Whittier: When on my day of life

Saturday, February 16, 2019
Meditation:
    For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
    —Romans 6:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
When on my day of life the night is falling,
    And, in the winds from unsunned spaces blown,
I hear far voices out of darkness calling
    My feet to paths unknown.

Thou who hast made my home of life so pleasant
    Leave not its tenant when its walls decay;
O Love Divine, O Helper ever present,
    Be Thou my strength and stay!

Be near me when all else is from me drifting;
    Earth, sky, home’s pictures, days of shade and shine,
And kindly faces to my own uplifting
    The love that answers mine.

I have but Thee, my Father! let Thy spirit
    Be with me then to comfort and uphold;
No gate of pearl, no branch of palm I merit,
    Nor street of shining gold.

Suffice it if—my good and ill unreckoned,
    And both forgiven through Thy abounding grace—
I find myself by hands familiar beckoned
    Unto my fitting place.
    ... John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), The Complete Poetical Works of Whittier, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1894, p. 463 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 6:14; Ps. 25:11; 140:1-4; Isa. 1:18; Rom. 8:1-2; Jas. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Because of You, Lord, sin no longer rules my life.

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Rauschenbusch: the embryo

Friday, February 15, 2019
    Commemoration of Thomas Bray, Priest, Founder of SPCK, 1730
Meditation:
    “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
    —Jeremiah 31:33-34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Hebrew religion was an unfinished religion. That is one of the best proofs of its divine inspiration. The prophets had the forward look. Great things were yet to come. As one of the most daring expressed it, the old and hallowed covenant, made by God at the Exodus, would be superseded by a new and higher relation; God would write his law into the hearts of the people; the old drill in outward statutes would disappear, for all men would know God by an inward experience of forgiveness and love.
    ... Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918), The Social Principles of Jesus, New York: Association Press, 1916, p. 87-88 (see the book)
    See also Jer. 31:33-34; Rom. 8:1-4; 2 Cor. 3:3; Heb. 8:10-13; Jas. 1:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have made Yourself known to me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Edwards: unbroken love

Thursday, February 14, 2019
    Feast of Cyril & Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs, 869 & 885
    Commemoration of Valentine, Martyr at Rome, c.269
Meditation:
    For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    —Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As we get older, we know what we need most from forgiveness is not suspension of punishment, but assurance that love is unbroken even when we are separated... We must realize that God is against us when we are sinning; yet we dare trust that His gracious love reaches to us across the chasm which separates us from Him. When we understand His loving attitude and accept His Grace, He releases His love in us. By that love we are able to begin to keep His commands for us—to love Him with heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
    ... K. Morgan Edwards (1912-2003), Hoping to be Somebody, K. Morgan Edwards, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1959, p. 69,74-75 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:38-39; Ps. 136; Matt. 22:36-40; John 10:28-30; Col. 3:3-4; Jude 1:21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love is constant, despite my sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tauler: discover fault in yourself

Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Meditation:
    Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
    —2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Turn your eyes full upon yourselves, and see if you cannot discover the same fault [that you would judge in another] in yourselves, either in times past or now-a-days. And, if you find it, remember how that it is God’s appointing that you shall now behold this sin in another, in order that you may be brought to acknowledge and repent of it; and amend your ways and pray for your brother, that God may grant him repentance and amendment according to His Divine Will. Thus a good heart draws amendment from the sins of others, and is guarded from all harsh judgment and wrath, and preserves an even temper, while an evil heart puts the worst interpretation on all that it sees, and turns it to its own hurt.
    ... Johannes Tauler (ca. 1300-1361), “Sermon for St. Peter’s Day,” in The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler of Strasbourg, Charles Kingsley, pref. & Susanna Winkworth, tr., New York: Wiley & Halsted, 1858, p. 462 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 4:2; Matt. 7:1-3; Gal. 6:1; 1 Thess. 5:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to pray for ____ as you would have me do. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: 7. the ministry of authority

Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Meditation:
    Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”
    —Mark 10:42-44 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Seven principles for eradicating selfish ambition in the fellowship:
    7. The ministry of authority

    Jesus made authority in the fellowship dependent upon brotherly service (Mark 10:43). Genuine spiritual authority is to be found only where the ministry of hearing, helping, bearing, and proclaiming is carried out. Every cult of personality that emphasizes the distinguished qualities, virtues, and talents of another person, even though these be of an altogether spiritual nature, is worldly and has no place in the Christian community; indeed, it poisons the Christian community...
    Genuine authority realizes that it can exist only in the service of Him who alone has authority... The Church does not need brilliant personalities but faithful servants of Jesus and the brethren...
    Pastoral authority can be attained only by the servant of Jesus who seeks no power of his own, who himself is a brother among brothers submitted to the authority of the Word.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 108-109 (see the book)
    See also Mark 10:42-44; Matt. 20:26-28; 23:8-12; Mark 9:35; Luke 9:48; 14:11; John 13:13-17; 18:36; 1 Tim. 3:2-7; 1 Pet. 5:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fit my heart to be led, according to Your will.

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Bonhoeffer: 6. the ministry of proclaiming

Monday, February 11, 2019
Meditation:
    Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
    —Galatians 6:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Seven principles for eradicating selfish ambition in the fellowship:
    6. The ministry of proclaiming

    Where Christians live together the time must ultimately come when in some crisis one person will have to declare God’s Word and will to another. It is inconceivable that the things that are of utmost importance to each individual should not be spoken by one to another. It is unchristian consciously to deprive another of the one decisive service we can render to him...
    The more we learn to allow others to speak the Word to us, to accept humbly and gratefully even severe reproaches and admonitions, the more free and objective will we be in speaking ourselves... The humble person will stick to truth and love. He will stick to the Word of God and let it lead him to his brother...
    Reproof is unavoidable. God’s Word demands it when a brother falls into open sin. Where defection from God’s Word in doctrine or life imperils the fellowship... the word of admonition and rebuke must be ventured. Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin. It is a ministry of mercy, an ultimate offer of genuine fellowship, when we allow nothing but God’s Word to stand between us, judging and succoring.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 104-107 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:1; Col. 3:16; 2 Thess. 3:14-15; 2 Tim. 2:24-25; Jas. 3:13; 5:19-20; 1 Pet. 3:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have called me from sin.

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Bonhoeffer: 5. the ministry of bearing

Sunday, February 10, 2019
    Commemoration of Scholastica, Abbess of Plombariola, c.543
Meditation:
    Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
    —Galatians 6:2 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Seven principles for eradicating selfish ambition in the fellowship:
    5. The ministry of bearing

    “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). Thus the law of Christ is a law of bearing. Bearing means forbearing and sustaining...
    The Christian must suffer and endure the brother. It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated...
    It is, first of all, the freedom of the other person that is a burden to the Christian... The freedom of the other person includes all that we mean by a person’s nature, individuality, endowment. It also includes his weaknesses and oddities, which are such a trial to our patience, everything that produces frictions, conflicts, and collisions among us...
    Then, there is the abuse of that freedom that becomes a burden for the Christian. In sin, fellowship with God and with his brother are broken... To cherish no contempt for the sinner but rather to prize the privilege of bearing him means not to have to give him up as lost, to be able to accept him, to preserve fellowship with him through forgiveness...
    The service of forgiveness is rendered by one to the others daily. It occurs, without words, in the intercessions for one another... He who is bearing others knows that he himself is being borne.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 100-101 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:2; Matt. 8:17; 11:29; Rom. 15;1; Gal. 5:13-14; Col. 3:13; 1 Pet. 2:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You bear me up, so that I may bear another.

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