Lewis: surrender

Saturday, September 14, 2013
    Feast of the Holy Cross
Meditation:
    Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
    —Colossians 1:21-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement. He is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor—that is the only way out of our ‘hole.’ This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Mere Christianity, New York: MacMillan, 1952, reprint, HarperCollins, 2001, p. 44 (see the book)
    See also Col. 1:21-22; Matt. 4:17; John 15:23-24; Acts 17:30; Rom. 2:6; 5:8-10; 8:7; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; 7:8-11; Jas. 4:4; Rev. 2:5; 3:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, banish whatever rebellion remains in me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

John Chrysostom: the fruits of forgiveness

Friday, September 13, 2013
    Feast of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher, 407
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
    —Matthew 6:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Let us pardon those who have wronged us. For that which others scarcely accomplish—I mean the blotting out of their own sins by means of fasting and lamentations, and prayers, and sackcloth and ashes—this it is possible for us easily to effect without sackcloth and ashes and fasting, if only we blot out anger from our heart, and with sincerity forgive those who have wronged us.
    ... St. John Chrysostom (345?-407), in “To those who had not Attended the Assembly,” A, Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, v. IX, New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889, p. 232 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:12; Ps. 32:1; Matt. 6:14-15; 18:21-22; 26:28; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37; 17:3-5; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enable me to cast away anger. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Erasmus: charity to the undeserving

Thursday, September 12, 2013
Meditation:
    It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
    —1 Peter 3:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It seems to me to be the best proof of an evangelical disposition, that persons are not angry when reproached, and have a Christian charity for those that ill deserve it.
    ... Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536), The Colloquies of Erasmus, v. II, London: Reeves & Turner, 1878, p. 298 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 3:17; Pr. 22:9; Amos 5:12-15; Matt. 5:11,42; 25:34-40; Luke 6:22; 12:33-34; Rom. 12:3,13; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Eph. 4:2; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Heb. 13:16; 1 Pet. 4:14,16; 5:5-6; 1 John 3:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me patience in difficulty. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Buechner: the life you save

Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
    —Luke 17:33 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Inspection stickers used to have printed on the back “Drive carefully—the life you save may be your own.” That is the wisdom of man in a nutshell.
    What God says, on the other hand, is “The life you save is the life you lose.” In other words, the life you clutch, hoard, guard, and play safe with is in the end a life worth little to anybody, including yourself, and only a life given away for love’s sake is a life worth living.
    ... Frederick Buechner (b. 1926), Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, Harper & Row, 1973, revised, HarperCollins, 1993, p. 28 (see the book)
    See also Luke 17:33; Matt. 10:39; 16:25-26; Mark 8:35-36; Luke 9:24-25; 12:16-21; John 12:25; 2 Tim. 2:11-13; Jas. 4:14; Rev. 12:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, pour out my life for Your purposes. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Law: pleasing God

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Meditation:
“Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
    fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
    —Psalm 50:14-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We can please God in no state or employment of life, but by intending and devoting it all to His honour and glory.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 46 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 50:14-15; 1 Sam.15:22; Pr. 21:3; Jer. 22:15-16; Hos. 6:6; John 15:8; 1 Pet. 4:11; 1 John 2:3
Quiet time reflection:
    May my actions give honor to Your name, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Bonhoeffer: costly grace

Monday, September 9, 2013
Meditation:
    When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
    —Luke 18:22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship, Simon and Schuster, 1959, p. 45 (see the book)
    See also Luke 18:22; Matt. 10:37-38; 19:21; Mark 8:34; 10:21; Luke 9:23; 14:26-30; John 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 7:23; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 12:28-29
Quiet time reflection:
    Compared to Your grace, Lord, my cost is nothing. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Kierkegaard: grateful for God

Sunday, September 8, 2013
    Commemoration of Søren Kierkegaard, Teacher and Philosopher, 1855
Meditation:
    Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    —Ephesians 5:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To stand on one leg and prove God’s existence is a very different thing from going on one’s knees and thanking Him.
    ... Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Journals, ed. Alexander Dru, Oxford University Press, 1959, p. 91 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 5:19-20; Ps. 35:18; Acts 18:28; 19:8; Rom. 1:18-20; 1 Cor. 1:17-23; 2:6-10; Phil. 4:6; Col. 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:18; 2 Thess. 1:3; 1 Tim. 6:20-21; 2 Pet. 1:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank You for saving me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt