Pike: cause and effect

Saturday, May 17, 2014
Meditation:
    Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
    —Galatians 6:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    He may affect us directly by His Spirit, with the force of a thunderbolt, or He may choose to woo us gently by stirring up our consciences.
    But, in addition, God affects us by determining that in the universe certain causes shall bring about certain effects. Cause-and-effect is, therefore, the operation of God through normal channels rather than through special channels. We have our normal way of acting when we drive a car. We can more or less put it in “automatic pilot” while we carry on a conversation, but when an emergency arises, we take conscious personal control. I have a hunch that God has something for which this automatic pilot will serve as an illustration. That is, His routine way of operating is cause-and-effect, and He is in control of it, so that when cause-and-effect affects us, then God is affecting us. That is what the Apostle Paul means in Galatians when he says, “Do not kid yourself—God is not blind. What you do, you will get paid for.” The causes which we have set in operation by our own personal choices will inevitably bring about certain results. But God is involved because God makes cause-and-effect to work. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Kenneth L. Pike (1912-2001), With Heart and Mind, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962, p. 62 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:7-9; Job 13:7-9; 34:11; Ps. 62:12; Matt. 16:27; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 9:6; 1 John 3:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to know Your movements in the events of daily life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Peterson: the opposing crowds

Friday, May 16, 2014
    Commemoration of Caroline Chisholm, Social Reformer, 1877
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
    —Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This world is no friend to grace. A person who makes a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior does not find a crowd immediately forming to applaud the decision or old friends spontaneously gathering around to offer congratulations and counsel.
    ... Eugene H. Peterson (b. 1932), A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, InterVarsity Press, 2000, p. 15 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:11-12; 10:22; 13:57-58; 23:37; 24:9; Luke 4:24,28-30; 6:22; John 1:45-46; 4:44; 15:18-21; 16:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your power is sufficient to cover our weakness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rhymes: Sunday piety

Thursday, May 15, 2014
    Commemoration of Charles Williams, Spiritual Writer, 1945
Meditation:
    For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
    —1 John 5:4 (KJV)
Quotation:
    If our faith is not relevant to our daily life in the world and in the parish, then it is no use; and if we cannot be Christians in our work, in the neighborhood, in our political decisions, then we had better stop being Christians. A piety reserved for Sundays is no message for this age.
    ... Douglas Rhymes (1914-1996), “The Place of the Laity in the Parish”, in Layman’s Church, ed. John A. T. Robinson, London: Lutterworth Press, 1963, p. 29 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 5:4-5; Matt. 13:54-58; John 16:33; 1 Cor. 15:57; 1 John 2:16-17; 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your are present in our daily lives. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Marshall: God's sense of humor

Wednesday, May 14, 2014
    Feast of Matthias the Apostle
Meditation:
    Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
    —Genesis 21:5-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Whence comes this idea that if what we are doing is fun, it can’t be God’s will? The God who made giraffes, a baby’s fingernails, a puppy’s tail, a crooknecked squash, the bobwhite’s call, and a young girl’s giggle, has a sense of humor. Make no mistake about that.
    ... Catherine Marshall (1914-1983), “Joy,” in Christian Herald, v. 82, 1959, p. 33 (see the book)
    See also Gen. 21:5-7; Deut. 30:9-10; Jer. 32:41; Ps. 126:2; Luke 2:10-14; 6:21; 15:10; John 10:10; 1 Thess. 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have given Your people abundant life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Evan Hopkins: self-renunciation

Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
    —Matthew 5:40-42 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Christ] looks today, as He has ever looked, not for crowds drifting aimlessly in His track, but for individual men and women whose undying allegiance will spring from their having recognized that He really wants only those who are prepared to follow the path of self-renunciation which He trod before them.
    ... H. A. Evan Hopkins, Henceforth: the Meaning of Christian Discipleship [1942], Chicago, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1964, p. 22 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:40-42; 10:37-39; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24; 14:26-27; 21:4; John 12:25; Acts 20:24; 1 Cor. 10:32-33; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Phil. 3:7-8; 1 Pet. 2:11; Heb. 13:12-13; Rev. 12:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to loosen my grip on the things of this world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: God's words

Monday, May 12, 2014
    Commemoration of Aiden Wilson Tozer, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Meditation:
    But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
    —2 Timothy 3:14-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God did not write a book and send it by messenger to be read at a distance by unaided minds. He spoke a Book and lives in His spoken words, constantly speaking His words and causing the power of them to persist across the years.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 71 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 3:14-17; Ps. 19:7; 71:17; 119:105; Matt. 26:54-56; Luke 24:27,45; Acts 10:43; Rom. 15:4; 16:25-27; Heb. 4:12; 2 Pet. 1:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit testifies to the truth of Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pink: prayer as confession

Sunday, May 11, 2014
Meditation:
All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;
    my sighing is not hidden from you.
    —Psalm 38:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayer is not appointed for the furnishing of God with the knowledge of what we need, but it is designed as a confession to Him of our sense of the need. In this, as in everything, God’s thoughts are not as ours. God requires that His gifts should be sought for. He designs to be honoured by our asking, just as He is to be thanked by us after He has bestowed His blessing.
    ... A. W. Pink (1886-1952), The Sovereignty of God [1918], CCEL, 1972, p. 180 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 38:9; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Job 9:32; Matt. 6:8; Luke 12:30; 18:1; John 16:23-24; Rom. 11:29; 1 Cor. 14:1; Col. 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jas. 5:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, for all Your gifts Your people give You thanks and praise. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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