Anselm: Awake!

Saturday, April 21, 2012
    Feast of Anselm, Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1109
Meditation:
    I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
    —Isaiah 61:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Awake, I beseech thee, O my soul, and let the fire of a heavenly love be kindled in thy heart, and wisely consider the beauty which Thy Lord God hath bestowed upon thee, and in considering love it, and in loving do it reverence with the service of a holy conversation. For doth not He who maketh thee to abide in Him, and hath condescended to dwell in thee, clothe thee, cover thee, adorn thee with Himself?
    ... St. Anselm (1033-1109), Devotions of Saint Anselm, Meditation I.iv (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You make me welcome in Your kingdom. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: just deserts

Friday, April 20, 2012
Meditation:
    For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
    —James 2:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For since perfection is altogether unattainable by us, so long as we are clothed with flesh, and the Law denounces death and judgment against all who have not yielded a perfect righteousness, there will always be ground to accuse and convict us unless the mercy of God interpose, and ever and anon absolve us by the constant remission of sins. Wherefore the statement which we set out is always true, if we are estimated by our own worthiness, in every thing that we think or devise, with all our studies and endeavors, we deserve death and destruction.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. II, tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, p. 11 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your mercy is my only hope. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brother Lawrence: continual conversation with God

Thursday, April 19, 2012
    Commemoration of Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1012
Meditation:
    ... I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
    —Titus 3:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    That we should establish ourselves in a sense of God’s presence by continually conversing with Him. That it was a shameful thing to quit His conversation to think of trifles and fooleries.
    ... Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, New York, Revell, 1895, p. 8 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, assist me to remain in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Patmore: the heart

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Meditation:
    Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
    —Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God has declared to us His mystic rapture in His Marriage with Humanity in twice saying, “[This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased].” He expressly and repeatedly calls this marriage, and pronounces the marriage of Man and Woman to be its symbol. This is the burning heart of the Universe.
    ... Coventry Patmore (1823-1896), The Rod, the Root, and the Flower [1895], London: G. Bell and Sons, 1907, p. 212 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the true lover of mankind. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cundy: failing to take the Church seriously

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Meditation:
    Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
    —Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Obedience to Christ in his world demands that we take the Church seriously; to talk of being a Christian and a member of his body without a vital relationship to its expression in our local community is to talk theological nonsense and to lay oneself open to the dangers of heresy and schism.
    ... Ian P. M. Cundy (1945-2009), “The Church as Community”, in The People of God, Ian Cundy, ed., vol. 2 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 38 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep me from desiring error. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barth: freedom in prayer

Monday, April 16, 2012
Meditation:
    When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.
    —Psalm 94:19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As the Christian prays, he actually anticipates his own liberation from anxiety even when engulfed by it. Praying to God, he can no longer have it, nor be possessed by it.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), Church Dogmatics, v. IV, part 3 [1961], Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004, p. 673 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your presence relieves all worry. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Packer: the expectations of Jesus

Sunday, April 15, 2012
Meditation:
    The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
    —Psalm 110:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Not that Jesus’s concept of Messiahship corresponded to Jewish expectations. His notion reflected his view of God’s eschatological kingdom, which he preached as a reality brought into being by his own ministry. He saw the kingdom as a new relationship between penitent sinners and God as their heavenly Father, a relationship achieved through commitment to himself as their sovereign Saviour; and he saw his lordship as based on his call to be God’s suffering servant, the innocent one who, having died for the others’ sins, is then vindicated by being restored to life.
    ... James I. Packer (b. 1926), “Jesus Christ the Lord”, in The Lord Christ, John Stott, ed., vol. 1 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 41 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are King. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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