Singh: the Living Water

Saturday, October 28, 2017
    Feast of Simon & Jude, Apostles
Meditation:
    Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
    —John 4:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    From time immemorial men have quenched their thirst with water without knowing anything about its chemical constituents. In like manner we do not need to be instructed in all the mysteries of doctrine, but we do need to receive the Living Water which Jesus Christ will give us and which alone can satisfy our souls.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), quoted in The Gospel of Sadhu Sundar Singh, Friedrich Heiler & Olive Wyon, G. Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1927, p. 239 (see the book)
    See also John 4:7-14; Ex. 17:6; Ps. 36:8-9; 46:4; Isa. 12:3; 44:3; Jer. 2:13; Zech. 14:8; John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 10:1-4; Rev. 7:17; 21:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I drink of the Living Water. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: understanding moods in prayer

Friday, October 27, 2017
Meditation:
Hear my prayer, O LORD;
    listen to my cry for mercy.
In the day of my trouble I will call to you,
    for you will answer me.
Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord;
    no deeds can compare with yours.
    —Psalm 86:6-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Your heart is not the compass which Christ saileth by.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, June 16, 1637, p. 349 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 86:6-8; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Eze. 24:14; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 6:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send Your Spirit to guide me in Your way. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Moody: a small light

Thursday, October 26, 2017
    Feast of Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899
    Commemoration of Cedd, Founding Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of the East Saxons, 664
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”
    —Matthew 5:14-15 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Remember, a small light will do a great deal when it is in a very dark place. You put one little tallow candle in the middle of a large hall, and it will give a good deal of light.
    ... Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899), “To the work! To the work!”: Exhortations to Christians, Chicago: F. H. Revell, 1884, p. 139 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:14-15; Pr. 4:18; John 5:35; 12:36; Eph. 5:8-10; Phil. 2:15; 1 Thess. 5:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I be a light. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bennett: euphemisms for "sinner"

Wednesday, October 25, 2017
    Commemoration of Crispin & Crispinian, Martyrs at Rome, c.285
Meditation:
You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
    with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand
    in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
    —Psalm 5:4-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The word “sinner” often proves a great obstacle to understanding, but let us use other words. Let us say that man is the kind of creature who naturally sees the world from a very limited perspective, that he tends to be self-centered and to prefer the interests that are closest to himself and to his own social group. Let us say that man is naturally unwilling to accept his limited or finite status, that he is always seeking to extend his control over others, that he seeks to maintain his own security by means of power over all who may threaten it, that he likes to be in a position to compare himself with others to their disadvantage, that he seeks to be self-sufficient and to deny in effect his dependence upon God and to set up his own group or system or ideal in the place of God.
    ... John C. Bennett (1902-1995), Christianity and communism today, Association Press, 1960, p. 117 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 5:4-5; Rom. 3:10-18; Gal. 5:19-24; Phil. 2:3; 3:18-19;
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a heart that honors You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hoskyns: simplification vs. truth

Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Meditation:
    Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
    Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
    He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
    —Mark 3:1-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [The Creeds] were formulated gradually, as a result of a series of desperate controversies—controversies which are now named sometimes after the supposed leaders and representatives of a particular interpretation of the Christian religion, and sometimes after the particular interpretation itself.
    I need not now attempt to make precise these heresies, as they came to be called. It is necessary only to point out that in various ways all these heresies were simplifications. By means of them the revelation of God to men was made, or appeared to be made, less scandalous. On the other hand, the various clauses of the Creed were not formulated as a new simplification, or as an alternative -ism. They were nothing more than emphatic statements of the Biblical scandal, statements which brought into sharp antagonism the new simplification and the old, Scriptural, many-sided and vigorous truth.
    ... Sir Edwyn C. Hoskyns (1884-1937), We are the Pharisees, London: SPCK, 1960, p. 62-63 (see the book)
    See also Mark 3:1-6; Matt. 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11; 1 Cor. 1:22-24; 1 Tim. 3:14-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Prevent me, Lord, from watering down the Gospel in my conversations and in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pascal: the hidden God

Monday, October 23, 2017
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.”
    —John 6:46-47 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If the mercy of God is so great that He can instruct us, to our salvation, even when He hides Himself, what a brilliance of light we must expect when He reveals Himself!
    ... Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensées (Thoughts) [1660], P.F. Collier & Son, 1910, #848, p. 301 (see the book)
    See also John 6:46-47; 1:1-5; 3:18; Rom. 5:10; Col. 3:3-4; 1 John 5:11-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me eyes that can bear to look on You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Driver: faithfully preaching the Gospel

Sunday, October 22, 2017
Meditation:
    But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
    —Acts 4:19-20 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Local churches which are respected and even attended by “the public”—interpreted as people who under different circumstances would not feel obliged to attend church at all—are often found to be those where, on a Christian judgment, the gospel seems to be most faithfully preached. Such churches may invite and suffer temporary periods of unpopularity—by standing up for West Indian immigrants, say, or refusing indiscriminate baptism. But on the whole, the storms are weathered by churches, and ministers, whose interest in the community and presentation of the faith [are] alert and genuine. Even so, the Church has every excuse for getting itself disliked: none at all for escaping notice.
    ... Christopher Driver (1932-1997), A Future for the Free Churches?, London: SCM Press, 1962, p. 19-20 (see the book)
    See also Acts 4:19-20; Jer. 1:17-19; Mic. 3:8; Luke 2:10; Acts 7:52-54; 17:16-17; 18:5; 1 Cor. 9:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:4-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant boldness to me and my church fellowship to proclaim the Gospel despite social pressure against it. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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