God loves you!

Let that soak in. The God of all creation loves you!

His unfailing love is a free gift; and He gives it to all his children.

And what are we to do with all that LOVE?!

We need to soak in this great LOVE, to believe it, to relish it, to let it fill us.

We need to absorb it until we feel so full, that we must give it away!

Can you imagine being so aware and full of the feeling of LOVE that you are brimming over!

Doesn’t that sound great!?

So, why are we not feeling full of God’s LOVE continually and constantly giving it away?

Maybe life gets in the way, smothering our awareness of God’s LOVE.

Maybe we spend so much time tuned into noise of the world through our many devices, that we don’t have much time for the things of The Spirit.

Maybe worry, bitterness, anger, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, and pain take up too much room for LOVE to fit in.

Perhaps you have heard the story of the old Cherokee teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Every time the battery on our phone gets low, we feed it. We plug it in to charge it up.

And just like that battery, we need to be fed with a daily charge from God. We need time sitting quietly with no noise or distractions, just plugged into God, to get ourselves recharged with his GREAT LOVE!

The stronger our charge, the more LOVE we have to share!

Lord, help us to keep a full charge! Pull us to your LOVE that we may be brimming over and sharing your LOVE with everyone we encounter!

This devotional 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: 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/.

Mentioned in this episode:

Thank you for joining us for Grace for All. This month, we are repeating some of our most loved episodes. We hope they will inspire and encourage you on your faith journey. Welcome.

I cannot remember a time when music was not part of my life. Growing up in a small, country Methodist Church, I learned hymns from the old Cokesbury hymnal at a very young age. I started taking piano lessons at age 10 and by age 12 I was playing those hymns for Wednesday night services. And now, as an adult, the words of those hymns come to mind frequently in different situations I am facing.

Throughout my life, music has carried me through many difficult times. When my father died unexpectedly, I, along with my whole family was devastated. My siblings asked me to choose the music for his funeral. Remembering the hymns he had loved and deciding which ones to include in the service was comforting to me. A long-time close friend sang “How Great Thou Art,” his favorite. As he sang, I thought about my father’s faith and how he lived a life that exemplified it.

He was a humble man who loved God and others; his whole life was one of praise and thanksgiving.

Several years later, I was facing another difficult time. My mother’s health was in decline, and she was in denial. My siblings and I were constantly on alert for the next phone call telling us she had fallen or developed bronchitis or pneumonia because she preferred not to seek medical attention.

It was a very stressful time, to say the least. My respite was Wednesday night choir practice. For those two hours, I was able to lose myself in the lyrics and melodies and leave refreshed and renewed in faith, ready to deal with whatever the next day would bring. During our closing prayer time, I always lifted my mother to God, giving thanks for the years of love and care she had given our family, and asking for guidance in providing for her needs. Those years never got easier, but music and giving thanks to God enabled me to persevere and remain positive.

Through good times and bad, praising God through music and glorifying him with thanksgiving provides a path that gives life meaning. He knows we aren’t all great singers or musicians, but He deserves our praise and thanks however we can express it.

God, thank you for the gift of music and its transformative power in our lives. All good and great things come from you, and we praise you. Amen.

This devotional was written by Pat Scruggs and read by Joey 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: 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

Blaise Pascal lived in the 1600’s and wrote, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” These words are so appropriate for today! Except, we do sit still in rooms, not in quiet, but with a device speaking to us. We are constantly bombarded with noise, news, and sound.

God is not very likely to yell at us from a cloud, as he did Peter! He is more likely to come as he did to Elijah on that mountain, not in a windstorm, earthquake, or fire, but in a “still, small voice.” Without sitting in the quiet, how can we hear God’s still, small voice? How can we “listen to Him”?

Jesus modeled this way of listening for us. He withdrew alone from the crowds and noise, to pray. He listened and heard when God spoke in that still, small whisper. We must emulate Jesus! We need to withdraw, to be alone, to pray silently and to listen for that “still small whisper.” We need this daily. But we won’t make it happen without disciplining ourselves as Jesus did. Make a vow to withdraw, unplug, turn off electronics and find time to tune in to God. Just listen! He might be whispering right now…

This devotional 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: 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/.

Mentioned in this episode:

This month on Grace for All, we are replaying some of our most listened to episodes. If you are enjoying these devotions and would like to have them in written form, our first six months of content is now available in print. You can find it by searching Grace for All, a book of daily devotions, by Jim Stovall on Amazon. As always, thank you for joining us, and we pray that you will be blessed.