Kingsley: what is wrong with the world

Saturday, August 3, 2013
Meditation:
Blessed is he
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
    whose sin the LORD does not count against him
    and in whose spirit is no deceit.
    —Psalm 32:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What is wrong with the world in general, is wrong likewise more or less with you and me, and with all human beings; for after all, the world is made up of human beings; and the sin of the world is nothing save the sins of each and all human beings put together; and the world will be renewed and come right again, just as far and no farther, as each human being is renewed and comes right. The only sure method, therefore, of setting the world right, is to begin by setting our own little part of the world right—in a word, setting ourselves right.
    ... Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), All Saints’ Day, and other sermons, ed. William Harrison, London: Kegan Paul, 1878, p. 46 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 32:1-2; 51:7; Isa. 1:18; Rom. 8:6-7; Heb. 12:1; 1 John 1:7; 2:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen my resistance to sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: divine deposits for our neighbors

Friday, August 2, 2013
Meditation:
    Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
    —2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbours.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.vii.5, p. 623 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Gal. 2:9-10; 1 Pet. 3:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, incline my heart towards my neighbors’ needs. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Neill: out of loneliness

Thursday, August 1, 2013
Meditation:
    At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.
    —2 Timothy 4:16-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The knowledge of the ever-present Christ can reach down into the hidden depths and assure lonely modern man that he is not alone. More than that; it can draw him out of his loneliness to the rediscovery of the human race.
    ... Stephen Neill (1900-1984), The Church and Christian Union, Oxford Univeristy Press, 1968, p. 279 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 4:16-17; Ps. 46:7; Matt. 1:23; 28:20; John 1:14; 2 Cor. 5:18-19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I am never as alone as I was before I knew You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Griffith Thomas: grace

Wednesday, July 31, 2013
    Commemoration of Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus, 1556
Meditation:
The LORD is good to all;
    he has compassion on all he has made.
    —Psalm 145:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Grace means more, far more than we can put into words, because it means nothing less than the infinite character of God Himself. It includes mercy for the undeserving and unmerciful, help for the helpless and hopeless, redemption for the renegade and repulsive, love for the unloving and unlovely, kindness for the unkind and unthankful. And all this in full measure and overflowing abundance, because of nothing in the object, and because of everything in the Giver, God Himself.
    ... W. H. Griffith Thomas (1861-1924), Grace and Power: some aspects of the spiritual life, New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1916, p. 89 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 145:9; Matt. 5:44-45; Acts 14:16-17; Rom. 5:3-5; 1 John 4:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have not deserved the abundant grace You have poured out over my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wilberforce: natural desires

Tuesday, July 30, 2013
    Commemoration of William Wilberforce, Social Reformer, 1833
Meditation:
    Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
    —Titus 1:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christianity proposes not to extinguish our natural desires. It promises to bring the desires under just control and direct them to their true object.
    ... William Wilberforce (1759-1833), Real Christianity, ed. James Houston, Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2005, p. 107-108 (see the book)
    See also Tit. 1:7-8; Matt. 6:19-21; Acts 24:25; 1 Cor. 9:25; Gal. 5:22-23; Heb. 10:34; 2 Pet. 1:5-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, redirect my energies towards Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Smith: our will

Monday, July 29, 2013
    Feast of Mary, Martha & Lazarus, Companions of Our Lord
Meditation:
    [The LORD:] “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
    —Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Every mother knows that she could secure perfect and easy obedience in her child, if she could only get into that child’s will and work it for him, making him want himself to do the things she willed he should. And this is what our Father does for His children in the new dispensation,—He writes His laws on our hearts and on our minds, and we love them, and are drawn to our obedience by our affections and judgment, not driven by our fears.
    ... Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911), Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, London: F. E. Longley, 1876, p. 130 (see the book)
    See also Eze. 36:25-27; Jer. 31:33-34; Eze. 11:19; John 14:16-17,26; Rom. 8:6-7; 2 Cor. 3:3; Gal. 5:22-23; Heb. 8:10-13; 10:16-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have remade my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Handel: a musician's surety

Sunday, July 28, 2013
    Commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach, musician, 1750
Meditation:
    [Paul:] “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”
    —Galatians 2:15-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What a wonderful thing it is to be sure of one’s faith! How wonderful to be a member of the evangelical church, which preaches the free grace of God through Christ as the hope of sinners! If we were to rely on our works—my God, what would become of us?
    ... George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), What Luther Says: an anthology, v. II, Martin Luther & Ewald Martin Plass, ed., Concordia Pub. House, 1959, p. 612 fn (see the book)
    See also Gal. 2:15-16; Matt. 5:20; Acts 13:38-39; Rom. 3:22-24; 4:13; 2 Cor. 1:19-20; Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:4-7; 1 Thess. 1:4-5; 1 John 3:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, by my works I am condemned but saved only through Your grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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