Brent: exclusive sin

Saturday, March 21, 2015
Meditation:
    There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
    —Galatians 3:28 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Exclusiveness and temperamental dislike are responsible for a great many sins against brotherly love, and must be fought down by every true follower of our Lord. When men are left to themselves, they gravitate into mutually exclusive groups composed of congenial classes or of congenial types. But Christianity steps in and breaks up these little sets, in order to blend them into one varied and splendid whole.
    ... Charles H. Brent (1862-1929), With God in the World [1899], London: Longmans Green, 1914, p. 71 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 3:28; 1 Cor. 7:21-22; 12:13; Eph. 6:5-9; Jas. 2:2-5; Rev. 7:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, break up our cliques and clubs according to Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Watson: no more sin

Friday, March 20, 2015
    Feast of Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 687
Meditation:
Who is a God like you,
    who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
    of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
    but delight to show mercy.
You will again have compassion on us;
    you will tread our sins underfoot
    and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
    —Micah 7:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God having forgiven sin, he will call it no more into remembrance. The Lord will make an act of indemnity, he will not upbraid us with former unkindnesses, nor sue us with a cancelled bond. ‘He will cast our sins into the depth of the sea.’ Sin shall not be cast in as a cork which riseth up again, but as lead which sinks to the bottom. How should we all labour for this covenant-blessing?
    ... Thomas Watson (c.1620-1686), Discourses on Important and Interesting Subjects, Blackie, Fullarton, 1829, p. 385 (see the book)
    See also Mic. 7:18-19; Ps. 103:12; Jer. 31:34; Eze. 11:19-20; 36:25-27; Rom. 6:17-18; 8:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Praise to You, Lord, for our sins are gone forever. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Elliot: to be weak

Thursday, March 19, 2015
    Feast of Joseph of Nazareth
Meditation:
    You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
    —Hebrews 10:34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Father, let me be weak that I might loose my clutch on everything temporal. My life, my reputation, my possessions, Lord, let me loose the tension of the grasping hand... Rather, open my hand to receive the nail of Calvary, as Christ’s was opened—that I, releasing all, might be released, unleashed from all that binds me now.
    ... Jim Elliot (1927-1956), Shadow of the Almighty: the life & testament of Jim Elliot, Elisabeth Elliot, Harper, 1958, p. 59 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:19-21,24; 19:21; Luke 12:22-23; 16:13; Rom. 6:16; 2 Cor. 12:10; 13:4; Eph. 6:10; 1 Tim. 6:4-6; Heb. 10:34; 1 Pet. 5:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may my possessions have no power over me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bounds: connected

Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Meditation:
    The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
    —Proverbs 15:29 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayer and a holy life are one. They mutually act and react. Neither can survive alone... We are in danger of substituting churchly work and a ceaseless round of showy activities for prayer and holy living. A holy life does not live in the closet, but it cannot live without the closet. If, by any chance, a prayer chamber should be established without a holy life, it would be a chamber without the presence of God in it.
    ... E. M. Bounds (1835-1913), Purpose in Prayer, New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1920, p. 49 (see the book)
    See also 2 Kings 4:32-33; Ps. 17:1; Pr. 15:29; Matt. 6:6; 14:23; Acts 10:9; Eph. 3:14-15; Jas. 5:16; 1 Pet. 3:12; 1 John 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, visit me at prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Spurgeon: the highest science

Tuesday, March 17, 2015
    Feast of Patrick, Bishop of Armagh, Missionary, Patron of Ireland, c.460
Meditation:
    For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
    —Malachi 3:6 (KJV)
Quotation:
    The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls Father.
    ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), Spurgeon’s Sermons Volume 1: 1855, CCEL, Sermon 1 (see the book)
    See also Mal. 3:6; Num. 23:19; Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2; 63:6; 77:11-12; 102:25-26; 139:17; 143:5; Phil. 4:8; 1 Tim. 4:13-15; Heb. 13:8; Jas. 1:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, become my sole contemplation. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: slain

Monday, March 16, 2015
Meditation:
    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 8:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As we have a natural aversion to God, we shall never aim at that which is right, without a previous renunciation of ourselves. Therefore we are so frequently commanded to put off the old man, to renounce the world and the flesh, to forsake our lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Besides, the very word mortification reminds us how difficult it is to forget our former nature; for it implies that we cannot be formed to the fear of God, and learn the rudiments of piety, without being violently slain and annihilated by the sword of the Spirit. As though God had pronounced that, in order to our being numbered among his children, there is a necessity for the destruction of our common nature.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.iii.8, p. 541 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:13-14; 8:7; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 6:17; Col. 3:5; Heb. 4:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, assist me to dispatch my sinful nature. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Willard: the self-esteem trap

Sunday, March 15, 2015
Meditation:
    So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
    —Ephesians 4:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The initial move toward Christlikeness cannot be toward self-esteem, because of the confusion about what self-esteem means, and because, realistically, I’m not okay and you’re not okay. We’re all in serious trouble.
    ... Dallas Willard (1935-2013), The Renovation of the Heart, Colorado Springs, Colo.: Navpress, 2002, p. 49 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:17- 18; John 3:18-19; Rom. 3:10-12; Gal. 3:10; Eph. 2:1-5; 1 John 3:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I am lost without Your salvation. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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