"... My grace is sufficient for you ..." 2 Corinthians 12:9a
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our International Ministry Centers to write our Friday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker of The Lutheran Hour
Grace.
What a powerful word for the sinner. It is by grace we are saved. Freely given, wholly underserved, grace is the unmerited forgiveness Christians receive through God's gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The magnitude of what God has done on our behalf, however, can elude us. We live in a world that buzzes on all fronts with white noise. Even as Christians we get preoccupied and our thinking derails, causing us to lose sight of the hope we have through our faith in Christ. The result: doubt can settle into our minds as we lose sight of the extent of God's love.
Do we forget it was God's grace that saved us even when we were at our worst? This grace was delivered through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. "... While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8b). Raised from the dead three days later, Jesus' blood satisfied the judgment against us our sins required.
Now that's grace!
Grace is the source of God's good gifts, and this is why it is sufficient for us. There may be many difficult things that happen and cause us to lose hope in life, but in the face of all these things, Jesus says to us -- just as He said to the apostle Paul -- "My grace is sufficient for you."
A sufficient grace is what God shows the world -- sufficient to transform the hardest heart and the most callous of sinners.
Thank be to God for His grace abounding.
THE PRAYER: Gracious God, we thank You for all we receive from You, especially the grace that surrounds us with Your unfailing love and forgiveness. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
Biography of Author: This devotion was submitted from a volunteer with Lutheran Hour Ministries-Madagascar. Known in that country as the Voice of the Gospel, LHM established an office in Antananarivo in 1996. Using topical booklets, Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC), and Equipping the Saints (ETS) workshops in French and Malagasy, the Gospel is shared with islanders, many of whom are among the country's 50 percent living below poverty level.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhmint.org.
Today's Bible Readings: 2 Chronicles 4-6 2 Corinthians 1
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