Whitefield: such feeble return

Saturday, May 28, 2016
    Commemoration of Lanfranc, Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1089
Meditation:
    But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
    —Philippians 3:7 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Gladly shall I come whenever bodily strength will allow to join my testimony with yours in Olney pulpit, that God is love. As yet I have not recovered from the fatigues of my American expedition. My shattered bark is scarce worth docking any more. But I would fain wear, not rust, out. Oh! my dear Mr. Newton, indeed and indeed I am ashamed that I have done and suffered so little for Him that hath done and suffered so much for ill and hell-deserving me.
    ... George Whitefield (1714-1770), letter to John Newton, in John Newton: a biography, Bernard Martin, Heinemann, 1950, p.212 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 3:7-9; Matt. 13:44-46; Luke 17:33; Gal. 2:15-16; Col. 1:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, nothing can match Your presence in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Calvin: the limitations to civil obedience

Friday, May 27, 2016
    Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564
Meditation:
    But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”
    —Acts 5:29 (ESV)
Quotation:
    In that obedience which we have shown to be due the authority of rulers, we are always to make this exception, indeed, to observe it as primary, that such obedience is never to lead us away from obedience to him, to whose decrees all their commands ought to yield, to whose majesty their scepters ought to be submitted. And how absurd would it be that in satisfying men you should incur the displeasure of him for whose sake you obey men themselves! The Lord, therefore, is the King of Kings, who, when he has opened his sacred mouth, must alone be heard, before all and above all men; next to him we are subject to those men who are in authority over us, but only in him. If they command anything against him, let it go unesteemed.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. II, tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, IV.xx.32, p. 662 (see the book)
    See also Acts 5:29; Mark 7:7-9; Acts 4:19; Rom. 13:1-7; Tit. 3:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:13-17; Rev. 7:9-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we follow You in submission. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Gossip: expectations

Thursday, May 26, 2016
    Feast of Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, 605
    Commemoration of Arthur John Gossip, Spiritual Writer, 1954
Meditation:
    [Jesus] said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
    Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
    And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
    —Matthew 16:15-18 (ESV)
Quotation:
    You and I drift on through the years dully enough, because we do not believe in God, not really, and so we have no expectation. But Jesus did believe in Him, was sure He is alive and abroad in the world; that, therefore, anything may happen any hour. And thus to Him any smallest incident was a magic casement opening upon who could tell what possibilities! A fisherman offers Him a crude, inchoate half-faith, and with that He is sure that He can found a world-wide Church that will defy the powers of evil, aye, and grind them into nothingness at last: a dying brigand, paying the just penalties of his crimes, gropes towards Him in the darkness with the vague hands of a blind man, and, founding upon that, Christ dies, quite sure that He has won: two or three Gentiles seek an interview with Him, and He sees a whole teeming world of men and women being saved.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), The Galilean Accent, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1926, p. 111-112 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 16:15-18; Luke 23:40-43; John 12:20-32
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me greater faith through Jesus as my Example. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

MacDonald: time management

Wednesday, May 25, 2016
    Feast of the Venerable Bede, Priest, Monk of Jarrow, Historian, 735
    Commemoration of Aldhelm, Abbot of Mamsbury, Bishop of Sherborne, 709
Meditation:
    Meanwhile the disciples were urging [Jesus], saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
    But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
    So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
    Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”
    —John 4:31-34 (ESV)
Quotation:
    I find the doing of the will of God leaves me with no time for disputing about His plans.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), The Marquis of Lossie, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1879, p. 243 (see the book)
    See also John 4:31-34; Ps. 40:8; Luke 19:10; John 5:36; Heb. 12:2; Jas. 1:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have shown me more resources than I know how to employ in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Wesley: I know Thee, Saviour

Tuesday, May 24, 2016
    Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788
Meditation:
    Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
    —1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)
Quotation:
I know Thee, Saviour, Who Thou art,
Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend!
Nor wilt Thou with the night depart,
But stay, and love me to the end.
Thy mercies never shall remove;
Thy nature, and Thy name is Love.
    ... Charles Wesley (1707-1788), The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, v. II, John Wesley, London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1869, p. 175 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 4:7-8; Gen. 32:28; Ps. 16:7; 42:8; 119:55; Isa. 26:9; Luke 6:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I rest in Your enduring love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Tillotson: eternal employment

Monday, May 23, 2016
    Commemoration of Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century
Meditation:
    Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
    —Revelation 22:1-5 (ESV)
Quotation:
    It is sufficient to know in the general that our employment [in Paradise] shall be our unspeakable pleasure, and every way suitable to the glory and happiness of that state, and as much above the noblest and most delightful employments of this world, as the perfection of our bodies, and the power of our souls, shall then be above what they now are in this world.
    For there is no doubt that he who made us, and endued our souls with a desire of immortality, and so large a capacity of happiness, does understand very well by what ways and means to make us happy, and hath in readiness proper exercises and employments for that state, and every way more fitted to make us happy, than any condition or employment in this world is suitable to a temporal happiness.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. VII, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, Sermon CLXV, p. 392 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 22:1-5; Luke 20:34-36; John 3:36; 5:24; 6:53-58; Rom. 6:21-22; 1 John 3:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I rest in You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Brent: thoughtful praying

Sunday, May 22, 2016
    Trinity Sunday
Meditation:
Seek good, and not evil,
    that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
    as you have said.
Hate evil, and love good,
    and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
    —Amos 5:14-15 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Pray with your intelligence. Bring things to God that you have thought out and think them out again with Him. That is the secret of good judgment. Repeatedly place your pet opinions and prejudices before God. He will surprise you by showing you that the best of them need refining and some the purification of destruction.
    ... Charles H. Brent (1862-1929), With God in Prayer, London: Jacobs & Co., 1907, p. 16 (see the book)
    See also Amos 5:14-15; Eph. 6:17; Phil. 4:6-8; Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jude 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a spirit of discernment for the good and evil in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth