Most Blessed Father! I bow in speechless adoration before the holy
mystery of Thy Divine Love....
Oh, forgive me, that I have known and believed it so little as it is
worthy of being known and believed.
Accept my praise for what I have seen and tasted of its Divine
blessedness. Accept, Lord God! of the praise of a glad and loving heart
that only knows that it never can praise Thee aright.
And hear my prayer, O my Father! that in the power of Thy Holy Spirit,
who dwells in me, I may each day accept and live out fully what Thou
hast given me in Christ my sanctification. May the unsearchable riches
there are in Him be the daily supply for my every need. May His
Holiness, His delight in Thy will, indeed become mine. Teach me, above
all, how this can most surely be, because I am, through the work of
Thine Almighty Quickening Power, in Him, kept there by Thyself. My
Father! my faith cries out: I can be holy, blessed be my Lord Jesus!
In this faith I yield myself to Thee, Lord Jesus, my King and Master, to
do Thy will alone. In everything I do, great or small, I would act as
one sanctified in Jesus, united to God's will in Him. It is Thou alone
canst teach me to do this, canst give me strength to perform it. But I
trust in Thee--art Thou not Christ my sanctification? Blessed Lord! I do
trust Thee. Amen.
1. Christ, as He lived and died on earth, is our sanctification.
His life, the Spirit of His life, is what constitutes our
holiness. To be in perfect harmony with Christ, to have His
mind, is to be holy.
2. Christ's Holiness had two sides. God sanctified Him by His
Spirit: Christ sanctified Himself by following the leading of
the Spirit, by giving up His will to God in everything. So God
has made us holy in Christ; and so we follow after and perfect
holiness by yielding ourselves to God's Spirit, by giving up
our will and living in the will of God.
3. It is well that we take in every aspect of what God has
revealed of holiness in His word. But let us never weary
ourselves by seeking to grasp all completely. Let us even
return to the simplicity that is in Jesus. To bow at His feet,
to believe that He knows all we need, and has it all, and loves
to give it all, is rest. And holiness is resting in Jesus the
rest of God. Let all our thoughts be gathered up into this one:
Jesus, Blessed Jesus.
4. This holy life in Christ is for to-day, when you read this. For
to-day He is made of God unto you sanctification: to-day He
will indeed be your holiness. Believe in Him for it; trust Him,
praise Him. And remember: _you are in Him_.
Twenty-third Day.