Thomas a Kempis: the spirit of understanding

Saturday, October 8, 2016
Meditation:
    At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
    —Matthew 18:1-4 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The more a man hath unity and simplicity in himself, the more things and the deeper things he understandeth; and that without labour, because he receiveth the light of understanding from above. The spirit which is pure, sincere, and steadfast, is not distracted though it hath many works to do, because it doth all things to the honour of God, and striveth to be free from all thoughts of self-seeking.
    ... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, I.iii.3, p. 34 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 18:1-4; Rom. 12:6-8; 14:1-8; 2 Cor. 3:11; 1 Thess. 4:11-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Show me the way to simplicity in You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Braithwaite: the claim of Good News

Friday, October 7, 2016
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
    —John 13:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Although we have different ways of worshipping and doing things, we have only one God. So how can we claim to have... “Good News” unless people can see in us that Jesus Christ is breaking down barriers and bringing us together?
    ... Albert Braithwaite
    See also John 13:13-15; 17:23; 1 Cor. 1:11-13; 8:4-6; Rom. 15:5; Eph. 4:3-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead us to tear away our divisions. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Davidman: endless youth

Thursday, October 6, 2016
    Feast of William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Martyr, 1536
Meditation:
    Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
    —Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    “Thou shalt not” is the beginning of wisdom. But the end of wisdom, the new law, is, “Thou shalt.” To be Christian is to be old? Not a bit of it. To be Christian is to be reborn, and free, and unafraid, and immortally young.
    ... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955, reprint, Westminster John Knox Press, 1985, p. 20 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:11-12; Ps. 143:8-10; John 16:13; Gal. 4:6; 5:16,18,22-25; Rom. 8:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I long for the full measure of life You promise. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Coslett: the qualified gardener

Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Meditation:
    And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.”
    —Matthew 15:10-13 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden.
    It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds. We must learn and labor to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities, which have a wicked propensity to choke the word of life.
    ... Evan S. Coslett, Leaves of Gold, Clyde Francis Lytle, ed. [1948], Honesdale, Pa.: Coslett Publishing Company, 1938, p. 150 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 15:10-13; Isa. 60:21; Matt. 13:24-30,36-42; John 15:2,6; 1 Cor. 3:12-15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach me to know the good plants in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Francis: joy

Tuesday, October 4, 2016
    Feast of Francis of Assisi, Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor, 1226
Meditation:
    When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
    —Matthew 6:16-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Study always to have Joy, for it befits not the servant of God to show before his brother or another sadness or a troubled face.
    ... St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), The Mirror of Perfection [c. 1280], tr. Robert Steele, London: J.M. Dent, 1903, p. 141 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:16-18; Mark 2:18; Luke 2:10; 10:21; John 15:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to maintain a cheerful demeanor. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: the Bible as literature?

Monday, October 3, 2016
    Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896
    Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958
Meditation:
    This is what God the LORD says—he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:
    “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
    —Isaiah 42:5-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In most parts of the Bible, everything is implicitly or explicitly introduced with “Thus saith the Lord.” It is... not merely a sacred book but a book so remorselessly and continuously sacred that it does not invite—it excludes or repels—the merely aesthetic approach. You can read it as literature only by a tour de force... It demands incessantly to be taken on its own terms: it will not continue to give literary delight very long, except to those who go to it for something quite different. I predict that it will in the future be read, as it always has been read, almost exclusively by Christians.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), They Asked for a Paper, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1962, p. 49 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 42:5-7; 28:16; Hag. 2:6-7; Mark 12:36; 1 Cor. 14:3,22; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Pet. 1:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word is both beautiful and powerful. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: reading as an adult

Sunday, October 2, 2016
Meditation:
    For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
    —Colossians 2:1-3 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The testimony of the New Testament cannot be lightly disregarded, nor can the claims of Christ be airily dismissed. Many otherwise intelligent people have never read with adult attention either the four Gospels or the Letters of the New Testament. When they so do, to my certain knowledge, they not infrequently become converted. Indeed, I know of no adult who has seriously studied the New Testament and rejected the stories of Christ as mythical or the evidence of changed lives in the Letters as mere fabrication.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), God With Us: a Message for Christmas, London: Epworth Press, 1957, p. 11 (see the book)
    See also Col. 2:1-3; Acts 4:31; 2 Cor. 4:2; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; 13:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I praise You for rescuing me from a life of skepticism and doubt. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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