OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - SUNDAY- 27/04/2014 - SUFFICIENT GRACE BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

SUFFICIENT GRACE

MEMORISE

And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

READ

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

MESSAGE

There is nothing God wants us to do for Him or to become that is not possible through His grace. His grace is sufficient for us. Whatever we encounter or experience while serving the Lord, His grace is sufficient to see us through. His grace insulates us from any pains, afflictions and difficulties that we may go through so that we are not destroyed by them. This same grace guards our hearts in times of pleasure, abundance, joy and prosperity so that we are not carried away. Paul desired that God would remove the thorn in his flesh. He specifically prayed on the matter three times but the Lord told him that He would not remove the thorn in his flesh. Instead, He supplied sufficient grace for Paul to carry on as though the affliction did not exist. Paul’s experience is similar to that of Jesus who also prayed three times to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, requesting that the cup of sin and suffering should pass over Him. Paul and Jesus prayed with a sense of submission to the will of God. God did not grant either of their requests, but He supplied sufficient grace for them to go through what was before them. Jesus went to the cross by God’s grace and Paul finished his race with the thorn in his flesh by the same grace.

Submission to the will of God is the secret to receiving and enjoying more grace from God because His grace is only made available for us to do His will. God will not give you grace to do your own will; neither will He impart his ability unto you to disobey Him. Even when the path before us is hard and rough, His sufficient grace will assist you if you remain totally surrendered and obedient to Him. Another aid to receiving the grace of God is humility (James 4:6). A humble person goes to God and expresses his willingness to please Him while acknowledging his inability to do so. God is moved by the humility of the humble because He knows He alone is the source of everything we need to please Him on earth. When He sees the humble heart in us crying for His assistance, He gives grace to help us in the time of need. What you need to do everything the Lord wants you to do is His grace. We should therefore go to the throne of grace to obtain grace for the help we need. We should be humble to tell God we cannot do anything without His grace and be bold to ask for it. There is no alternative source where help may be obtained to please God. Jesus obtained grace to die on the cross; Paul received grace to be killed for the gospel; you too can receive grace to accomplish your assignment.

KEY POINT

Those who ran this race successfully relied on no other thing but God’s grace.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Malachi 1-4; Psalm 90:7-17