Page: the demands of love

Saturday, February 29, 2020
Meditation:
    [Jesus] also told them this parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
    —Luke 6:39-40 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Not by conforming to this world can humanity be saved. Lying down in the gutter with the derelict is no way to reform him. Acquiescence is not an effective way of remedying evils. Sharing the gains of exploitation and enjoying the privileges arising out of injustice will never lead to the transformation of society. Untiring opposition to false standards and ceaseless activity against wrongdoing are demanded by love. Mankind can never be lifted to the highest levels if its teachers dwell in the lowlands. To be in the world and yet not of it is the difficult requirement of love.
    ... Kirby Page (1890-1957), Jesus or Christianity, Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1931, p. 32 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:39-40; Isa. 40:11; John 10:3-4; 15:19; Rom. 12:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have sent Your people to bring the world out of darkness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Carmichael: avoiding helpfulness

Friday, February 28, 2020
Meditation:
    Give generously to [your needy brother] and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to
    —Deuteronomy 15:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If something I am asked to do for another feels burdensome; if, yielding to an inward unwillingness, I avoid doing it, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
    ... Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), If [1938], London: SPCK, 1961, p. 50 (see the book)
    See also Deut. 15:10; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:42; 2 Cor. 9:7; Philem. 1:14; Heb. 6:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make a willing heart within me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Herbert: the definition of a minister

Thursday, February 27, 2020
    Feast of George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633
Meditation:
    Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
    —Colossians 1:24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A pastor is the deputy of Christ for the reducing of man to the obedience of God. This definition is evident, and contains the direct steps of pastoral duty and authority. For, first, man fell from God by disobedience. Secondly, Christ is the glorious instrument of God for the revoking of man. Thirdly, Christ being not to continue on earth, but, after He had fulfilled the work of reconciliation, to be received up into heaven, He constituted deputies in His place; and these are priests. And therefore St. Paul, in the beginning of his epistles, professeth this; and in the [letter] to the Colossians [1:24] he plainly avoucheth, that he “fills up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh, for His body’s sake, which is the church.” Wherein is contained the complete definition of a minister.
    ... George Herbert (1593-1633), The Priest to the Temple [1632], London: H. Washbourne, 1842, p. 1-2 (see the book)
    See also Col. 1:24; Rom. 8:35-39; 15:8; 2 Cor. 4:16-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have provided pastors for Your sheep. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bounds: fire in prayer

Wednesday, February 26, 2020
    Ash Wednesday
Meditation:
May my prayer be set before you like incense;
    may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
    —Psalm 141:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No erudition, no purity of diction, no width of mental outlook, no flowers of eloquence, no grace of person can atone for lack of fire. Prayer ascends by fire. Flame gives prayer access as well as wings, acceptance as well as energy. There is no incense without fire; no prayer without flame.
    ... E. M. Bounds (1835-1913), The Necessity of Prayer [1907], Lulu, 2007, p. 19-20 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 141:2; Matt. 3:11; Acts 2:3; 1 Thess. 5:19; Rev. 5:8; 8:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, ignite my heart with Your fire. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Eliot: that God would make us dangerous

Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Meditation:
The wicked man flees though no one pursues,
    but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
    —Proverbs 28:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are “harmless,” and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are “sideliners”—coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!
    ... Jim Elliot (1927-1956), Shadow of the Almighty: the life & testament of Jim Elliot, Elisabeth Elliot, Harper, 1958, p. 79 (see the book)
    See also Pr. 28:1; John 7:7; 12:25; 15:18-19; Acts 4:29-31; 9:28; Rom. 8:31; Heb. 13:6; Jas. 4:4; Rev. 3:14-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, arouse Your saints! CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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ten Boom: prayer

Monday, February 24, 2020
Meditation:
    Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal [wheel] to this day.
    —Joshua 5:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?
    ... Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983), Clippings from My Notebook: writings of and sayings collected, Nashville: T. Nelson, 1982, p. 64 (see the book)
    See also Josh. 5:9; Matt. 6:5-8; Jas. 5:16-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You guide me in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brunner: the law is one

Sunday, February 23, 2020
    Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr, c.155
Meditation:
    And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
    —Mark 12:29-31 (KJV)
Quotation:
    So long as we stand “under the Law,” we cannot perceive this hidden unity of all the commandments. It is part of legalism that the will of God must appear to it as a multiplicity of commandments. In actual fact, it is one and indivisible; God wants nothing else except love because He Himself is love.
    ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Letter to the Romans, Philadelphia: Westminister Press, 1959, p. 111-112 (see the book)
    See also Mark 12:29-31; Deut. 6:4; 10:12; 30:6; Hos. 6:6, Luke 10:26-27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, implant love for You in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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