattitude #dailyinspiration #dailydevotion #dailymeditation #dailydevotional #redemption #healing #change #eternallife #redemption

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