Saturday, October 24, 2015

John Wesley: the aid of the Spirit

Saturday, October 24, 2015
Meditation:
    As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
    —1 John 2:27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    General rules are easily laid down. But it is not possible to apply them accurately in particular cases, without the anointing of the Holy One: this alone, abiding with us, can teach us of all things. Thus our general rule is, “Thou shalt do no murder;” which plainly forbids every thing that tends to impair health; and implies that we use every probable means of preserving or restoring it. But when we come to apply this to particular instances, we are presently in a labyrinth, and want that anointing which alone can make plain the way before our face, and direct us to do, in every minute circumstance, what is acceptable to God.
    You have abundant reason to praise God, both for spiritual and temporal blessings. Beware of indulging gloomy thoughts: they are the bane of thankfulness. You are encompassed with ten thousand mercies, let these sink you into humble thankfulness.
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), in a letter, Apr. 26, 1777, The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, v. X, New York: J. & J. Harper, 1827, p. 310 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 2:27; Matt. 26:53; John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:9-13; 1 John 2:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit instructs me.
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Friday, October 23, 2015

Pusey: in stillness

Friday, October 23, 2015
Meditation:
Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD—
    that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
    —Psalm 83:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Yes! blessed are those holy hours, in which the soul retires from the world, to be alone with God. God’s Voice, as Himself, is every where. Within and without He speaks to our souls, if we would hear. Only the din of the world or the tumult of our own hearts, deafens our inward ear to it... Learn to commune with Him in stillness, and He Whom thou hast sought in stillness, will be with thee when thou goest abroad.
    ... Edward B. Pusey (1800-1882), Sermons during the season from Advent to Whitsuntide, Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1848, p. 193,201 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 19:1-2; 46:10; 83:18; Hos. 2:14; Hab. 2:20; Zech. 2:13; John 11:28
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, still my inner voice that I may perceive You.
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Thursday, October 22, 2015

Willard: the use for God

Thursday, October 22, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
    —Matthew 16:25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I fear that many people seek to hear God solely as a device for securing their own safety, comfort and righteousness. For those who busy themselves to know the will of God, however, it is still true that “those who want to save their life will lose it” (Matt. 16:25). My extreme preoccupation with knowing God’s will for me may only indicate, contrary to what is often thought, that I am over concerned with myself, not a Christlike interest in the well-being of others or in the glory of God.
    ... Dallas Willard (1935-2013), Hearing God, Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1999, p. 33 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 16:25; Est. 4:16; Matt. 10:39; Mark 8:35; Luke 17:33; John 12:25; Acts 20:24; Rev. 12:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my life is wasted if not spent for You.
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Baillie: at home on earth

Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
    —Luke 6:47-49 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The mark of modern unbelieving man as a whole is that he has felt astonishingly much at home in his earthly surroundings. He has taken a cheerful view of the prospects of the race and of the future of human history, staying his soul upon the promise of further “evolution” of the human individual, the continuous upward progress of civilization, or perhaps the confident expectation of a completely revolutionized order of society—a communist Utopia beyond the class struggle or something else of that same general kind. Where such hopes remain unchastened by the cold touch of reality, there is little prospect of the Christian Gospel recommending itself to men’s minds, and any wordy defense of it is likely to be quite useless.
    ... John Baillie (1886-1960), Invitation to Pilgrimage, Oxford University Press, 1942, and New York: Scribner, 1942, p. 94-95 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:47-49; Isa. 6:9-10; Matt. 13:14-15; Mark 4:11-12; John 8:45; 12:40; Acts 28:26-27; Rom. 11:7-8; 2 Cor. 5:29; 2 Tim. 4:3; 1 Pet. 2:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have opened the ears of Your people, so that the world cannot stop them from hearing Your word.
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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Moltmann: for us, His enemies

Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
    —Luke 6:27-28 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Humanly speaking, love of one’s enemies is impossible, “contrary to nature”: the leopard cannot change his spots, as we say. So love of our enemies is the thing that is different, the thing that is divine. “He makes his sun rise upon the evil—on the evil first of all—and on the good.” Love of our enemies is the secret of Jesus that corresponds to God himself. Jesus blessed the people who cursed him. He prayed for the people who tortured him. He did not retaliate, but took suffering upon himself for love’s sake. He died for his enemies on the cross. And so he died for us.
    ... Jürgen Moltmann (b. 1926), The Power of the Powerless, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983, p. 56 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:27-28; Matt. 5:44-45; Luke 6:34-35; 23:34; Rom. 5:10; 12:14,20-21; 1 Pet. 2:23; 3:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You must change my nature, so that I may follow Your word.
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Monday, October 19, 2015

Pink: God's holiness

Monday, October 19, 2015
    Feast of Henry Martyn, Translator of the Scriptures, Missionary in India & Persia, 1812
Meditation:
The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD:
    but the words of the pure are pleasant words.
    —Proverbs 15:26 (KJV)
Quotation:
    God’s holiness is manifested at the Cross. Wondrously and yet most solemnly does the Atonement display God’s infinite holiness and abhorrence of sin. How hateful must sin be to God for Him to punish it to its utmost deserts when it was imputed to His Son!
    ... A. W. Pink (1886-1952), The Attributes of God, Swengel, PA : Bible Truth Depot, 1961, reprint, Sovereign Grace Publishers, 2002, p. 45 (see the book)
    See also Pr. 15:26; Ps. 145:17; Isa. 5:16; Matt. 20:28; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 2:4-5; Col. 1:19-20; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; 1 John 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in Your holiness, You have saved the sinner.
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Sunday, October 18, 2015

Vaughan: When night comes, list thy deeds

Sunday, October 18, 2015
    Feast of Luke the Evangelist
Meditation:
In your anger do not sin;
    when you are on your beds,
    search your hearts and be silent.
    —Psalm 4:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
When night comes, list thy deeds; make plain the way
’Twixt heaven and thee; block it not with delays;
    But perfect all before thou sleep’st: then say:
    There’s one sun more strung on my bead of days.
What’s good, score up for joy; the bad, well scann’d.
    Wash off with tears, and get thy Master’s hand.
    ... Henry Vaughan (1622-1695), The Poetical Works of Henry Vaughan, Boston: Osgood, 1871, p. 114 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 4; 26:2-3; 139:23-24; Hag. 1:5-6; 1 Cor. 11:28; 2 Cor. 13:5; 1 John 3:19-22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have preserved me this day.
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