Adams: Consecration of the House

Saturday, May 19, 2012
    Feast of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988
Meditation:
    But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
    —Hebrews 3:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
Consecrated brethren, we who keep our confidence,
We who learn from Jesus the obedience of our Lord,
We are house and household for the coming Prince of Glory,
Holding fast our hope in full reliance on His Word.
    ... Robert MacColl Adams (1913-1985) (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your faithfulness is my example. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Saphir: the house left desolate

Friday, May 18, 2012
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
    —Matthew 23:37-39 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Israel had another house besides Jerusalem [which was destroyed and the nation dispersed]. It was not merely their national existence, but there was another habitation which God had given unto them—the habitation of the word of God. Their house is left unto them desolate. They are still reading Moses and the prophets; they are still familiar with the outward form of the Word; but the house is desolate. They read the Bible, but the Master of the house is not seen by them. They read Moses, but He of whom Moses testifies is not known by them. They read the prophets, but the Messiah and His great work—behold, this is hidden from their eyes!
    ... Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 124-125 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send forth the Spirit of belief. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Blake: the glory of Christianity

Thursday, May 17, 2012
    Ascension
Meditation:
    A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.
    —Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness.
    ... William Blake (1757-1827), The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, University of California Press, 2008, p. 201 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, implant a forgiving heart in me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bloesch: the whole Gospel, but only the Gospel

Wednesday, May 16, 2012
    Commemoration of Caroline Chisholm, Social Reformer, 1877
Meditation:
    Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
    —Acts 20:26-27
Quotation:
    I speak as a socially concerned evangelical, one who sees that the Gospel is a stick of dynamite in the social structure. We need to proclaim the whole Gospel to the whole man, and this includes relating Christian faith to the whole man, and this includes relating Christian faith to the economic and political areas of life as well as the so-called religious area. At the same time we must beware of combining the Gospel with any social ideology.
    ... Donald G. Bloesch (1928-2010), Essentials of Evangelical Theology, Harper & Row, 1978, p. xi (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, awaken Your people to Your whole counsel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: the serious business of sin

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
    Commemoration of Charles Williams, Spiritual Writer, 1945
Meditation:
    “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
    —Isaiah 6:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Sin is sin, and we must not call it less than sin. It is not an act of love to explain sin away as a psychological determinism or sociological conditioning, for it is real and must be dealt with. Men need a Savior. Therefore, Christians in our generation must resist relativistic and deterministic thinking. If men are going to find a real solution to the problem of who they are, they must come to terms with the fact that they need a Savior because they are sinners in the presence of a holy God. Sin is serious business.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), No Little People, Downer Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1974, reprint, Crossway, 2003, p. 45 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I confess that I do not hate my sins as much as I ought to. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: the burden of today

Monday, May 14, 2012
    Feast of Matthias the Apostle
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
    —Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God’s. He begs you to leave the future to Him and mind the present.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood, v. I [1867], London: Strahan & Co., 1873, p. 203 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to cast my anxieties on You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Flavel: from God, to us

Sunday, May 13, 2012
Meditation:
    For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
    —Romans 5:6 (KJV)
Quotation:
    O what a melting consideration is this! That out of His agony comes our victory; out of His condemnation, our justification; out of His pain, our ease; out of His stripes, our healing; out of His gall and vinegar, our honey; out of His curse, our blessing; out of His crown of thorns, our crown of glory; out of His death, our life: if He could not be released, it was that you might. If Pilate gave sentence against Him, it was that the great God might never give sentence against you. If he yielded that it should be with Christ as they required, it was that it might be with our souls as well as we can desire. And therefore, thanks be to God for His unspeakable gifts.
    ... John Flavel (1628-1691), Serm. XXIV from The Fountain of Life [1671], in The Whole Works of the Reverend Mr. John Flavel, v. I, Paisley: A. Weir and A. McLean, 1770, p. 331 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have saved me from my sins. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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