Pink: done with unbelief

Saturday, December 27, 2014
    Feast of John, Apostle & Evangelist
Meditation:
    For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
    —John 7:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    None but the Lord himself can afford us any help from the awful workings of unbelief, doubtings, carnal fears, murmurings. Thank God one day we will be done forever with “unbelief.”
    ... A. W. Pink (1886-1952), in a letter, 1935
    See also John 7:5; Mark 9:23,24; 1 Cor. 1:22-24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, heal my unbelief. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wilson: if we loved God

Friday, December 26, 2014
    Feast of Stephen, Deacon, First Martyr
Meditation:
    But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
    At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
    While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
    —Acts 7:55-60 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The world would use us just as it did the martyrs, if we loved God as they did.
    ... Thomas Wilson (1663-1755), Maxims of Piety and of Christianity, London: Macmillan, 1898, p. 90 (see the book)
    See also Acts 7:55-60; Ps. 2:1-3; John 12:25; Rom. 8:36
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I rest in You alone. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: God's Visitation

Thursday, December 25, 2014
    CHRISTMAS DAY
Meditation:
    But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
    —Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We should gain very greatly in our effectiveness as Christians if we stripped off the [Christmas] mask of traditional acceptance and saw with new eyes the marvel of God’s Visit. The world, the world problems, are far greater and more complex than any our forefathers knew; our conception of God Himself is vastly greater than that even of our grandfathers. In one way this makes the traditional belief in the Incarnation harder, but in another it means that the personal coming of God into human history is of far deeper and wider implication than any previous generation has had the chance to imagine.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), God With Us: a Message for Christmas, London: Epworth Press, 1957, p. 9 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 4:4-5; Ps. 46:6; 97:4-5; Nah. 1:5; Matt. 24:1-2,12-14; 27:51; Mark 15:39; Luke 1:76-79; 2:10-14,34-35; John 1:17-18; Phil. 2:9-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all the universe is subject to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: Figlia del tuo Figlio

Wednesday, December 24, 2014
    Christmas Eve
Meditation:
    Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
    Sing forth the honour of his name:
    make his praise glorious.
    —Psalm 66:1-2 (KJV)
Quotation:
    What praises shall we voice, what thanks shall we give for the charity of God who so loved us that for us He by whom all time was made became man in time; that He, in His eternity more ancient than the world, became inferior in age to many of His servants in the world; that He who made man became Man; that He was formed in the Mother whom He Himself formed; carried in the hands which He made, nourished at the breasts that He filled; that, in the manger in mute infancy, He without whom all human eloquence is mute wailed?
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), from Sermon 188, Sermons on the Liturgical Seasons, Sr. Mary Sarah Muldowney, tr., CUA Press, 2008, p. 18-19 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 66:1-2; Luke 1:28,41-42; Mark 9:35; John 1:3-4,10-11; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:1-2; Rev. 4:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, what You have done is amazing to us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Huss: the Infant born to us

Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Meditation:
    And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
    But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
    Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
    —Luke 2:8-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Rejoice, then, dearly-beloved, for the angel said—“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.” And what was that joy? That a Saviour was born who would deliver us from all our miseries, and free us from sin. The Son of God is given us, that great joy may be with us, and glory to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Let us endeavour to insure that this Infant which is born to us may accord us that good-will, that peace, and that joy, which lasts for ever and ever, Amen.
    ... John Huss (1369-1415), Letters of John Huss, written during his exile and imprisonment, Edinburgh: W. Whyte, 1846, p. 53 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:8-14; Ps. 85:8-12; 96:11-13; Isa. 9:6-7; Luke 19:38; John 17:4; Rev. 5:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are worthy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Packer: the fantastic Incarnation

Monday, December 22, 2014
Meditation:
    Moved by the Spirit, [Simeon] went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
    “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
    —Luke 2:27-32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child... The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the incarnation.
    ... James I. Packer (b. 1926), Knowing God, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1973, p. 46 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:27-32; Isa. 53:2; Matt. 1:25; 9:10; Luke 2:6-7,16-18,36-38,52; 4:1-2; 24:41-42; John 1:14; Heb. 2:14-18; 1 John 1:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have known our life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Mascall: the virgin birth

Sunday, December 21, 2014
    Advent IV
Meditation:
    But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
    All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
    “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”
    —Matthew 1:20-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I do not wish to imply that God the Son could not, absolutely speaking, have become incarnate by a non-virginal conception, any more than I should wish to deny that God might, absolutely speaking, have redeemed mankind without becoming incarnate at all; it is always unwise to place limits to the power of God. What we can see is that both an incarnation and a virginal conception were thoroughly appropriate to the needs and circumstances of the case and were more “natural,” in the sense of more appropriate, than the alternatives... In practice, denial of the virginal conception or inability to see its relevance almost always goes with an inadequate understanding of the Incarnation and of the Christian religion in general.
    ... E. L. Mascall (1905-1993), The Secularization of Christianity, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966, p. 270-271 fn (see the book)
    See also Matt. 1:18-25; Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Luke 1:31-35; John 1:14; Rom. 1:16; Gal. 4:4-5; Heb. 2:14-17; 10:5; 1 John 4:2-3; 2 John 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    I praise You, Lord, for this sign of Your coming. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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