Owen: closure

Saturday, September 25, 2010
    Feast of Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, Spiritual Writer, 1626
    Commemoration of Sergius of Radonezh, Russian Monastic Reformer, Teacher, 1392
Meditation:
    Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
    —Luke 9:62 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Clear shining from God must be at the bottom of deep labouring with God. What is the reason that so many in our days set their hands to the plough, and looked back again?—begin to serve Providence in great things, but cannot finish?—give over in the heat of the day? They never had any such revelation of the mind of God upon their spirits, such a discovery of His excellencies, as might serve for a bottom of such undertakings.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), Works of John Owen, v. VIII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, Sermon II, p. 90 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the stamina to fulfil their calling. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Smart: Rejoice in the Lamb

Friday, September 24, 2010
Meditation:
The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
    the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
    and a little child will lead them.
    —Isaiah 11:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
Rejoice in God, O ye tongues; give the glory to the Lord, and the Lamb.
Nations, and languages, and every creature, in which is the breath of Life.
Let man and beast appear before him, and magnify his name together.
Let Noah and his company approach the throne of Grace, and do homage to the Ark of their Salvation.
Let Abraham present a Ram, and worship the God of his Redemption.
Let Jacob with his speckled Drove adore the good Shepherd of Israel.
...
Let Daniel come forth with a Lion, and praise God with all his might, through faith in Christ Jesus.
...
Let David bless with the bear—
    The beginning of victory to the Lord—
    to the Lord the perfection of excellence—
    Hallelujah from the heart of God, and from the hand of the artist inimitable, and from the echo of the heavenly harp in sweetness magnifical and mighty.
    ... Christopher Smart (1722-1771), Jubilate Agno [1759], R. Hart-Davis, 1954, p. 30 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your whole world waits to praise and serve You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Campbell: love and wrath

Thursday, September 23, 2010
Meditation:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
    —Psalm 103:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is no strain of metaphor to say that the love of God and the wrath of God are the same thing, described from opposite points of view. How we shall experience it depends upon the way we shall come up against it: God does not change; it is man’s moral state that changes. The wrath of God is a figure of speech to denote God’s unchanging opposition to sin; it is His righteous love operating to destroy evil. It is not evil that will have the last word, but good; not sorrow, but joy; not hate, but love.
    ... R. J. Campbell (1867-1956), The Call of Christ [1932], London: Skeffington & Son, 1942? (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have shown us Your ferocious love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Donne: love and death meet in Christ.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Meditation:
    We love him, because he first loved us.
    —1 John 4:19 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Love is as strong as death; but nothing else is as strong as either; and both, love and death, met in Christ. How strong and powerful upon you, then, should that instruction be, that comes to you from both these, the love and death of Jesus Christ!
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. III, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Sermon LIX, p. 18 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love and death instruct me to new life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: the church for the world

Tuesday, September 21, 2010
    Feast of Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
    —Matthew 5:42 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Church is her true self only when she exists for humanity. As a fresh start, she should give away all her endowments to the poor and needy. The clergy should live solely on the free-will offerings of their congregations, or possibly engage in some secular calling.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Letters and Papers from Prison, London: Macmillan, 1962, p. 239 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead Your people to serve Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Eckhart: will and intent

Monday, September 20, 2010
    Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871
Meditation:
    When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
    —James 1:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Even though I never did an evil deed, yet, if I have the will to do evil, I have the sin as if I had done the deed; and I could, by a total will, do as great a sin as if I had killed the whole world, though I never actually did anything. Why, would the same not be possible to a good will? Yes, indeed, and even much more so. Surely, I can do all things with the will. I can bear the sorrow of all men and feed all the poor and do the work of all men and whatever else you may think of. If it be not the will that fails you, but only the power, then truly, before God, you have done it all, and no man can take it from you or even hinder you for a moment; for to will to do as soon as I can is the same before God as having done it.
    ... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?), Treatises and Sermons, Harper, 1958, p. 74-75 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, implant in me Your will for good. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Studdert Kennedy: the meaning of history

Sunday, September 19, 2010
    Commemoration of Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, 690
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
    —Mark 10:45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In the Cross, God gathers up all history into a movement of time, and shows to us the meaning of it. It is the act in time which reveals to us the eternal activity of suffering and redeeming love all down the ages.
    ... G. A. Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929), The Hardest Part, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1919, p. 62 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have rescued me from certain destruction. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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