Bernard: conversion

Saturday, February 23, 2013
    Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr, c.155
Meditation:
    [Paul and Barnabas:] “For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
    When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
    —Acts 13:47-48 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The conversion of souls is the working of the divine, not the human voice... It is from him alone that we must hope for results. We must ask him for it, so that our voice may be in harmony with the voice of majesty. May I suggest then that you prick up the ears of your heart in order to hear this inner voice and that you make an effort to hear God speaking within rather than the man speaking without... Nor do we have much difficulty in hearing this voice; the difficulty is rather in stopping our ears from hearing it. For that voice offers itself, presents itself, and never ceases to knock at the door of each one of us.
    ... Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), Honey and Salt: selected spiritual writings of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Random House Digital, Inc., 2007, p. 247-248 (see the book)
    See also Acts 13:47-48; Ps. 29:3-9; Isa. 6:9-10; Zech. 7:11-12; Matt. 11:15; 13:16; John 1:12-13; 8:47; Acts 2:4,38-39; 7:55-58; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me silence, so that I may listen to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Temple: know them by their fruits

Friday, February 22, 2013
Meditation:
Do not keep talking so proudly
    or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
    and by him deeds are weighed.
    —1 Samuel 2:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To put it shortly, the Church forgets that Christianity is not an attitude of mind, but a type of life: a man’s spirit is not known by his opinion (creeds etc.) but by his action and general conduct.
    ... William Temple (1881-1944), William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury: his life and letters, Frederic Athelwold Iremonger, Oxford University Press, 1948, p. 99 (see the book)
    See also 1 Sam. 2:3; Ps. 62:11-12; 94:4; Matt. 5:16; 7:24; 16:27; 25:34-46; Gal. 5:6; 6:7-8; Col. 4:6; Jas. 1:22; 1 John 3:23-24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, conform my actions to Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Basil: God's judgments

Thursday, February 21, 2013
Meditation:
“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
Do you count the months till they bear?
    Do you know the time they give birth?”
    —Job 39:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Let nothing be to you an occasion of unbelief. If thou considerest the stones, even they contain proof of the power of their Maker; and so does the ant, the gnat, the bee. In smallest things the wisdom of the Creator is oftentimes displayed. He who stretched out the heavens, and poured forth the mighty volume of the sea, He it is who hollowed the minute sting of the bee to shed its virus through. You must not say that anything was done by chance. But His judgments are like the great deep.
    ... St. Basil the Great (330?-379), Homily on Ps. XXXII.5, quoted in Saint Basil the Great, Richard T. Smith, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1879, p. 111 (see the book)
    See also Job 39:1-2; Gen. 18:10-14; Job 12:7-9; 38-41; Ps. 19:1-6,9; 32:5; 146:5-6; Eccl. 11:5; Jer. 10:12; Matt. 6:28-30; Rom. 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your creation speaks of You without ceasing. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Nouwen: the two perspectives

Wednesday, February 20, 2013
    Commemoration of Cecile Isherwood, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, Grahamstown, South Africa, 1906
Meditation:
    Looking at his disciples, [Jesus] said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”
    —Luke 6:20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Seen from below, from a human perspective, there is an enormous distinction between good times and bad, between sorrow and joy. But from above, in the eyes of God, sorrow and joy are never separated. Where there is pain, there is also healing. Where there is mourning, there is dancing. Where there is poverty, there is the kingdom.
    ... Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996), Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith, Forward Movement, 1981, p. 134-135 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:20; Isa. 64:8; Matt. 5:4; 11:4-6; 2 Cor. 6:4-10; 8:1-2; Heb. 12:5-6; Jas. 2:5; Rev. 22:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are shaping Your people with Your sovereign acts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Maltby: no substitute for Conversion

Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Meditation:
    In [Christ] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
    —Ephesians 1:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If [it] yields to the drift of the age and surrenders its hold of the awful but glorious individualism of the Christian salvation,... the Church itself will not be much enriched by an accession of panic-stricken fugitives from a Personal God. And many unhappy young people are discovering now that Church membership is not the equivalent of being reconciled to God, and a kind of Confirmation is not a substitute for Conversion.
    ... William Russell Maltby (1866-1951), Obiter Scripta, London: Epworth Press, 1952, p. 117-118 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 1:11-12; Luke 19:2-10; Acts 8:30-36; 13:48; Rom. 5:11; 8:29-30; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; Eph. 1:4-6; Philemon 1:10; 1 Pet. 2:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, restore the authentic Gospel to those who have lost it. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Muggeridge: deal with the Devil

Monday, February 18, 2013
Meditation:
    Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
    Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
    —Matthew 4:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Finally, the Devil showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said: All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. All Christ had to do in return was to worship the donor instead of God—which, of course, he could not do. How interesting, though, that power should be at the Devil’s disposal, and only attainable through an understanding with him! Many have thought otherwise, and sought power in the belief that by its exercise they could lead men to brotherhood and happiness and peace, invariably with disastrous consequences. Always in the end the bargain with the Devil has to be fulfilled—as any Stalin or Napoleon or Cromwell must testify. I am the light of the world, Christ said; power belongs to darkness.
    ... Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990), Jesus Rediscovered, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1969, p. 9 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 4:8-10; Deut. 6:13-14; Matt. 16:26; John 7:7; 13:3; 1 John 2:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, shield me from evil deceits. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Faber: something which pleases God

Sunday, February 17, 2013
    Feast of Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977
Meditation:
    “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
    —Revelation 19:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Our small progress deprives us of all natural encouragement. For our minds must be thoroughly saturated with supernatural principles, always to realize that one evil thought repelled, one angry humour smartly chastised, one base envy well warred down, one thorough Deo gratias [God be thanked] in a piece of ill-luck, may be really hundreds of leagues of progress; and each of them worth more than the whole world to us, as something which pleases God, and which God alone has enabled us to do.
    ... Frederick William Faber (1814-1863), Growth in Holiness, London: Thomas Richardson & Son, 1860, third edition, p. 123 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 19:7-8; Ps. 4:4; Mic. 6:8; Matt. 5:48; Rom. 12:1-2; Gal. 5:22-23; Phil. 1:9-11; 2:14-16; 4:8; Col. 3:12-13; 1 Thes. 4:7; Heb. 12:1; Jas. 3:17-18; 2 Pet. 1:4-8; 1 John 2:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are present throughout my day. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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