Holy Dreams
“I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.”
Today’s Text: Romans 15:14-21 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
I feel very much like Paul here. I too am convinced that our Canvas family is “full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.” Yet week to week and day to day, I preach and write boldly on some points to remind us of the difficult truths of our salvation. Because I am convinced that the more we as individuals and as a community are able to submit ourselves to those difficult truths because of faith, the more we will be able to experience the joy of what life in heaven will be like here and now. In that regard, we always have a lot more to learn, and so we should never be satisfied with the condition of our spiritual maturity.
Because of His grace, God has called me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to you all. And God has given me “the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God,” so that as individuals and as a community we “might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
“Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.” To glory in Christ is to proclaim Christ as He truly is—as He has been revealed in the Scriptures—Him crucified, resurrected, and returning.
Yet week to week and day to day, I fail to “glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.” I do my best to speak and write boldly about Christ and His gospel. And for that I have no shame. If I have any shame in that regard, it is that I do not speak and write boldly enough, clearly enough, confidently enough! Woe is me! Pray for me that I will!
Today, I confess, to my shame, that I fail to “glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God” to the fullness of the extent that I should. My flesh rebels against the word of God because it’s hard. Being holy with holy people is easy. Being holy with unholy people is hard. And let’s face it, folks, are we acting and speaking in a manner that is holy or unholy toward those we find it difficult to be holy with? If someone is being unholy toward me, is it because I am being unholy toward them? It’s a catch-22!
May the Holy Spirit make you all holier than I, because my thoughts and even my dreams betray just how unholy my heart is. (And just so that I do not discourage any of y’all, I had quite a vivid dream last night—not with any of our beloved GCC Canvas family in it—but with some other (un)holy saint with whom I am acquainted.)
But here is my hope: My holiness cannot come from me. There is nothing good in me to build up my holiness. My holiness comes from the sanctifying Holy Spirit, and that, only because of God’s grace, only because of the capacity for faith He has given to all of us.
My faith brings me face-to-face with God’s word. My faith guides me to confession and repentance. My faith calls upon the Holy Spirit to sanctify me, so that I may experience the joy of my salvation in Christ Jesus. And my faith convicts me that He will do it.
Father, Your goodness is my hope. Your goodness is the subject of my praise. And You are the object of my worship. For You alone are good and worthy of all praise, glory, and honor. Change my heart, O, God. My hope is You. Build up this Canvas family in holiness, so that, together, we will glory in Christ Jesus in our service to You—so that we can experience the joy of our heavenly calling. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
