(Our theme for October)

What does it take to be imitators of God? What is God like?

God is LOVE! To imitate him, we can do our best to display the Fruit of the Spirit - outlined for us in Gal. 5:22-23 – “…LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

This sounds wonderful…but it is so hard to constantly make this display! Have you noticed that an election is approaching, and ugly words are bombarding the airwaves of social media and TV?! Angry, hateful rhetoric and nasty name-calling spews from so many mouths! I just want to make the hate-mongers wash out their mouths with soap! But then I would be part of the problem! So, I will pray when I am overwhelmed by the barrage of negative words. I’ll pray over and over and I will cling to Jesus while biting my tongue!

It can be hard to get away from the negativity, so, I need to follow the advice found in Ephesians 4:29-32 – “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every kind of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Great advice! So, I will pray when I’m overwhelmed by the barrage of negative words. I will remember how Jesus prayed for those crucifying Him. Over and over, I will cling to Jesus while biting my tongue to keep from giving back the hate and negativity that I hear from so many sources!

My friends, please join me in striving to imitate Jesus and let’s pray right now…

“Father forgive them, they know not what they do. And forgive me too Lord, for my harsh thoughts and feelings, for my negative and nasty words. Guide me to LOVE my neighbors – all of them – and to forgive as much as I wish to be forgiven. Help me to imitate you and Jesus. And in His name we pray. Amen.”

This devotional was written and recorded 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: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

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/.

(our theme for September)

This is a story that we hear during Easter. It is indeed The Greatest Story Ever Told because of what the women found at the tomb early that morning.

But in focusing on that part of the story, I think we might miss another story. It is more mundane, but it is one that we are likely to experience in our daily lives. In this version in Mark’s gospel, a set of women – three who are named and others who are not – decide to do a good and proper deed. They mean to anoint the lifeless body of Christ with spices.

But they have a problem. Who will roll away the stone that is blocking the entrance to the tomb? The women don’t have the strength to do it. And there – right there! – the story could have ended.

How often do we think about something good we want to do, but then it occurs to us that it’s impossible. And so we stop.

For some reason, these women didn't stop. It appeared that what they were setting out to do was impossible. But they went anyway. And as it turned out, the thing they thought would be the biggest problem had already been solved by the time they got to the tomb.

In fact, what they set out to do wasn’t even necessary. Instead, they received the news that changed everything.

God has more in store for us that we can ever imagine. That’s what those women found out that day. If we just start down a path that God has laid out before us, there is no telling where we might end up.

Dear Lord, help us to focus not on the problems in our lives but on the paths of righteousness where you give us opportunity to travel. Help us to trust in your strength and your grace. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Jim Stovall.

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: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

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/.

(our theme for September)

Today’s scripture is found in Romans 15:13, reading from the New Living Translation.

This verse is found near the end of the book of Romans and even though it is not quite the end of the chapter, it still sounds like a doxology or an expression of praise to God commonly expressed as believers go forth from worship into the community. Even though it is only two sentences, there is a lot packed into these words.

The first important part is recognizing that God is the source of our hope. Hope cannot be seen, but it certainly can be felt and as we grow in our relationship with God, hope becomes a very strong and real expression of our faith and feelings. I really like where the scripture goes from here, acknowledging that God, the source of our hope will fill me completely, yes completely, with joy and peace. I want that complete feeling of joy and peace as I go through life and this verse says I can have it because I trust in God.

The second sentence only gets better. We move from being filled completely with joy and peace to overflowing with confident hope. If you think about it, there is a significant transition here between these sentences. The shift is from me being completely filled, a very personal thing, to me overflowing which is going to impact those other people around me. My hope can overflow to them and if they don’t understand my joy and peace, I can share the good news with them (the Gospel) about the source of my hope coming from God and his love for each of us. And there is one more promise in these words, that this will all be done with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that guides us and gives us the words when we don’t know what to say. So, the hope that fills us not only comes from God, not by my efforts, but it is a gift from God with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 would be a great verse to commit to memory but it can also be easily paraphrased to be remembered.

Father, God, we thank you for these simple words of assurance that give us an understanding of the power of prayer, the promise of joy and peace, and an overflowing of hope to share with those you place in my path. Come Holy Spirit and guide us. Amen

This devotion was written and recorded by Owen Ragland.

If these words have a special meaning to you, please consider sharing them with a friend.

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: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

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/.