Tillotson: measuring sorrow for sin

Saturday, January 12, 2013
    Feast of Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167
    Commemoration of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, Scholar, 689
Meditation:
    Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
    —Acts 3:1920 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If we would judge aright of the truth of our sorrow for sin, we must not measure it so much by the degrees of sensible trouble and affliction, as by the rational effects of it, which are hatred of sin, and a fixed purpose and resolution against it for the future: for he is most truly sorry for his miscarriage, who looks upon what he hath done amiss with abhorrence and detestation of the thing, and wisheth he had not done it, and censures himself severely for it, and thereupon resolves not to do the like again.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. VII, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, p. 291 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 36:1-2; Luke 15:7,10; John 3:20-21; Acts 3:19-20; 2 Cor. 7:10-11; 2 Tim. 2:25-26
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, only You can grant me true repentance. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Grou: ruling our thoughts

Friday, January 11, 2013
    Commemoration of Mary Slessor, Missionary in West Africa, 1915
Meditation:
    Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
    —Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Do not be troubled when you are dry, dull, unable to rouse yourself to any holy thoughts in prayer or communion—still less must you fancy that such prayers and communion are worthless. Self-love may pronounce them to be so, but God judges otherwise. He does not require us to have so absolute a control over our imagination as wholly to rule our thoughts. That is beyond our power, but it is within our power not to dwell upon distracting thoughts, to turn from them, to submit to spiritual advice. It is within our power to resist thoughts which militate against purity, faith or hope.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 44 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 5:1-3; 88:14; Luke 18:1-8; Phil. 4:8-9; 1 Thess. 5:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me power to resist evil thoughts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Owen: your season

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Meditation:
There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under heaven...
    —Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    You have your season, and you have but your season; neither can you lie down in peace, until you have some persuasion that your work as well as your life is at an end.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), Works of John Owen, v. VIII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, Serm. VIII, p. 355 (see the book)
    See also Job 7:1; Ps. 1:1-3; Eccl. 3:1-11; 9:10; 1 Cor. 15:47-48
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have ordained our lives’ seasons. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Bayne: sending missionaries

Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Meditation:
    Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
    —Philippians 4:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As long as I live, I will never appeal for money for the mission of God in this world. This is a degradation of God and of ourselves, which has pauperized us in every way over the centuries. God has no need, and if the mission is God’s, then we do not ask for help to give God a boost; therefore we do not appeal for funds. We allow people to take a share in God’s work, and this is a very different thing.
    ... Stephen F. Bayne, Jr. (1908-1974), Comments on “Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence in the Body of Christ,” included in Anglican Congress 1963: Report of Proceedings, Eugene Rathbone Fairweather, ed., Editorial Committee, Anglican Congress, 1963, p. 130 (see the book)
    See also Luke 10:2-7; Acts 4:33-37; 13:2-3; 2 Cor. 7-9; 8:1-2; 9:10-13; 11:9; Phil. 4:11-19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make us good stewards towards the Gospel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Nate Saint: expendable

Tuesday, January 8, 2013
    Commemoration of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, and Pete Fleming, martyrs, Ecuador, 1956
Meditation:
    When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
    —Revelation 6:9-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Missionaries constantly face expendability. And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives. They forget that when their lives are spent and the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.
    Some might say, isn’t it too great a price to pay? When missionaries consider themselves—their lives before God—they consider themselves expendable. And in our personal lives as Christians isn’t the same thing true? Isn’t the price small in the light of God’s infinite love?
    ... Nate Saint (1923-1956), quoted in Jungle Pilot: The Life and Witness of Nate Saint, Russell T. Hitt, Zondervan, 1974, p. 158 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 96:10; Isa. 43:5-7; Matt. 10:16-23,34-39; 24:9; 28:19-20; Mark 13:9-13; 16:15; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:18-19; Acts 1:8; 9:15-16; 13:2-4,47; 21:30-31; 26:16-18; 1 Cor. 16:8-9; Rev. 6:9-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your will is carried out all over the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Beecher: no love, no worship

Monday, January 7, 2013
Meditation:
    [A teacher replying to Jesus:] “To love [God] with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
    —Mark 12:33 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I never know how to worship until I know how to love.
    ... Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), Royal Truths, Edinburgh: Alexander Strahan and Co., 1862, p. 19 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, drive the cold from my heart, that I may love and worship you. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Lawrence: without pleasing men

Sunday, January 6, 2013
    EPIPHANY
Meditation:
    Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
    —Ephesians 6:5-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The most excellent method which he had found of going to God, was that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing men, and (as far as we are capable) purely for the love of God.
    ... Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, New York, Revell, 1895, p. 16 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I dedicate my labors to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt