Tozer: a walking miracle

Saturday, March 16, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
    —John 16:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A genuine Christian should be a walking mystery because he surely is a walking miracle. Through the leading and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is involved in a daily life and habit that cannot be explained.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Whatever Happened to Worship?, Christian Publications, 1985, p. 75 (see the book)
    See also John 16:13-15; Matt. 9:5-8; John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:10-16; Phil. 1:27-28; 2:14-16; 1 Pet. 3:15-16; 1 John 2:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Do I exhibit the unexplainable in my life? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brunner: not guilt

Friday, March 15, 2013
Meditation:
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
    and justified when you judge.
    —Psalm 51:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is characteristic of the thinking of our time that the problem of guilt and forgiveness has been pushed into the background and seems to disappear more and more. Modern thought is impersonal. There are, even to-day, a great many people who understand that man needs salvation, but there are very few who are convinced that he needs forgiveness and redemption... Sin is understood as imperfection, sensuality, [worldliness]—but not as guilt.
    ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Word and the World, London: Student Christian Movement Press, 1931, p. 49 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 51:4; Matt. 6:12,14-15; Luke 1:76-79; 24:46-47; Acts 16:29-31; Rom. 7:13; Jas. 2:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Do I ignore my sins to avoid the need for forgiveness? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Casteel: growth in grace

Thursday, March 14, 2013
Meditation:
    While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
    The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
    —Acts 13:2-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Above all, the group must keep remembering that true growth in grace is not to be achieved by our own efforts or contriving, but must be received as the gift of God’s Spirit, working in, and among, us. The work of the group is to keep open the channels of receptiveness through study, discipline, prayer, and self-offering... When a group learns to live in this faith, it can keep the lines of endeavor tentative and sensitive to new headings and possibilities, on the one hand; and on the other, move forward resolutely under such light as is now given.
    ... John L. Casteel (1903-1993/5), Spiritual Renewal through Personal Groups, NY: Association Press, 1957, p. 195 (see the book)
    See also Acts 13:2-4; Lev. 26:12; Luke 11:13; John 16:13; Acts 15:28; Rom. 8:9-10; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 1:13-14; 2:8-9; Phil. 2:5-7; Heb. 6:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Am I open to the Spirit’s guidance? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Warfield: inspiration

Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
        ’The Lord said to my Lord:
            “Sit at my right hand
        until I put your enemies
            under your feet.”’”
        —Mark 12:36 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If criticism has made such discoveries as to necessitate the abandonment of the doctrine of plenary inspiration, it is not enough to say that we are compelled to abandon only a “particular theory of inspiration,” though that is true enough. We must go on to say that that “particular theory of inspiration” is the theory of the apostles and of the Lord, and that in abandoning it we are abandoning them.
    ... Benjamin B. Warfield (1851-1921), The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, Volume 4, 1893, Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Review, 1893, p. 185-186 (see the book)
    See also 2 Sam. 23:2; Matt. 22:43; Mark 12:36; Luke 1:70; Acts 28:25; Rom. 3:2; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 4:12; 2 Pet. 1:21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, do I fully believe Your word? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fenelon: don't hold back

Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Meditation:
O LORD, the God who saves me,
    day and night I cry out before you.
May my prayer come before you;
    turn your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of trouble
    and my life draws near the grave.
    —Psalm 88:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them: show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability... Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is! nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God!
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Spiritual Letters of Archbishop Fénelon. Letters to men, London: Rivingtons, 1877, p. 205-206 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 88:1-3; 62:8; 142:2; Lam. 2:19; Mark 14:35-36; Rom. 8:26; Heb. 4:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Have I held back some need in prayer? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Luther: a living sacrifice

Monday, March 11, 2013
Meditation:
    Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
    —Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Man does not live for himself alone in this mortal body, in order to work on its account, but also for all men on earth; nay, he lives only for others, and not for himself. For it is to this end that he brings his own body into subjection, that he may be able to serve others more sincerely and more freely... Thus it is impossible that he should take his ease in this life, and not work for the good of his neighbors, since he must needs speak, act, and converse among men, just as Christ... had His conversation among men...
    It is the part of a Christian to take care of his own body for the very purpose that by its soundness and wellbeing he may be enabled to labor... for the aid of those who are in want, that thus the stronger member may serve the weaker member, and we may be children of God, and busy for one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ.
    ... Martin Luther (1483-1546), Treatise on Christian Liberty [1520], p. 335-336 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:2; John 15:13; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:7-8; 1 Cor. 6:15-20; Phil. 2:3; 1 Tim. 5:23; Rev. 14:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, have I elevated myself above the needs of Your people? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bronnert: knowledge of God the source of all

Sunday, March 10, 2013
Meditation:
[The LORD:]
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
    or the strong man boast of his strength
    or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this:
    that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.
    —Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    A love for others will result in the Christian being concerned for the total good of others: material, social and spiritual. A concern for the social and material should not be a substitute for man in his relationship with God, nor should it be viewed as a convenient bridge to the spiritual; rather, because he knows God, he reflects the character of God.
    ... David Bronnert, “The Gospel and Culture”, in The Changing World, Bruce Kaye, ed., vol. 3 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 120 (see the book)
    See also Jer. 9:23-24; Amos 5:14-15,23-24; Mic. 6:8; Matt. 25:34-36; Mark 12:32-34; John 3:3; 10:27
Quiet time reflection:
    Have I shown forth God’s character today? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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