Yaconelli: loving the unlovely

Saturday, October 5, 2013
Meditation:
    Again he denied it.
    After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
    He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”
    Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
    —Mark 14:70-72 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We can talk about love all we want, but loving those who are unlovely is how we learn about love. Jesus gave Peter some excellent teaching about betrayal and arrogance, but Peter didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about until he actually betrayed Jesus. Peter’s failure was the primary cause of his understanding and maturity.
    ... Mike Yaconelli (1942-2003), Messy Spirituality [2002], Zondervan, 2007, p. 91 (see the book)
    See also Mark 14:29-30,66-72; Pr. 12:19; Matt. 5:43-47; 26:33-34,69-75; Luke 22:33-34,55-62; John 13:37-38; 18:15-18,25-27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have forgiven my many betrayals. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Eckhart: contrary to God

Friday, October 4, 2013
    Feast of Francis of Assisi, Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor, 1226
Meditation:
    Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
    —1 John 2:15-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Love God, and do as you like, say the Free Spirits. Yes; but as long as you like anything contrary to God’s will, you do not love Him.
    ... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?), quoted in Light, Life and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages, William R. Inge, ed., p. xxx (see the book)
    See also 1 John 2:15-17; Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; John 15:19; Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:2; Jas. 4:4; 1 John 3:17; 4:20-21; 5:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, purge from my heart all that is not love for You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Wesley: the opposition of the world's economy

Thursday, October 3, 2013
    Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896
    Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958
Meditation:
    Then [Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
    —Luke 12:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion ... has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches.
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, v. X, New York: J. & J. Harper, 1827, p. 150 (see the book)
    See also Luke 12:15-20; Ps. 37:16-17; Matt. 19:23-26; Mark 4:18-19; 10:17-27; Luke 6:24-25; 18:18-27; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Jas. 5:1-5; 1 John 3:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in Your rich blessings, do not allow me to become indifferent. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Fuller: the pull of sin

Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Meditation:
    Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
    —Romans 8:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Lord, before I commit a sin, it seems to me so shallow, that I may wade through it dry-shod from any guiltiness: but when I have committed it, it often seems so deep that I cannot escape without drowning.
    ... Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), Good Thoughts in Bad Times [1645], Chicago: United Society of Christian Endeavor, Boston, 1898, “Personal Meditations”, VII (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:6-8; Ps. 25:11; 51:2; 130:1-5; Hos. 8:7; Mark 7:21-23; John 3:19-20; Gal. 6:7-8; 2 Thess. 2:11-12; 1 John 1:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, to sin is so easy; grant me the strength to resist sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Newbigin: the absence of purpose

Tuesday, October 1, 2013
    Commemoration of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, 533
    Commemoration of Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite Nun, Spiritual Writer, 1897
Meditation:
    Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”
    —John 5:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We have the evidence of the dichotomy that runs through our culture. We all engage in purposeful activity, and we judge ourselves and others in terms of success in achieving the purposes that we set before ourselves. Yet we accept as the final product of this purposeful activity a picture of the world from which purpose has been eliminated. Purpose is a meaningful concept in relation to our own consciousness of ourselves, but it is allowed no place in our understanding of the world of facts.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Foolishness to the Greeks: the Gospel and Western culture, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 77-78 (see the book)
    See also John 5:17; Ps. 75:3; Rom. 9:22-24; 2 Cor. 5:21; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 4:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, the cosmos is filled with Your purpose. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Patmore: God's answers

Monday, September 30, 2013
Meditation:
    From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
    —John 1:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God usually answers our prayers according rather to the measure of His own magnificence, than to that of our asking; so that we often do not know His [benefits] to be those for which we besought Him.
    ... Coventry Patmore (1823-1896), The Rod, the Root, and the Flower [1895], London: G. Bell and Sons, 1907, p. 14 (see the book)
    See also John 1:16; 1 Kings 3:11-14; Ps. 23:5-6; 145:18; Acts 12:5-17; Rom. 10:12-13; 2 Cor. 12:8-9; Jas. 1:17; 2 Pet. 1:3-4; 1 John 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your abundant grace fills the lives of Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Yelchaninov: the triviality of anger

Sunday, September 29, 2013
    Feast of Michael & All Angels
Meditation:
    “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
    —Ephesians 4:26-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If you are seized with anger towards someone, try to imagine that both you and he must die; how insignificant his fault will then appear, and how unjust your anger, even if formally justified.
    ... Alexander Yelchaninov (1881-1934), Fragments of a Diary: 1881-1934, in A Treasury of Russian Spirituality, Georgii Petrovich Fedotov, ed., Nordland, 1975, p. 423 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:26-27; Ps. 37:8; Matt. 5:22; Col. 3:8; Jas. 1:19-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me to know Your presence when I am angry. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt