Lewis: chosen

Saturday, November 22, 2014
    Commemoration of Cecilia, Martyr at Rome, c.230
    Commemoration of Clive Staples Lewis, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
    —John 15:16 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Christ, who said to the disciples “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends “You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” The Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others. They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by Friendship God opens our eyes to them. They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good Friendship, increased by Him through the Friendship itself, so that it is His instrument for creating as well as for revealing. At this feast it is He who spreads the board and it is He who has chosen the guests. It is He, we may dare hope, who sometimes does, and always should, preside. Let us not reckon without our Host.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Four Loves, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1960, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1960, p. 89-90 (see the book)
    See also John 15:16; 6:35,53-56; Rom. 14:1-4; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 4:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a heart to care for those You have placed me among. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Baxter: know yourself

Friday, November 21, 2014
Meditation:
    Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
    —James 3:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Be thoroughly acquainted with your corruptions and temptations, and watch against them all the day; especially the most dangerous sort of your corruptions, and those temptations which your company or business will unavoidably lay before you.
    ... Richard Baxter (1615-1691), The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, v. I, ed. William Orme, London: J. Duncan, 1830, p. 468 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 3:13-15; Pr. 16:18; Matt. 26:41; Luke 21:34; 1 Cor. 8:1-3; 10:12-13; Gal. 5:19-21; 6:1; Phil. 2:3-4; 1 Tim. 4:16; 6:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You guard me from falling. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Aldrich: the Gospel solution

Thursday, November 20, 2014
    Feast of Edmund of the East Angles, Martyr, 870
    Commemoration of Priscilla Lydia Sellon, a Restorer of the Religious Life in the Church of England, 1876
Meditation:
    The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
    —Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christians need to think through what the gospel can mean to a searching heart. Besides deliverance from a literal hell, it may put an unbeliever’s marriage back together, it may end his overpowering guilt, it may free him from a burdensome habit, it may bring peace, it may bring financial stability, it may solve many of his interpersonal problems, it may be the key to coping with illness, it may be the solution to a tragedy or some great loss, it may be the key to resources for living. Possibly it will be all of the above. That’s good news! Every basic human need or motive is matched by some facet of the gospel.
    ... Joseph C. Aldrich (1941-2009), Lifestyle Evangelism, Multnomah Press, 1981, p. 89 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 61:1-3; Hos. 2:23; Matt. 4:23; 5:3-12; Rom. 6:16-17,20-22; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:13-14; 2:1-3; 4:22-24; Heb. 4:16; Jas. 1:27; 1 Pet. 2:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enlarge my heart, so that I might extend the good news to more of your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Newman: life is for action

Wednesday, November 19, 2014
    Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680
    Commemoration of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, Philanthropist, 1231
    Commemoration of Mechtild, Bèguine of Magdeburg, Mystic, Prophet, 1280
Meditation:
    And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
    —1 John 3:23-24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Life is not long enough for a religion of inferences; we shall never have done beginning, if we determine to begin with proof. We shall ever be laying our foundations; we shall turn theology into evidences, and divines into textuaries... Life is for action. If we insist on proofs for everything, we shall never come to action: to act you must assume, and that assumption is faith.
    ... John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, v. 8, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 556 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 3:23-24; Ps. 119:32; Luke 6:46; John 14:21; 15:10-14; 1 John 2:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me always the faith to act. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Taylor: an account

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Meditation:
Teach us to number our days aright,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
    —Psalm 90:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God hath given to man a short time here upon earth, and yet upon this short time eternity depends; but so that for every hour of our life, after we are persons capable of laws and know good from evil, we must give account to the great Judge of men and angels.
    ... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), Holy Living [1650], in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., v. III, London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1847, p. 9 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 90:12; 39:4-5; 89:47; Isa. 40:6-8; Matt. 12:35-36; Rom. 12:2; 14:12; Eph. 6:7-8; Heb. 2:2-3; 10:36; Jas. 1:10; 4:13-15; 1 John 2:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your judgment is true. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Laubach: the bright discovery

Monday, November 17, 2014
    Feast of Hugh, Carthusian Monk, Bishop of Lincoln, 1200
Meditation:
    For [God] says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
    —2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    All day I see souls dead to God look sadly out of hungry eyes. I want them to know my discovery! That any minute can be paradise, that any place can be heaven! That any man can have God! That every man does have God the moment he speaks to God, or listens for him!
    ... Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970), Letters by a Modern Mystic: excerpts, Student Volunteer Movement, 1937, p. 24 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 6:2; Matt. 5:6; John 12:20-21; Acts 2:41,47; 4:4; 13:48; 17:32; Rom. 8:30; Eph. 2:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may _____ and _____ hear Your voice. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Swete: abiding in Christ's teaching

Sunday, November 16, 2014
    Feast of Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Philanthropist, Reformer of the Church, 1093
    Commemoration of Edmund Rich of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1240
Meditation:
    Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
    —Jude 3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    True progress is not found in breaking away from the old ways, but in abiding in the teaching of Christ and His Spirit in the Church. There is an apparent contradiction here, for how can we abide, and yet advance? It is a paradox, like much else in scripture; but Christian experience proves it true. Those make the best progress in religion who hold fast by the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and not those who drift away from their moorings, rudderless upon a sea of doubt.
    ... Henry Barclay Swete (1835-1917), The Life of the World to Come, London: Society for the Promoting of Christian Knowleldge, 1918, p. 106 (see the book)
    See also Jude 1:3; John 15:4-7; 1 Cor. 15:3-5; Gal. 2:5; 1 Tim. 1:15; 4:16; 2 Tim. 2:2; Tit. 1:9; 2:1; 2 Pet. 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word has brought me home from doubt. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt