Grace for All

Sometimes I think if I were God, I would have given up on people a long time ago.  Do you ever feel that way?  As if the rest of the world has quit trying, and you might as well, too? 

My walk with Jesus has led me through many seasons—seasons filled with hope and gratitude, seasons rich with promise and potential, seasons in which my spirit was so attuned to Christ I could see evidence of God’s presence everywhere I looked. There have been seasons of fear and uncertainty, seasons heavy with weariness, seasons of spiritual drought in which I could not seem to find God, no matter how hard I tried.  And then there have been times when I was tempted to give up trying altogether, because the future seemed bleak, the world seemed to be moving backward in time rather than forward, and by comparison, my own efforts seemed so small.

In such seasons, I want to throw in the towel, throw up my hands, and just give up on doing my part to try to make the world a better place.  The apostle Paul’s words to his protégé, Timothy, offer a lifeline in moments like these. Paul encourages Timothy to persevere, to keep running the race of faith despite every obstacle. Paul knows the mix of triumph and tribulation, delight and despair, energy and exhaustion of following in Jesus’ footsteps.   And to steady Timothy—and us—he offers a trustworthy saying: Remember, even though you may give up, God never does.  That’s not who God is.   Or, as The Message translation puts it, “If we give up on him, he does not give up—for there’s no way he can be false to himself.”

Faith is the fruit of the Spirit because God is faithful, and God cannot be otherwise. Today, Paul is reminding us that when our faith wavers, we can find hope in God’s unwavering faithfulness.  No matter what, God remains steadfast and true. 

Faithful God, when we lose heart, when out of sadness or frustration or weariness we feel like giving up, help us, like Timothy, remember this “trustworthy saying.” Remind us of your faithfulness across all generations.  May we draw near to you and receive the gift of faith, the fruit of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today’s devotion was written and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

To say the least, the Pharisees had a very contentious relationship with Jesus. They lived at the pinnacle of society, and they saw Jesus as a direct threat to their status, which was highly vaunted in respect to the everyday person of that time. 

They connected the dots immediately to Exodus 3:14 “I am that I am” as was revealed to Moses, and thus their virulent reaction. As Christians, we know and understand that Jesus was there with the Father from the beginning. 

In my own Christian walk, the more I study, the more seamless is the link between the Old and New Testaments. 

The verses in this podcast act as Christ’s segue to his other “I am” statements to make it so clear to the masses as to who he really was. 

Here’s a sampling of some of those to present clear pictures to the people that they could relate to in their daily lives: 

The way is not always easy. There can be gloom, fog, rain, and hidden obstacles! Jesus is there for us! We can take our prayers of worry, concern, and/or gratitude to Him. He and his love are there for us. He commands us to share that same love with our brothers and sisters here on this earth. In doing so He will know us and gather us into heaven with the greeting of “Welcome, good and faithful servant! Even when you did those kind things to the least of them, you did it upon me!” Isn’t that really what it’s all about?

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent your only Son to teach to love and to carry away the burden of our sin with His death on the cross. Give us the compassion to love one and other as you love us. Amen. 

This devotional was written and read by Sam Barto.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things- that is a lot to  contemplate. Bearing and enduring don’t exactly have a positive tone. Hoping and believing do.  When we really stop and examine these words in the context of God’s love, the verse only has universal meaning when they are applied to all things and all times. It is all too easy to love,  believe, hope, and endure when things are pleasant and we think things are right. But do we remember that God’s love is at the center of these moments all the time? It is much harder to find  God’s love in things we endure. Sometimes we lose awareness of our hope and belief as we endure the worst or think the worst of the world and others. Perhaps the important part of this  verse is the seemingly neutral “all things.” 

Love is not God’s love, agape, if it only applies to things we find pleasant and right. God’s love is not partial, and it is not easy. It does not ignore the parts of life and reality that humans want to deny. It does not waver. It endures. It holds. It supports. It is. 

Some people find me to be cynical. I prefer to think of it as realistic. I prefer to think of it as not denying that life can be challenging. I think the difference is hope. If we seek to be Christ-like like then we must find hope in all things, the things we cannot explain, the things we cannot agree with. If we seek to be Christ-like like then we are required to endure the pain and suffering of the world even when we want to label it as wrong, or ignore it, or be angry about it. We are required  to believe and seek the hope that God’s love will show us- all of us- a path forward because our  example is a Man whose path led to a cross. When our love endures all things, then we respond in love to all things. The challenge of loving people, ideas, and situations that we think are wrong requires us to be realistic about the fact that we are not in charge and we are not all-knowing. The human capacity to understand all is only possible through the gift of the Holy  Spirit and the sacrifice of Jesus. If my belief is that God makes all things, then I must give my doubts to God in prayer and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Hope is born in these moments when we return God’s love in prayer and find the strength to accept our place in a world that we do not understand.  

Let us pray together today that we have hope and belief in our hearts as we strive to understand all. God, help us to understand that Your love is ever present for us and in us to share with the world we live in, hope in, believe in, endure in, and we pray that we act as part of one church in the body of Christ. May the fruits of the Spirit that You have shared with us enrich the lives of everyone we encounter. Amen.

This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Susan Daves

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/. 

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/. 

In this scripture, Jesus is talking to his closest followers, teaching them the importance of staying close to Him; the importance of relying on Him for strength and direction.  But they were very confused and concerned, because he had also just told them he was leaving and going where they could not follow.

How could they rely on Him if he was leaving?

Not long after this conversation, Jesus was arrested, tortured, crucified, died, was buried and rose up out of that grave! Centuries later we live in a very different world, where we are constantly hearing all the bad news of millions of people all over the world.  A world where we are bombarded with troubles, both real and imagined, 24X7.

It can feel overwhelming, to say the least.  We need Jesus’ promise to feel true for us today!  “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart, I have overcome the world.”

How can these words feel true?  How can they help us today?  Where are you, Jesus?!

I recall asking Jesus just that very question one day a few years ago, when I was going through a particularly rough spot in my life.  And he whispered His answer in my heart – “I’m right here.”

Friends, he is here.  He is always with us, but are we always with Him?  It is us who turn away – not Him.  I can’t feel His presence and neither can you, if we don’t take the time to shut off the noise, put down the devices that talk to us 24x7, and find quiet time to pray and to listen for Him – time to seek Him.

He is with us and promises we will find him when we seek Him.  He is actually closer than our breath.  He has overcome the world, but we haven’t allowed him to overcome our hearts.  Our hearts are too often weighed down with the myriad troubles of the world and we seem to hear them all.  But take heart friends.  Jesus has overcome the world!

Psalm 143:8-10 offers a great prayer for us today and every day.  Please pray with me.

Dear God, forgive me for turning away from You, and help me to seek You always, to trust Your word, and to believe with all my heart that You have overcome the world.  You, O God, are LOVE and I need Your help to live in LOVE and peace.  Help me, I pray.  AMEN.

Today’s podcast was written and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/. 

Paul begins this verse with therefore—a word that always invites us to look back. In the previous section, Paul describes the kind of life that flows from focusing on “the parts of your life that belong to the earth”: anger, greed, slander, and all the ways we scramble to establish ourselves by the world’s measures. But he also paints another picture—the life that comes from being “renewed in knowledge by conforming to the image of the one who created it” (v.10). 

That’s where it therefore leads us. Because you belong to God. Because you’ve been given a new nature. Because you are “God’s choice, holy and loved.” Therefore, dress like it.  Consciously “put on” compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 

I think back to a conversation with a therapist years ago. He asked me, “What do you want?” I  answered, “I’m supposed to want a good job, 2.5 kids, a nice house…” He interrupted, “No, not what are you supposed to want. What do YOU want?” I couldn’t answer. My entire orientation was shaped by what the world expected of me—what others wanted from me—not by who I  truly was. 

I eventually discovered that my deepest fulfillment came not from chasing ego-driven desires or living up to external expectations, but from embracing whose I am. When my identity shifted— from striving to belong, to knowing I already belong—I could finally “put on” those qualities Paul describes. 

Today, ask yourself: are you living by the expectations of the world, or by the reality that you are already “God’s choice, holy and loved”? 

Because once you know whose you are, it changes everything about how you live.

Dear God, thank you for reminding us that we are your choice, holy and loved. Help us stop  chasing the world’s expectations and instead rest in the truth of who we are in you. Teach us  each day to “put on” compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience—not out of duty,  but because your love is shaping us. Keep drawing us closer to your heart, so our lives reflect  yours. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Donn King.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/. 

This is Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by the people of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee.

This is Scripture Saturday, a time when we pause and reflect on the scriptures we have read throughout the week. If you missed any of our devotionals on these passages, you can find them on our website at 1stChurch.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Now, we invite you to listen and receive Grace. Welcome and thank you for joining us.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/. 

The scripture today is the story of Jesus’ encounter with a rich young ruler. It is a story familiar to many. It starts in a straight forward way but ends in a way that can leave us asking questions. As with anything that is said it is always helpful to try to understand it as those present would have heard it and then ask ourselves how we hear it. In the case of the Bible this is complicated by the need for translation since it is often hard to translate from one language to another and keep the meaning the same. It is like a lot of other sayings of Jesus that at first seem impossible. But sometimes we need to look beyond the actual words and try to discern what is actually being said.

In my NIV translation a footnote for verse 24 says that some translations read in part “Children how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.” At that time, as some do today, some equated having riches as a “reward” from God for leading a good life. Lots of cities had walls around them with gates that could be closed. In addition to the main gate there was often a narrow gate beside it. When loaded camels came to the main gate, they were often required to unloaded all their baggage so it could be searched. Then they were made to walk through the narrow gate. The narrow gate was so tight and hard to navigate that they could barely make it through. They certainly could not make it carrying any baggage.

I think the message to us is that to enter the kingdom of heaven is not impossible. But we must leave all our baggage (anything that we put before trusting and obeying God) behind. That is easier said than done. But as we are reminded in verse 27, all things are possible with God’s help.

Dear Lord help me this day to leave all my baggage behind and put your will first in everything that I say, think, and do.

This devotion was written by Alvin Jenkins and read by Cliff McCartney.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/. 

I have grown up hearing the phrase “forgive and forget” whenever having been in a conflict with someone who has wronged me and being faced with the issue of forgiveness. In my adult years, I’ve been of the mindset of trying to be slower to anger and more willing to forgive, though often that can be a difficult task. 

While the phrase “forgive and forget” is one that I’ve always felt I don’t agree with since due to my scarily good memory or my willful stubborn streak that I inherited from my father, I cannot forget so easily. Nonetheless, I am always willing to forgive and show kindness and compassion to others, but I won’t tell those who have wronged me that I won’t forget. 

In thinking of how it can often be difficult to forgive and show kindness and compassion to others, I am reminded of how Lin Manuel Miranda portrays the mindset of Eliza Hamilton in his hit musical Hamilton following the death of her eldest son, Philip. Undoubtedly, she’s angry at the world and her husband, who can be seen as indirectly responsible for the tragedy, but nonetheless, in the musical number “It’s Quiet Uptown”, she forgives him without saying a word and takes hold of his hand as the chorus behind the two sing the lyrics “forgiveness. Can you imagine?” 

Initially, I thought that perhaps she was being a bit too forgiving, but looking back on it now, holding onto anger is not a mindset Christ would want us to have. As stated in today’s verse, we should strive to be slower to anger and treat each other a bit more kindly and with more compassion and strive to forgive each other as he forgave us, though that can be a diQicult task sometimes, if there is one message I leave you with from this devotion: it is that the world can benefit from more kindness, this day and every day. 

God, please help us remember to be more forgiving to others as you have been to us, though we may not be worthy of it. May we be slower to anger and quicker to kindness as it is needed now. Amen.

This devotional was written and recorded by Grace Jonas.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Paul’s letter to the Colossians continues the theme of most of his letters: Christ is Lord of all, and we are to accept and love one another in faithfulness to Him. 

Imagine this headline on a papyrus scroll in 60 A.D., when scholars believe this letter was written either by Paul or a close disciple of his:

It was true then and remains true today that different leaders have varying ideas of right and wrong practices within Christianity. In verses prior to this one, Paul (or his disciple) talks about several “wrong teachings” to which the people of Colossae have been exposed, such as adhering to food laws, practicing mysticism, and worshipping angels. Again and again, he emphasizes that Christ is the one, true head of the church. It is a struggle for new believers to remain focused on Jesus as both their savior and unifier through his teachings. 

In our current times, we continue to be assailed by false teaching by self-appointed givers of wisdom touting practices that do not strengthen us in our spiritual journey. In fact, it is my belief that these threats are more overt than ever, largely due to the 24-hour news cycle and the availability of the media to anyone who wants to talk, whether they have any credibility or not. Think televangelists and those who admonish us that our salvation is not assured unless we specifically do this or that. Even worse, some of these pundits set us against one another, completely ignoring the truth that we are one in Christ. Paul says Do not be misled! The peace of Christ in our hearts is a gift to us, and for that gift, we are to be thankful. 

The practice of gratitude is one way to maintain the peace of Christ in our hearts.  Recognizing that God is the giver of all good things and thanking him specifically for the good things in our lives recognizes God’s sovereignty and our dependence on Him.  Gratitude replaces anger, fear, jealousy, and other negative feelings and takes our focus away from ourselves. Someone recently said to me, “When I stand on the shore and view the vastness of the ocean, I realize just how small I am in the universe. And even though I  am that small, I know God loves me and walks with me. My daily worries are diminished, and I remember that all will be well.”

Remember today to let the peace of Christ rule in your heart no matter your circumstances, and be thankful for God’s love and all his gifts to you. 

Father, life can overwhelm us at times, and we forget that your love is constant,  no matter the circumstances. Help us turn away from the things that distract us from You,  and help us focus on all the good gifts You have given us. Thank you, God, for loving us and for teaching us that to love one another is the greatest way to honor You. Amen.

Today’s devotional was written and read by Pat Scruggs.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.