Spurgeon: saved from our sins

Saturday, March 23, 2013
Meditation:
    As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
    —1 Peter 1:14-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christ will be Master of the heart, and sin must be mortified... If your life is unholy your heart is unchanged; and if your heart is unchanged you are an unsaved person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you, given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, He has done nothing in you of a saving character. The grace which does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people not in their sins, but from them.
    ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), Evening by Evening, New York: Sheldon and Company, 1869, p. 39 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 1:14-16; Ps. 130:7-8; Eze. 36:25-29; Matt. 1:21; John 1:29; Acts 3:26; Rom. 6:22; Phil. 3:12-14; 1 Thes. 4:7; Tit. 2:11-14; Heb. 12:10,14; 1 John 1:7; Rev. 7:13-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Am I avoiding the places in my life where sin still lurks unchecked? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kurosaki: the origin of denominations

Friday, March 22, 2013
Meditation:
    In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
    —1 Corinthians 11:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When one takes theology or creed as the center of Christianity, it naturally follows that there must inevitably be a division of Christians into denominations and sects.
    ... Kokichi Kurosaki (1886-1970), One Body in Christ, Kobe, Japan: Eternal Life Press, 1954, ch. 3 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 11:18; Isa. 29:13; Matt. 12:25; John 5:39-40; 17:20-23; Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 1:10-13; 12:22-26; 2 Cor. 10:5; Col. 2:8,22; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:20-21; 2 Tim. 2:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Do I bring an attitude of division to the church? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Underhill: the spiritual life

Thursday, March 21, 2013
Meditation:
    As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
    —Mark 2:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For a spiritual life is simply a life in which all that we do comes from the centre, where we are anchored in God: a life soaked through and through by a sense of His reality and claim, and self-given to the great movement of His will.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Spiritual Life, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1937, reprinted, Morehouse Publishing, 1985, p. 36 (see the book)
    See also Mark 2:14; Deut. 6:5; Ps. 1:2; 51:6; Matt. 5:6; John 4:34; 6:27,38-40; 14:16-17; Rom. 8:10; 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Col. 3:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, do I have parts that refuse to follow You? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kierkegaard: the need for God

Wednesday, March 20, 2013
    Feast of Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 687
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
    —Revelation 3:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To need God is nothing to be ashamed of but is perfection itself. It is the saddest thing of all if a human being goes through life without discovering that he needs God.
    ... Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses, tr. H. V. Hong, Princeton University Press, 1992, p. 303 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 3:17-18; Deut. 8:11-14; Ps. 102:19-20; 130:1-2; 147:3; Joel 2:32; Matt. 9:11-13; 19:21-24; Mark 2:17; Luke 4:18-19; 5:31; 15:7; Acts 2:21; Rom. 7:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, do I underestimate my need for You? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chadwick: the possibility of faith

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
    Feast of Joseph of Nazareth
Meditation:
    Even as [Jesus] spoke, many put their faith in him.
    —John 8:30 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We cannot pray and believe to order. Neither faith nor prayer is at the bidding of authority. We cannot believe merely because we are told we ought to believe, and that we shall be damned if we do not. Faith is possible only where the truth finds an answering note in the soul.
    ... Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932), Humanity and God, Hodder and Stoughton, 1904, p. 305 (see the book)
    See also John 8:30-32; 1:11-13; 3:12; 7:5; 10:25-27; 12:37; Acts 2:41,46-47; 5:14; 6:7; 13:12,48; 17:34; 18:27; Rom. 10:14-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Is God’s truth resonating from my life? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Singh: discretion in worldly things

Monday, March 18, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus explaining the parable of the sower:] “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”
    —Matthew 13:22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The world and worldly things must be used with discretion, for without them life is not only difficult but impossible. For this very purpose God created the world that men might make use of it, but men should not drown themselves in it, for thus the breath of prayer is stopped and they perish.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), At the Master’s Feet, Fleming H. Revell, 1922, p. 45 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 13:22; Gen. 1:29; 2:15,19-20; 9:1-3; Matt. 6:24-25; Luke 12:15; 21:34; Rom. 1:20-25; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Eph. 4:28; 1 Tim. 6:9-10; 2 Tim. 2:20-21; Heb. 2:7-8; 1 John 2:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Am I too wrapped up in worldly concerns? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brooks: the presence of future judgment

Sunday, March 17, 2013
    Feast of Patrick, Bishop of Armagh, Missionary, Patron of Ireland, c.460
Meditation:
    Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
    —Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Oh, friends, it is not that God is going to judge us some day. That is not the awful thing. It is that God knows us now. If I stop an instant and know that God knows me through all these misconceptions and blunders of my brethren, that God knows me—that is the awful thing. The future judgment shall but tell it. It is here, here upon my conscience, now.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), from “The Beauty of a Life of Service”, in Addresses, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895, p. 28 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 4:13; 1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chr. 28:9; Matt. 9:4; 19:28; Mark 2:8; Luke 5:22; John 2:24; 5:41-42; 6:64; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:13-16; Jas. 5:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Are there areas of my conscience that I am not listening to? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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