Underhill: partaking of Christ's nature

Saturday, April 23, 2016
    Feast of George, Martyr, Patron of England, c.304
    Commemoration of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1988
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”
    —Matthew 10:26-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Christian’s life is lived in the open, not in a pious cubby-hole. As Christ gives Himself to feed us, so we have to incarnate something of His all-loving, all-sacrificing soul. If we do not, then we have not really received Him. That is the plain truth. It has been said that there are many ways and degrees of receiving the Blessed Sacrament. It really depends on how wide we open our hearts. A spiritually selfish communion is not a communion at all.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Light of Christ, New York: Longmans, Green, 1949, p. 89 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 10:26-27; Matt. 5:37; Acts 5:20; 2 Cor. 3:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I live to know and follow Your example. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lubbock: goodness and pleasure

Friday, April 22, 2016
Meditation:
    Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
    —Philippians 4:4 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Many worthy people, and many good books, with no doubt the best intentions, ... have represented a life of sin as a life of pleasure; they have pictured virtue as self-sacrifice, austerity as religion... Even in everyday life we meet with worthy people who seem to think that whatever is pleasant must be wrong, that the true spirit of religion is crabbed, sour, and gloomy; that the bright, sunny, radiant nature which surrounds us is an evil and not a blessing; a temptation devised by the Spirit of Evil and not one of the greatest delights showered on us in such profusion by the Author of all Good.
    ... Sir John Lubbock (1834-1913), The Use of Life, Macmillan & Co., 1894, p. 15 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:4; Matt. 6:16-18; Rom. 8:13; 12:12; Phil. 3;1; 1 Thess. 5:16-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Grant me a joyful heart, Lord, to give thanks for all the good things You give in life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Anselm: from grace to holiness

Thursday, April 21, 2016
    Feast of Anselm, Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1109
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
    —Luke 11:9-10 (ESV)
Quotation:
    O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and seeking find Thee; and so finding Thee may love Thee; and loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed us.
    ... St. Anselm (1033-1109), included in The New Christian Year, Charles Williams, London: Oxford University Press, 1958, p. 44 (see the book)
    See also Luke 11:9-10; Ps. 27:8; 34:4; 105:3-4; Jas. 4:8; Rev. 3:20; 21:6; 22:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I found You, seeking me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Troutman: why we can pray

Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Meditation:
    For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
    —Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The criterion for our intercessory prayer is not our earnestness, nor our faithfulness, nor even our faith in God, but simply God Himself. He has taken the initiative from the beginning, and has built our prayers into the structure of the universe. He then asks us to present these requests to Him that He may show His gracious hand.
    ... Charles H. Troutman (1914-1990)
    See also Eph. 3:14-19; Ps. 38:9; Matt. 6:8,32; Luke 12:30; John 16:23-27; Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:1-2; 1 John 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank you for being the Answer to prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Holland: untouched

Tuesday, April 19, 2016
    Commemoration of Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1012
Meditation:
    ... We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.
    —1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A man may carry the whole scheme of Christian truth in his mind from boyhood to old age without the slightest effect upon his character and aims... It has had less influence than the multiplication table.
    ... J. G. Holland (1819-1881), in an editorial entitled, “American Sunday-Schools”, Scribner’s Monthly, v. II, New York: Scribner & Co., 1871, p. 548 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 8:1-3; Pr. 26:12; Matt. 23:2-3,15,23; Rom. 1:22-26; Gal. 6:3; 1 Tim. 1:5-7; 6:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the humility and wisdom to seek first the knowledge of You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Milford: ultimate hope

Monday, April 18, 2016
Meditation:
    For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
    —1 Peter 4:17-19 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Christians must learn again what Christians have always known—how to live without immediate hopes in the world.
    ... T. R. Milford, quoted in Christian Missions and the Judgment of God, David M. Paton, London: SCM Press, 1953, p. 57 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 4:17-19; Jer. 49:12; Matt. 3:9-10; Luke 12:47-48; 1 Tim. 6:17; 1 John 2:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my hope is in You alone. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Steinmann: the Covenant of God for all men

Sunday, April 17, 2016
Meditation:
    John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
    —Luke:3:16 (ESV)
Quotation:
    From his baptism until his return to Galilee, Jesus lived in the company of the disciples of the Baptist. It was there that he received the first public witness of his Messianic role and found his first followers. The gospel was to be rooted in John’s teaching of asceticism and regeneration. But we see from the start that the gospel of Jesus was to be quite different. To the baptism of water would be added the baptism of the Spirit, and the new message was to be addressed to all. The widening of the circle of hearers and converts, which had preoccupied John, ... was to expand still further with the gospel of Jesus. Of the hundreds of thousands of Jews, the Essenes only regarded as saved a few thousand elect. Jesus was soon to offer the Covenant of God to all men.
    ... Jean Steinmann (1911-1963), Saint John the Baptist, New York: Harper, 1958, p. 90 (see the book)
    See also Luke 3:16; Joel 2:28-29; Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:7-8; John 1:26,33; Acts 1:5; 11:16; 10:44; 11:15; 13:24-25; 1 Cor. 12:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let the holy fire of Your Spirit cover me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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