Fuller: the expositor's prayer

Saturday, June 22, 2019
    Feast of Alban, first Martyr of Britain, c.209
Meditation:
    Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.
    —1 Corinthians 3:1-2a (NIV)
Quotation:
    Grant that I may never rack a Scripture simile beyond the true intent thereof, lest, instead of sucking milk, I squeeze blood out of it.
    ... Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), Good Thoughts in Bad Times [1645], Chicago: United Society of Christian Endeavor, Boston, 1898, “Scripture Observations,” I (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 3:1-2; Matt. 18:3-4; Luke 24:45; Acts 17:2-3,11; Gal. 3:16; 1 Tim. 4:13; Heb. 5:12-14; 1 Pet. 2:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word is food for me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Quarles & Lyte: I am His

Friday, June 21, 2019
Meditation:
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
    Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.
    —Psalm 102:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
Long did I toil, and knew no earthly rest,
Far did I rove, and found no certain home;
At last I sought them in His sheltering breast,
Who opes His arms and bids the weary come:
With Him I found a home, a rest divine,
And I since then am His, and He is mine.

The good I have is from His stores supplied:
The ill is only what He deems the best.
He for my friend, I’m rich with naught beside;
And poor without Him, though of all possessed.
Changes may come—I take, or I resign
Content, while I am His, and He is mine.

Whate’er may change, in Him no change is seen,
A glorious Sun, that wanes not, nor declines;
Above the clouds and storms He walks serene,
And on His people’s inward darkness shines;
All may depart—I fret not nor repine,
While I my Saviour’s am, while He is mine.

While here, alas! I know but half His love,
But half discern Him, and but half adore;
But when I meet Him in the realms above,
I hope to love him better, praise Him more,
And feel, and tell, amid the choir divine,
How fully I am His, and He is mine.
    ... J. Quarles (1624-1665) & Henry F. Lyte (1793-1847), Miscellaneous Poems, London: Rivingtons, 1868, p. 75 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 102:25-26; Ruth 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 2:14-16; 1 Tim. 6:7-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I wholly love and praise You.

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Hromadka: the depth of the Gospel

Thursday, June 20, 2019
Meditation:
    And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.
    —Matthew 27:50-51 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As the veil of the temple was, at the death of the Saviour, rent asunder, in the same way our communion with the Crucified puts aside all the curtains separating us artificially from the rest of the world, and removes all sense of privilege and exclusiveness. It is this explanation of justification by faith only which leads us to the true depth of what the Gospel has contributed to this world. To live by grace and to die by grace, to live in forgiveness every day, every hour and every moment, means to identify oneself with those who do not share our faith, and to realize all the debts we owe them. Let us not be afraid that this will reduce the Gospel to relativism. Its depth is in proportion to its breadth. The deeper it is, the broader and fuller it becomes.
    ... J. L. Hromadka (1889-1969), The Church and Theology in Today’s Troubled Times, Prague: Ecumenical Council of Churches in Czechoslovakia, 1956, p. 10 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 27:50-51; 24:14; John 1:29; 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; 1 John 2:2; 4:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Enable me, Lord, to live always in Your grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Singh: bearing the cross

Wednesday, June 19, 2019
    Commemoration of Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu, Evangelist, Teacher, 1929
Meditation:
    Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
    —Matthew 16:24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    From my ten years’ experience I can unhesitatingly say that the Cross bears those who bear the Cross.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), quoted in Sádhu Sundar Singh, Called of God, Rebecca Jane Parker, New York: Fleming H. Revell Co. 1920, p. 85 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 16:24-25; 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27; 1 Pet. 4:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me Your strength to bear my cross. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: light enough for walking

Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Meditation:
    Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
    —1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    But even the Christian, for all this satisfying and hopeful conviction, does not know the meaning of the mystery of life, and if he is wise he does not pretend to. He has enough light to light him on his way, but there are a great many gaps in his knowledge. When he says, “one day we shall understand”, he is by no means always uttering a pious platitude. Quite frequently he is voicing a solid conviction, a genuine facet of hope. At present his vision is severely limited, and that is probably just as well if his sanity is to be preserved. But when he is free from the limitations of temporal life, he has every hope of being able to know as surely as he is at present known.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), New Testament Christianity, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1956, ch. v, p. 67 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 13:12; Ps. 119:105; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 3:18; 5:7; Phil. 3:12; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your promises guide my steps. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: the passing world

Monday, June 17, 2019
    Commemoration of Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformers, 1913 & 1936
Meditation:
    Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
    —1 Timothy 6:17 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [The Christian] refuses to give his heart to, or be taken in by, the values and pleasures of this passing world. He does not hesitate to use all that is good and beautiful and true, partly because he knows that his God gives him “richly all things to enjoy,” and partly because he knows that in all life’s impermanent beauties and pleasures, there is the promise of the real and permanent which he is thoroughly convinced will exceed his wildest expectations. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), New Testament Christianity, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1956, ch. v, p. 67 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 6:17; Matt. 7:11; Luke 11:13; Rom. 6:23; 9:23; Col. 1:27; Jas. 1:17; 1 John 5:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your reality fulfills Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chadwick: miracles and laws

Sunday, June 16, 2019
    Trinity Sunday
    Feast of Richard of Chichester, Bishop, 1253
    Commemoration of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, Moral Philosopher, 1752
Meditation:
    Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
    Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.”
    —John 10:22-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Some will not believe in miracles because the laws of nature work uniformly. But their uniformity is undisturbed by human operations; the will of man wields, without cancelling, these mighty forces which surround us: and why may not the will of God do the same?
    ... G. A. Chadwick (1840-1923), The Gospel According to St. Mark, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1891, p. 316 (see the book)
    See also John 10:22-26; Mark 11:27-33; John 10:38; 12:37; 14:11; Acts 2:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we lack knowledge of You. Show us Your ways. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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