Lent

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:1-4)

I grew up spending a lot of my time in my dad’s grocery store. It was full of candy and all the things that would entice a child. (I still love candy stores to this day!) Oh, how I wanted those pieces of Hershey Kisses, Sugar Babies, and Bit o’ Honey. That was my first remembrance of being tempted by something I was not supposed to have. When I took that piece of candy, without permission, the guilt overwhelmed the pleasure I thought I would have. As I have grown those temptations are still there but show up in more materialistic desires.  Still, they never fill the void that God can.

My prayer to God is to keep me grounded by worshipping him and not worldly things. Can I discern God’s voice from Satan? Do I pause and wait for his answers vs. short-term happiness?  When I do seek God, I not only have less regret but also a full heart that lets me focus on all the gifts I have been given with gratitude and love. Why can I not remember this and why do I fail time after time? Can I give everything to God... living only as he would have me do….avoiding temptation when I have so much?

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I pray today that I can be more like Jesus and learn from his examples, seeking Your will over my own. Amen.

Today’s devotional was written by Laura Burchfield and read by Sally 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/.