Though Christ a thousand times

Saturday, December 28, 2019
    Feast of the Holy Innocents
Meditation:
    I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
    —Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
Quotation:
Though Christ a thousand times
In Bethlehem be born,
If he’s not born in thee
Thy soul is still forlorn.

The cross on Golgotha
Will never save thy soul;
The cross in thine own heart
Alone can make thee whole.
    ... Anonymous, 3rd century, from the German of Angelus Silesius, included in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, James Dalton Morrison, ed., New York: Harper & Bros., 1948, p. 148 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 2:20; Matt. 2:4-6; Mark 8:34; Rom. 6:4-6; Gal. 5:24; 6:14; Col. 2:11-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me, so that I may nail my sinful self to the Cross.

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Law: assurance

Friday, December 27, 2019
    Feast of John, Apostle & Evangelist
Meditation:
    By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
    —Hebrews 11:17-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This is true Christian resignation to God, which requires no more to the support of it, than such a plain assurance of the goodness of God, as Abraham had of His veracity. And if you ask yourself what greater reason Abraham had to depend upon the Divine veracity, than you have to depend upon the Divine goodness, you will find that none can be given.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 449 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 11:17-19; Gen. 12:1-3; 15:6; John 8:56; Col. 1:10-12; 1 Pet. 1:6-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have given us enough so that we may believe. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Farjeon: Morning has broken

Thursday, December 26, 2019
    Feast of Stephen, Deacon, First Martyr
Meditation:
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait in expectation.
    —Psalm 5:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
Morning has broken like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!

Sweet the new rain’s fall sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Spring in completeness where His feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning
Born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise ev’ry morning,
God’s re-creation of the new day!
    ... Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965), The New Book of Days, H. Z. Walck, 1961, p. 105 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 5:3; 119:147; Mark 1:35; 2 Pet. 1:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I am grateful for a new day in Your service.

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Bonar: Good will towards men

Wednesday, December 25, 2019
    CHRISTMAS DAY
Meditation:
    For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
    —Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN

    Lo, God, our God has come!
        To us a Child is born,
    To us a Son is given;
        Bless, bless the blessed morn!
O happy, lowly lofty birth,
Now God, our God, has come to earth!

    Rejoice, our God has come!
        In love and lowliness;
    The Son of God has come
        The sons of men to bless.
God with us now descend to dwell,
God in our flesh, Immanuel.

    Praise ye the word made flesh!
        True God, true man is He.
    Praise ye the Christ of God!
        To Him all glory be.
Praise ye the Lamb that once was slain,
Praise ye the king that comes to reign.
    ... Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), Hymns of Faith and Hope, third series, New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1877, p. 59-60 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 9:6-7; 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Luke 2:14; Rev. 5:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your eternal reign in my heart has begun.

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Cox: The soft light from a stable door

Tuesday, December 24, 2019
    Christmas Eve
Meditation:
    In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
    —John 1:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
The soft light from a stable door
    Lies on the midnight lands;
The wise men’s star burns evermore,
    Over all the desert sands.

Unto all peoples of the earth
    A little Child brought light,
And never in the darkest place
    Can it be utter night.

No flickering torch, no wavering fire,
    But Light—the Life of men.
Whatever clouds may veil the sky,
    Never is night again.
    ... Lilian Cox, included in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, James Dalton Morrison, ed., New York: Harper & Bros., 1948, p. 229-230 (see the book)
    See also John 1:4; Matt. 2:1-2,9-11; Luke 2:30-32; John 8:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have banished the darkness forever.

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Adams: on Christmas

Monday, December 23, 2019
Meditation:
    So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
    —Genesis 3:14-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I have this running quandary about Christmas. I get upset about it, because I feel that we American Christians make too much of it, and too little. Too little of it, because we pile all sorts of other things onto it, including some that have only the feeblest connection with the Event it is supposed to commemorate. If God did become a man, in any real sense, it is the most important thing that ever happened. Surely we, who believe it, could well devote one day a year to uninterrupted contemplation of the fact, and let Saturnalia fall on the winter solstice, where it belongs.
    On the other hand, we make so much of the actual birth, and forget the things that make it more than just the birth of a baby (though even that is, in Walt Whitman’s phrase, “miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels”*)—more, even, than the birth of the greatest man who ever lived. We forget the promise to Eve of a descendant who will solve the problem of Evil; the promise to Abraham of one by whom all mankind will be blessed; the promise to Moses of a greater prophet than he, to arise from his people; and the promise to David of a Son who would be his Master. We forget about the eternal Purpose behind it all: it’s like telling a story and leaving out the point. Yes, it is true that God gave us His Son, and so maybe we ought also to give gifts—but what, and to whom? It is also true that God gave us Himself, and the only sensible response to that is to give ourselves to Him. There is nothing else that He wants from us, or, if there is something, He can take it. Only I, my ego, my heart, is truly mine to give or to withhold—and is therefore the appropriate gift to Him.
    * Walt Whitman (1819-1892), Song of Myself, in Leaves of Grass
    ... Robert MacColl Adams (1913-1985), letter, 1982
    See also Gen. 3:14-15; 12:2,3; Deut. 18:15; 2 Sam. 7:12-15; John 3:16,17; Acts 3:20-26
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I give You my life for what You have given me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Donne: Jesus came in the fullness of time

Sunday, December 22, 2019
    Advent IV
Meditation:
    But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
    —Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This was the fulness of time, when Christ Jesus did come, that the Messiah should come.
    It was so to the Jews, and it was so to the Gentiles too...
    Christ hath excommunicated no nation, no shire, no house, no man; He gives none of His ministers leave to say to any man, thou art not redeemed; He gives no wounded or afflicted conscience leave to say to itself, I am not redeemed.
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. I, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Sermon III, p. 42,53 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 4:4-5; Eze. 33:11; Matt. 12:18-21; John 3:16-17; 1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 2:9
Quiet time reflection:
    No one stands outside Your offer of grace, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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