Carmichael: an impatient word

Saturday, July 11, 2015
    Feast of Benedict of Nursia, Father of Western Monasticism, c.550
Meditation:
    He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
    —Isaiah 53:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted.
    ... Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), If [1938], London: SPCK, 1961, p. 37 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 53:7; Matt. 10:42; 27:14; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 5:1-2; Col. 1:10-12; 3:12; 1 Tim. 1:16; 1 Pet. 2:21-24; 2 Pet. 3:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, guard my tongue, that I might not speak against You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Babcock: This is my Father's world

Friday, July 10, 2015
Meditation:
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the LORD,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.
    —Psalm 98:7-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.
    ... Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901), [1901] (see the book)
    See also Ps. 65:9-13; 96:11-13; 98:7-9; 148:4-13; Isa. 14:7-8; 35:1-2; 42:10-11; 44:23; 55:12; Rev. 21:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may all things rejoice in You, for Your victory.

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Laubach: God hates greed

Thursday, July 9, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “... He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
    —Matthew 5:45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is that spirit of greed which Jesus said God hated more than any other. It is so diametrically opposite to the spirit of God. For God forever lavishes His gifts upon the good and bad alike, and finds all His joy in endless giving.
    ... Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970), from a letter, October 7, 1930, Man of Prayer: Selected Writings of a World Missionary, Laubach Literacy International, 1990, p. 45 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:45; Ps. 112:9; Matt. 7:11; Luke 11:13; 1 Tim. 6:10; Jas. 1:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, replace the greed in my heart with thanksgiving. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Richardson: Scripture interprets Scripture

Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus] said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
    —Luke 24:44-45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It was indeed [Luther’s] lack of any knowledge of the principles of historical and literary criticism... which prevented him from arriving at a Christian doctrine of Holy Scripture which can satisfy our minds today. But he points us along the right way by insistence upon truths which any Christian doctrine of Holy Scripture must embody, such as that Scripture itself must be the primary interpreter of Scripture, and that the interpretation of Scripture must depend on the constant employment of some master-key, which for Christians can only be Christ. By his bold selection of a single principle of interpretation, which springs out of his own experience of salvation through the Word of God in the Bible, he gives us a living demonstration of the way in which faith in Christ becomes the vital principle of scriptural interpretation. As the result of his own deep understanding of faith, he finds in the Epistle to the Romans a light so clear that it is sufficient to illuminate the whole Scripture, and he thus becomes a classic witness to the truth that personal faith is the condition and source of all truly Christian biblical interpretation and exegesis.
    ... Alan Richardson (1905-1975), Christian Apologetics, London: SCM Press, 1947, p. 187-188 (see the book)
    See also Luke 24:44-45; Rom. 1:16-17
Quiet time reflection:
    You have made Christ the true understanding of Scripture, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: pride destroys good

Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
    —Revelation 3:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Other sins find their vent in the accomplishment of evil deeds, whereas pride lies in wait for good deeds, to destroy them.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), The Letters of Saint Augustine, v. II, Marcus Dods, tr., as vol. XIII of The Works of Aurelius Augustine, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1875, Ep. ccxi, p. 396 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 3:17-18; Matt. 23:2-12; Luke 9:46-48; 18:9-14; Gal. 6:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may You quench the pride in me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: omnipresence

Monday, July 6, 2015
    Feast of John Huss, Reformer, Martyr, 1413
    Feast of Thomas More, Scholar & Martyr, &
    John Fisher, Bishop & Martyr, 1535
Meditation:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
    —Psalm 139:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If God is present at every point in space, if we cannot go where He is not, cannot even conceive of a place where He is not, why then has not that Presence become the one universally celebrated fact of the world? ... Men do not know that God is here. What a difference it would make if they knew.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 44 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 139:7-12; 63:8; 73:23; Isa. 41:13; Jer. 23:23-24; Matt. 6:3-4; 10:42
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your presence is all joy to Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ellul: prayer is life with God

Sunday, July 5, 2015
Meditation:
    Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
    —Galatians 4:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayer is not a discourse. It is a form of life, the life with God. That is why it is not confined to the moment of verbal statement. The latter (verbalization) can only be the secondary expression of the relationship with God, an overflow from the encounter between the living God and the living person.
    ... Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), Prayer and Modern Man, New York: The Seabury Press, 1973, p. 60 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 4:6; Ps. 10:17; 90:1-2; Zech. 12:10; Rom. 8:26; Eph. 6:18; Jas. 4:3; Jude 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Dwell in me, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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