Thurman: When the song of the angels

Saturday, December 20, 2014
Meditation:
    The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to [Jesus]. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
    “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
    Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
    —Luke 4:17-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
    ... Howard Thurman (1899-1981), The Mood of Christmas, Friends United Press, 1985, p. 23 (see the book)
    See also Luke 4:17-21; Isa. 61:1-3; Matt. 2:12; Luke 2:20; 19:10; John 3:34; Rev. 22:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Your coming, Lord, heals the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: heaven on earth

Friday, December 19, 2014
Meditation:
    For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
    —2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 86 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 4:6; Ps. 119:18; Isa. 32:3-4; Eph. 1:18-19; 5:8-10; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my heart longs to see You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonar: duty

Thursday, December 18, 2014
Meditation:
    And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
    Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
    —Romans 8:11-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    And do these objectors mean to say that, because God has redeemed us from the curse of the law, therefore we owe him nothing, we have no duty now to him? Has not redemption rather made us doubly debtors? We owe him more than ever: we owe his holy law more than ever; more honor, more obedience. Duty has been doubled, not canceled, by our being delivered from the law; and he who says that duty has ceased, because deliverance has come, knows nothing of duty, or law, or deliverance.
    ... Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), God’s Way of Holiness, London: J. Nisbet, 1864, p. 67 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 6:1-4; 7:6; 8:11-14; 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 4:17,22-24; 5:8-10; Phil. 2:3-7; Col. 1:10-12; 3:9-10; 1 Pet. 4:1-2; 2 Pet. 1:4-9; 1 John 2:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit is my true guide. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Temple: faith is fellowship with God

Wednesday, December 17, 2014
    Commemoration of Eglantine Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of ‘Save the Children’, 1928
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”
    —Matthew 23:2-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Faith is not the holding of correct doctrines, but personal fellowship with the Living God... What is offered to man’s apprehension in any specific Revelation is not truth concerning God but the Living God Himself.
    ... William Temple (1881-1944), Nature, Man and God, London: Macmillan, 1934, 1949, p. 322 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:2-3; John 3:18-19; 8:24,39; Heb. 11:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I seek You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hammarskjold: the Cross in Bethlehem

Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Meditation:
    Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
    —Luke 2:34-35 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How proper it is that Christmas should follow Advent. For him who looks toward the future, the manger is situated on Golgotha, and the cross has already been raised in Bethlehem.
    ... Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Markings, tr. Leif Sjöberg & W. H. Auden, (q.v.), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964 (post.), p. 198 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:34-35; Isa. 9:6; 53:2-5; John 1;14; Rom. 8:3-4; Eph. 5:1-2; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 10:5-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your purpose is always to save. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Shoemaker: a redemptive community

Monday, December 15, 2014
Meditation:
    Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
    —Romans 14:19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There are, I should say, four elements in a redemptive community. It is personal, with things happening between people as well as to and in them individually; it is compassionate, always eager to help, observant but nonjudgmental toward others, breathing out hope and concern; it is creative, with imagination about each one in the group and its work as a whole, watching for authentic new vision coming from any of them; and it is expectant, always seeking to offer to God open and believing hearts and minds through which He can work out His will, either in the sometimes startling miracles He gives or in steady purpose through long stretches where there is no special “opening.” It may fairly be said that unless one enmeshes himself in this “redemptive fellowship” of the church, he lessens his chances of steady growth and effectiveness, in his Christian life and experience.
    ... Samuel M. Shoemaker (1893-1963), The Experiment of Faith, New York: Harper, 1957, p. 34 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 14:19; Ps. 32:2; Rom. 12:15; 1 Cor. 10:24; Eph. 4:11-16; Phil. 2:3-4; 1 Tim. 4:6-7; 2 Tim. 4:3; Heb. 13:9; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 2:19; 3:18; 4:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we look to You to shape Your people as You will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: silence and humility

Sunday, December 14, 2014
    Advent III
    Feast of John of the Cross, Mystic, Poet, Teacher, 1591
Meditation:
    Then [the child Jesus] went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
    —Luke 2:51 (NIV)
Quotation:
    By far the most significant event in the whole course of human history will be celebrated, with or without understanding, at the end of this season of Advent... What we are in fact celebrating is the awe-inspiring humility of God, and no amount of familiarity with the trappings of Christmas should ever blind us to its quiet but explosive significance... God’s insertion of himself into human history came about with an almost frightening quietness and humility... As millions will testify, he will come once again with the same silence and the same devastating humility into any heart which is ready to receive him.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Good News: Thoughts on God and Man, New York: Macmillan, 1963, p. 157, 162-164 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:51; Isa. 8:13-15; 53:7; Matt. 21:42-44; Mark 6:3; Luke 2:10-11,29-35; Rom. 9:30-32; 1 Pet. 2:21,23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, show me Your way to humility. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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