Hovey: the Comforter

Saturday, April 5, 2014
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
    —John 14:16-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The word “Comforter” as applied to the Holy Spirit needs to be translated by some vigorous term. Literally, it means “with strength.” Jesus promised His followers that “The Strengthener” would be with them forever. This promise is no lullaby for the faint-hearted. It is a blood transfusion for courageous living.
    ... E. Paul Hovey (b. 1908), The Treasury of Inspirational Anecdotes, Quotations, and Illustrations, Revell, 1959, p. 211 (see the book)
    See also John 14:16-17; Ps. 138:3; Isa. 40:31; Luke 21:14-15; Acts 2:4; 4:31; 1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Cor. 1:8-11; 12:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Have I asked for the Strengthener? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kurosaki: Christ the Head

Friday, April 4, 2014
Meditation:
    We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
    —1 John 1:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    If we will practice this living union with Christ, loving each other without any concern about sects and denominations, doctrines or forms, then we shall have the Body of Christ with Him as Head. This is the Ekklesia in its truest and purest sense. Therefore, the Ekklesia is not an institution, not a system, not theology, not the words of the Bible, and not any ritual or ceremony. The Ekklesia exists where there is this life union with God through Christ.
    ... Kokichi Kurosaki (1886-1970), One Body in Christ, Kobe, Japan: Eternal Life Press, 1954, ch. 4 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 1:3; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:29-30; Col. 1:18-20; 1 Tim. 3:14-15; Heb. 12:22-24
Quiet time reflection:
    Have I valued soemthing else above my union with Christ in the church? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kurosaki: direct fellowship with God

Thursday, April 3, 2014
Meditation:
    For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
    —1 Corinthians 15:22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Fellowship between God and man, interrupted by the sin of the first Adam, was reopened by redemption bought with the blood of the last Adam. Now anyone can have direct koinonia with God and share His very life—anyone can live a life of love and unity with Christ. This is really the center of Christianity, and “faith” is nothing other than the state of having this life union with God. To be justified by faith means that God has access to repentant sinners through Christ and is thus able to enjoy this koinonia with them. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Kokichi Kurosaki (1886-1970), One Body in Christ, Kobe, Japan: Eternal Life Press, 1954, ch. 4 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 15:22; John 1:4; 3:6; 5:21; Acts 2:42; Rom. 5:1; 1 Cor. 1:9; Gal. 3:24; Phil. 2:1-2; 3:10-11; 1 John 1:3; 5:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Have I grasped fellowship with God as above all other relationships? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hammarskjold: dead to self

Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Meditation:
    If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
    —Romans 6:5-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is a pride of faith, more unforgivable and dangerous than the pride of the intellect. It reveals a split personality in which faith is “observed” and appraised, thus negating that unity born of a dying-unto-self, which is the definition of faith. To “value” faith is to turn it into a metaphysical magic, the advantages of which ought to be reserved for a spiritual elite.
    ... Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Markings, tr. Leif Sjöberg & W. H. Auden, (q.v.), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964 (post.), p. 106 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 6:5-7; Mic. 6:8; Matt. 7:1-5; 2 Cor. 4:10; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Phil. 3:8; Col. 2:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Have I ranked my faith above that of others? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: spiritually minded

Tuesday, April 1, 2014
    Commemoration of Frederick Denison Maurice, Priest, teacher, 1872
Meditation:
He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul;
    But he that is careless of his ways shall die.
    —Proverbs 19:16 (ASV)
Quotation:
    To pray earnestly and live carelessly is to proclaim that a man is not spiritually minded in his prayer.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), The Grace and Duty of being Spiritually Minded [1681], in Works of John Owen, v. VII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, I.6, p. 295 (see the book)
    See also Pr. 19:16; Ps. 62:11-12; Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 7:26-27; 12:35-37; Gal. 6:7-8; Jas. 2:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Do my petitions match my life? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Donne: Batter my heart, three-person'd God

Monday, March 31, 2014
    Commemoration of John Donne, Priest, Poet, 1631
Meditation:
    In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
    —John 3:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Holy Sonnets, n. 17, Works of John Donne, vol. VI, London: John W. Parker, 1839, p. 449 (see the book)
    See also John 3:3; Deut. 4:24; Ps. 34:18; 51:10,17; Isa. 57:15; Matt. 5:3; Luke 18:11-14; John 14:23; Rom. 6:6-7; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Heb. 12:29; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Have I fully surrendered to the Lord? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chesterton: miracles

Sunday, March 30, 2014
Meditation:
    Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
    —Matthew 4:23-25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    My belief that miracles have happened in human history is not a mystical belief at all; I believe in them upon human evidences as I do in the discovery of America. Upon this point there is a simple logical fact that only requires to be stated and cleared up. Somehow or other an extraordinary idea has arisen that the disbelievers in miracles consider them coldly and fairly, while believers in miracles accept them only in connection with some dogma. The fact is quite the other way. The believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them. The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), Orthodoxy, London, New York: John Lane Company, 1909, p. 278-279 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 4:23-25; 9:2-7; Mark 2:3-12; Luke 4:14; John 2:11; 7:31; 20:30-31; Acts 19:17; 1 Cor. 1:22-24
Quiet time reflection:
    Do I hold on to some remnant of skepticism? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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