Author: Cindy Lee

Salvation is not a static, one-time event in our lives.  It is an ongoing experience of God’s gracious presence transforming us into whom God intended us to be.  John Wesley described this transforming work as sanctification and was the result of God’s Sanctifying Grace.  

If Justifying Grace is best described as a single event, then Sanctifying Grace is best described as a lasting relationship. Through Sanctifying Grace, people grow and mature in their ability to live as Jesus lived. If Justifying Grace is something God does for the person, then Sanctifying Grace is something God does in the person. In Sanctifying Grace, the person and God work together so that the inner nature of the person is transformed. The goal of Sanctifying Grace is for the nature of Christ to be formed inside the person thus affecting one’s thoughts, words, and deeds.

Because the person works with God’s grace for holy living, one must practice spiritual disciplines and do good works; however, they are not prerequisites for salvation—that is a work of God. Thus, in Sanctifying Grace, God leverages one’s good works to form the nature of Christ inside the person. Like Prevenient and Justifying Grace, Sanctifying Grace is a gift.       

This week’s reading:

• Monday – 2 Cor. 7, 2 Cor. 8, 2 Cor. 9, 2 Cor. 10
• Tuesday – 2 Cor. 11, 2 Cor. 12
• Wednesday – Matthew 1, Matthew 2, Matthew 3, Matthew 4
• Thursday – Matthew 5, Matthew 6, Matthew 7
• Friday – Matthew 8, Matthew 9, Matthew 10

Please Pray for:

• Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
• Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications.
• Those who are unwillingly absent.
• Those who are grieving and depressed.
• The United Methodist Church.
• Our nation and our leaders.

Last week’s First Steps’ Devotional centered on God’s Prevenient Grace – the work of God before one responds to God’s call.  This week, our topic is what happens the moment one responds to that call.  Upon human response, a person experiences conversion in the form of God’s Justifying Grace.

Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Cor 5:19).  Justifying Grace is the work of God that reconciles, pardons, and restores a person.  It is here that sins are forgiven and the image of God in a person, which was distorted by sin, is renewed.  

Again, this is a gift from God and something God does for the person.  The relationship is mended without jumping through hoops, restitution given, or personal atonement.  The death and resurrection of Jesus was all that was needed.  A person only needs to respond by faith in God’s grace in Jesus Christ.  

This week’s reading:

• Monday – 1 Cor. 12
• Tuesday – 1 Cor. 13, 1 Cor. 14
• Wednesday – 1 Cor. 15, 1 Cor. 16
• Thursday – 2 Cor. 1, 2 Cor. 2
• Friday – 2 Cor. 3, 2 Cor. 4, 2 Cor. 5, 2 Cor. 6

Please Pray for:

• Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications.
• Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
• Those who are unwillingly absent.
• Those who are grieving and depressed.
• Our nation and our leaders.
• The United Methodist Church.

When we think of Jesus and his disciples, we mostly think that the disciples needed Jesus and we miss the reality of how much Jesus needed the disciples. When we view the last week of his life, especially the last night of his life, we can easily see how much Jesus needed his disciples. He actually called them his friends and the ones who had stood by him in his trials.

On that last night, they shared the annual celebratory Passover meal filled with roasted lamb, wine, and much laughter. At some point, the night turned sober and even dark when Jesus got up from the table, washed their feet, and then shared that one of them was going to betray him. Strange as that was, the disciples’ denial was in the form of a question, “Surely not I?” Perhaps it was at that moment that they realized that all of them were flawed and that given the right circumstances, they too would betray and run.

Though we will never know their exact thoughts on that last night, we can draw strength from knowing our own frailties. It has been my experience that most moral failures occur when one is least aware of what temptation cords are being strummed. It is one thing to know one’s strengths but something completely different to know one’s weaknesses. Know your strengths, but also know those areas that present the greatest temptations. If you don’t know them, ask God. He will surely tell you.

In the 2nd Century, Aristedes gave this witness to Emperor Hadrian when asked about Christians: “Truly this is a new people, and there is something divine in them.” Do you believe that there is something divine in you? Though we would theologically agree with Aristedes, I wonder if we live that way?

This week, would you do things differently if you believed that there is something divine in you? If so, what would be different? Paul reminds us of who we are as a people of faith in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here.”

Because of faith in Christ, the divine is in you! Now, live accordingly.

This week’s reading:

• Monday – Mark 1, Mark 2
• Tuesday – Mark 3, Mark 4
• Wednesday – Mark 5, Mark 6
• Thursday – Mark 7, Mark 8
• Friday – Mark 9, Mark 10

• Those who are grieving and depressed.
• Those who are unwillingly absent.
• Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
• Our nation and our leaders.
• Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Completion of New Youth Building and rear parking.
• The United Methodist Church.

Have you ever played the game Hide and Seek? At some point, I bet you have. In the game we want a hiding place so good that no one can find us. But have you noticed that if someone finds a place where they can’t be found, it isn’t long before they do something so that they can be found? Perhaps they move making a sound. Maybe they cough or even jump out and yell, “Coo-eee I’m here!” In the end, we want to be found.

I’m convinced that there are two types of people in the world: Hiders and Seekers. Some hide from others and from God and some don’t. They seek because they want to be found. Just like in the game, we all want to be found. The question is how long do we hide, which often comes at our own expense. The Good News is you don’t have to hide anymore. Be found today.

This week’s reading:

• Monday – Acts 17, Acts 18
• Tuesday – Acts 19, Acts 20
• Wednesday – Acts 21, Acts 22, Acts 23
• Thursday – Acts 24, Acts 25, Acts 26
• Friday –Acts 27, Acts 28
  
  
  Please Pray for:
• Those who are grieving and depressed.
• Those who are unwillingly absent.
• Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
• Our nation and our leaders.
• Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Completion of New Youth Building and rear parking.
• The United Methodist Church.

Thinking about the holiness of God and the moral demands of Christianity, Philip Yancey said, “Having fallen from the absolute ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace.  Praise God, that net will never let us slip through.”  I find great comfort in the net of grace that always holds.  

This net of grace is something we constantly need reminding of particularly when we find ourselves in need of forgiveness.  It is here that I like this prayer:

“Idealistic, gracious God, I don’t want to break our relationship for I want to live as a Christian disciple however hard its demands, because however hard its demands, this relationship of hard love is where I want to be and where I need to be.  Thankfully, through your grace it is where I can be.  Thank you again for that constant net of grace that catches me.  Amen.”

This week’s reading:

• Monday – Acts 8-9
• Tuesday – Acts 10-11
• Wednesday – Acts 12
• Thursday – Acts 13-14
• Friday –Acts 15-16

• Those who are grieving and depressed.
• Those who are unwillingly absent.
• Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
• Our nation and our leaders.
• Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Completion of New Youth Building and rear parking.
• The United Methodist Church.