Owen: no Spirit, no Gospel

Saturday, September 5, 2009
Meditation:
    After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
    —Acts 4:31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is sottish ignorance and infidelity to suppose that, under the Gospel, there is no communication between God and us but what is, on His part, in laws, commands, and promises; and on ours, by obedience performed in our strength, and upon our convictions unto them. To exclude hence the real internal operations of the Holy Ghost, is to destroy the Gospel.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), A Discourse Concerning Holy Spirit, bk. I-V [1674], in Works of John Owen, v. III, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 200 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You speak in the secret recesses of our hearts.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Studd: the Great-God Party

Friday, September 4, 2009
    Commemoration of Birinus, Bishop of Dorchester (Oxon), Apostle of Wessex, 650
Meditation:
    Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
    —Psalm 48:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I belong and will ever belong to “The Great God Party.” I will have nought to do with “The Little God Party...” Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible.
    ... C. T. Studd (1860-1931), C. T. Studd—Cricketer and Pioneer [1933], Norman P. Grubb, Read Books, 2008, p. 164-165 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, embolden Your people.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gregory: sin in the workplace

Thursday, September 3, 2009
    Feast of Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher, 604
Meditation:
    Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
    —Romans 1:32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There are many trades in which a man can hardly work—or simply cannot work—without sinning.
    ... St. Gregory the Great (540?-604), in Devotions Commemorative, tr. F. Oakeley, London: J. Burns, 1842, p. lxxv (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, purify my life.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Van Rooy: beauty from ashes

Wednesday, September 2, 2009
    Commemoration of Martyrs of Papua New Guinea, 1942

Meditation:
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
    because the LORD has anointed me
    to preach good news to the poor.
    He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
    to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
    the oil of gladness
    instead of mourning,
    and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the LORD
    for the display of his splendor.
    —Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)

Quotation:
    I know there are many who have pitied my beginnings, thinking it tragic that I had to endure such traumas both as a child and throughout my life, but I confess that I have rather pitied those who have never tasted the bitterness of a trial “too severe.” For how is one to appreciate the contrast of light’s dawning hope if his soul has never trembled through the dark hours of a nightmare’s watch? Or how can one prove God’s faithfulness if he never is granted the privilege of wandering through a barren desert, where only pools of Christ’s Presence can possibly provide survival? It is a great honor to be apportioned pain. Christ Himself, though God incarnate, learned obedience through what He suffered. Dare we assume that we as His children can be taught by any wiser or kinder instructor than the severity of unwanted pain? We dare not steel ourselves against our trials, running away from the fires where our pruned branches crumble to ashes. For if we escape those flames, we will risk barrenness of soul and will miss out on the beauty that only is born through the ashes of yesterday’s grief.
    ... Cammie Van Rooy (b. 1979), "Beauty From Ashes" [2002] (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank you for all blessings.

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Buechner: becoming human

Tuesday, September 1, 2009
    Commemoration of Giles of Provence, Hermit, c.710

Meditation:
    And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
    —1 John 3:23,24 (NIV)

Quotation:
    To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do—to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst—is by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed by the holy power that life itself comes from. You can even prevail on your own. But you cannot become human on your own.
    ... Frederick Buechner (b. 1926), The Sacred Journey, San Fransisco: Harper & Row, 1982, p. 46 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a heart like Yours.
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Bunyan: Valiant-for-truth

Monday, August 31, 2009
    Feast of Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 651
    Commemoration of Cuthburga, Founding Abbess of Wimborne, c.725
    Commemoration of John Bunyan, Spiritual Writer, 1688

Meditation:
    When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
    “Where, O death, is your victory?
        Where, O death, is your sting?”
    —1 Corinthians 15:54-55 (NIV)

Quotation:
    After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons, by the same post as the other; and had this for a token that the summons was true, “That his pitcher was broken at the fountain.” When he understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it. Then, said he, I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who will now be my rewarder. When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the river-side, into which as he went, he said, “Death, where is thy sting?” And as he went down deeper, he said, “Grave, where is thy victory?” So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
    ... John Bunyan (1628-1688), The Pilgrim’s Progress [1678] The Whole Works of John Bunyan, v. III, London: Blackie, 1862, p. 243 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    In You, Lord, is final and complete victory.

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Therese of Lisieux: to live of love

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Meditation:
    As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we're going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
    —Luke 8:23-24 (NIV)

Quotation:
To live of love, it is when Jesus sleeps
    To sleep near Him, though stormy waves beat nigh.
Deem not I shall awake Him! On these deeps
    Peace reigns, like that the Blessed know on high.
To Hope, the voyage seems one little day;
    Faith’s hand shall soon the veil between remove;
’Tis Charity that swells my sail alway.
        I live of love!
    ... Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), Poems of St. Teresa, Carmelite of Lisieux, Boston, Angel Guardian Press, 1907, “To Live of Love”, n. 9 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    True love comes from You, Lord.

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