Shining Clean In A Sticky Place
Clean heart in a sticky office, Jesus in me among Caesar’s halls.
Devotional Credit
In Christ, E. Stanley Jones. Today’s reading, “Saints in Caesar’s Household.” Theme verse, Philippians 4:21–22.
Photo Credit
Unsplash
Some places feel like Caesar’s household. Power games. Whispered agendas. Temptations that cling like syrup. E. Stanley Jones takes us by the hand and points to a surprising sentence in Philippians, there were saints in Caesar’s household. Right in the middle of the palace, belonging to Jesus, and walking clean. Thank you, Dr. Jones, for reminding us that holiness is not location based. It is union based, in Christ.
Jones pushes back on the old idea that a saint is someone who simply tries harder. A saint is not the person who whips the will into shape. A saint is someone who surrenders to the goodness of Jesus and receives His life as their own. That is our lens too. The New Testament names us a people in the Messiah, and from that shared union the Spirit expresses a new way of being in very ordinary rooms.
He also names the reality we all know. Environments can be sticky. Words can be sharp. Ambitions can be loud. Yet the gospel announces that the goodness of Jesus is our goodness by union, and His life in us quietly loosens the grip of the old. We are not working to join His household. We already belong to it, and that belonging shows up in how we think, speak, and serve.
This is not perfectionism. It is participation. The Spirit indwells believers together. He makes us new creations with fresh capacities to love, to endure, and to stay clean in messy places. So we do not retreat from Caesar’s halls. We walk through them as those who carry the presence of Jesus, hour by hour, moment by moment, learning to rest in the One who lives in us.
Journal Entry, Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I call you Mine. You are saints in My Son, set apart in Him and precious to Me. I have placed you in the world, but you are not of the world. I send you as lights into places that feel like Caesar’s household, and I do not leave you there alone. Greater is the One who is in you than the one who is in the world.
You began by grace, and you stand in grace. As you received the Lord Jesus, so walk in Him. Let your roots sink into Him. Be built up in Him with thanksgiving. I work in you to will and to do what pleases Me, and I complete what I begin.
You are a new creation. Your old man was crucified with Christ, and you now live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. My Spirit dwells in you. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in your mortal body. You are no longer a debtor to the flesh. Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
Do not be conformed to this age. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind as My Word dwells richly in you. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, and forgive as you have been forgiven. Above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
You are My workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that I prepared beforehand for you to walk in. Hold fast the word of life. Shine as blameless and pure children in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. I make you stand. I make you fruitful. I keep you from stumbling as you abide in My Son.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of a couch covered with stain-resistant fabric. Coffee can splash, crumbs can fall, and yet the liquid beads up. With a simple wipe, the surface stays clean. Life with the Holy Spirit inside is like that. The setting may be messy, but He gives a new kind of resistance from within. You still sit in the same room, but what used to soak in now loses its hold.
Try this the next time a sarcastic comment comes at you in a meeting. Pause before you speak. Under your breath, say, Lord, I trust You to express Your patience and truth through me in this moment. Then answer briefly and kindly. You are not managing yourself with gritted teeth. You are yielding to Jesus within, and He carries the tone.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that I belong to Your household even when my body is stationed in Caesar’s. Thank You that in Jesus I am set apart, not by distance from the world, but by union with the Lord who lives in me. I affirm that the Holy Spirit supplies what I need for purity, courage, and kindness today. I rest in Your grace. I walk in Christ. I trust the Lord to express His life through my words, my choices, and my presence in every room I enter. Amen.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Philippians 4:21–22; John 17:14–18; 1 John 4:4; Romans 5:1–2; Colossians 2:6–7; Philippians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:6–14; Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:9–14; Galatians 5:16–25; Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:12–15; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:16–17; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:14–16; Jude 24–25; Colossians 1:27; 2 Peter 1:3–4; Titus 2:11–12; Matthew 5:13–16.