Hallesby: pray anywhere

Saturday, February 21, 2015
Meditation:
    Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
    —Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Begin to realize more and more that prayer is the most important thing you do; and that you can use your time to no better advantage than to pray whenever you have an opportunity to do so, either alone or with others, while at work, while at rest, or while walking down the street. Anywhere!
    ... O. Hallesby (1879-1961), Prayer, London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1943, reprint, Augsburg Fortress Books, 1975, 1994, p. 172 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:6; Ps. 25:1; 65:2; 88:1; Dan. 6:10; Matt. 14:23; 26:36; Mark 1:35; Luke 9:18; John 17; Rom. 8:15; Eph. 2:18; 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Spirit of prayer, be my constant companion. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Weil: preferring the truth

Friday, February 20, 2015
    Commemoration of Cecile Isherwood, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, Grahamstown, South Africa, 1906
Meditation:
    [Jesus praying to the Father:] “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
    —John 17:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For it seemed to me certain, and I still think so today, that one can never wrestle enough with God if one does so out of pure regard for the truth. Christ likes us to prefer truth to him because, before being Christ, he is truth. If one turns aside from him to go toward the truth, one will not go far before falling into his arms.
    ... Simone Weil (1909-1943), Waiting for God, Emma Craufurd, tr., Putnam, 1951, p. 69 (see the book)
    See also John 17:17; Gen. 32:24-29; Ps. 31:5; 145:18; Pr. 23:23; John 4:23-24; 8:31-32; 14:6,16-17; 16:13; 18:37-38; 1 Cor. 13:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Do I trust God to be the truth? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: offended by sin?

Thursday, February 19, 2015
Meditation:
    For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
    —1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    You have never less reason to be pleas’d with yourself, than when you find yourself most angry and offended at the behaviour of others. All sin is certainly to be hated and abhorred, wherever it is; but then we must set ourselves against sin, as we do against sickness and diseases, by showing ourselves tender and compassionate to the sick and diseased.
    All other hatred of sin, which does not fill the heart with the softest, tenderest affections towards persons miserable in it, is the servant of sin, at the same time that it seems to be hating it.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 402 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 3:18; Ps. 119:163; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 5:8; 12:9; Jude 1:22-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me compassion for those in sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Peter the Damascene: remember

Wednesday, February 18, 2015
    Ash Wednesday
Meditation:
    Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    —Ephesians 5:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When you see the light, do not forget Him who gave it to you; when you see the sky, the earth, the sea and all that is in them, marvel at these things and glorify their Creator; when you put on clothing, acknowledge whose gift it is and praise Him who in His providence has given you life. In short, if everything you do becomes for you an occasion for glorifying God, you will be praying unceasingly. And in this way your soul will always rejoice.
    ... Peter the Damascene (12th c.), Philokalia, v. III, St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain, St. Makarios of Corinth & Kallistos Ware, G. E. H. Palmer, and Philip Sherrard, trs., Faber & Faber, 1984, reprint, Macmillan, 1986, p. 173 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 5:19-20; Ps. 86:12; Luke 18:1; Rom. 12:12; 15:5-6; 2 Cor. 9:15; Phil. 4:6; 1 Thess. 5:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, increase my prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: amazement

Tuesday, February 17, 2015
    Feast of Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977
Meditation:
    Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
    —Hebrews 5:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We are never nearer Christ than when we find ourselves lost in a holy amazement at his unspeakable love.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, ch. III-V, in Works of John Owen, v. XXI, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1854, p. 528 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 5:8-10; John 4:34; 6:38; Heb. 3:6; 10:5-7; Phil. 2:8; Rev. 5:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, you are worthy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Green: the team of elders

Monday, February 16, 2015
Meditation:
    [Paul:] “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”
    —Acts 20:28 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We never find a presbyter in the singular in the New Testament. He is always a member of a team. In the modern church, the ordained man is almost always on his own in the community, unless he is lucky enough to have a colleague, or to be a member of a team ministry. We expect the ordained man to be almost omnicompetent, and complain at his deficiencies. This is an extremely serious error. It is very bad for the man himself to be made to feel that he is the sole minister: it may lead to despair, arrogance, blindness to the true situation, and inhibiting the gifts of others. It is bad for the parish: they become critical and lazy. When the different limbs in Christ’s body are not allowed their special ministry, they are harmed and their gifts atrophy. The ordained man too is harmed, for he has to attempt to do various ministries for which he has no charisma from God, and the church cannot be adequately cared for.
    ... Michael Green (b. 1930), “Mission and Ministry”, E. M. B. Green, in The People of God, Ian Cundy, ed., vol. 2 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 75-76 (see the book)
    See also Acts 14:23; 20:28; Phil. 1:1; Tit. 1:5; 1 Tim. 5:17; Heb. 13:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, raise up more helpers in my church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Dawn: richly indwelling

Sunday, February 15, 2015
    Commemoration of Thomas Bray, Priest, Founder of SPCK, 1730
Meditation:
    Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
    —Colossians 3:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Gentleness and patience, humility and thankfulness, compassion and kindness, love—these are totally irrelevant in the culture that surrounds us. But they are the language of grace, the culture of faith, the characteristics of the kingdom.
    We are formed with such virtues when... the Word of Christ dwells in us richly.
    ... Marva J. Dawn (b. 1948), A Royal “Waste” of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church For The World, Eerdmans Publishing, 1999, p. 14 (see the book)
    See also Col. 3:12-17; Job 23:12; Ps. 119:11; John 15:7; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 4:2; Jas. 3:17; 1 John 2:14; 2 John 1:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Word of Christ, dwell in me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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