Tillotson: the habit of holiness

Saturday, September 28, 2013
Meditation:
I will hasten and not delay
    to obey your commands.
    —Psalm 119:60 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Do we think that when the day hath been idly spent and squandered away by us, we shall be fit to work when the night and darkness comes? When our understanding is weak, and our memory frail, and our will crooked, and by long custom of sinning obstinately bent the wrong way, what can we then do in religion? What reasonable or acceptable service can we then perform to God? When our candle is just sinking into the socket, how shall our light “so shine before men that they may see our good works?”... I will not pronounce anything concerning the impossibility of a death-bed repentance, but I am sure that it is very difficult, and, I believe, very rare.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. II, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, Sermon XIV, p. 113, 557 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 119:60; Matt. 5:16; Mark 9:24; Luke 23:39-43; Col. 1:10-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I will not wait an hour before following You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Grou: my weakness

Friday, September 27, 2013
    Feast of Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), 1660
Meditation:
    Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
    —Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Of myself I can do absolutely nothing as regards my supernatural life; I am not merely weak, I am powerless... I need the stay of God’s never-failing Grace, and that I know will be granted to trustful prayer... I cannot count on the strength of my own intentions, or resolutions, or promises; still less can I dare alone to face the dangers and temptations which beset a Christian’s life. In short, the whole work of my salvation, from first to last, depends upon God. He can prosper it, and in spite of all my weakness and perversity, He will bring it to a safe end, if I do but cleave stedfastly to Him.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 130-131 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 10:23; Matt. 10:22; 24:12-13; John 5:19,30; 8:28; 12:49; 2 Cor. 3:5-6; 12:9-10; 13:4; Col. 1:22-23; Heb. 3:6,14; 4:16; 6:11; Rev. 3:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen my wavering allegiance to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Murray: at His disposal

Thursday, September 26, 2013
    Commemoration of Wilson Carlile, Priest, Founder of the Church Army, 1942
Meditation:
    Then [Jesus] looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
    —Mark 3:34-35 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We find the Christian life so difficult because we seek for God’s blessing while we live in our own will. We should be glad to live the Christian life according to our own liking. We make our own plans and choose our own work, and then we ask the Lord Jesus to come in and take care that sin shall not conquer us too much, and that we shall not go too far wrong; we ask Him to come in and give us so much of His blessing. But our relation to Jesus ought to be such that we are entirely at His disposal.
    ... Andrew Murray (1828-1917), Absolute Surrender, Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1897, p. 123-124 (see the book)
    See also Mark 3:34-35; Matt. 6:10; 12:50; 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38-40; 15:5; Rom. 12:2; Jas. 4:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I may become Your instrument. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Andrewes: His joy

Wednesday, September 25, 2013
    Feast of Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, Spiritual Writer, 1626
    Commemoration of Sergius of Radonezh, Russian Monastic Reformer, Teacher, 1392
Meditation:
    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
    —Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Can there be any joy compared with those He did forego? or can any joy countervail those barbarous usages He willingly went through? It seemeth, there can. What joy might that be? Sure none other, but the joy He had to save us, the joy of our salvation. For what was His glory, or joy, or crown of rejoicing, was it not we? Yes truly, we were His crown and His joy.
    ... Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626), preached March 29, 1605, on Good Friday, Ninety-six Sermons, v. II, Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1841, p. 175-176 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 12:1-2; Luke 13:32-33; 22:15; John 12:31-32; Phil. 2:5-8; 1 John 4:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love for us is above all. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Houghton: the best

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Meditation:
Who has understood the mind of the LORD,
    or instructed him as his counselor?
Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
    and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
    or showed him the path of understanding?
    —Isaiah 40:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I shrink from the suggestion that our Father has done anything which needs to be explained. What he has done is the best, because he has done it, and I pray that as a family we may not cast about for explanations of the mystery, but exult in the Holy Spirit and say, “I thank Thee, Father ... Even so, Father.” It suggests a lack of confidence in Him if we find it necessary to try to understand all He does.
    ... Frank Houghton (1894-1972), from a letter quoted in Rose from Brier [1933], Amy Carmichael, London: SPCK, 1950, p. 114 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 40:13-14; Gen. 50:20; Isa. 55:8-9; Job 40:2; Ps. 46:1-2; 66:20; Rom. 8:28,35-39; 11:33-34; 2 Cor. 4:15-17; 5:1-3; Phil. 1:21; Heb. 12:11; Jas. 1:2-4; Rev. 3:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the faith to stop trying to rationalize Your acts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Webster: applying our lives to Scripture

Monday, September 23, 2013
Meditation:
Blessed are they whose ways are blameless,
    who walk according to the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who keep his statutes
    and seek him with all their heart.
    —Psalm 119:1-2
Quotation:
    It was and is no small thing to break from the surrounding unbiblical views of the world and adopt the ways and values taught in God’s Word. Here [in Psalm 119] the psalmist finds nothing more practical than thinking about God’s teachings and examining daily life and motives. Beyond finding applications in God’s word for our lives, the psalmist would have us apply our lives to Gos’s Word. Therein the psalmist develops purity and righteous character and experiences the benefits of following the Word of the Lord.
    ... Brian L. Webster (b. 1965) & David R. Beach (b. 1956), The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2010, p. 154 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 119; 1:1-2; Matt. 5:8; Phil. 4:8; Col. 3:16; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 3:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You reward those who seek to follow Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fenelon: do we fear happiness?

Sunday, September 22, 2013
Meditation:
    In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
    What can mortal man do to me?
    —Psalm 56:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What then are we afraid of? Can we have too much of God? ... Is it a misfortune to be freed from the heavy yoke of the world, and to bear the light burden of Jesus Christ? Do we fear to be too happy, too much delivered from ourselves, from the caprices of our pride, the violence of our passions, and the tyranny of a deceitful world?
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Pious Reflections for Every Day in the Month, London: H. D. Symonds, 1800, p. 78-79 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 56:4; 27:1-3; 118:6; Matt. 11:28-30; Luke 12:4; Rom. 8:15,31; Gal. 5:1; Heb. 13:6; 1 John 4:4,18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my heart cries out for more of You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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