Saturday, November 12, 2016

Moffatt: writings about the new covenant

Saturday, November 12, 2016
Meditation:
    Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
    —Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV)
Quotation:
    In the communities of the faithful, men had to impress upon themselves and upon others what Jesus said and did, for the more convinced they were that he was neither a Jewish pretender nor an unsubstantial deity like one of the deities of the cults, the more urgent it was for them to recall that his words were the rule of their life, and that his actions in history had created their position in the world; they had to think out their faith, to state it against outside criticism, and to teach it within their own circle, instead of being content with it as a mere emotion; they had also to refresh their courage by anticipating the future, which they believed was in the hands of their Lord... The common basis of their life was the conviction that they enjoyed a new relationship with God, for which they were indebted to Jesus. The technical term for this relationship was “covenant,” and “covenant” became eventually in their vocabulary “testament.” Hence the later name for these writings of the church, when gathered into a sacred collection, was “The New Testament”—New because the older relationship of God to his people, which had obtained under Judaism with its Old Testament, was superseded by the faith and fellowship which Jesus Christ his Son had inaugurated. It was the consciousness of this that inspired the early Christians to live, and to write about the origin and applications of this new life. They wrote for their own age, without a thought of posterity, and they did not write in unison but in harmony.
    ... James Moffatt (1870-1944), A New Translation of the Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1935, New York: Harper, 1935, Introduction, p. xxii (see the book)
    See also Jer. 31:31-34; 32:40; Rom. 8:2-4; 11:27; 2 Cor. 3:3; Heb. 8:10; 10:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank You for sending Your word to Your people.
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Friday, November 11, 2016

Bonhoeffer: bringing sin to the light

Friday, November 11, 2016
    Feast of Martin, Monk, Bishop of Tours, 397
Meditation:
    You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
    —1 John 4:4 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The heart of man is revealed in temptation. Man knows his sin, which without temptation he could never have known; for in temptation man knows on what he has set his heart. The coming to light of sin is the work of the accuser, who thereby thinks to have won the victory. But it is sin which is become manifest which can be known and therefore forgiven. Thus the manifestation of sin belongs to the salvation plan of God with man, and Satan must serve this plan.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Temptation, London: SCM Press, 1955, p. 29 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 4:4; 2 Chr. 32:31; Ps. 139:23-24; Jer. 17:9-10; Heb. 4:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, forgive me, a sinner.
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Thursday, November 10, 2016

Eckhart: Seeking God for profit

Thursday, November 10, 2016
    Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”
    —Luke 12:28-31 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Whoso goes seeking God and seeking aught with God does not find God; but he who seeks God by himself in truth does not find God alone: all God affords he finds, as well as God. Art thou looking for God, seeking God with a view to thy personal good, thy personal profit? Then in truth thou art not seeking God.
    ... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?), Works of Meister Eckhart, London: J. M. Watkins, 1924, p. 42 (see the book)
    See also Luke 12:28-31; Matt. 6:30-34; 7:7; Luke 11:9; John 6:27; Acts 17:27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, cleanse and purify my motives.
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Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Barclay: Who is using whom?

Wednesday, November 9, 2016
    Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433
Meditation:
    When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
    —John 6:14-15 (ESV)
Quotation:
    That crowd of Jews would have followed Christ at that moment because He was giving them what they wanted [bread], and they wished to use Him for their plans and dreams and purposes. That attitude to Christ still lingers in men’s minds. We would like Christ’s gifts without Christ’s Cross; we would like to use Christ instead of allowing Him to use us.
    ... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Gospel of John, v. 1, Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1965, p. 210 (see the book)
    See also John 6:14-15; Matt. 20:21-22; Mark 10:35-38; Luke 22:24-26; John 7:3-6; Rom. 12:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are King in my heart.
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Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Chesterton: a single sword

Tuesday, November 8, 2016
    Feast of Saints & Martyrs of England
Meditation:
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.
    —Psalm 34:6-7 (ESV)
Quotation:
O God of earth and altar,
    Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
    Our people drift and die;
The walls of gold entomb us,
    The swords of scorn divide,
Take not Thy thunder from us,
    But take away our pride.

From all that terror teaches,
    From lies of tongue and pen,
From all the easy speeches
    That comfort cruel men,
From sale and profanation
    Of honor and the sword,
From sleep and from damnation,
    Deliver us, good Lord.

Tie in a living tether
    The prince and priest and thrall,
Bind all our lives together,
    Smite us and save us all;
In ire and exultation
    Aflame with faith, and free,
Lift up a living nation,
    A single sword to Thee.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), [1907] The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton, v. X, Ignatius Press, 1994, p. 141 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 34:6-7; Rom. 8:35-39; Eph. 6:14-18; Heb. 4:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant us peace.

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Monday, November 07, 2016

Woolman: the progress of wealth

Monday, November 7, 2016
    Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739
Meditation:
    But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.
    —1 Timothy 6:6-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I saw that a humble man, with the blessing of the Lord, might live on a little; and that where the heart is set on greatness, success in business did not satisfy the craving, but that commonly with an increase of wealth, the desire of wealth increased.
    ... John Woolman (1720-1772), The Works of John Woolman, Philadelphia: Benjamin & Jacob Johnson, 1800, p. 25 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 6:6-9; Matt. 6:19-21; 16:26; 18:1-4; Luke 12:15; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Jas. 5:1-5; 1 John 3:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Teach me, Lord, to be content with Your provisions.
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Sunday, November 06, 2016

Temple: hope in the Spirit

Sunday, November 6, 2016
    Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944
Meditation:
    For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
    —Romans 15:8-9 (ESV)
Quotation:
    There is no hope of establishing a more Christian social order except through the labour and sacrifice of those in whom the Spirit of Christ is active.
    ... William Temple (1881-1944), Christianity and Social Order, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1942, p. 100 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 15:8-9; Ps. 18:49; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 3:10-11; 6:12-13; Tit. 3:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me an instrument of Your will for my society.
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