Sundar Singh: salt

Saturday, June 19, 2021
    Commemoration of Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu, Evangelist, Teacher, 1929
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”
    —Luke 14:34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will be made evident to others from the love which he imparts to us.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), Reality and Religion: meditations on God, man, and nature, London: Macmillan, 1924, p. 24-25 (see the book)
    See also Luke 14:34; Lev. 2:13; Num. 18:19; 2 Chr. 13:5; Matt. 5:13; Mark 9:50; Col. 4:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, sustain my “saltiness” with Your presence within. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kingsley: more than a Sunday religion

Friday, June 18, 2021
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
    —Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    One good man,—one man who does not put his religion on once a week with his Sunday coat, but wears it for his working dress, and lets the thought of God grow into him, and through and through him, till everything he says and does becomes religious, that man is worth a thousand sermons—he is a living Gospel—he comes in the spirit and power of Elias—he is the image of God. And men see his good works, and admire them in spite of themselves, and see that they are Godlike, and that God’s grace is no dream, but that the Holy Spirit is still among men, and that all nobleness and manliness is His gift, His stamp, His picture; and so they get a glimpse of God again in His saints and heroes, and glorify their Father who is in heaven.
    ... Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), Twenty-five Village Sermons, London: John W. Parker, 1858, p. 197-198 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:14-16; John 6:56; 14:16-17,23; Rom. 8:29-30; Col. 3:17; Tit. 2:9-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may Your Holy Spirit work within me to transmit Your light to all around me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Faber: Jesus is God! The solid earth

Thursday, June 17, 2021
    Commemoration of Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformers, 1913 & 1936
Meditation:
    When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.”
    —John 13:31-32 (NIV)
Quotation:
Jesus is God! The solid earth,
    The ocean broad and bright,
The countless stars, like golden dust,
    That strew the skies at night,
The wheeling storm, the dreadful fire,
    The pleasant wholesome air,
The summer’s sun, the winter’s frost,
    His own creations were.

Jesus is God! The glorious bands
    Of golden angels sing
Songs of adoring praise to Him,
    Their Maker and their King.
He was true God in Bethlehem’s crib,
    On Calvary’s cross true God,
He who in heaven eternal reigned,
    In time on earth abode.

Jesus is God! There never was
    A time when He was not:
Boundless, eternal, merciful,
    The Word the Sire begot!
Backward our thoughts through ages stretch,
   ;  Onward through endless bliss,—
For there are two eternities,
    And both alike are His!

Jesus is God! Alas! they say
    On earth the numbers grow,
Who His Divinity blaspheme
    To their unfailing woe.
And yet what is the single end
    Of this life’s mortal span,
Except to glorify the God
    Who for our sakes was man?
    ... Frederick William Faber (1814-1863), Hymns, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1877, p. 38 (see the book)
    See also John 13:31-32; Ps. 33:6;90:2; Isa. 9:6; John 12:23; Rom. 1:21-23; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2-3; Rev. 4:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we praise you as God and King in the glory granted by the Father.

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Reid: remove the barriers

Wednesday, June 16, 2021
    Feast of Richard of Chichester, Bishop, 1253
    Commemoration of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, Moral Philosopher, 1752
Meditation:
    For [Christ] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
    —1 Corinthians 15:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Lord, remove every barrier the enemy has put in place, so that the only barrier which remains is the cross itself.
    ... Jon Reid
    See also 1 Cor. 15:25-26; Eph. 2:11-16; Col. 1:19-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my way ends at the foot of Your cross. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Underhill: faithfulness in small things

Tuesday, June 15, 2021
    Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941
Meditation:
    The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
    —Luke 12:42-44 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Only those who try to live near God and have formed the habit of faithfulness to Him in the small things of our daily life, can hope in times of need for that special light which shows us our path. To do as well as we can the job immediately before us, is the way to learn what we ought to do next.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941)
    See also Luke 12:42-44; Matt. 25:14-30; Jas. 1:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have taught Your people to follow You in small things and great. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Baxter: none harm

Monday, June 14, 2021
    Commemoration of Richard Baxter, Priest, Hymnographer, Teacher, 1691
Meditation:
    But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Will it do you any hurt to leave your beastly, sensual lives, and to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ?” This is the doctrine of saving grace. Would it do you any harm to be assured of salvation, and ready to die, and to know that angels shall conduct your departing souls to Christ, and that you shall live in joy with him for ever? Or to be employed in those holy works that must prepare you for this day, and help you to this assurance? If God be naught for you, if holiness, and righteousness, and temperance be naught for you, then you may as well say, heaven is naught for you.
    ... Richard Baxter (1615-1691), Directions and Persuasions to a Sound Conversion, in The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, v. VIII, London: J. Duncan, 1830, p. 181 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 5:8; Gal. 3:1; Tit. 1:8; 2:11-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the self-control to wait in patience for Your day. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chesterton: free thought

Sunday, June 13, 2021
    Commemoration of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Apologist and Writer, 1936
Meditation:
    To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
    —John 8:31-32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We say, not lightly but very literally, that the truth has made us free. They [the denouncers of dogma] say that it makes us so free that it cannot be the truth. To them it is like believing in fairyland to believe in such freedom as we enjoy. It is like believing in men with wings to entertain the fancy of men with wills. It is like accepting a fable about a squirrel in conversation with a mountain to believe in a man who is free to ask or a God who is free to answer. This is a manly and a rational negation, for which I for one shall always show respect. But I decline to show any respect for those who first of all clip the wings and cage the squirrel, rivet the chains and refuse the freedom, close all the doors of the cosmic prison on us with a clang of eternal iron, tell us that our emancipation is a dream and our dungeon a necessity; and then calmly turn round and tell us they have a freer thought and a more liberal theology.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), The Everlasting Man, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1925, Wilder Publications, 2008, p. 157-158 (see the book)
    See also John 8:31-32; 16:23-24; Gal. 5:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone have set me free. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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