Bonar: Blessed night

Saturday, December 22, 2018
Meditation:
    Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
    —Luke 2:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:

The Shepherds’ Plain

Blessed night, when first that plain
Echoed with the joyful strain,—
“Peace has come to earth again!”

Blessed hills, that heard the song
Of the glorious angel-throng,
Swelling all your slopes along.

Happy shepherds, on whose ear
Fell the tidings glad and dear,—
“God to man is drawing near.”

Happy, happy, Bethlehem,
Judah’s least but brightest gem,
Where the rod from Jesse’s stem.

Scion of a princely race,
Sprung in Heaven’s own perfect grace,
Yet in feeble lowliness.

This, the woman’s promised seed,
Abram’s mighty son indeed;
Succorer of earth’s great need.

This the victor in our war,
This the glory see afar,
This the light of Jacob’s star!

Happy Judah, rise and own
Him, the heir of David’s throne
David’s Lord, and David’s Son.

Let the dayspring from on high,
That arose in Judah’s sky,
Cover earth eternally.

Babe of Bethlehem, to Thee,
Infant of eternity,
Everlasting glory be!
    ... Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), Hymns of Faith and Hope, first series, New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1866, p. 240-245 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:13-14; Isa. 40:9; 52:7; 61:1-2; Mic. 5:2; Luke 1:19; 8:1; Acts 13:32-33
Quiet time reflection:
    Hallelujah!

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Adams: one of us

Friday, December 21, 2018
Meditation:
    And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
    —Hebrews 1:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    So here we are again, a few billion miles farther along our mysterious path among the immensities. What a comfort it is to know the Man in charge of it all. Without Him, it would be easy to think that the whole of time and space, and life itself, are without reason, purpose, or meaning—as H. G. Wells said, that it is “a bad joke beyond our understanding, a flare of vulgarity, an empty laugh braying across the mysteries.” With Jesus forever between God and us, we can understand a few things, and trust Him for the rest. After all, He is one of us: a baby once, as we all were; then, and forever after, a Man, as we all shall always be.
    ... Robert MacColl Adams (1913-1985), letter [1981]
    See also Heb. 1:6; Matt. 1:23; Luke 1:26-35; 2:1-21; Heb. 2:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your purposes are irresistible. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Waller: for their friends

Thursday, December 20, 2018
Meditation:
    I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.
    —Romans 9:1-4a (NIV)
Quotation:
The fear of Hell, or aiming to be blest,
Savors too much of private interest.
This moved not Moses, nor the zealous Paul,
Who for their friends abandoned soul and all.
    ... Edmund Waller (1606-1687), Works of Edmund Waller, Esq: in verse and prose, Dublin: W. G. Jones, 1768, p. 168 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 9:1-4; Ex. 32:31-32; Acts 13:26; Rom. 11:1; Gal. 1:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me to love my friends as You love them. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wirt: the price of peace

Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Meditation:
    Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
    —John 14:27 (KJV)
Quotation:
    The evangelical... wants such peace as men can attain to have some kind of relationship to justice. He observes many different kinds of peace prevailing in the world he inhabits. Not all of them are good. For example, there is the peace that death brings, the peace of the tomb. Today it could be called the peace of Auschwitz. Hitler tried to “make peace” with the Jews by seeking their “final solution;” but the evangelical would fight rather than submit to such a peace. There is also the peace of slavery and subjection, the Pax Romana. Dictators are very fond of the Roman peace. Today it could be called the peace of Tibet. The nation of Tibet has been completely stripped of its personality in our generation by Communist China without a single protest being made in front of a single embassy... Again, there is peace that is artificially induced in men. Among individuals it is the peace of the tranquilizer, the peace of withdrawal and schizophrenia, the peace of the brainwashed prisoner. Should large-scale chemical warfare break out, we are told, whole cities could be sprayed and pacified by such drugs. The evangelical is not interested in paying such high prices for the sake of peace. He would rather stay free, and alive, and in his right mind, prepared to fight.
    ... Sherwood Eliot Wirt (1911-2008), The Social Conscience of the Evangelical, New York: Harper & Row, 1968, p. 117-118 (see the book)
    See also John 14:27; Ps. 29:11; 85:10; Isa. 9:6; 32:15-17; Jer. 6:14; Luke 2:14; 12:51; John 16:33; Acts 10:16; Eph. 2:14-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send Your peace to the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Whitefield: tearing down the old house

Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Meditation:
    If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
    —1 Corinthians 3:12-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The renewal of our natures is a work of great importance. It is not to be done in a day. We have not only a new house to build up, but an old one to pull down.
    ... George Whitefield (1714-1770), in a letter, 1735, in The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A., v. I, London: Edward and Charles Dilly, 1771, p. 8 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 3:9-17; Ps. 51:10; Rom. 12:1-2; 13:14; 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to remove those temples within me that I have built to idols and self. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: exceeding expectation

Monday, December 17, 2018
    Commemoration of Eglantine Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of ‘Save the Children’, 1928
Meditation:
    Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
    —1 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Let any man turn to God in earnest, let him begin to exercise himself unto godliness, let him seek to develop his powers of spiritual receptivity by trust and obedience and humility, and the results will exceed anything he may have hoped in his leaner and weaker days.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 66 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 4:7; Acts 24:16; 1 Tim. 6:11; Tit. 2:11-13; Heb. 5:14; 2 Pet. 1:5-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Teach my heart to receive You, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Grou: mistaken devotion

Sunday, December 16, 2018
    Advent III
Meditation:
    Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
    —Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Be sure [that] it is a mistaken devotion which interferes with the duties of your natural state of life.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 21 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:9; 1 Cor. 15:58; 2 Thess. 3:13; Jas. 5:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Strengthen me, Lord, for the ordinary work of following you. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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