Traherne: the present glory

Saturday, November 16, 2013
    Feast of Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Philanthropist, Reformer of the Church, 1093
    Commemoration of Edmund Rich of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1240
Meditation:
    I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
    —John 15:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There are Christians that place and desire all their happiness in another life, and there is another sort of Christians that desire happiness in this [life]. The one can defer their enjoyment of Wisdom till the World to come, and dispense with the increase and perfection of knowledge for a little time: the other are instant and impatient of delay, and would fain see that happiness here, which they shall enjoy hereafter. Not the vain happiness of this world, falsely called happiness, truly vain: but the real joy and glory of the blessed, which consisteth in the enjoyment of the whole world in communion with God; not this only, but the invisible and eternal, which they earnestly covet to enjoy immediately: for which reason they daily pray Thy kingdom come, and travail towards it by learning Wisdom as fast as they can... [God] offereth it now, now they are commanded to have their conversation in Heaven, now they may be full of joy and full of glory.
    ... Thomas Traherne (1637?-1674), Centuries of Meditations, edited and published by Bertram Dobell, in London, 1908, p. 245-246 (see the book)
    See also John 15:11; Matt. 6:10; Mark 10:29-30; Luke 18:29-30; Rom. 15:14; Col. 1:27; Jas. 1:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your presence brings glory. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: relatedness

Friday, November 15, 2013
Meditation:
    Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
    —1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    From its first page to its last, the Bible is informed by a vision of human nature for which neither freedom nor equality is fundamental; what is fundamental is relatedness.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Foolishness to the Greeks: the Gospel and Western culture, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 118 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 4:8; Ps. 133:1; Matt. 20:26-28; John 13:34; 15:12; Rom. 12:10; Eph. 5:1-2; Phil. 2:3; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 Pet. 1:22; 5:5; 1 John 2:7-10; 4:21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, cast out ambition and envy from my heart, so that I may love the brothers. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Henry: the effects of prosperity

Thursday, November 14, 2013
    Commemoration of Samuel Seabury, First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796
Meditation:
    When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.
    —Hosea 13:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Pride, security, and other sins that are common effects of prosperity, are enemies more dangerous than beasts of the field, and more apt to increase upon us.
    ... Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Concise Commentary on the Bible [1706], Deut. 7:12-26 in loc (see the book)
    See also Hos. 13:6; Deut. 7:12-26; 8:10-14; 31:20; Ps. 127:1; Pr. 18:11-12; Matt. 19:23-24; Luke 6:24-25; 16:13; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Jas. 5:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me greater caution with prosperity. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Simeon: more grace

Wednesday, November 13, 2013
    Feast of Charles Simeon, Pastor, Teacher, 1836
Meditation:
    Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
    —1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Does not every man feel, that there is corruption enough within him to drive him to the commission of the greatest enormities, and eternally to destroy his soul? He can have but little knowledge of his own heart who will deny this. On the other hand, who that is holding on in the ways of righteousness, does not daily ascribe his steadfastness to the influence of that grace which he receives from God; and look daily to God for more grace, in order that he may be “kept by his power through faith unto salvation?” No man can in any measure resemble the scripture saints, unless he be of this disposition. Why then must these [doctrinal distinctions] be put in opposition to each other, so that every advocate for one of these points must of necessity controvert and explode the other? Only let any pious person... examine the language of his prayers after he has been devoutly pouring out his soul before God, and he will find his own words almost in perfect consonance with the foregoing statement.
    ... Charles Simeon (1759-1836), Horae Homileticae, v. I, London: Holdsworth and Ball, 1832, p. xvii (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 1:3-5; Zech. 4:9; Matt. 12:34-35; Mark 7:21-23; Rom. 3:22-23; 7:18-20; 14:5; 1 Cor. 2:14; 4:6-7; Gal. 3:22; Eph. 2:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, nothing good is within me save Your Spirit. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hilton: dead to sin

Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Meditation:
    So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
    —Romans 7:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Since you have forsaken the world and turned wholly to God, you are symbolically dead in the eyes of men; therefore, let your heart be dead to all earthly affections and concerns, and wholly devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ. For you must be well aware that if we make an outward show of conversion to God without giving Him our hearts, it is only a shadow and pretence of virtue, and no true conversion. Any man or woman who neglects to maintain inward vigilance, and only makes an outward show of holiness in dress, speech, and behavior, is a wretched creature. For they watch the doings of other people and criticize their faults, imagining themselves to be something when in reality they are nothing. In this way they deceive themselves. Be careful to avoid this, and devote yourself inwardly to His likeness by humility, charity, and other spiritual virtues. In this way you will be truly converted to God.
    ... Walter Hilton (1330?-1396), The Scale of Perfection [early 15th century], ed. Serenus Cressy, Book I, I.i (see the book)
    See also Rom. 7:4; Isa. 29:13; Matt. 6:2-6,16-18; Rom. 6:1-6,10-11; 8:10; Gal. 2:19; 6:3,14; Col. 3:1-3; 1 Pet. 2:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grow me into the Lord’s likeness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: the hardness of faith

Monday, November 11, 2013
    Feast of Martin, Monk, Bishop of Tours, 397
Meditation:
    For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
    —Ecclesiastes 12:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Are you worried because you find it so hard to believe? No one should be surprised at the difficulty of faith, if there is some part of his life where he is consciously resisting or disobeying the commandments of Jesus. Is there some part of your life that you are refusing to surrender at his behest, some sinful passion, maybe, or some animosity, some hope, perhaps your ambition or your reason? If so, you must not be surprised that you have not received the Holy Spirit, that prayer is difficult, or that your request for faith remains unanswered. Go rather and be reconciled with your brother, renounce the sin that holds you fast—and then you will recover your faith!
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship, Simon and Schuster, 1959, p. 66-67 (see the book)
    See also Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 5:23-24; 10:26-27; 11:29-30; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2-3; John 14:1; Acts 8:20-23; Rom. 1:5; 7:22-23; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10,18-19; Heb. 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:14-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let me not hesitate to be reconciled to _____. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: putting them to the test

Sunday, November 10, 2013
    Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461
Meditation:
    In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
    —1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of his fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evil. It is the Heavenly Father’s will thus to exercise them so as to put his own children to a definite test. Beginning with Christ, his first-born, he follows this plan with all his children.
    ... 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.viii.1, p. 629 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 1:6-7; Ps. 26:2-3; 66:10-12; Isa. 48:10; John 1:12-13; 15:18-19; Rom. 5:3-4; 8:38-39; 2 Thess. 1:3-5; Jas. 1:2-3; Rev. 2:10; 3:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen me for Your trials. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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