Chambers: the life of God

Saturday, March 31, 2018
    Holy Saturday
    Commemoration of John Donne, Priest, Poet, 1631
Meditation:
    For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
    —1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross, it was not the blood of a martyr; or the blood of one man for another; it was the life of God poured out to redeem the world.
    ... Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Isa. 53:4-7; Matt. 20:26-28; 26:28; Acts 20:28; Col. 1:13-14; Heb. 9:12-14; 1 Pet. 2:22-24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; Rev. 5:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I do not belong to myself but to You, for You redeemed me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonar: His work

Friday, March 30, 2018
    Good Friday
Meditation:
    For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
    —Romans 1:16-17 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us, and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the want on our part... The whole work is His, not ours, from first to last.
    ... Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), The Everlasting Righteousness, London: James Nisbet and Co., 1873, p. 116-117 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 1:16-17; Ps. 148:13; Rom. 3:23; 2 Cor. 4:15; 1 John 1:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I cannot boast in anything save the Cross. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cogdell: under the surface

Thursday, March 29, 2018
    Maundy Thursday
    Commemoration of Jack Winslow, Missionary, Evangelist, 1974
Meditation:
Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
    where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
    the floods engulf me.
I am worn out calling for help;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
    looking for my God.
Those who hate me without reason
    outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
    those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
    what I did not steal.
    —Psalm 69:1-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We usually think of Jesus in the upper room as calmly and patiently preparing his disciples for their coming crisis; only in the garden are we shown his deep anguish over what lies ahead for himself. But if this verse (“They hated me without a cause.” Ps. 69:4) occurred to Jesus as describing his enemies, surely he was also identifying with the rest of [Psalm 69] with its vivid description of overwhelming troubles and importune cries to God for deliverance. What in the upper room was still under the surface was openly expressed in the garden.
    ... John R. Cogdell, “The humanity of Jesus Christ, as revealed in certain Psalms”, section V (see the book)
    See also Ps. 69:1-4; Matt. 26:18,38-39; Mark 14:32-34; Luke 22:42-43; John 15:23-25; 1 Pet. 5:22-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, wipe betrayal from my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: crosses

Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
    —Matthew 10:37-38 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Come all crosses, welcome, welcome! so I may get my heartful of my Lord Jesus.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, Feb. 20, 1637, p. 191 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 10:37-38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23-24; 14:29; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; Phil. 1:29-30
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fill my heart with Your presence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Anderson: the seal of authenticity

Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Meditation:
    And [Jesus] said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
    —Luke 6:5 (ESV)
Quotation:
    [Jesus] frequently made claims which would have sounded outrageous and blasphemous to Jewish ears even from the lips of the greatest of prophets. He said that he was in existence before Abraham and that he was “lord” of the sabbath; he claimed to forgive sins; he continually identified himself, in his work, his person and his glory, with the one he termed his heavenly Father; he accepted men’s worship; and he said that he was to be the judge of men at the last day, and that their eternal destiny would depend on their attitude to him. Then he died. It seems inescapable, therefore, that his resurrection must be interpreted as God’s decisive vindication of these claims, while the alternative—the finality of the cross—would necessarily have implied the repudiation of his presumptuous and even blasphemous assertions.
    ... J. N. D. Anderson (1908-1994), Christianity: the Witness of History, Tyndale Press, 1969, p. 87 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:5; Isa. 53:2-11; John 3:13; 5:18-20; 6:51; 8:58
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord Jesus, I believe that God raised You from the dead. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Johnson: Easter prayer

Monday, March 26, 2018
    Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883
Meditation:
    On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
    —John 20:19-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast preserved me by Thy fatherly care through all the years of my past life, and now permittest me again to commemorate the sufferings and merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; grant me so to partake of this holy rite, that the disquiet of my mind may be appeased, that my faith may be increased, my hope strengthened, and my life regulated by Thy Will. Make me truly thankful for that portion of health which Thy mercy has restored, and enable me to use the remains of life to Thy glory and my own salvation. Take not from me, O Lord, Thy Holy Spirit. Extinguish in my mind all sinful and inordinate desires. Let me resolve to do that which is right, and let me by Thy help keep my resolutions. Let me, if it is best for me, at last know peace and comfort; but whatever state of life Thou shalt appoint me, let me end it by a happy death, and enjoy eternal happiness in Thy presence, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lo rd. Amen.
    ... Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Prayers and Meditations, London: Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe, 1806, April 15, 1770, p. 79-80 (see the book)
    See also John 20:19-22; Ps. 51:10-11; John 3:16; Rom. 12:2; Tit. 3:4-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have shown Your people Your risen Body. Grant that I shall gaze upon You also, eternally. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kirk: street confrontation

Sunday, March 25, 2018
    Palm Sunday
    Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord to the Virgin Mary
Meditation:
    And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
    —Luke 9:51-52 (KJV)
Quotation:
    The entrance into Jerusalem [on Palm Sunday] has all the elements of the theatre of the absurd: the poor king; truth comes riding on a donkey; symbolic actions—even parading without a permit! Also, when Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” what was involved was direct action, an open confrontation and public demonstration of the incompatibility of evil with the Kingdom of God.
    ... David Kirk (1935-2007), Quotations from Chairman Jesus, Springfield, Ill.: Templegate Publishers, 1969, p. 61 (see the book)
    See also Luke 9:51-52; Matt. 21:1-9; Luke 12:49-50; 19:37-40; Acts 20:22-24; 21:11-14; 1 Pet. 4:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have conquered the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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