Tozer: self-promotion

Saturday, November 5, 2016
Meditation:
    But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
    —2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The self-sins... dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them. The grosser manifestations of these sins, egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion, are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders, even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, for many people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the Church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 42 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Matt. 7:15; 23:27-28; Rom. 2:17-24; 1 Cor. 10:32-33; Gal. 6:3; Tit. 1:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant us all the wisdom and discernment to turn away from false teachers. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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M'Intyre: on the image of God

Friday, November 4, 2016
Meditation:
    ... then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
    —Genesis 2:7 (ESV)
Quotation:
    When He fashioned man, the Deity breathed into the human form the divine life, “and man became a living soul.” Man is created to be a witness and likeness of God. God and man are so near to one another that it was possible for the Eternal Word to become Man without ceasing to be God, to re-ascend to the Highest without dehumanizing the Manhood which He had assumed; so near that the believer may say in the fullest meaning of the words, “I live, yet not I, but Christ.”
    ... David M. M’Intyre (1859-1938), Faith’s Title Deeds, London: Morgan & Scott, 1924, p. 20 (see the book)
    See also Gen. 2:7; 1:26-27; John 1:1-14; Gal. 2:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord Christ, You are the Eternal Man. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hooker: the real presence

Thursday, November 3, 2016
    Feast of Richard Hooker, Priest, Anglican Apologist, Teacher, 1600
    Commemoration of Martin of Porres, Dominican Friar, 1639
Meditation:
    Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
    —1 Corinthians 11:27-30 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The real presence of Christ’s most precious Body and Blood is not to be sought for in the Sacrament, but in the worthy receiver of the Sacrament.
    ... Richard Hooker (1554?-1600), The Ecclesiastical Polity and Other Works of Richard Hooker, v. II, London: Holdsworth & Ball, 1830, V.lxvii, p. 288 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 11:27-31; Ps. 26:2-3; Lam. 3:40; Hag. 1:5-7; 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 6:4-5; 1 John 3:19-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, break open my heart to receive Your grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: making easy work hard

Wednesday, November 2, 2016
    Feast of All Souls
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
    —Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Do you think that the work God gives us to do is never easy? Jesus says his yoke is easy, his burden is light. People sometimes refuse to do God’s work just because it is easy. This is, sometimes, because they cannot believe that easy work is his work; but there may be a very bad pride in it... Some again accept it with half a heart, and do it with half a hand. But, however easy any work may be, it cannot be well done without taking thought about it. And such people, instead of taking thought about their work, generally take thought about the morrow, in which no work can be done any more than in yesterday.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), The Seaboard Parish [1868], London: Strahan, 1873, p. 31 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 11:28-30; Ps. 119:103-104; Pr. 3:13-17; Mic. 6:8; John 16:33; 2 Cor. 4:17; 12:9-10; Gal. 5;1; Phil. 4:13; 1 John 5:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, take away all anxiety about tomorrow, and grant me Your peace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Manley: first things first

Tuesday, November 1, 2016
    Feast of All Saints
Meditation:
    But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
    —Jude 17-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Wilberforce, Lord Shaftesbury, and many other evangelicals, have been leaders in social reform, but it was not their religion. Their efforts succeeded because they put first things first, and believed firmly in the Word of God, in the conversion of the individual, in prayer, and in using spiritual means for spiritual work.
    ... G. T. Manley, Christian Unity, London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1945, p. 69 (see the book)
    See also Jude 1:17-21; 1 Tim. 4:1-2,16; 2 Tim. 4:3; Heb. 12:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    May I always see You first in all that I undertake. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Jones: new birth

Monday, October 31, 2016
Meditation:
    Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
    —John 3:5-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Here he tells us that the new birth is first of all “not of blood.” You don’t get it through the blood stream, through heredity. Your parents can give you much, but they cannot give you this. Being born in a Christian home does not make you a Christian.
    ... E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), Conversion, New York: Abingdon Press, 1959, p. 37 (see the book)
    See also John 3:5-6; Luke 20:35-36; John 1:12-13; Rom. 8:19,23; 1 Cor. 2:12; 1 John 2:29; 5:1,6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your family is our true home. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Luther: the priesthood

Sunday, October 30, 2016
    Commemoration of Martin Luther, Teacher, Reformer, 1546
Meditation:
    Grace and peace... from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever!
    —Revelation 1:4-6 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Let every man then who has learnt that he is a Christian recognize what he is, and be certain that we are all equally priests, that is, we have the same power in the word and in any sacrament whatever.
    ... Martin Luther (1483-1546), The Babylonian Captivity of the Church [1520], par. 7.16 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 1:4-6; 1 Pet. 2:4-5,9; Rev. 5:9-10; 20:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me a channel of Your grace for those in need. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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