Maclaren: science belongs to Jesus

Saturday, December 5, 2015
Meditation:
    After [the Magi] had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
    —Matthew 2:9-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    So [the Magi] stand as representatives of the great truth that, outside the limits of the people of revelation, God moved on hearts and led seeking souls to the light in divers manners. These silent strangers at the cradle carry on the line of recipients of Divine messages outside of Israel which is headed by the mysterious Melchizedek, and includes that seer who saw a Star arise out of Jacob, and which, in a wider sense, includes many a patient seeker after truth. Human wisdom, as it is called, is God’s gift. In itself, it is incomplete. It raises more questions than it solves. Its highest function is to lead to Jesus.
    ... Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910), The Gospel of St. Matthew, v. 1, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1892, p. 3 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 2:9-12; Gen. 14:18-20; Num. 24:15-19; Heb. 7:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your revelation shows us the way to Jesus. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Moody: straight to Jesus

Friday, December 4, 2015
    Commemoration of Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637
Meditation:
    [Peter:] “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
    —Acts 4:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We are not to put our trust in this man or that man—not to lean upon an arm of flesh. All the ministers in the world and all the potentates in the church put together cannot save one soul. It is thoroughly impossible. It is the Lord that can save, and the Lord alone; therefore we want to get our eyes away from man, from the church, and right straight up to the man Christ Jesus.
    ... Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899), Moody and Sankey, the new evangelists, their lives and labours, London: Ward, Lock, and Tyler, 1876, p. 119 (see the book)
    See also Acts 4:12; John 3:36; 14:5; Acts 10:42-43; 1 Cor. 3:11; 1 John 5:11-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone save. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Thompson: Art thou not life of them that live?

Thursday, December 3, 2015
    Commemoration of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, Missionary, 1552
Meditation:
    Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
    —Ephesians 2:19-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
Art thou not life of them that live?
Yea, in glad twinkling advent, thou dost dwell
Within our body as a tabernacle!
    ... Francis Thompson (1859-1907), Poems of Francis Thompson, A&C Black, 2002, p. 113 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 2:19-21; Ps. 118:22; John 14:20; Rom. 8:10; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20; Eph. 2:22; Col. 1:27; 1 Pet. 2:7-9; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Dwell in me, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hummel: waiting on God

Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Meditation:
    If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
    —James 1:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayerful waiting on God is indispensable to effective service. Here we learn the truth about God, ourselves, and the tasks he wants us to undertake. Christians who are too busy to stop, take spiritual inventory, and receive their assignments from God may be productuive. We may work day and night to achieve much that seems significant to ourselves and to others. But we don’t complete the work God has for us to do...
    God has given each of us a unique combination of ability, strength, and opportunity. Will he not also give us the insight and power to use our time effectively for his glory?
    ... Charles E. Hummel (1923-2004), Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent, InterVarsity Press, 2009, p. 65 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 1:5; Isa. 40:7-8; Luke 12:15-21; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Jas. 4:14; 1 Pet. 4:7; 1 John 2:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me wisdom in the use of my time. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Henry: our dependence

Tuesday, December 1, 2015
    Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916
Meditation:
    This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
    —Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We have a necessary and constant dependence upon God; all our natural actions depend upon his providence, all our spiritual actions upon his grace.
    ... Matthew Henry (1662-1714), An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments [1828], Pr. 20, in loc. v. 24 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 3:22-24; Gen. 15:6; John 6:44-45; Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 10:13; 15:10; Eph. 1:11-12; 2:8-9; Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Pet. 5:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, this moment I rely on Your grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ellul: Christ the only free man

Monday, November 30, 2015
    Feast of Andrew the Apostle
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
    —John 10:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We know God fully only in Jesus Christ. Now Jesus Christ is free, and this—but only this—enables us to speak with complete assurance of the freedom of God. The Gospels clearly show that Christ is the only free man. Free, he chose to keep the law. Free, he chose to live out the will of God. Free, he chose the incarnation. Free, he chose to die. Note the emphasis on choice. Choice is the most tangible expression of freedom.
    ... Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), The Ethics of Freedom, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976, p. 51 (see the book)
    See also John 10:17-18, Ps. 51:12; Isa. 61:1-3; John 8:32-36; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1,13;
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You freely give. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kierkegaard: the value of knowledge

Sunday, November 29, 2015
    Advent I
Meditation:
    After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
    When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
    “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
    ”‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”
    —Matthew 2:1-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What a contrast! The three kings had only a rumor to go by. But it moved them to make that long journey. The scribes were much better informed. They sat and studied the Scriptures like so many dons, but it did not make them move. Who had the more truth? The three kings who followed a rumor, or the scribes who remained sitting with all their knowledge?
    ... Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Meditations from Kierkegaard, Westminster Press, 1955, p. 38 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 2:1-6; Ps. 72:9-12; Isa. 60:1-3; Matt. 2:9-12; Mark 5:36; John 5:39-40
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, knowing You is better than all knowledge. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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