Made in His Image
I John 3:1 (J. B. Phillips Translation)
Consider the incredible love that the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called “children of God” - and that is not just what we are called, but what we are.
We dwell in Divine love every moment. As children of God we are fully filled with God’s unchanging love as we go about the tasks of the day. We are wrapped in love as we sleep and enveloped in love when we pray. Even when we are not thinking about spiritual things, God is surrounding us with never-ending, never-diminishing love.
It has always been a source of enjoyment for me to observe people, particularly families, in airports and while traveling. In trying to guess their ethnicities or country of origin in some cases, I would notice that expressions of affection, exasperation, and exhaustion could be expressed clearly in any language. My own parents encouraged my siblings and me to think more “globally” than “locally” as we grew in our understanding of the world around our small town. Without question, they told us, every human being on the planet was our brother or sister. This concept was a delight to me and brought great joy in realizing that I had family on all continents. Now as I travel I feel this kinship first-hand and I am honored by these connections.
God showers us with divine love even when we are exasperated or struggling, whether we are feeling distant or close to God’s heart. Sometimes this love and comfort is expressed through other people, near us or from another part of the globe. No matter what language we pray in, we are divinely connected as children of God, as brothers and sisters, as family. Let’s make it a daily task to spread this love as far as it can go.
Prayer:
Loving God, we are grateful and honored to live as one of your children. Thank you for love that never diminishes or changes, that is steady and constant. Help us share this steady love even when it seems challenging to do so, so that you are glorified through us. Amen.
This devotion was written by Jenny Green 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: 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/.
(soft music) - Welcome to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by the people of First United Methodist Church in Marival, Tennessee. On behalf of our congregation, thank you for joining us today. - This devotion was written by Jenny Green and read by Susan Dave's. It's entitled Global Family. Our scripture is from first John chapter three, verse one. This is the J.B. Phillips translation. Consider the incredible love that the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called children of God. And that is not just what we are called, but what we are. We dwell in divine love every moment. As children of God, we are fully filled with God's unchanging love as we go about the tasks of the day. We are wrapped in love as we sleep and enveloped in love when we pray. Even when we are not thinking about spiritual things, God is surrounding us with never ending, never diminishing love. It has always been a source of enjoyment for me to observe people, particularly families in airports and while traveling. In trying to guess their ethnicities or country of origin in some case, I would notice that expressions of affection, exasperation and exhaustion could be expressed clearly in any language. My own parents encouraged my siblings and me to think more globally than locally as we grew in our understanding of the world around our small town. Without question, they told us, every human being on the planet was our brother or sister. This concept was a delight to me and brought great joy in realizing that I had family on all continents. Now as I travel, I feel this kinship firsthand and I am honored by these connections. God showers us with divine love even when we are exasperated or struggling, whether we are feeling distant or close to God's heart. Sometimes this love and comfort is expressed through other people, near us or from another part of the globe. No matter what language we pray in, we are divinely connected as children of God, as brothers and sisters, as family. Let's make it a daily task to spread this love as far as it can go. Let us pray. Loving God, we are grateful and honored to live as one of your children. Thank you for love that never diminishes your changes that is steady and constant. Help us share this steady love even when it seems challenging to do so so that you are glorified through us. Amen. (gentle music) - Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. I'm Reverend Sarah Slack, Associate Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. Our church is a vital, vibrant congregation, sharing the love of Jesus Christ to our community and to God's world. This podcast was written and produced by the people of our congregation. To know more about this ministry or other ministries of our church, please visit our website at firstchurch.org. That's the number one, stchurch.org. Join us again for the next episode. And until then, bear witness to the love of God in this world so that those to whom love is a stranger will find in you most generous friends. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)
