Saturday, August 22, 2015

Stewart: missions not adjunct

Saturday, August 22, 2015
Meditation:
    Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
    —John 1:40-42 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The one reason for missions is Christ. He only is the motive, God’s presence in Him the one sufficient cause.
    The fact is, belief in missions and belief in Christ stand and fall together... The concern for world evangelization is not something tacked on to a man’s personal Christianity, which he may take or leave as he chooses. It is rooted in the character of the God who has come to us in Jesus. Thus, it can never be the province of a few enthusiasts, a sideline or a specialty of those who happen to have a bent that way. It is the distinctive mark of being a Christian.
    ... James S. Stewart (1896-1990), Thine is the Kingdom, Edinburgh: St. Andrews Press, 1956, p. 14-15 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:17-18; John 1:40-42; 4:28-29; Acts 2:38; 4:19-20; 8:12; 11:20-21; 1 John 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your people’s hearts overflow with the good news.
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Friday, August 21, 2015

Underhill: the eyes of love

Friday, August 21, 2015
Meditation:
    “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”
    —Mark 14:6-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    All things are perceived in the light of charity, and hence under the aspect of beauty; for beauty is simply Reality seen with the eyes of love.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), Mysticism, Doubleday, 1911, p. 206 (see the book)
    See also Mark 14:3-9; Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 10:21; 1 Cor. 13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love lightens all my life.
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Thursday, August 20, 2015

Bernard: feed the sheep

Thursday, August 20, 2015
    Feast of Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, Teacher, 1153
    Commemoration of William & Catherine Booth, Founders of the Salvation Army, 1912 & 1890
Meditation:
    When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
    “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
    Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
    —John 21:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To preach the Gospel is to feed the sheep. Do the work of an evangelist, and you have done the work of a shepherd.
    ... Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), On Consideration, tr. George Lewis, Clarendon Press, 1908, IV.iii.6, p. 104 (see the book)
    See also John 21:15-17; Ps. 89:15; Isa. 40:11; Matt. 4:23; 28:18-20; Acts 5:20; 10:36; Rom. 1:16-17; Gal. 3:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, place Your Gospel in my mouth.
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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Newton: thankfulness for trials

Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Meditation:
    When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
    —1 Corinthians 11:32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Trials ... are medicines, which our gracious and wise Physician prescribes, because we need them; and he proportions the frequency and weight of them to what the case requires... Let us trust his skill and thank him for his prescription.
    ... John Newton (1725-1807), in a letter, 1787, The Aged Pilgrim’s Triumph over Sin and the Grave, p. 43-44 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 11:32; Heb. 12:5-7; Eze. 20:37; John 16:20; Heb. 12:5-8; Jas. 1:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have blessed me with Your correction.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

van Ruysbroeck: compassion

Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Meditation:
“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
    —Hosea 6:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Compassion is an inward movement of the heart, stirred by pity for the bodily and ghostly griefs of all men. This compassion makes a man suffer with Christ in His passion; for he who is compassionate marks the wherefore of His pains and the way of His resignation; of His love, His wounds, His tenderness; of His grief and His nobleness; of the disgrace, the misery, and the shame He endured; of the way in which He was despised; of His crown; of the nails; of His mercifulness; of His destruction and dying in patience. These manifold and unheard-of sorrows of Christ, our Saviour and our Bridegroom, move all kindly men to pity and compassion with Christ.
    ... Jan van Ruysbroeck (1293-1381), Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, I.xviii (see the book)
    See also Hos. 6:6; Isa. 40:11; 42:3; 53:4; 63:7-9; Matt. 8:2-3; 9:36; 14:14; Mark 6:34; 2 Cor. 8:9; Heb. 4:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a heart that loves mercy.
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Monday, August 17, 2015

Fenelon: be silent

Monday, August 17, 2015
Meditation:
“But the LORD is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth be silent before him.”
    —Habakkuk 2:20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How can you expect God to speak in that gentle and inward voice which melts the soul, when you are making so much noise with your rapid reflections? Be silent, and God will speak again.
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Selections from Fénelon, ed. Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston: Roberts Bros., 1879, p. 38 (see the book)
    See also Hab. 2:20; Ps. 46:10; 85:8; Zech. 2:13; Heb. 12:25
Quiet time reflection:
    Speak, Lord; Your people are listening.
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Sunday, August 16, 2015

Coleridge: virtue vs. righteousness

Sunday, August 16, 2015
Meditation:
    Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.
    —1 Timothy 6:20-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I dislike the frequent use of the word virtue, instead of righteousness, in the pulpit; in prayer or preaching before a Christian community, it sounds too much like pagan philosophy.
    ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), Aids to Reflection [1825], London: W. Pickering, 1839, p. 6, fn. (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:6,20,48; Acts 17:18; Rom. 1:17; 3:21-24; 4:3; 6:18; 2 Cor. 10:5; Col. 2:8,16-19; 1 Tim. 6:20-21; 2 Tim. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, the truth of Your word comes first.
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