Carmichael: unkindness

Saturday, January 18, 2014
    Commemoration of Amy Carmichael, Founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship, 1951
Meditation:
    Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
    —Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind word, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
    ... Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), If [1938], London: SPCK, 1961, p. 9 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 5:1-2; Matt. 27:28-31; Luke 23:34; Rom. 15:1-2; Gal. 6:2; Col. 3:12; 2 Pet. 1:5-7; 1 John 2:10-11; 3:17-18; 4:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, purge my thoughts of what offends. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gore: full disclosure

Friday, January 17, 2014
    Feast of Antony of Egypt, Abbot, 356
    Commemoration of Charles Gore, Bishop, Teacher, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, 1932
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.”
    —John 17:6-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The self-disclosure of God which reached its culmination in Jesus Christ is final, and that by the very necessity of the case. That is to say, if Jesus Christ is God incarnate, no fuller disclosure of God in terms of manhood than is given in His person is conceivable or possible.
    ... Charles Gore (1853-1932), The New Theology and the Old Religion, E.P. Dutton, 1907, p. vii (see the book)
    See also John 17:6-7; Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22; John 1:14,18; 12:44-46; 14:7-9; 17:26; 2 Cor. 4:6; Phil. 2:6; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; 1 John 4:9; 5:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have given me the gift of Your true self. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barth: the purpose of its summons

Thursday, January 16, 2014
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.”
    —Luke 8:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The community does not speak with words alone. It speaks by the very fact of its existence in the world; by its characteristic attitude toward world problems; and, moreover and especially, by its silent service to all the handicapped, weak, and needy of the world. It speaks, finally, by the simple fact that it prays for the world. It does all this because this is the purpose of its summons by the Word of God. It cannot avoid doing these things, since it believes.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), Evangelical Theology: An Introduction, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1979, p. 38 (see the book)
    See also Luke 8:16; Matt. 5:13-16; Mark 4:21; Luke 12:8; 21:15; 2 Cor. 6:14; Phil. 1:27-28; 2:14-16; 2 Pet. 3:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, uphold Your church before the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gossip: God in the Sacrament

Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Meditation:
    ... if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
    —2 Timothy 2:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Every single time a sacrament is celebrated, God takes action, there and then—does something, not on Calvary, but in that church. And what He does is to come to each soul partaking in the Sacrament and to assure it that He stands to the best and biggest of His promises and to the fullness of His grace in Christ; ... de-universalizes the Scriptures and individualizes them, makes them a personal promise, couched no longer in general terms but offered to very you, and very me, as individually as if they covered no other but referred to you and me alone. We may be cold and dead and unresponsive. None the less, something happens in the Sacrament. For God stands to His side of the Covenant, whether we stand to ours or not.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), Experience Worketh Hope, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1945, p. 166 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 2:13; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Matt. 24:35; 1 Cor. 5:8; Heb. 6:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have received according to Your promise. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bernard: fear and self-interest

Tuesday, January 14, 2014
    Commemoration of Richard Meux Benson, Founder of the Society of St John the Evangelist, 1915
Meditation:
    For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
    —2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire. Sometimes a slave may do God’s work; but because he does not toil voluntarily, he remains in bondage. So a mercenary may serve God, but because he puts a price on his service, he is enchained by his own greediness. For where there is self-interest there is isolation; and such isolation is like the dark corner of a room where dust and rust befoul. Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.
    ... Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), On Loving God, CCEL, ch. 12 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 1:7; Isa. 55:7; Matt. 10:7-10; 18:3; Rom. 8:15; 1 Cor. 9:18; 2 Cor. 11:9; 1 Thess. 2:9; Jas. 1:13-14; 1 John 4:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have driven out my self-concern. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Nicolas of Cusa: pity

Monday, January 13, 2014
    Feast of Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, Teacher, 367
    Commemoration of Kentigern (Mungo), Missionary Bishop in Strathclyde & Cumbria, 603
Meditation:
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.
    —Psalm 121:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    With Thee, ’tis one to behold and to pity. Accordingly, Thy mercy followeth every man so long as he liveth, whithersoever he goeth, even as Thy glance never quitteth any.
    ... Nicolas of Cusa (1401-1464), The Vision of God [1453], tr., Emma Gurney Salter, London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1928, p. 21 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 121:3-8; 127:1; Isa. 40:11; Matt. 6:26; 10:29-31; 14:14; 15:32; Mark 6:34; Luke 9:10-11; 2 Cor. 8:9; Heb. 2:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I am safe in Your hands. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: the motive of creation

Sunday, January 12, 2014
    Feast of Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167
    Commemoration of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, Scholar, 689
Meditation:
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
    —Psalm 139:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that he may love and perfect them.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Four Loves, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1960, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1960, p. 140 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 139:14; Gen. 1:26-28; Job 41:10-11; Ps. 90:2; John 5:26; Acts 17: 24-25; 1 John 4:10; Rev. 4:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit is perfecting each of Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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