The Christian Quotation of the Day: 2014-08-24

Owen: hope and grace

Saturday, August 30, 2014
Meditation:
    Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
    —Romans 5:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is to no purpose to boast of Christ, if we have not an evidence of His graces in our hearts and lives. But unto whom He is the hope of future glory, unto them He is the life of present grace.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), The Glory of Christ [1684, 1691], in Works of John Owen, v. I, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1850, p. 318 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 5:1-2; Matt. 5:16; John 10:7-9; 14:6; Eph. 2:10,18; 3:12; Tit. 2:7-8,11-14; 1 Pet. 2:12; 3:15-16; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, pour out Your grace to me, so that _____ and _____ may know that You are God. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: God as He is

Friday, August 29, 2014
Meditation:
    Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
    —James 4:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and bring Him nearer to our own image.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 95 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 4:7-8; 2 Chr. 30:8; Ps. 46:10; 66:3; 145:18; Hos. 6:1-2; Matt. 11:29; Rom. 10:3; 14:11; Heb. 12:9; Jas. 1:6-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I acknowledge You to be my King. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: good from evil

Thursday, August 28, 2014
    Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430
Meditation:
    Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
    —Romans 5:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist. And if he had willed that there should be no reformation in the case of men, as there is none for the wicked angels, would it not have been just if the nature that deserted God and, through the evil use of his powers, trampled and transgressed the precepts of his Creator, which could have been easily kept—the same creature who stubbornly turned away from His Light and violated the image of the Creator in himself, who had in the evil use of his free will broken away from the wholesome discipline of God’s law—would it not have been just if such a being had been abandoned by God wholly and forever and laid under the everlasting punishment which he deserved? Clearly God would have done this if he were only just and not also merciful and if he had not willed to show far more striking evidence of his mercy by pardoning some who were unworthy of it.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Enchiridion On Faith, Hope, and Love, par. 27 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 5:12; Matt. 26:28; Acts 2:38; 10:43; Eph. 1:7-8; 4:32; Col. 1:13-14; Heb. 9:22; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your mercy is great. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tillich: turning away from God

Wednesday, August 27, 2014
    Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387
Meditation:
    As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
    —Ephesians 2:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Augustine shows clearly the religious character of sin. Sin for him is not a moral failure; it is not even disobedience. Disobedience is a consequence but not the cause of sin. The cause is turning away from God, from God as the highest good, as the love with which God loves Himself through us. For this reason, since sin has this character—if you say “sins,” it is easily dissolved into moral sins; but sin is first of all basically the power of turning away from God. For this very reason, no moral remedy is possible. Only one remedy is adequate—return to God. But this of course is possible only in the power of God, and this power is lost. This is the state of man under the conditions of existence.
    ... Paul Tillich (1886-1965), A History of Christian Thought, London: SCM, 1968, p. 126 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 2:1-2; 1 Sam. 15:11; 1 Kings 11:9; Ps. 53:3; Jer. 8:4-5; Amos 4:6-11; Rom. 3:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, by Your power alone, Your people return to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Donne: God's good greater

Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Meditation:
    We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
    —2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is not in the power of the devil to do so much harm, as God can do good; nay, we may be bold to say, it is not in the will, not in the desire of the devil to do so much harm, as God would do good.
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. III, London: John W. Parker, 1839, p. 93 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 4:8-10; John 13:2-3; 14:18; Rom. 5:3-5; 1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 4:16-17; Eph. 6:11-12; Jas. 1:17; 1 Pet. 5:8-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all good comes from You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lucado: the winds of fortune

Monday, August 25, 2014
Meditation:
    No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
    —1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No struggle will come your way apart from God’s purpose, presence, and permission. What encouragement this brings! You are never the victim of nature or the prey of fate. Chance is eliminated. You are more than a weather vane whipped about by the winds of fortune.
    ... Max Lucado (b. 1955), Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch, Thomas Nelson Inc, 2004, p. 189 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 10:13; Luke 22:31-32; John 10:28-30; Rom. 8:28-39; 2 Cor. 1:10-11; 12:8-10; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 12:5-6; 2 Pet. 2:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are behind all that happens. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gandy: His be the Victor's name

Sunday, August 24, 2014
    Feast of Bartholomew the Apostle
Meditation:
    No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
    —Romans 8:37 (NIV)
Quotation:
    His be the Victor’s name
    Who fought the fight alone;
    Triumphant saints no honour claim,
    His conquest was their own.

    By weakness and defeat,
    He won the meed and crown;
    Trod all our foes beneath His feet
    By being trodden down.

    He Satan’s power laid low;
    Made sin, He sin o’erthrew;
    Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so,
    And death by dying slew.

    Bless, bless the Conqueror slain,
    Slain in His victory;
    Who lived, who died, who lives again—
    For thee, His church, for thee!
    ... Samuel Whitelock Gandy (1780-1851) (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:37; Gen. 3:15; 1 Cor. 15:55-57; 2 Cor. 2:14; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 4:4; 5:3-4; Rev. 12:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have prevailed over all our enemies.