Jukes: bondage and darkness

Saturday, November 14, 2009
    Commemoration of Samuel Seabury, First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796
Meditation:
    ... everything that does not come from faith is sin.
    —Romans 14:23b (NIV)
Quotation:
    The fall was simply this, that some creature, that is, something which is not God, took His place with man; and man, trusting the creature more than God, walked in its light or darkness rather than in fellowship with God. Righteousness comes back when man by faith is brought to walk with God again, and to give Him His true place by acting or being acted upon in all things according to His will. Anything therefore not of faith is sin. And all such sin is bondage. Self-will is bondage, for ... self-will or independence of God means dependence on a creature; and we cannot be dependent on a creature, be it what it may, without more or less becoming subject to it. What has not been given up for money, or for some creature’s love? But who has ever thus served the creature more than the Creator without awaking at last to feel he is a bondman? I say nothing of the worse bondage which comes from our self-will, in the indulgence of our own thoughts, or passions, or affections. Even the very energies of faith, while, as yet unchastened, it acts from self, ... may only bring forth more bondage... Who but God can set men free? And He sets them free as they walk with Him. All independence of Him is only darkness.
    ... Andrew Jukes (1815-1901), The New Man and the Eternal Life, London: Longmans, Green, 1881, p. 121 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your gift of faith liberates me from bondage to self-will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Simeon: a broken heart

Friday, November 13, 2009
    Feast of Charles Simeon, Pastor, Teacher, 1836
Meditation:
    And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
    —Romans 8:28 (NIV)
Quotation:
    By constantly meditating on the goodness of God and on our great deliverance from that punishment which our sins have deserved, we are brought to feel our vileness and utter unworthiness; and while we continue in this spirit of self-degradation, everything else will go on easily. We shall find ourselves advancing in our course; we shall feel the presence of God; we shall experience His love; we shall live in the enjoyment of His favour and in the hope of His glory... You often feel that your prayers scarcely reach the ceiling; but, oh, get into this humble spirit by considering how good the Lord is, and how evil you all are, and then prayer will mount on wings of faith to heaven. The sigh, the groan of a broken heart, will soon go through the ceiling up to heaven, aye, into the very bosom of God.
    ... Charles Simeon (1759-1836), Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. Charles Simeon, Pittsburgh: R. Carter, 1847, p. 382 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach me not to hold onto the things of this world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Pascal: what a pity!

Thursday, November 12, 2009
Meditation:
    And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
    —2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What use is it to us to hear it said of a man that he has thrown off the yoke, that he does not believe there is a God to watch over his actions, that he reckons himself the sole master of his behavior, and that he does not intend to give an account of it to anyone but himself? Does he think that in that way he will have straightway persuaded us to have complete confidence in him, to look to him for consolation, for advice, and for help, in the vicissitudes of life? Do such men think that they have delighted us by telling us that they hold our souls to be nothing but a little wind and smoke—and by saying it in conceited and complacent tones? Is that a thing to say blithely? Is it not rather a thing to say sadly—as if it were the saddest thing in the world?
    ... Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensées (Thoughts) [1660], P.F. Collier & Son, 1910, #194, p. 74 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in Your mercy, grant belief to _____ and _____. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Denney: the common thread

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
    Feast of Martin, Monk, Bishop of Tours, 397
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”
    —John 14:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No one can deny that the New Testament has variety as well as unity. It is the variety which gives interest to the unity... What is it in which these people, differing as widely as they do, are vitally and fundamentally at one, so that through all their differences they form a brotherhood and are conscious of an indissoluable spiritual bond? There can be no doubt that that which unites them is a common relation to Christ—a common faith in Him, involving religious convictions about Him.
    ... James Denney (1856-1917), Jesus and the Gospel: Christianity justified in the mind of Christ, New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1908, p. 11 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit binds all Your people together. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Bonhoeffer: called into community

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
    Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461
Meditation:
    Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.
    —Matthew 14:22-23a (NIV)
Quotation:
    Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when He called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone, you are rejecting Christ’s call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called... Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called—the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 82 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make us strong in solitude and gracious while with the Body. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Banning: a Christian vocabulary

Monday, November 9, 2009
    Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
    —Luke 17:7-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Too many of us have a Christian vocabulary rather than a Christian experience. We think we are doing our duty when we’re only talking about it.
    ... Charles F. Banning
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, stop my tongue, that I might work profitably in Your Kingdom. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Ramsay: not dogma, but life

Sunday, November 8, 2009
    Feast of Saints & Martyrs of England
Meditation:
    Only hold on to what you have until I come. To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations
    —Revelation 2:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It was not dogma that moved the world, but life. Frequently, when rival parties and rival nations fought with one another as to which of two opposed dogmas was the truth, they had been arrayed against one another by more deep-seated and vital causes, and merely inscribed at the last the dogmas on their standards or chose them as watchwords or symbols. We are tired of those elaborate discussions of the fine, wire-drawn, subtle distinctions between sects, and those elaborate discussions of the principles involved in heresies, and we desire to see the real differences in life and conduct receive more attention.
    ... Sir William M. Ramsay (1851-1939), The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1904, p. 347 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Give Your people strength to persevere, Lord, in the life to which You have led us.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt