Havergal: Jesus came!

Saturday, October 4, 2014
    Feast of Francis of Assisi, Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor, 1226
Meditation:
    Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
    —Luke 5:31-32 (NIV)
Quotation:
Jesus came!—and came for me.
    Simple words! and yet expressing
Depths of holy mystery,
    Depths of wondrous love and blessing.

Holy Spirit, make me see
    All His coming means for me;
Take the things of Christ, I pray,
    Show them to my heart today.
    ... Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), The Poetical Works of Frances Ridley Havergal, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1888, p. 167 (see the book)
    See also Luke 5:31-32; Matt. 9:10; Mark 2:17; John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:15; 2 Tim. 1:10; Tit. 2:12-14; 3:4-7; Heb. 9:26
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have revealed Yourself to our hearts.

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Sayers: just a feeling?

Friday, October 3, 2014
    Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896
    Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958
Meditation:
    Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
    —1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality, unless they are prepared to take their stand upon the fundamentals of Christian theology. It is a lie to say that dogma does not matter; it matters enormously. It is fatal to let people suppose that Christianity is only a mode of feeling; it is vitally necessary to insist that it is first and foremost a rational explanation of the universe.
    ... Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957), Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World, Eerdmans, 1969, p. 31 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 4:16; John 7:16-17; Acts 2:42; Rom. 6:17; Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 4:6; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 4:3; Tit. 1:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your truth governs the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Robbins: And have the bright immensities

Thursday, October 2, 2014
Meditation:
    Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
    —Matthew 28:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
And have the bright immensities
    Received our risen Lord
Where light-years frame the Pleiades
    And point Orion’s sword?
Do flaming suns his footsteps trace
    Through corridors sublime,
The Lord of interstellar space
    And Conqueror of time?

The heaven that hides Him from our sight
    Knows neither near nor far:
An altar candle sheds its light
    As surely as a star;
And where His loving people meet
    To share the gift divine,
There stands He with unhurrying feet,
    And Heaven’s splendors shine.
    ... Howard Chandler Robbins (1876-1952), [1931], included in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, James Dalton Morrison, ed., New York: Harper & Bros., 1948, p. 260 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 28:18; Ps. 2:6-9; 19:1; 110:1-2; Isa. 9:6-7; Dan. 7:13-14; Matt. 11:27; Luke 1:32-33; 10:22; John 3:35; Eph. 1:22-23; Phil. 2:9-11;
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have conquered all opposition.

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Pink: the purposes of God

Wednesday, October 1, 2014
    Commemoration of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, 533
    Commemoration of Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite Nun, Spiritual Writer, 1897
Meditation:
    “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
    —Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayer is not intended to change God’s purpose, nor is it to move Him to form fresh purposes. God has decreed that certain events shall come to pass through the means He has appointed for their accomplishment.
    ... A. W. Pink (1886-1952), The Sovereignty of God [1918], CCEL, 1972, p. 181 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 40:8; Ps. 24:1; 119:89; Matt. 5:18; Luke 10:21; 16:17; Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:4-5,11-12; 1 Tim. 6:13-16; 1 Pet. 1:24-25
Quiet time reflection:
    Change my heart, Lord, so that it agrees with Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newman: finding out about humility

Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Meditation:
    Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
    —1 Peter 5:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What we need, and what is given us, is not how to educate ourselves for this life; we have abundant natural gifts for human society, and for the advantages which it secures: but our great want is how to demean ourselves... towards our Maker, and how to gain reliable information on this urgent necessity.
    ... John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), On the Inspiration of Scripture, G. Chapman, 1967, p. 108 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 5:5; Ps. 147:6; Isa. 57:15; 66:2; Rom. 12:3; 15:17, 18; 1 Cor. 3:5-7; 2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 4:11-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, end my pride. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Yelchaninov: lost childhood

Monday, September 29, 2014
    Feast of Michael & All Angels
Meditation:
    And [Jesus] said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
    —Matthew 18:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Childlikeness is lost in life and recovered in holiness.
    ... Alexander Yelchaninov (1881-1934), Fragments of a Diary: 1881-1934, in A Treasury of Russian Spirituality, Georgii Petrovich Fedotov, ed., Nordland, 1975, p. 450 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 18:3-4; Isa. 11:2-3; Matt. 10:16; Mark 10:14-15; Luke 18:16-17; Rom. 16:19; 1 Cor. 14:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I be as a child in Your sight. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Isaac of Syria: the infirmity of Adam

Sunday, September 28, 2014
Meditation:
    Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
    —Jude 1:22-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Love sinners, but hate their works; and do not despise them for their faults, lest you be tempted by the same. Remember that you share the earthly nature of Adam and that you are clothed with his infirmity.
    ... St. Isaac of Syria (d. c. 700), Homilies 5, in Ascetical Homilies, p. 51 (see the book)
    See also Jude 1:22-23; Matt. 9:13; Luke 6:36; Rom. 14:1; 15:1; 1 Cor. 10:12; Gal. 6:1; Col. 3:12-13; Heb. 12:13; Jas. 5:19-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a heart of mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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