Barclay: poor in spirit

Saturday, February 16, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
    —Matthew 5:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Blessed are those who have realized their own utter helplessness, and who have put their whole trust in God. If people have realized their own utter helplessness, and have put their whole trust in God, there will enter into their lives two things.... They will become completely detached from material things, for they will know that things do not have the power to bring happiness or security; and they will become completely attached to God, for they will know that God alone can bring them help, hope, and strength. Those who are poor in spirit are men and women who have realized that things mean nothing, and that God means everything.
    ... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Gospel of Matthew, v. 1, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001 (revised), p. 105-106 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:3; Ps. 51:17; Pr. 16:19; Isa. 57:15; Mic. 6:8; Matt. 6:19-20; Luke 12:16-21; Titus 2:11-12; Heb. 11:24-26; 1 John 2:15-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I can do nothing of worth without You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Thomas a Kempis: patience in adversity

Friday, February 15, 2013
    Commemoration of Thomas Bray, Priest, Founder of SPCK, 1730
Meditation:
    Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
    —Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When a man is not troubled it is not hard for him to be fervent and devout, but if he bears up patiently in time of adversity, there is hope for great progress.
    ... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, I.xiii.8, p. 49 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 5:3-4; Matt. 5:11-12; Luke 6:22-23; Acts 5:41; Rom. 8:28; 15:3-4; 1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 4:8-10,17; Phil. 1:27-28; Jas. 1:2-3; 2 Pet. 1:4-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen me in the time of trouble. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Smith: Love itself

Thursday, February 14, 2013
    Feast of Cyril & Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs, 869 & 885
    Commemoration of Valentine, Martyr at Rome, c.269
Meditation:
    How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
    —1 John 3:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Some of us know what it is to love, and we know that could we only have our way, our beloved ones would be overwhelmed with blessings. All that is good, and sweet, and lovely in life would be poured out upon them from our lavish hands, had we but the power to carry out our will for them. And if this is the way of love with us, how much more must it be so with our God who is Love itself.
    ... Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911), Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, London: F. E. Longley, 1876, p. 43 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 86:5,15; 136; Jer. 31:3; Mic. 7:18; Rom. 9:22-23; 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 1:7-8; 2:4-5; Tit. 3:4-7; 1 John 3:1; 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all our love is but a distant reflection of Your love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Williams: Hard were the nails and cruel

Wednesday, February 13, 2013
    Ash Wednesday
Meditation:
    “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
    “Barabbas,” they answered.
    “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
    They all answered, “Crucify him!”
    “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
    But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
    —Matthew 27:21-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
Hard were the nails and cruel,
To pierce that form of grace;
But now they hold the compass
Of heaven in its place:
The hope of Adam’s children
flows from that awful hour,
When earth beheld its Maker
Abused by human power.
    ... William Williams (1717-1791), in Sweet Singers of Wales: a story of Welsh hymns and their authors, Howell Elvet Lewis, London: Religious Tract Society, 1889, p. 50 (see the book)
    See also Job 42:5-6; Ps. 33:22; 119:81; Joel 2:25; Matt. 12:21; 27:21-23; 1 Cor. 1:18; Tit. 2:11-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have prompted my repentance. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: the work of forgiveness

Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Meditation:
    Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
    Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
    —Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The call to follow Christ always means a call to share the work of forgiving men their sins. Forgiveness is the Christlike suffering which it is the Christian’s duty to bear.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship, Simon and Schuster, 1959, p. 90 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:7; 6:12-15; 18:21-22; 26:28; Mark 11:25; Luke 11:4; 17:3-4; 23:34; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, transform my heart so that I may learn to forgive. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wesley: the worldwide parish

Monday, February 11, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
    —Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), a letter in the entry for June 11, 1739, Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, v. I, London: J. Kershaw, 1827, p. 193 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 28:19-20; Ps. 40:9; Isa. 60:1; Matt. 5:13-14; 10:27; Luke 12:8; Acts 10:37-38; Phil. 2:14-16; Col. 4:6; Rev. 22:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your people come to You through proclamation of Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: the other cheek

Sunday, February 10, 2013
    Commemoration of Scholastica, Abbess of Plombariola, c.543
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic... But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”
    —Luke 6:29,35 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Many have learned how to offer the other cheek, but do not know how to love him by whom they are struck.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), from “Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount,” in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, v. VI, Philip Schaff, ed., New York: Christian Literature Company, 1888, I.58, p. 26 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:29,35; Ex. 23:4-5; Ps. 57:7; Pr. 25:21-22; Lam. 3:30; Matt. 5:39,44-45; Rom. 12:14,20-21; 1 Cor. 4:12-13; 1 Pet. 2:20-23; 3:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, drive away all resentment that blocks Your love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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