Griffiths: Must I face the stormy river?

Saturday, September 12, 2015
Meditation:
Blessed is he
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
    whose sin the LORD does not count against him
    and in whose spirit is no deceit.
    —Psalm 32:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
Must I face the stormy river?
There is One to break its flood—
Christ, my great High-priest and faithful,
Christ, my all-sufficient good:
Through His blood shall come the triumph
Over death and hell to me;
And I shall be in His likeness,
Sinless through eternity.

Disembodied of all evil,
I shall pierce with earnest eyes
Into Calvary’s deep wonders,
And its infinite surprise:
The Invisible beholding,
Who is living and was dead;
In a pure, unbroken union
With the ever-living Head.

From salvation’s highest fountains,
Oh, to drink with each new day!
Till my thirst for earthly pleasures
Has completely passed away:
Waiting always for my Master,
Quick to answer to His call;
Then to hold the door wide open,
And enjoy Him, all in all.
    ... Ann Griffiths (1776-1805), in Sweet Singers of Wales: a story of Welsh hymns and their authors, Howell Elvet Lewis, London: Religious Tract Society, 1889, p. 66-67 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 32:1-2; Isa. 1:18; 43:25; Rom. 4:6-8; 5:11; Heb. 2:17; 4:15; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I long to see You.

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Law: the need for the Spirit

Friday, September 11, 2015
Meditation:
    But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
    —John 16:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Read what chapter, or doctrine of Scripture you will, be ever so delighted with it, it will leave you as poor, as empty and unreformed as it found you, unless it be a delight that proceeds from, and has turned you wholly and solely to the Spirit of God, and strengthened your union with, and dependence upon him.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), An Humble, Earnest, and Affectionate Address, to the Clergy, Edinburgh: Guthrie and Tait, 1817, p. 2-3 (see the book)
    See also John 16:13-15; Neh. 9:20; Ps. 1:2; 119:11; 37:31; John 15:26-27; 16:7-11; Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your words convict my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Meyer: speaking to God

Thursday, September 10, 2015
Meditation:
To the LORD I cry aloud,
    and he answers me from his holy hill.
    —Psalm 3:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Cultivate the habit of speaking aloud to God. Not perhaps always, because our desires are often too sacred or deep to be put into words. But it is well to acquire the habit of speaking to God as to a present friend while sitting in the house or walking by the way. Seek the habit of talking things over with God—letters, your plans, your hopes, your mistakes, your sorrows and sins. Things look very differently when brought into the calm light of His presence.
    ... Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847-1929), The Secret of Guidance, New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1896, p. 107-108 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 3:4; Deut. 30:14; Josh. 1:5; Ps. 22:22; 31:20; 52:9; 95:1; 142:1; Phil. 4:5; Jas. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your light enables me to see the truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chadwick: the power of Pentecost

Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Meditation:
    For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
    —1 Corinthians 12:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Go back! Back to that Upper Room, back to your knees, back to the searching of heart and habit, thought and life; back to pleading, praying, waiting, till the Spirit of the Lord floods the soul with light, and you are endued with power from on high. Then go forth in the power of Pentecost, and the Christ-life shall be lived, and the works of Christ shall be done. You shall open blind eyes, cleanse foul hearts, break men’s fetters, and save men’s souls. In the power of the Indwelling Spirit, miracles become the commonplace of daily living.
    ... Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932), Humanity and God, Hodder and Stoughton, 1904, p. 201 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 12:13; Matt. 6:6; Luke 4:14; Acts 1:8; Eph. 5:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, renew my strength through Your Spirit. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kierkegaard: looking for followers

Tuesday, September 8, 2015
    Commemoration of Søren Kierkegaard, Teacher and Philosopher, 1855
Meditation:
    Then [Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
    —Mark 8:34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is well known that Christ consistently used the expression “follower.” He never asks for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. No, he calls disciples. It is not adherents of a teaching but followers of a life Christ is looking for.
    ... Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Practice in Christianity, tr. Hong, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1991, p. 237-252 (see the book)
    See also Mark 8:34; Matt. 4:19; 8:22; 9:37; 16:24; 28:19-20; Mark 1:17; 2:14; Luke 5:27; 9:23; 14:27; John 1:43
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me Your true disciple, that I may follow You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: likeness to Christ

Monday, September 7, 2015
    Commemoration of Douglas Downes, Founder of the Society of Saint Francis, 1957
Meditation:
    “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
    —Mark 6:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Our imitation of God in this life—that is, our willed imitation, as distinct from any of the likenesses which He has impressed upon our natures or our states—must be an imitation of God Incarnate: our model is the Jesus, not only of Calvary, but of the workshop, the roads, the crowds, the clamorous demands and surly oppositions, the lack of all peace and privacy, the interruptions. For this, so strangely unlike anything we can attribute to the Divine life in itself, is apparently not only like, but is, the Divine life operating under human conditions.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Four Loves, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1960, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1960, p. 6 (see the book)
    See also Mark 6:3; 1 Cor. 15:48-49; Phil. 2:5-7; 2 Thess. 3:10; Heb. 2:17; 4:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are one of us; make me like You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Alford: We walk by faith, and not by sight

Sunday, September 6, 2015
    Commemoration of Allen Gardiner, founder of the South American Missionary Society, 1851
    Commemoration of Albert Schweitzer, Teacher, Physician, Missionary, 1965
Meditation:
    “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
    Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
    —Mark 9:23-24 (NIV)
Quotation:
We walk by faith, and not by sight;
    No gracious words we hear
From Him who spoke as never man,
    But we believe Him near.

We may not touch His hands and side,
    Nor follow where he trod;
But in His promise we rejoice,
    And cry, “My Lord and God.”

Help Thou, O Lord, our unbelief;
    And may our faith abound,
To call on Thee when Thou art near,
    And seek where Thou art found:

That when our life of faith is done,
    In realms of clearer light
We may behold Thee as Thou art,
    With full and endless sight.
    ... Henry Alford (1810-1871), [1835], The Poetical Works of Henry Alford, Dean of Canterbury, London: Strahan & Company, 1868, p. 300 (see the book)
    See also Mark 9:23-24; John 20:24-28; 2 Cor. 5:7; Eph. 1:17-18; Heb. 12:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I see You in Your glory.

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