Gossip: the language of Heaven

Saturday, August 17, 2013
Meditation:
    ...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Thanksgiving is the language of heaven, and we had better start to learn it if we are not to be mere dumb aliens there.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), The Galilean Accent, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1926, p. 181 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 5:18; Ps. 28:7; 30:11-12; 75:1; 136; Eph. 5:19-20; Phil. 4:6; Col. 3:17; Rev. 5:11-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Fill my heart with thankfulness, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gordon: the basis of prayer

Friday, August 16, 2013
Meditation:
    In [Jesus Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
    —Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The blood of the cross is the basis of all prayer. Through it the relationship is established that underlies all prayer. Only as I come to God through Jesus to get the sin score straightened, and only as I keep in sympathy with Jesus in the purpose of my life can I practice prayer.
    ... Samuel Dickey Gordon, Quiet Talks on Prayer, Fleming H. Revell Co., 1904, p. 129 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 1:7; Rom. 3:25-26; 5:9; Eph. 2:13; Col. 1:19-20; Heb. 10:19-22; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7; Rev. 1:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, receive my confession and plea for forgiveness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cundy: the symbiosis

Thursday, August 15, 2013
Meditation:
    Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
    —Ephesians 4:25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    Of course, we are accepted by Christ as individuals; we need our private times of study, prayer and devotion, but our individual conversion incorporates us ‘into Christ’ and our individual baptism incorporates us into his body, the Church. To be indwelt by the Spirit is therefore to be part of his people and to have this symbiosis not just with Christ but also with the rest of his people.
    ... Ian P. M. Cundy (1945-2009), “The Church as Community”, in The People of God, Ian Cundy, ed., vol. 2 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 25 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:25; Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 1:22-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, by Your will, I am part of Your body. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cundy: in Christ

Wednesday, August 14, 2013
    Commemoration of Maximilian Kolbe, Franciscan Friar, Priest, Martyr, 1941
Meditation:
    We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
    —2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To us with ideas of individuality inherited from Greek and Western philosophy, it may seem strange or even unjust, but this principle of ‘corporate solidarity’ is vital to Christian faith; without it the whole conception of transference from being ‘in Adam’ into another solidarity of being ‘in Christ’ is of little meaning. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Ian P. M. Cundy (1945-2009), “The Church as Community”, in The People of God, Ian Cundy, ed., vol. 2 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 24 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 10:5; Rom. 16:7; 1 Cor. 1:19-21; 2:12; 3:18-19; Col. 2:8; 2 Tim. 2:16; 2 Pet. 1:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send away the false assumptions of culture. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Taylor: the Spirit's whispers

Tuesday, August 13, 2013
    Feast of Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down & Connor, Priest, Teacher, 1667
    Commemoration of Florence Nightingale, Social Reformer, 1910
    Commemoration of Octavia Hill, Worker for the Poor, 1912
Meditation:
    See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
    —Hebrews 12:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    While the Spirit of God is doing this work [of regeneration] in man, man must also be ‘a fellowworker with God;’ he must entertain the Spirit, attend his inspirations, receive his whispers, obey all his motions, invite him farther, and truly renounce all confederacy with his enemy, sin; at no hand suffering any ‘root of bitterness to spring up,’ not allowing to himself any reserve of carnal pleasure, no clandestine lust, no private oppressions, no secret covetousness, no love to this world, that may discompose his duty... When we leave every sin, when we resolve never to return to the chains, when we have no love for the world but such as may be a servant of God; then I account that we are entered into a state of grace.
    ... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., v. VI, London: Ogle, Duncan & Co., 1822, Sermon XIV, p. 5 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 12:15; Ps. 32:5; 51:7,10; 130:1-2; 1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor. 7:10-11; 2 Pet. 3:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I would leave every sin behind. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ryle: the sinfulness of sin

Monday, August 12, 2013
Meditation:
    It is God’s will that you should be sanctified...
    —1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I am convinced that the first step towards attaining a higher standard of holiness is to realize more fully the amazing sinfulness of sin.
    ... J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), Holiness [1877, 1879], Sovereign Grace Publishers, reprint, 2001, p. 9 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 4:3-7; Matt. 5:48; John 17:17; Rom. 7:13; 2 Cor. 3:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, even yet I do not fully recognize my sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newman: the depth of the story

Sunday, August 11, 2013
    Feast of Clare of Assisi, Founder of the Order of Minoresses (Poor Clares), 1253
    Commemoration of John Henry Newman, Priest, Teacher, Tractarian, 1890
Meditation:
    Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
    —Romans 11:33 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Every passage in the history of our Lord and Saviour is of unfathomable depth, and affords inexhaustible matter of contemplation. All that concerns Him is infinite, and what we first discern is but the surface of that which begins and ends in eternity.
    ... John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), Discourses Addressed to Mixed Congregations, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1849, p. 342 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 11:33; John 1:18; Eph. 2:6-7; 3:8-11,17-18; Col. 1:25-27; 2:2-3; 1 Tim. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, though Your Son is beyond comprehension, You have declared that we may know Him. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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