Robertson: the dream of virtue

Saturday, January 26, 2013
    Feast of Timothy and Titus, Companions of Paul
    Commemoration of Dorothy Kerin, Founder of the Burrswood Healing Community, 1963
Meditation:
    I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
    —Philippians 3:10-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What the world calls virtue is a name and a dream without Christ. The foundation of all human excellence must be laid deep in the blood of the Redeemer’s cross, and in the power of His Resurrection.
    ... Frederick W. Robertson (1816-1853), Sermons Preached at Trinity Chapel, Brighton, v. I, Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1857, p. 94 (see the book)
    See also John 11:25-26; Rom. 8:10-11; 1 Cor. 15:21-23; Phil. 3:10-14; Col. 3:1-3; 1 Pet. 1:3; Rev. 1:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in Your Resurrection, You are the sole arbiter of all truth and goodness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Tozer: the one fixed point

Friday, January 25, 2013
    Feast of the Conversion of Paul
Meditation:
    God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
    —Exodus 3:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When God would make His name known to mankind, He could find no better word than “I AM”... “I am that I am,” says God, “I change not.” Everyone and everything else measures from that fixed point.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 94 (see the book)
    See also Ex. 3:14; Mal. 3:6; John 8:58; Heb. 13:8; Rev. 1:8; 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we worship You in Your name. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

de Sales: holy simplicity

Thursday, January 24, 2013
    Feast of François de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher, 1622
Meditation:
    Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
    —Titus 2:6-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I recommend to you holy simplicity. Look close before you, and do not look at those dangers which you see afar off. You fancy they are armies; they are only trees in the distance, and whilst you are gazing at them you may make some false steps.
    ... François de Sales (1567-1622), Practical Piety, Louisville: Webb & Levering, 1853, p. 53 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:25,34; John 14:27; 16:33; Rom. 12:9; 2 Cor. 1:12; 11:3; Tit. 2:6-8; 1 Tim. 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me today strength for today’s troubles. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Brooks: the background of life

Wednesday, January 23, 2013
    Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893
Meditation:
    For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    So [it is] when the priority of existence is seen to rest in a Person, and the background of life is God. Then every new arrival instantly reports itself to Him, and is described in terms of its relationship to Him. Every activity of ours answers to some previous activity of His. Do we hope? It is because we have caught the sound of some promise of His. Do we fear? It is because we have had some glimpse of the dreadfulness of getting out of harmony with Him. Are we curious and inquiring? It is that we may learn some of His truth. Do we resist evil? We are fighting His enemies. Do we help need? We are relieving His children. Do we love Him? It is an answer of gratitude for His love to us. Do we live? It is a projection and extension of His being. Do we die? It is the going home of our immortal souls to Him.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), The Light of the World, and Other Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1904, p. 45 (see the book)
    See also John 3:16; 15:16; Rom. 14:7-8; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Gal. 2:19-20; Eph. 2:3-5; 1 Thess. 5:9-10; 1 John 4:10,19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You reshape my world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Donne: God's justice

Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Meditation:
    There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
    —Ecclesiastes 7:20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Never propose to thyself such a God, as thou wert not bound to imitate: thou mistakest God, if thou make him to be any such thing, or make him to do any such thing, as thou in thy proportion shouldst not be, or shouldst not do. And shouldst thou curse any man that had never offended, never transgrest, never trespassed thee? Can God have done so? ... Will God curse man, before man have sinned?
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. IV, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Sermon CVII, p. 458 (see the book)
    See also Eccl. 7:20; Isa. 64:6; 65:20; Jer. 4:22; Matt. 9:9-13; Rom. 1:28; 3:10-12; Eph. 2:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I acknowledge that I am justly condemned for my sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Fenelon: listening to God

Monday, January 21, 2013
    Feast of Agnes, Child Martyr at Rome, 304
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
    —Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God is our true Friend, who always gives us the counsel and comfort we need. Our danger lies in resisting Him; so it is essential that we acquire the habit of hearkening to His voice, of keeping silence within, and listening so as to lose nothing of what He says to us. We know well enough how to keep outward silence, and to hush our spoken words, but we know little of interior silence. It consists in hushing our idle, restless, wandering imagination, in quieting the promptings of our worldly minds, and in suppressing the crowd of unprofitable thoughts which excite and disturb the soul.
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Selections from Fénelon, ed. Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston: Roberts Bros., 1879, p. 107 (see the book)
    See also 1 Kings 19:11-13; Ps. 85:8; Jer. 23:29; Matt. 12:36-37; Luke 11:28; Rom. 8:6-7; 10:17; 1 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12; Jas. 1:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, still my inner voices that I may hear Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Rolle: fastened on God

Sunday, January 20, 2013
    Commemoration of Richard Rolle of Hampole, Writer, Hermit, Mystic, 1349
Meditation:
    Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
    —1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It behooves thee to love God wisely; and that may thou not do but if thou be wise. Thou art wise when thou art poor, without desire of this world, and despisest thyself for the love of Jesus Christ; and expendeth all thy wit and all thy might in His service. Whoso will love wisely, it behooves him to love lasting things lastingly, and passing things passingly; so that his heart be set and fastened on nothing but in God.
    ... Richard Rolle (1290?-1349), A Little Book of Heavenly Wisdom: selections from some English prose mystics, Eleanor C. Gregory, ed., London: Methuen, 1904, p. 206 (see the book)
    See also John 7:17; Rom. 16:19; 1 Cor. 1:22-25; 3:18; Eph. 5:15-17; 1 Tim. 6:17-19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your promises are good for life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt