MacDonald: truth

Saturday, June 23, 2018
    Feast of Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, c.678
Meditation:
    Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
    —John 14:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I would not favour a fiction to keep a world out of hell. The hell that a lie would keep any man out of is doubtless the very best place for him to go to. It is truth, yes, The Truth that saves the world.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood, v. I [1867], London: Strahan & Co., 1873, p. 144 (see the book)
    See also John 14:6; 8:44; 1 Tim. 1:9-10; Rev. 21:27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have proclaimed the truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Browning: virtue in a jug

Friday, June 22, 2018
    Feast of Alban, first Martyr of Britain, c.209
Meditation:
    In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
    —2 Timothy 2:20-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
For the preacher’s merit or demerit,
It were to be wished the flaws were fewer
In the earthen vessel, holding treasure,
Which lies as safe in a golden ewer;
But the main thing is, does it hold good measure?
Heaven soon sets right all other matters!
    ... Robert Browning (1812-1889), from “Christmas Eve” [1850], in The Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning, v. IV, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1887, p. 30 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 2:20-21; 1 Cor. 1:28-29; 2 Cor. 4:7; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 4:2; 1 Pet. 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fill me with Your Spirit so that blessings may flow through me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tillotson: true enemy vs. false friend

Thursday, June 21, 2018
Meditation:
    Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus replied, “Friend, do what you came for.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.
    —Matthew 26:49-50 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A mere form of religion does upon some accounts bring a man under a heavier sentence, than if he were openly profane and irreligious. He that makes a show of religion flatters God, but all the while he acts and designs against him: whereas the profane man deals plainly, and though he be a monstrous and unnatural rebel, yet he is a fair and open enemy. And the kisses of a false friend are more hateful than the wounds of an open enemy.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. VIII, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, Sermon CCV, p. 540 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 26:49-50; Prov. 27:6; Matt. 23:13,15; 24:51; 2 Tim. 3:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I may betray You no more. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brunner: sin as personal guilt

Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
    —John 16:7-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Evil can be interpreted as guilt only where human existence is understood as personal, and that means where the existence of man is understood to be in responsibility to the Divine Thou. This is the depth of human distress, that we are separated from God, that our communion with Him is destroyed, that man has emancipated himself (has taken himself out of the hand of God) and has become independent, his own master.
    ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Word and the World, London: Student Christian Movement Press, 1931, p. 49-50 (see the book)
    See also John 16:7-11; Eccl. 2:24-25; Rom. 1:20-23; 1 Pet. 5:6-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I cannot direct my life in the way it should go; lead me in my life, through Your everlasting grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Singh: opening hearts to God in prayer

Tuesday, June 19, 2018
    Commemoration of Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu, Evangelist, Teacher, 1929
Meditation:
    But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
    —Psalm 73:28 (KJV)
Quotation:
    The essence of prayer does not consist in asking God for something but in opening our hearts to God, in speaking with Him, and living with Him in perpetual communion. Prayer is continual abandonment to God. Prayer does not mean asking God for all kinds of things we want; it is rather the desire for God Himself, the only Giver of Life. Prayer is not asking, but union with God. Prayer is not a painful effort to gain from God help in the varying needs of our lives. Prayer is the desire to possess God Himself, the Source of all life. The true spirit of prayer does not consist in asking for blessings, but in receiving Him who is the giver of all blessings, and in living a life of fellowship with Him.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), The Gospel of Sadhu Sundar Singh, Friedrich Heiler & Olive Wyon, G. Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1927, p. 99-100 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 73:28; 65:4; Lam. 3:25-26; Heb. 10:19-22; Jas. 4:8; 1 Pet. 3:18; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, draw me nearer to you. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Green: qualification vs. training

Monday, June 18, 2018
Meditation:
    Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect... He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
    —1 Timothy 3:1-4,6-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Because the role of the Christian leader is to preach, teach, act as a shepherd, [and] be an example in personal and family life, the New Testament properly insists that he must not be a new convert nor a young man. He must have proved himself [and] demonstrated his God-given charisma for leadership, before he looks to the Church for recognition of it through ordination. Here once again we stand in marked contrast to the New Testament... The early Christians laid great stress on quality of life. A leader must merit respect, with his sexual, drinking [and] financial habits beyond reproach, a man of experience, a family man, someone who has led others to the faith and built Christians up in it. We go, on the whole, for untried men whose degree matters more than their lives, and who may never have led anyone to belief in Christ, or may even regard the whole idea as distasteful.
    ... Michael Green (b. 1930), “Mission and Ministry”, E. M. B. Green, in The People of God, Ian Cundy, ed., vol. 2 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 72-73 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 3:1-4,6-7; Amos 2:11; 7:14-15; Tit. 1:6-9; 1 Pet. 5:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we trust You to raise up the leadership for Your church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wilson: humility

Sunday, June 17, 2018
    Commemoration of Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformers, 1913 & 1936
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.”
    —Matthew 23:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The more God raises and exalts good men, the more they abase and humble themselves. They remember with sorrow what they are of themselves, and what they are capable of becoming.
    ... Thomas Wilson (1663-1755), Maxims of Piety and of Christianity, London: Macmillan, 1898, p. 70 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:8-10; 2 Chr. 7:13-14; Isa. 35:10; Prov. 16:18-19; Mic. 6:8; Matt. 11:29; 18:3-4; John 13:12-15; 2 Cor. 7:10-11; Eph. 4:1-3; Jas. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 5:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, banish all pride from me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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