Grace for All

Genesis 5: 1-2 (NIV)This is the written account of Adam’s family line. When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.Genealogies are found throughout the Bible, and I have found them to be both informative and interesting reading. In a sense they provide a legitimacy to the stories of God’s chosen people because we see the growth of the family tree from Adam all the way to Jesus. Along the way, the auth...

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (CEB)Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.During our church's Vacation Bible School, I had the pleasure of being in the kitchen. As the children came through the line, I watched as parents worked with their children on having good manners. Some, when asking for their selection, had to be reminded to say “please.” At times, the parent holds the plate as they say several times, “Now what do you say?” until the child finally says, “please.” Other tim...

Jeremiah 14:19–22 (NIV)Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror. We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you. For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it. Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies th...

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. One of the last Christmas presents I received from my Mammaw before she died was a coffee mug. I should back up a bit to say that even as a teenager and young adult — at whatever point in my life I started realizing a bit about how far money goes — I marveled at Mammaw’s gift giving. A lady with nine living children, many of whom have spouses, more than a...

Romans 8:28 (CEB)We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.Romans 8:28 may be one of the most comforting verses in the Bible. It may also be one of the most misused.I grew up hearing, “All things work together for good.” When something terrible happens, someone may even say, “Everything happens for a reason.” But that can make it sound as though suffering somehow produces good all by itself, or worse, that God caused the terrible thing be...

You are listening to 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...

Proverbs 2:6For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.When Solomon became king, he had one big request for God: give me the wisdom to govern well. God said, “Yes,” and gave it to him generously.Here's the thing we often overlook. The Hebrew word for "wisdom" is bigger than the kind you need to run a kingdom. It covers a craftsman's skill, an artist's eye, and something closer to home — the everyday competence of living life well. Scripture even pictures Wisdom as a friend – a woman standing at her door...

John 8:12Again Jesus spoke to them saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life”.It is summertime and there is plenty of light! I enjoy my wildflower gardens that thrive in that light. I find they are a place where I can pause, reflect and enjoy God’s creation right in front of me. It has been cited that a walk in the garden can bring down your blood pressure. I know that I certainly feel better after a few moments there...

Luke 5:16Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.Barbara and I were returning from a family reunion in Alabama not long ago and making our way up the interstate highway. We encountered several impatient drivers who zoomed in and out of traffic, seeking to get to their destination quickly. They put the rest of us at risk. I’m sure that was not their intention, but the result was to make us uncomfortable and vulnerable, and create a climate that raised anxiety for everyone.I thought of the counsel of Richard Foster, wh...

Isaiah 41:10“So, do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”This verse is a powerful reminder that God, the Helper of Israel, and of all human kind, does not want us to live in fear. There are also a dozen times in the New Testament where Jesus encourages people not to be afraid. We should take something repeated by God that many times, as absolute truth! Yet we worry and are...

Romans 15:13 (NRSV) May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.In Paul’s letter to the Roman church, he spends the first eleven chapters building one long argument: Jew and Gentile stand on identical ground before God. No distinction, he says in chapter 3 — all have sinned, all are justified freely by grace. In chapter 11, Gentile believers are branches grafted into an old olive tree, sharing its root with Israel rather than replacing it.A fe...

Psalm 121: 1-2 (New International Version)I lift up my eyes to the hills—Where does my help come from?My help comes from the Lord,The Maker of heaven and earth. What happens when a person looks up to the hills and puts her faith in the Lord? The answer is illustrated in the life of Emma Gatewood, more famously known as Grandma Gatewood of Gallipolis, Ohio, who was the first woman to walk the Appalachian Trail in its entirety in 1955 at the age of 67. In the years following, she walked the trail two more ti...

Welcome to the Saturday episode of the Grace for All podcast. Thank you for joining us today. Saturday is a special time when we take a few moments to review the scriptures that we have cited in the episodes this week.If you missed any of those episodes, you might want to consider listening to them today. And even if you heard them all, there may be one that you might want to listen to again. We hope that each of these scriptures and podcasts will bring you a full measure of joy, peace, and love.<...

Lamentations 3:21-23 (NRSV)But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.We sing the wonderful hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” with such warmth that it’s easy to imagine it coming from a quiet, sunny morning. It didn’t. Those words grew out of destruction and rubble.Almost the whole book of Lamentations is raw grief. In 586 BC, the Babylonians took Jerusalem, and it wasn’t just a wal...

Made in His Image Psalm 139:13-14"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."More than 25 years ago, my dear friend’s son was born with a serious heart defect requiring multiple open-heart surgeries. I will never forget visiting them when he was just a toddler. At bedtime, I watched her dress him in his pajamas and tuck him in for the night. As she sett...

Genesis 28:12And he dreamed: a stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.Some years ago, Catherine Nance described in a sermon the concept of thin spaces. According to Google, Thin spaces (often called thin places) are unique locations or moments where the boundary between the physical world and the spiritual realm feels exceptionally close. I instantly knew that what Catherine was describing was more than just conjecture but was, in fact, real.Scripture is full of...

Psalm 30:5 (CEB)His anger lasts for only a second,but his favor lasts a lifetime.Weeping may stay all night,but by morning, joy!Twice now I have taken part in the funeral of one of my children.Barry, our oldest son, passed away more than eight years ago. Hannah, our oldest daughter, passed away only nine months ago.Each of those losses shocked me to my core. I found myself asking, How will I ever get through this?It turns out that is a common question...

Isaiah 55:1-3 (NLT)“Is anyone thirsty?Come and drink—even if you have no money!Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?Why pay for food that does you no good?Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.You will enjoy the finest food.3 “Come to me with your ears wide open.Listen, and you will find life.I will make an everlasting covenant with you.I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.<...

Psalm 46:1-2 (NRSV)God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.Psalm 46 was likely written for a nation under siege—some scholars connect it to the night Jerusalem woke up to find an invading army gone, the threat dissolved overnight with no explanation the city had engineered for itself. The Hebrew word for refuge here is machaseh (mah-khah-SEH), a shelter, a place you flee to when there's nowhere else to go. Fo...

You are listening to 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...