In the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, the author is given a number of visions. Chapter Four has a vision of heaven revealing the heavenly creatures who are praising and worshipping God and I particularly like verse 11 from the Common English Version where it describes the twenty-four elders crying out...

Isn’t it fitting that the Bible begins with God creating the world and everything in it and then concludes with a praise of God for his creative nature. I love watching the sun rise and sun set and have been blessed to witness them in many different places around the world. Each one reminds me of God’s creative power and daily renewal. God did not just create and quit, God continues to create, and we should praise God for it. I celebrate God’s creative nature today, May 13th, every year as I remember the birth of our first child, a son. For a number of reasons, we were so thankful and grateful for this gift, and it is right that we praise and honor God.

But have you ever thought about why God created our son, why he created you? The verse gives us the answer when it says it was by God’s will. In several other Bible translations, it says that it pleased God or was by God’s pleasure to create. How awesome to realize that God was pleased when creating you. Should we not remember this on a daily basis and thank God for not just creating and loving us, but for the creation of those around us.

Will you join me in this prayer: Lord God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power. Thank you for creating us and loving us and teaching us to love all your creations both people and the world. Amen.

My name is Owen Ragland, if these words today caused you to celebrate the creation of someone special in your life, please consider reaching out to them and letting them know you thank God for creating them.

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/.

On April 8, 1964, my life changed. I was two months from graduation from college in june, ready for a summer job with Virginia Tech extension, preparing for marriage in august and starting graduate school in September.

While studying between classes, a secretary said i needed to call home. I was told my father had been killed in a sawmill accident on the farm. I drove the 250 miles home, wondering all the way how this could have happened and wondering what the future held. We lived on a 200-acre farm with about one half of it in a managed forest, the other in cropland and pasture. My mother was a typical farm wife and mother to my two younger sisters who were still in high school and an older sister who was a teacher.

There was no receiving of friends in those days except many came by our home and said to let them know if they could do anything. The neighboring farmers came and plowed the fields and planted the corn, soybeans and peanuts. My uncle whose place was next to ours farmed our place that year and rented it years after. I graduated, worked at my summer job and farmed in the evenings. I married in august and started graduate school in September.

For at least two years, I could not get out of my mind what had happened. In particular, I could not understand how God could have allowed or caused this accident to happen when i was facing several major decisions in my life. I had been baptized at age twelve, and been active in church, royal ambassadors and such. However, it seemed all of that had in no way prepared me for the grief and decisions i had to make then and in the future.

I continued graduate school but came home on every opportunity to fix things that were not working at home, mostly plumbing. Yet, I still could not get out of my mind why the accident happened at all and why at that critical time in my life. Should I have stayed at home and farmed? My fiancé had already accepted a teaching job. I am sure some of the neighbors thought I took the easy way out by going to graduate school. At least i did not have to hear it.

I came upon a poem.

That seemed to help me move on, looking more toward the future. Later, in 1996, the man who bought the sawmill said my dad had installed the transmission in backwards which led to the accident. That seemed to answer my question of how it could have happed. It also brought closure. God wastes no opportunity to use our experiences for his glory. That experience has helped me comfort and better relate to those who suffer tragic losses.

Dear God, help us to learn from the past, but focus on the future and how we can be and do more to serve you. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Emmit Rawls.

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...

This short passage is enigmatic and raises more questions than it answer. How do we interpret these words of Jesus and his exchange with his disciple John? I confess that I do not have many answers and will continue thinking about this scripture for a while.

One thing seems to be clear. John and his colleagues want to stop people from exercising the authority of Jesus. Their actions and attitudes are based on the fact that the people who are doing these things are not a part of their group. They want to maintain the power of Jesus exclusively.

But Jesus does not have that attitude at all. While those who are with him all the time are special to him and he treats them as such, he understands that his mission on earth is much broader than these twelve men. Jesus is not challenged when others outside his circle speak and act in his name. He see value in those efforts and confident in their outcomes.

How often do we get caught up on our groups and seek to devalue and even prevent the good works of other people? Like little children, we want what we think is ours, and we don’t want others to have it. We forget that the good things we have and the opportunities to do good some from God, and we should always consider them gift. And we should remember that God gives to others as He does to us.

Our Father, help us to be more open to the good works that others may do and to never forget that your gifts are freely given. We have no special privilege and ownership in your kingdom. Amen.

This devotion was written by Jim Stovall 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: 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/.