Law: pray to love

Saturday, October 31, 2015
Meditation:
    I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
    —1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is nothing that makes us love a man so much, as praying for him.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 415 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 2:1-2; Ps. 122:6; Eph. 6:18; Heb. 13:18; Jas. 5:14-18; 1 John 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I pray for _____ and _____ that they may come to know you in faith. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Luther: praying without ceasing

Friday, October 30, 2015
    Commemoration of Martin Luther, Teacher, Reformer, 1546
Meditation:
    Pray without ceasing.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)
Quotation:
    There is no Christian who does not have time to pray without ceasing. But I mean the spiritual praying, that is: no one is so heavily burdened with his labor, but that if he will he can, while working, speak with God in his heart, lay before Him his need and that of other men, ask for help, make petition, and in all this exercise and strengthen his faith.
    ... Martin Luther (1483-1546), in “Treatise on Good Works” [1520], Works of Martin Luther, v. I, Philadelphia: A. J. Holman, 1915, p. 229 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 5:17; Matt. 6:7; Luke 18:1; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, set the need for continual prayer on my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hanson: What more could He do?

Thursday, October 29, 2015
    Commemoration of James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, Martyr in Uganda, 1885
Meditation:
    God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
    —2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It seems that Paul is here [2 Cor. 5:21] outlining the very ultimate degree of Christ’s self-identification with us, the very lowest point to which he condescended when he took the form of a slave. He allowed himself (God allowed him) to be accounted sin by the Law. He refused to do what orthodox Jews of his day thought God had commanded them to do, (i.e.) seek to gain credit with God by keeping the Law. He lived by faith, not Law, and therefore repudiated the Law and the path of self-justification... He stripped himself even of that claim to moral goodness which would have distinguished him from sinners. Short of becoming a sinner (and Paul shows that this idea is repudiated), how could God come closer to us sinners?
    ... Anthony T. Hanson (1916-1991), The Church of the Servant, London: SCM Press, 1962, p. 57 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 5:21; Acts 2:38; 1 Cor. 4:2; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 1 John 2:1-2; 4:10; 5:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You given Yourself for us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonar: belief and the Holy Spirit

Wednesday, October 28, 2015
    Feast of Simon & Jude, Apostles
Meditation:
    This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
    —1 John 5:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Holy Spirit is as indispensable to your believing, as is Christ in order to your being pardoned. The Holy Spirit’s work is direct and powerful; and you will not rid yourself of your difficulties by trying to persuade yourself that his operations are all indirect, and merely those of a teacher presenting truth to you. Salvation for the sinner is Christ’s work; salvation in the sinner is the Spirit’s work. Of this internal salvation he is the beginner and the ender. He works in you, in order to your believing, as truly as he works in you after you have believed, and in consequence of your believing.
    ... Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), God’s Way of Peace: A Book for the Anxious, London: J. Nisbet, 1864, p. 149 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 5:6; Acts 13:48; Rom. 4:5; 8:8-10,16,26-27; 1 John 2:20; 3:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You speak in my heart and whisper the truth in my ear. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: God's glory

Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Meditation:
Who is this King of glory?
    The LORD strong and mighty,
    the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
    The LORD Almighty—
    he is the King of glory.
    —Psalm 24:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word “darkness” on the walls of his cell. But God wills our good, and our good is to love Him (with that responsive love proper to creatures) and to love Him we must know Him: and if we know Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Problem of Pain, New York: Macmillan, 1944, p. 41 (see the book)
    See also Gen. 17:1-4; Lev. 9:24; 1 Kings 18:38-39; Ps. 19:1; 24:8-10; 29:2-4; 57:11; 72:18-19; 96:3-4; 113:4; Dan. 7:13-14; Luke 2:14; 5:12; John 13:31-32; 17:1; Phil. 2:9-11; Rev. 4:11; 21:23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, a glimpse of You takes all power from me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: approaching God

Monday, October 26, 2015
    Feast of Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899
    Commemoration of Cedd, Founding Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of the East Saxons, 664
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
    —Mark 11:24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No heart can conceive that treasury of mercies which lies in this one privilege, in having liberty and ability to approach unto God at all times, according to His mind and will.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), A Discourse Concerning Holy Spirit, bk. VI-IX [1674], in Works of John Owen, v. IV, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 316 (see the book)
    See also Mark 11:24; Matt. 7:7-8; 18:19; 21:22; Luke 11:9-10; John 14:13; 15:7; Rom. 8:15-17; 10:13; Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:16; 10:19-23; Jas. 1:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You opened up Your holiest place for me to enter and speak with You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: law and grace

Sunday, October 25, 2015
    Commemoration of Crispin & Crispinian, Martyrs at Rome, c.285
Meditation:
    But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
    —Romans 5:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In the precepts of the law, God is seen as the rewarder only of perfect righteousness (a righteousness of which all are destitute), and, on the other hand, as the stern avenger of wickedness. But in Christ his countenance beams forth full of grace and gentleness towards poor unworthy sinners.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, ii.7.8, p. 320 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:15-16; Heb. 7:26; Jas. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, apart from You, I am beyond hope. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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