Grou: purely personal faith

Saturday, May 9, 2015
Meditation:
    For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
    —Romans 1:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    “The just shall live by faith.” St. Paul is not speaking here of our dogmatic faith, but of that which is purely personal, and which specially concerns God’s Providence over the souls He leads. Such souls He inspires with perfect trust in His Word and promise, and then He tries the strength of that trust, by various searching tests, through which it is their part to remain steadfast, undoubting.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 149 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 1:17; Job 13:15; Hab. 2:4; Acts 7:59; Rom. 4:18; Phil. 3:20-21; 2 Tim. 1:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your people rest in You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Juliana of Norwich: having all

Friday, May 8, 2015
    Feast of Juliana of Norwich, Mystic, Teacher, c.1417
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
    —Luke 11:9-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God, of Thy Goodness, give me Thyself: for Thou art enough to me, and I may nothing ask that is less that may be full worship to Thee; and if I ask anything that is less, ever me wanteth,—but only in Thee I have all.
    ... Juliana of Norwich (1342?-1417), Revelations of Divine Love, Grace Harriet Warrack, ed., Methuen, 1901, ch. V, p. 11 (see the book)
    See also Luke 11:9-10; Ps. 27:8; 105:3-4; Pr. 8:17; Matt. 6:33; 7:7-8; Heb. 11:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to know You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Saphir: the missionary character of the church

Thursday, May 7, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
    —Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Let us remember how very soon the missionary character of the Church was forgotten, and the Church, instead of obeying the commandment of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations (in fact, that it was chiefly a missionary association), neglected this great and important calling... It is astonishing how a commandment so simple and distinct, and how a duty which you would have imagined would be eagerly greeted by the impulse of gratitude, of affection, and of compassion, was forgotten for so long a time, in the churches of the Reformation especially. Now we are accustomed to hear of mission work among the heathen nations, and to find that a great multitude of people are interested in it, and regard it with respect; but it was only at the commencement of the last century, and with great difficulty, [that] the attention of the Church was roused to this important duty; and even in the... Church of Scotland there were a number of ministers who thought that the state of heathenism was so utterly corrupt, and that there was so much to be done in our own country, that it was altogether a Utopian project to think of converting the idolaters, and that it was not our imperative duty to trouble ourselves with their wretched condition.
    ... Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 83-84 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 28:19-20; Ps. 22:27-31; 98:2-3; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8; 2:38-39; 10:45-48; 13:46-47; 28:28; Col. 1:22-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may Your word cover the earth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Thomas a Kempis: all the difference

Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”
    —John 10:27-29 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How dry and hard you are without Jesus! How foolish and vain if you desire anything but Him! Is it not a greater loss than losing the whole world? For what, without Jesus, can the world give you? Life without Him is a relentless hell, but living with Him is a sweet paradise. If Jesus be with you, no enemy can harm you.
    ... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, II.viii.1-2, p. 95-96 (see the book)
    See also John 10:27-29; Ps. 27:1; 46:1-3; 56:4,11; 118:6; Matt. 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25; John 11:28-29; Rom. 8:31; 1 John 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your presence transforms the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barth: the new era

Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Meditation:
    All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
    —2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [The Kingdom of God] is the reconciliation of the world to God. And here is the consequence of this reconciliation: a new world, a new aeon, a new heaven, and a new earth, which are new because they are surrounded by the peace of God... The end and purpose of the world is the coming of the Kingdom.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), Prayer, Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, p. 35 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Ps. 29:11; 85:8; Matt. 26:64; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; John 14:27; Acts 10:36;
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are our reconciliation. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Willard: Christ the Teacher

Monday, May 4, 2015
    Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
    —Luke 6:43-45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The overshadowing event of the past two centuries of Christian life has been the struggle between orthodoxy and modernism. In this struggle the primary issue has, as a matter of fact, not been discipleship to Christ and transformation of soul that expresses itself in pervasive, routine obedience to his “all that I have commanded you.” Instead, both sides of the controversy have focused almost entirely upon what is to be explicitly asserted or rejected as essential Christian doctrine. In the process of battles over views of Christ the Savior, Christ the Teacher was lost on all sides.
    ... Dallas Willard (1935-2013), The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship, HarperCollins, 2006, p. 109 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:43-45; Ps. 51:10,17; 119:11; Pr. 4:21; Matt. 23:25-26; Mark 7:21-23; John 4:23-24; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Eph. 3:16-19; Col. 3:12-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make Your people disciples once again. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bernard: deep calls unto deep

Sunday, May 3, 2015
Meditation:
Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
    all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
    —Psalm 42:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    O my God, deep calls unto deep. The deep of my profound misery calls to the deep of Your infinite mercy.
    ... Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), The Love of God, and Spiritual Friendship, ed. James Houston, Multnomah Press, 1983, p. 107 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 42:7; 57:10; 107:1; 108:4; Luke 1:50; Acts 3:19-20; Rom. 11:32; 1 Cor. 2:10; Eph. 2:4-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have heard my cry and shown Your mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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