Willard: the Beloved Presence

Friday, April 6, 2018
    Commemoration of Albrecht Dürer, artist, 1528, and Michelangelo Buonarrotti, artist, spiritual writer, 1564
Meditation:
    On one occasion, while he was eating with them, [Jesus] gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
    —Acts 1:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Thomas à Kempis speaks for all the ages when he represents Jesus as saying to him, “A wise lover regards not so much the gift of him who loves, as the love of him who gives. He esteems affection rather than valuables, and sets all gifts below the Beloved. A noble-minded lover rests not in the gift, but in Me above every gift.” The sustaining power of the Beloved Presence has through the ages made the sickbed sweet and the graveside triumphant; transformed broken hearts and relations; brought glory to drudgery, poverty and old age; and turned the martyr’s stake or noose into a place of coronation.
    ... Dallas Willard (1935-2013), Hearing God, Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1999, p. 45 (see the book)
    See also Acts 1:4; John 6:56; 1 Cor. 9:25; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:22; Col. 1:27; 2 Tim. 4:8; Jas. 1:17-17; 1 Pet. 5:4; 1 John 3:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit guarantees my redemption. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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