MacDonald: almost anything for Jesus

Saturday, May 2, 2020
    Feast of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
    —John 13:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How many are there not who seem capable of anything for the sake of the church or of Christianity, except the one thing the Lord cares about—that they should do what He tells them! He would deliver them from themselves into the liberty of the sons of God, make them His brothers; they leave Him to vaunt their church.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “The Displeasure of Jesus”, in Unspoken Sermons, Third Series, London: Longmans, Green, 1889, p. 188 (see the book)
    See also John 13:17; Matt. 12:50; Luke 11:28; John 14:15,23; 15:14; Eph. 4:1; 1 Tim. 6:13-16; Jas. 1:22-25
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, break our institutions to Your service. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ryle: all is in vain without prayer

Friday, May 1, 2020
    Feast of Philip & James, Apostles
Meditation:
For our offenses are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:
rebellion and treachery against the LORD,
    turning our backs on our God,
fomenting oppression and revolt,
    uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
    —Isaiah 59:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Not praying is a clear proof that a person is not yet a true Christian. They cannot really feel their sins. They cannot love God. They cannot feel themselves a debtor to Christ. They cannot long after holiness. They cannot desire heaven. They have yet to be born again. They have yet to be made a new creature. They may boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured it is all vain talk if they do not pray.
    ... J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), A Call to Prayer, published in the 1850’s as a pamphlet, American Tract Society, 1867, sec. II (see the book)
    See also Isa. 59:12-13; 1 Kings 18:25-40; Matt. 6:5; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Pet. 4:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You hear the prayers of Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Westcott: the end for man

Thursday, April 30, 2020
    Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922
Meditation:
    In [Christ Jesus] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
    —Ephesians 3:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We see in the risen Christ the end for which man was made, and the assurance that the end is within reach.
    ... Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901), The Revelation of the Risen Lord, London: Macmillan, 1881, p. xiv (see the book)
    See also Eph. 3:12; Ps. 23:4; Phil. 3:10-11; Col. 2:2-3; 1 John 3:2; 4:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we will go where You have gone. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Catherine of Siena: God loved us first

Wednesday, April 29, 2020
    Feast of Catherine of Siena, Mystic, Teacher, 1380
Meditation:
    Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
    —1 John 4:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    He has loved us without being loved... We are bound to Him, and not He to us, because before He was loved, He loved us... There it is, then: we cannot... love Him with this first love. Yet I say that God demands of us, that as He has loved us without any second thoughts, so He should be loved by us. In what way can we do this, then? ... I tell you, through a means which he has established, by which we can love Him freely; ... that is, we can be useful, not to Him—which is impossible—but to our neighbour... To show the love that we have for Him, we ought to serve and love every rational creature and extend our charity to good and bad, as much to one who does us ill service and criticizes us as to one who serves us. For, ... His charity extends over just men and sinners.
    ... Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), Saint Catherine of Siena as seen in her letters, J. M. Dent, 1906, p. 83 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 4:11-12; John 13:34-35; Rom. 12:10; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 4:16-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we can but reflect the love You have shown us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Raleigh: denying Him by works

Tuesday, April 28, 2020
    Commemoration of Peter Chanel, Religious, Missionary in the South Pacific, Martyr, 1841
Meditation:
    Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
    —1 John 2:22-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We profess that we know God, but by works we deny Him; for beatitude doth not consist in the knowledge of divine things, but in a divine life, for the devils know them better than man.
    ... Walter Raleigh (1552?-1618), The Works of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt., v. II, Oxford: The University press, 1829, p. 32 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 2:22-23; Prov. 1:7; Matt. 10:33; 26:69-75; Acts 3:14; Jas. 2:14-19; 2 Pet. 2:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make my life a testimony to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rossetti: Spring bursts today

Monday, April 27, 2020
    Feast of Christina Rossetti, Poet, 1894
Meditation:
    So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable...
    —1 Corinthians 15:42 (NIV)
Quotation:
An Easter Carol.

        Spring bursts today,
For Christ is risen and all the earth’s at play.

        Flash forth, thou Sun,
The rain is over and gone, its work is done.

        Winter is past,
Sweet spring is come at last, is come at last.

        Bud, Fig and Vine,
Bud, Olive, fat with fruit and oil and wine.

        Break forth this morn
In roses, thou but yesterday a thorn.

        Uplift thy head,
O pure white lily through the winter dead.

        Beside your dams
Leap and rejoice, you merry-making Lambs.

        All Herds and Flocks
Rejoice, all Beasts of thickets and of rocks.

   & nbsp;    Sing, Creatures, sing,
Angels and Men and Birds, and everything,

        All notes of Doves
Fill all our world: this is the time of loves.
    ... Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), Christina Rossetti: the complete poems, London: Penguin Classics, 2001, p. 363-364 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 15:42-45; Song of Solomon 2:11-13; Isa. 60:1-2; Matt. 6:28-29; John 20:19; Eph. 5:8; 1 John 5:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Hail to the risen Lord!

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Perrin: the unconquerable soul

Sunday, April 26, 2020
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
    —John 8:35-36 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Yet still, over all these limitations and humiliations, I felt astonishingly and profoundly free; I felt a flame, a secret little life of liberty beating away inside me, a liberty I could never lose. They could keep me locked up; they could take me to a Concentration Camp to-morrow, but they could never touch the sanctuary where my soul watched, where I was alone master. They might deceive me, abuse me, weaken me; they might get words out of me when my mind staggered from their cruelty, words which they could take as an admission; they could kill me. But they could never force my will, for it could never belong to them; it was between myself and God, and no one else could ever touch it.
    ... Henri Perrin (1914-1954), Priest-Workman in Germany, London: Sheed & Ward, 1947, p. 181-182 (see the book)
    See also John 8:35-36; Ps. 119:32; Isa. 61:1-2; Matt. 10:28; 16:26; Mark 8:36-37; John 8:31-32; Rom. 8:1-2; 2 Cor. 3:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have granted freedom to Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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