Devotion:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” This is from the Lord to the Apostle Paul when Paul was pleading for his “thorn in the flesh” to leave him. The Greek word “sufficient” is “arkeo”; used only 8 times in the New Testament. “Sufficient” is probably the best translation, but others translations are: “content”, “strong enough” and “to be strong enough to ward off.”
One of John Wesley’s core teachings is that God’s gift of grace is given to us throughout our lifetime. Dr. James Harnish in “A Disciple’s Path” writes, “This is the role of God in bringing us back to our created purpose. John Wesley believed that God’s grace is a movement, which is a lifelong journey that begins at the moment of birth. He described it as three different types or stages of grace and illustrated these types with his famous house metaphor.”
The first stage, prevenient grace, or the grace which goes before, invites us and prepares us for the next stages of grace. John Wesley called this “the front porch.” It means God meets us where we are and extends unconditional love to us.
The second is justifying grace which John Wesley describes as “the doorway of the house.” This is the gift of grace through God’s initiative in sending Christ to offer us forgiveness, salvation and restoration to a right relationship with God.
The third is sanctifying grace which Wesley calls “the inside of the house.” This gift of grace is transforming for us and helps us make the daily choices to, as Wesley writes in his three simple rules, “do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.” Our response in this stage is, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live lives of thanksgiving for God’s marvelous grace we have been given.
God’s grace is sufficient, is strong enough to ward off (and live through) earthly trials and tribulations, and allows us to be content and free to serve God and others.
Personal Worship Option:
A prayer verse from the hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” by Charles Wesley, 1747:
“Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in Heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.” Amen.
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