Hastings: none beside Thee

Saturday, February 1, 2014
    Commemoration of Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, c.525
Meditation:
Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
    —Psalm 73:25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayer is the expression of a good desire. The human heart is full of restless desires, and the prayers of men consist for the most part of the unsifted petitions which are urged by their varying passions... To desire what is right, and to desire it consistently, and passionately, is the first condition of true living. The desires can be corrected only by truth, the mind must apprehend God, and then it will say, “There is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.”
    ... James Hastings (1852-1922), The Christian Doctrine of Prayer, Edinbugh: T. & T. Clark, 1915, p. 25 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 73:25; 42:1-2; 143:6; Isa. 26:8-9; Acts 20:24; Rom. 8:18,26; Phil. 3:8-9; 2 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 5:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, prompt my heart to desire nothing but You, CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ham: concentration and training

Friday, January 31, 2014
    Commemoration of John Bosco, Priest, Founder of the Salesian Teaching Order, 1888
Meditation:
    Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
    —Ephesians 6:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Groups that require little of their membership count for little outside their membership. Real spiritual capacity requires at least as much concentration and training as learning to play a musical instrument. Nobody has ever drifted into a genuine Christian experience.
    ... William T. Ham, “Candles of the Lord”, in Spiritual Renewal through Personal Groups, John L. Casteel, ed., NY: Association Press, 1957, p. 171 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 11:29-30; 1 Cor. 9:25; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Eph. 6:12-18; 1 Tim. 1:18-19; 6:12; 2 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 12:4; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:2-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, move us to desire Your instruction. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: ultimate purpose ignored

Thursday, January 30, 2014
    Commemoration of Lesslie Newbigin, Bishop, Missionary, Teacher, 1998
Meditation:
    Tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant—the terms I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.
    —Jeremiah 11:3-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The effect of the post-Enlightenment project for human society is that all human activity is absorbed into labor. It becomes an unending cycle of production for the sake of consumption. The modern concept of “built-in obsolescence” makes this clear. The cycle of production and consumption has to be kept going, and the work of the artist or craftsman who aims to create something enduring becomes marginal to the economic order. Likewise, the world of action, of politics, is reduced to a conflict of views about how to keep the cycle of production and consumption going. Questions of ultimate purpose are excluded from the public world.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Foolishness to the Greeks: the Gospel and Western culture, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 30 (see the book)
    See also Jer. 11:3-4; Lev. 26:12; Ps. 2:6-9; 17:14; Dan. 7:26-27; Matt. 5:19-21,25-32; 20:25-28; Luke 12:22-30; John 16:33; Eph. 1:18-23; 4:17; Col. 1:15-16; 2:13-15; Heb. 8:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You will defeat the system of this world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ellul: fulfilling vocation

Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Meditation:
    Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship [bearing Jonah] threatened to break up.
    —Jonah 1:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jonah teaches us that this storm, whose physical causes are the same as those of all other storms, is there only for Jonah and because of Jonah. It has other effects. It sweeps the coasts, disperses fish, causes ships to founder. But its purpose is to smash inflexible Jonah. Thus the elements and many men, especially the sailors, are engaged in the adventure of Jonah with him and because of him. One sees here the weight and seriousness of vocation. God thinks his choice is so important, and takes the one elected so seriously, that he brings nature into play to see that this man fulfills his vocation.
    ... Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), The Judgment of Jonah, tr. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1971, p. 25 (see the book)
    See also Jon. 1:1-4; Amos 7:14-15; Matt. 8:23-27; John 6:44; Acts 9:1-6; 13:2-3; Rom. 8:29-30; 1 Cor. 7:20; Eph. 4:4; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; Heb. 11:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, turn me again toward my calling. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Aquinas: non-prayer

Tuesday, January 28, 2014
    Feast of Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1274
Meditation:
    Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.
    —1 Peter 4:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills.
    ... Thomas Aquinas (1225?-1274) (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 4:1-2; Ps. 40:8; Matt. 6:10; 7:21; John 4:34; Rom. 8:26; 12:2; Eph. 6:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let my every prayer accord with Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: securing moral action

Monday, January 27, 2014
Meditation:
    You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
    —James 2:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No man is better for knowing that God in the beginning created the heaven and the earth. The devil knows that, and so did Ahab and Judas Iscariot. No man is better for knowing that God so loved the world of men that He gave His only begotten Son to die for their redemption. In hell there are millions who know that. Theological truth is useless until it is obeyed. The purpose behind all doctrine is to secure moral action.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Of God and Men, Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1960, p. 27 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 2:19-20; 1 Kings 20:13; Ps. 103:17-18; Matt. 7:24-27; 11:15; 27:3-6; Luke 14:27; John 3:16; 13:17; 14:15; 15:14; Jas. 1:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to act on Your truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: half of Christ

Sunday, January 26, 2014
    Feast of Timothy and Titus, Companions of Paul
    Commemoration of Dorothy Kerin, Founder of the Burrswood Healing Community, 1963
Meditation:
    Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
    —Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How many of us would have Christ divided into two halves, that we might take the half of Him only, and take his office, Jesus and salvation! But “Lord” is a cumbersome word, and to obey, and work out our own salvation, and to perfect holiness, is the cumbersome and stormy north side of Christ, and that which we shun and avoid.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Mr. Rutherford’s Letters, Edinburgh: E. and J. Robertsons, 1761, letter, Sept. 7, 1637, p. 155 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 2:12-13; Matt. 7:24-27; 12:49-50; Mark 3:35; Luke 8:21; 11:28; John 14:15; 15:14; Acts 2:36; 1 Cor. 1:13; Eph. 4:4-6; Heb. 5:8-9; Jas. 1:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen me to follow your commandments. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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