Rolle: prayer

Saturday, January 20, 2018
    Commemoration of Richard Rolle of Hampole, Writer, Hermit, Mystic, 1349
Meditation:
From birth I have relied on you;
    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
    I will ever praise you.
    —Psalm 71:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Lord Jesu, I ask Thee, give unto me movement in Thy love without measure; desire without limit; longing without order; burning without discretion. Truly the better the love of Thee is, the greedier it is; for neither by reason is it restrained, nor by dread distressed, nor by doom tempted.
    ... Richard Rolle (1290?-1349), Fire of Love [1343], tr. Richard Misyn, i. xvii (see the book)
    See also Ps. 71:6; Deut. 6:5; 30:6; John 14:20-21; 1 John 5:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, set the love of You ablaze in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: the mark of the Spirit

Friday, January 19, 2018
    Commemoration of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 1095
Meditation:
    And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
    —Romans 8:23-25 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Of Romans 8:11,17,23-25]
    The counterpart of this withdrawal of Christ [the ascension] from the reach of the senses was the gift to the apostles of the Holy Spirit by whom Christ was made present to them in a new way. They now knew him no more by sight and after the flesh; they had His Spirit. And this “having” is both a real possession and a foretaste, an earnest of what is in store... The Spirit assures us that we are heirs of a kingdom yet to be revealed (Rom. 8:17). The Spirit wars in us against the flesh (Gal. 5:17) and gives us assurance that even our mortal bodies shall be quickened (Rom. 8:11), and that what is mortal is to be swallowed up of life (2 Cor. 5:4-5). Meanwhile the very mark of the Spirit’s presence is that we groan waiting for our adoption (Rom. 8:23) and hoping for that which we do not yet see (Rom. 8:24,25).
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Household of God, London, SCM Press, 1953, New York: Friendship Press, 1954, p. 115 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:11,17,23-25; 2 Cor. 5:4-5; Gal. 5:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have sent Your hope to live within me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Carmichael: lavish love

Thursday, January 18, 2018
    Commemoration of Amy Carmichael, Founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship, 1951
Meditation:
    He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
    —Romans 8:32 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Of Romans 8:32]
    St. Paul had a lovely way of letting his letters break out into song every now and then. ([Dr. Arthur] Way’s translation shows this.) One line in a song that comes in Romans 8 has been a great help to me. Way calls the song a “Hymn of Triumph to Jesus.” This is the line: “How can He [the Father] but, in giving Him [Jesus], lavish on us all things—all?” “Freely give” means to give lavishly. What do I need today? Strength? Peace? Patience? Heavenly joy? Industry? Good temper? Power to help others? Inward contentment? Courage? Whatever it be, my God will lavish it upon me.
    ... Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), Edges of His Ways [1955], London: SPCK, 1957, p. 15 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:32; Ps. 84:11; Rom. 6:23; 8:28; 1 Cor. 2:12; 3:21-23; Jas. 1:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have showered me with Your abundant life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hodge: made like Christ

Wednesday, January 17, 2018
    Feast of Antony of Egypt, Abbot, 356
    Commemoration of Charles Gore, Bishop, Teacher, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, 1932
Meditation:
    For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
    —Romans 8:29 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Of Romans 8:29:30]
    The call intended is the effectual call of the Holy Spirit, by which the soul is renewed and translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. The only evidence of election is therefore vocation, and the only evidence of vocation is holiness of heart and life, for we are called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Compare again Romans 8:29, where believers are said to be “predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son.” To this they are effectually called. They are made like Christ. Fellowship includes union and communion... We are called to be partakers of Christ; partakers of his life, as members of his body; and therefore, partakers of his character, of his sufferings here and of his glory hereafter.
    ... Charles Hodge (1797-1878), An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians [1857], New York: Robert Carter & Bros., 1860, p. 10-11 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:28-30; 9:23-24; 1 Cor. 1:9; Gal. 1:15-17; Col. 1:24; 1 Thess. 2:11-12; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 1:8-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You loved me before I knew You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Dodd: prayer of the Spirit

Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Meditation:
    And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
    —Romans 8:27 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Of Romans 8:14-17]
    For the Spirit we have received is the Spirit of the Son of God, and we possessing it are God’s sons too, and “that of God in us” leaps out towards the God who is the source of it. The Spirit of Jesus within us moves us to prayer: indeed, prayer is just the moving of God’s Son in us towards the Father. Though we are burdened with the greatness of our need, so that our prayers are not even articulate, yet in such “inarticulate sighs” the Spirit “intercedes for us.”
    ... C. Harold Dodd (1884-1973), The Meaning of Paul for Today, London: Swarthmore, 1920, reprint, Fount Paperbacks, 1978, p. 130-131 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:14-17,26-27; 1 Cor. 1:9; Gal. 4:6-7; Eph. 6:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make Your will known to Your servants. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Sanday & Headlam: we are not left helpless

Monday, January 15, 2018
Meditation:
    Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
    —Romans 8:26 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Of Romans 8:26-27]
    Nor are we alone in our struggles. The Holy Spirit supports our helplessness. Left to ourselves we do not know what prayers to offer or how to offer them. But in those inarticulate groans which rise from the depth of our being, we recognize the voice of none other than the Holy Spirit. He makes intercession; and His intercession is sure to be answered. For God Who searches the inmost recesses of the heart can interpret His own Spirit’s meaning. He knows that His own Will regulates Its petitions, and that they are offered for men dedicated to His service.
    ... William Sanday (1843-1920) & Arthur C. Headlam (1862-1947), A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1896, 10th ed., New York: Scribners, 1905, p. 212-213 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:26-27; Ps. 6:9; 10:17-18; 77:1-3; Matt. 10:19-20; Luke 11:1; 2 Cor. 5:2; 12:5-10; Eph. 2:18; 6:18; Heb. 4:15; 5:2; Jas. 4:3; Jude 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Spirit of God, sanctify my prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bruce: the present affliction

Sunday, January 14, 2018
    Commemoration of Richard Meux Benson, Founder of the Society of St John the Evangelist, 1915
Meditation:
    I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
    —Romans 8:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Of Romans 8:18]
    The glory to come far outweighs the affliction of the present. The affliction is light and temporary when compared with the all-surpassing and everlasting glory. So Paul, writing against a background of recent and (even for him) unparalleled tribulation, had assured his friends in Corinth a year or two before this that ‘this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison’ (2 Cor. 4:17). It is not merely that the glory is a compensation for the suffering; it actually grows out of the suffering. There is an organic relation between the two for the believer as surely as there was for the Lord.
    ... F. F. Bruce (1910-1990), The Letter of Paul to the Romans, An Introduction and Commentary, 2nd edition, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1985, p. 159 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:18; Ps. 30:5; Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor. 4:17; 11:23-27; 1 Pet. 1:6; 5:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen me so that I might see the glory to come. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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