MacDonald: faith is righteousness

Saturday, September 18, 2021
    Commemoration of George MacDonald, Spiritual Writer, 1905
Meditation:
    What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
    —Romans 4:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The faith of Abraham is reckoned to him for righteousness... To call the faith of a man his righteousness is simply to speak the truth. Was it not righteous in Abraham to obey God? The Jews placed righteousness in keeping all the particulars of the law of Moses: Paul says faith in God was counted righteousness before Moses was born. You may answer, Abraham was unjust in many things, and by no means a righteous man. True; he was not a righteous man in any complete sense; his righteousness would never have satisfied Paul; neither, you may be sure, did it satisfy Abraham; but his faith was nevertheless righteousness, and if it had not been counted to him for righteousness, there would have been falsehood somewhere, for such faith as Abraham’s is righteousness. It was no mere intellectual recognition of the existence of a God, which is consistent with the deepest atheism; it was that faith which is one with action: ‘He went out, not knowing whither he went.’ The very act of believing in God after such fashion that, when the time of action comes, the man will obey God, is the highest act, the deepest, loftiest righteousness of which man is capable, is at the root of all other righteousness, and the spirit of it will work till the man is perfect.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “Righteousness”, in Unspoken Sermons, Third Series, London: Longmans, Green, 1889, p. 213-214 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 4:3; Gen. 12:4-5; 15:6; Rom. 4:18-24; Phil. 3:8-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a heart that believes You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Faber: the thought of heaven

Friday, September 17, 2021
    Feast of St. Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
    —Matthew 13:43 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is one thought out of which a moderately cheerful man can always make some satisfactory sunshine, if not a sufficiency of it. It is the thought of the bright populous heaven. There is joy there at least, if there is joy nowhere else. There is true service of God there, however poor and interested the love of Him may be on earth. Multitudes are abounding in the golden light there, even if they that rejoice on earth be few. At this hour it is all going on, so near us that we cannot be hopelessly unhappy with so much happiness so near.
    ... Frederick William Faber (1814-1863), “Kind Actions” in Spiritual Conferences, London: Thomas Richardson & Son, 1860, p. 44 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 13:43; Dan. 12:3; 1 Cor. 6:1-3; Rev. 21:23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your joy overcomes all the darkness of the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cyprian: the patience of the Lord

Thursday, September 16, 2021
    Feast of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, Martyr, 258
    Commemoration of Ninian, Bishop of Galloway, Apostle to the Picts, c. 430
    Commemoration of Edward Bouverie Pusey, Priest, tractarian, 1882
Meditation:
    But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
    Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
    —2 Peter 3:10-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How great is the Lord Jesus, and how great is His patience, that He who is adored in heaven is not yet avenged on earth! Let us, beloved brethren, consider His patience in our persecutions and sufferings; let us give an obedience full of expectation to His advent; and let us not hasten, servants as we are, to be defended before our Lord with irreligious and immodest eagerness. Let us rather press onward and labour, and, watching with our whole heart, and stedfast to all endurance, let us keep the Lord’s precepts; so that when that day of anger and vengeance shall come, we may not be punished with the impious and sinners, but may be honoured with the righteous and those that fear God.
    ... St. Cyprian (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus) (?-258), Treatise IX. On the Advantage of Patience, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, v. V, Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, trs., Buffalo: Christian Literature Company, 1886, p. 491 (see the book)
    See also 2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rom. 12:19; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 4:6; Phil. 3:13-14; Col. 1:10-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant us Your strength to continue in patience. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fenelon: concerning a real conversion

Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Meditation:
Offer right sacrifices
    and trust in the LORD.
    —Psalm 4:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Put not your trust in yourself, or in anything created; it is all a mere nothing, which can never satisfy the heart of man, made as it is for God. But never mistrust Him Who contains every good thing in Himself, and Who mercifully fills you with disgust for all else, in order to bring you forcibly back to Himself.
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Spiritual Letters of Archbishop Fénelon. Letters to men, London: Rivingtons, 1877, p. 11 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 4:5; 146:3; 1 Cor. 2:12; 1 Tim. 6:17; 1 John 2:15-17; Rev. 2:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You always bring me back to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: the Holy Spirit essential

Tuesday, September 14, 2021
    Feast of the Holy Cross
Meditation:
    Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
    —Mark 13:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To some particular proof of the proposition,—namely, that the Holy Ghost thus promised, thus sent, thus given, doth furnish the ministers of the gospel, according to his mind, with spiritual abilities in the discharge of their work; and without it they are no way fitted for nor able to it,—no way accepted with Christ in what they do, nor can give any faithful account of what they undertake.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), An Ordination Sermon (Sermon IV) [1678], in Works of John Owen, v. IX, New York: R. Carter, 1851, p. 447 (see the book)
    See also Mark 13:11; Luke 4:14; 12:11-12; Acts 5:32; 2 Pet. 1:21; 1 John 3:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit is with those who speak Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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John Chrysostom: engraved on our hearts

Monday, September 13, 2021
    Feast of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher, 407
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “He who has ears, let him hear.”
    —Matthew 11:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I hear no one boast, that he hath a knowledge of the Scriptures, but that he owneth a Bible written in golden characters. And tell me then, what profiteth this? The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.
    ... St. John Chrysostom (345?-407), The Life of St. Chrysostom, Johann August W. Neander, London: Seeley & Burnside, 1838, p. 253 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 11:15; Jer. 31:33; Rom. 2:14-15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are writing Your word on my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Arnold: what righteousness is

Sunday, September 12, 2021
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
    —Luke 12:32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christ came to reveal what righteousness, to which the promises [of the prophets] belong, really is; and so long as this, though shown by Christ, is not seen by us, we may call ourselves Christendom as much as we please, the true character of a Christendom will be wanting to us, because the great promises of prophecy will be still without their fulfilment. Nothing will do, except righteousness; and no other conception of righteousness will do, except Christ’s conception of it: his method and his secret.
    ... Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), Literature and Dogma, New York: The Macmillian Company, 1875, p. 303 (see the book)
    See also Luke 12:32; Jer. 31:31-34; John 12:25; Col. 3:4; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 3:7-9; Rev. 11:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are leading Your people into righteousness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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