Ramsay: not dogma, but life

Saturday, November 30, 2019
    Feast of Andrew the Apostle
Meditation:
    Only hold on to what you have until I come. To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations
    —Revelation 2:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It was not dogma that moved the world, but life. Frequently, when rival parties and rival nations fought with one another as to which of two opposed dogmas was the truth, they had been arrayed against one another by more deep-seated and vital causes, and merely inscribed at the last the dogmas on their standards or chose them as watchwords or symbols. We are tired of those elaborate discussions of the fine, wire-drawn, subtle distinctions between sects, and those elaborate discussions of the principles involved in heresies, and we desire to see the real differences in life and conduct receive more attention.
    ... Sir William M. Ramsay (1851-1939), The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1904, p. 347 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 2:25-26; Matt. 7:21-23; 12:50; 28:19-20; Luke 6:46; 11:28; 12:47-48; John 13:17; Rom. 2:13; 1 Thes. 5:22; Jas. 1:22; 2:15-19; 1 John 2:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Give Your people strength to persevere, Lord, in the life to which You have led us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Gossip: through the jungle

Friday, November 29, 2019
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
    —Luke 18:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Many today long to see Christ, but the jungle of theology hides Him and cuts them off from the sacred place, and few have daring or the hard-breathing patience to hack their slow way through. But if the matted undergrowth were down, or a path cleared through it, some might not see Him even then, but to how many He would grow quite clear and plain, and actual and there! And today, as always, it is the child heart that remembers the lost way to Christ.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), From the Edge of the Crowd, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1924, p. 222 (see the book)
    See also Luke 18:16-17; Matt. 18:1-5; Mark 10:13-15; 12:38-40; 2 Cor. 11:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, raise up people to clear the way, that the world might see You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Liguori: thanks for what we have received

Thursday, November 28, 2019
    Thanksgiving (U.S.)
Meditation:
    Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
    —1 Thess. 5:18
Quotation:
    Who is there that ever receives a gift and tries to make bargains about it? Let us, then, return thanks for what He has bestowed on us... Who can tell whether, if we had had a larger share of ability [or] stronger health, ... we should not have possessed them to our destruction.
    ... Alphonsus de Liguori (1696-1787), The Complete Works of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, v. II, Redemptorist Fathers, 1926, p. 372 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 5:18; 1 Chr. 16:8-36; Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Eph. 4:11-13; Jas. 1:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me a fit receptacle for Your Gifts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Mooneyham: statistics for eternity only

Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Meditation:
    “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
    —Luke 4:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A gospel which does not express itself to the physical needs of man is a gospel not worthy of the name... Man is a whole person, with body and soul. Some evangelicals act as if people are disembodied souls, statistics for eternity only.
    ... Stan Mooneyham (1926-1991), former president, World Vision US, in a private communication from World Vision
    See also Luke 4:18-19; Isa. 61:1-3; Matt. 14:14-21; 15:32-38; Luke 11:39-41; 14:12-14; Rom. 12:13-16; Heb. 13:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have provided salvation for the whole man. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Watts: Hosannah to the King

Tuesday, November 26, 2019
    Commemoration of Isaac Watts, Hymnwriter, 1748
Meditation:
    “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
    —Revelation 4:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
Hosanna to the King
Of David’s ancient blood;
Behold, he comes to bring
Forgiving grace from God:
    Let old and young
    Attend his way,
    And at his feet
    Their honors lay.

Glory to God on high;
Salvation to the Lamb;
Let earth, and sea, and sky,
His wondrous love proclaim:
    Upon his head
    Shall honors rest,
    And every age
    Pronounce him bless’d.
    ... Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs [1707], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, book 3, hymn 45, p. 496 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 4:9-11; 1 Chr. 16:28-29; Neh. 9:5; Ps. 29:1-2; 96:7-8; 148
Quiet time reflection:
    Hallelujah!

CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Anonymous: My God, I love Thee

Monday, November 25, 2019
    Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century
Meditation:
    Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
    —1 Timothy 1:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
My God, I love Thee—not because
    I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love Thee not
    Must die eternally.

Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me
    Upon the Cross embrace;
For me didst nails and spear endure,
    And manifold disgrace.

Why, then why, O blessed Jesus Christ,
    Should I not love Thee well?
Not for the hope of winning heaven,
    Or of escaping hell:

Not with the hope of gaining ought,
    Not seeking a reward,
But as Thyself hast loved me,
    O ever-loving Lord!

E’en then I love Thee and will love,
    And in Thy praise will sing
Solely because Thou art my God
    And my eternal King.
    ... Anonymous, Lyra Catholica, Edward Caswall, New York: E. Dunigan and Brother, 1851, p. 338-339 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 1:17; Ps. 47:6-7; Jer. 10:10; Heb. 12:2; 1 John 4:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love and might drive away all fear about myself.

CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth

Theologia Germanica: preparation

Sunday, November 24, 2019
Meditation:
    [Faithful people] were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
    —Hebrews 11:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Now men say, “I am in no wise prepared for this work, and therefore it cannot be wrought in me,” and thus they find an excuse, so that they neither are ready nor in the way to be so. And truly there is no one to blame for this but themselves. For if a man were looking and striving after nothing but to find a preparation in all things, and diligently gave his whole mind to see how he might become prepared; verily God would well prepare him, for God giveth as much care and earnestness and love to the preparing of a man, as to the pouring in of His Spirit when the man is prepared.
    ... Theologia Germanica [1518], Anonymous, ascribed to Johannes de Francfordia, (1380?-1440) & Susanna Winkworth, tr., published anonymously by Martin Luther, ch. XXII (see the book)
    See also Heb. 11:13-16; Ex. 3:11-12; 4:10-12; Mark 14:72; Luke 22:31-32; Heb. 7:25
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your will, Your service, and Your word prepare me for Your call. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth