Munson: Because upon the first glad Easter day

Saturday, June 30, 2012
Meditation:
    The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
    —Romans 13:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
Because upon the first glad Easter day
The stone that sealed His tomb was rolled away,
So, through the deepening shadows of death’s night,
Men see an open door ... beyond it, light!
    ... Ida Norton Munson (1877-1968)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the light in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: shaping the stones

Friday, June 29, 2012
    Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles
Meditation:
    Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
    —James 1:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Faith hath cause to take courage from our very afflictions; the devil is but a whetstone to sharpen the faith and patience of the saints. I know that he but heweth and polisheth stones all this time for the New Jerusalem.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, March 9, 1637, p. 218 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may You shape me in Your image. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Irenaeus: hold the rule of faith

Thursday, June 28, 2012
    Feast of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher, Martyr, c.200
Meditation:
    You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.
    —2 Corinthians 3:3-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Now, that we may not suffer [heretical teaching], we must needs hold the rule of the faith without deviation, and do the commandments of God, believing in God and fearing Him as Lord and loving Him as Father. Now this doing is produced by faith: for Isaiah says: If ye believe not, neither shall ye understand. And faith is produced by the truth; for faith rests on things that truly are. For in things that are, as they are, we believe; and believing in things that are, as they ever are, we keep firm our confidence in them.
    ... Irenaeus (c.130-c.200), The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching [2nd c.], par. 3 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tillotson: the perfect example

Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Meditation:
    To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
    —1 Peter 2:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is a kind of contagion in all examples; men are very apt to do what they see others do, though it be very bad: every day’s experience furnisheth us with many and sad instances of the influence of bad examples; but there are peculiar charms in that which is good and excellent. A perfect pattern of goodness does strongly allure and invite to the imitation of it, and a great example of virtue to a well-disposed mind is a mighty temptation, and apt to inspirit us with good resolutions, to endeavour after that in ourselves, which we so much esteem and admire in others. And such is the example of our Lord, perfect as is possible, and yet obvious to common imitation, and as much fitted for the general direction of mankind in all sorts of virtue and goodness, as any one single example can be imagined to be.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. VIII, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, Sermon CXC, p. 282 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me faith to seek to be like You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Donne: humility

Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Meditation:
Good and upright is the LORD;
    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
    and teaches them his way.
    —Psalm 25:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification; and as without this, without holiness, no man shall see God, though he pore whole nights upon his Bible; so without that, without humility, no man shall hear God speak to his soul, though he hear three two-hours’ sermons every day.
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. I, London: John W. Parker, 1839, p. 149 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, break the rebellious spirit within me, that I may be humble in Your sight. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: casting out fear

Monday, June 25, 2012
Meditation:
    There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.
    —1 John 4:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I am, indeed, far from agreeing with those who think all religious fear barbarous and degrading and demand that it should be banished from the spiritual life. Perfect love, we know, casteth out fear. But so do several other things—ignorance, alcohol, passion, presumption, and stupidity. It is very desirable that we should all advance to that perfection of love in which we shall fear no longer; but it is very undesirable, until we have reached that stage, that we should allow any inferior agent to cast out our fear.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The World’s Last Night [1960], Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 109 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I will come to love You above all things. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fuller: draped in tears

Sunday, June 24, 2012
    Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist
Meditation:
    During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
    —Hebrews 5:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Lord, thus long I have offered my prayer dry unto thee, now, Lord, I offer it wet. Then wilt thou own some new addition therein, when, though the sacrifice be the same, yet the dressing of it is different, being steeped in his tears who bringeth it unto thee.
    ... Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), Good Thoughts in Bad Times [1645], Chicago: United Society of Christian Endeavor, Boston, 1898, “Scripture Observations,” XII (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, receive my heart-felt prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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