Samuel Mills — Devotionals

Black History Month

February is Black History Month. It is a month we celebrate and acknowledge the transformative work that black communities have had and continue to have in our society. I encourage you to read the profound impact our black brothers and sisters have had as inventors, creators, leaders, and influencers. While we celebrate the incredible and indelible impact that they have had, we also need to humbly acknowledge the harm we as a society have inflicted on them. In this past year, we as a society have experienced tragic events of racial injustice and tension, and our collective society needs to support the black community who has experienced centuries of oppression and discrimination. As we educate ourselves in their history and understand their present challenges, we will be equipped with compassion and wisdom to stand with them for a better world.

Super Bowl LV

On February 7, the sports world will turn its attention to one of the most viewed sporting events in the world, the Super Bowl. Over 100 million viewers will watch a football game, while many will probably be looking for the half-time show and commercials.
When I think about Tom Brady’s accomplishments and legacy, I am reminded about my own. So here is a question, what will your legacy be? Most of us will never reach the fame, magnitude, and influence of a player like Tom Brady, and that is not the goal either. Legacy is not about fame or popularity. A legacy can be measured in two ways: 1) accomplishments 2) and impact
Accomplishments are an easy and tangible way to measure legacy, but often they are forgotten within a few decades. However, impact can last a lifetime. How we influence, touch, and change others by the way we love and give of our time, talent and treasure will outlast us.

How to deal with regret

Regret can be both productive or unproductive. Regret becomes unproductive if we let it consume us by causing stress that hinders growth and maturity. Productive regret can catapult us to a bright future when we learn from our mistakes and change. Is the regret you may be struggling with productive or damaging? Regret can serve a purpose if we utilize our memory to motivate us and to learn from past mistakes.

DevotionalSamuel MillsJanuary 18, 2021Samuel Mills, Devotional, Regret, Productive Regret, Stress, Mistakes, Past, Unproductive RegretComment

Does God Still Speak Today? Part 3

Are we able to discern God’s voice from our own or the enemy’s? Jesus said in John 10 that My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me. For they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. –John 10:4,5,27 In part one we explore the distance that we create that hinders us from hearing God’s voice. In part 2 we looked at how distractions take our attention and focus away from God’s voice to other things. In this devotional, I would like to look at discernment. How do we recognize the voice of God? So how does God speak to us?

Does God Still Speak Today? Part 2

Is God the loudest voice in your life? Or Are there other voices in your life, including your own-self talk distracting you? There are three things that hinder us from hearing God’s voice: they are distance, distraction, and discernment. In part one of the series, we explored how distance separates us from God’s voice. I would like to focus on distraction. Distraction is something that captures our desires more than something else... what distracts us, has our attention. So what are you distracted by? If you are a parent you know the experience of calling your child who is fixated with their laptop, video game, phone or tv show that when you call them for dinner, they don’t respond. Most often they are not intentionally ignoring you. They are just so consumed with their screen that your voice is peripheral noise. At times we do that with God too… we are so focused on what we desire to do, that God’s voice becomes secondary, peripheral noise that goes unnoticed.

Does God still speak today? Part 1

At times in life, it may appear that God is absent, distant, or unresponsive. We struggle to find God, hear from God, or even feel his presence. We may assume that God is angry with us because of some failure in our life and that he does not want to interact with us. Psalm 13 is an honest prayer from David describing his struggle to find God. He asks God, “Will you forget me forever?”, “How long will you hide your face from me?”, and urgently requests God to respond to him. Have you ever felt abandon by God? Has his silence made you question his existence or love for you? Do you ever feel like your prayers are a waste of time? Today you may be feeling frustrated, angry, disillusioned, confused, wondering, questioning, or lonely because you feel distant from God, unable to receive even a word from him. In Psalm 13:3 – David asks God to look upon him and answer him. We may wonder at times: Does God still speak today?

The day after the 2020 US election

Whether we like it or not, politics has created a lot of divisions within families, marriages, churches, companies, and nations. So, how are we to react? How are we to respond to such divisive times? Regardless of who the winner of the 2020 presidential election is, I would like to propose to us three important responses for us as followers of Jesus. The way forward regardless of the winner will be turbulent and will test the strength and resilience of our collective society to forge ahead instead of dissolving into chaos, cultural wars, and God-forbid, violence. So, whatever the outcome of the elections, Pray for our leaders, the nation, and its peoples. Respect and love each other regardless of their individual beliefs or political affiliations and finally, place your hope and trust in God’s promises and faithfulness.

God, why have you forsaken me?

The cross embodied a supreme moment of isolation and public humiliation. The ultimate isolation was the moment when Jesus was separated from his Father. Followers of Jesus are called to this place of paradox. It is a place of difficult questions that often go unanswered and where our trust in the one who comes to us as a loving Father.

DevotionalSamuel MillsOctober 7, 2020Samuel Mills, Devotional, Cross, Jesus, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me, the cross, Gospel, Isolation, LolinessComment

Are you living with a label?

We all live with labels. Some of our labels are self-created and others are given by others. Labels are powerful because they can lock you into a wrong belief about yourself and lock opportunity and change out. Labels will affect the way you see yourself, God and the world. The longer you carry a label, the less it describes your past and the more it determines your future. So how has the right to label you? The one who made you and purchased you! God!

DevotionalSamuel MillsSeptember 23, 2020Samuel Mills, Identity, Labels, DevotionalComment