Moody: driven by love

Saturday, November 27, 2021
Meditation:
    Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
    —1 John 4:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Do not think you can do any work for Christ and hope to succeed if you are not impelled by love.
    ... Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899), “To the work! To the work!”: Exhortations to Christians, Chicago: F. H. Revell, 1884, p. 31 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 4:7-8; John 13:34-35; 1 Cor. 13:1-8; 14:1; 16:14; Col. 2:2-3; Tit. 2:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:17; 2 John 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fill my heart with mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Watts: the divine perfections

Friday, November 26, 2021
    Commemoration of Isaac Watts, Hymnwriter, 1748
Meditation:
Sing the glory of his name;
    make his praise glorious!
    —Psalm 66:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
The Divine Perfections.

How shall I praise th’ eternal God,
    That Infinite Unknown?
Who can ascend his high abode,
    Or venture near his throne?

The great invisible! He dwells
    Conceal’d in dazzling light:
But his all-searching eye reveals
    The secrets of the night.

Those watchful eyes that never sleep,
    Survey the world around;
His wisdom is the boundless deep,
    Where all our thoughts are drown’d.

He knows no shadow of a change,
    Nor alters his decrees;
Firm as a rock his truth remains,
    To guard his promises.

Justice, upon a dreadful throne,
    Maintains the rights of God;
While mercy sends her pardons down,
    Bought with a Saviour’s blood.

Now to my soul immort al King,
    Speak some forgiving word;
Then ’twill be double joy to sing
    The glories of my Lord.
    ... Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs [1707], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, book II, hymn 166, p. 470 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 66:2; 1 Sam. 15:29; Ps. 1:6; 121:1-4; Rom. 11:33; Jas. 2:12-13; 1 John 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    With the congregation, Lord, I say Amen!

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Smith: straight from the Father

Thursday, November 25, 2021
    Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century
    Thanksgiving (U.S.)
Meditation:
    [Daniel] said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”
    —Daniel 2:20-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To the children of God everything comes directly from their Father’s hand, no matter who or what may have been the apparent agents. There are no “second causes” for them.
    ... Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911), Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, London: F. E. Longley, 1876, p. 84 (see the book)
    See also Dan. 2:21; 6:27; Matt. 7:11; 10:29-31; Jas. 1:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the source for all goodness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Babcock: eternity now

Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Meditation:
God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
    —Psalm 46:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No clocks keep time tomorrow. Springs push and hands point now. Now is the appointed time for clocks as well as people. God never helped anyone tomorrow. He is a very present help. What is eternity, but God’s now? Let us then live the eternal life with God now.
    ... Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901), Thoughts for Every-day Living, New York: C. Scribner’s sons, 1901, p. 44-45 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 46:1; Ex. 3:14; John 8:58
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, forgive me for ignoring Your constant presence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kates: enough knowledge

Tuesday, November 23, 2021
    Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100
Meditation:
    After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
    Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
    Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
    Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
    —Mark 9:2-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Christian clearly understands that Jesus does not reveal all that is signified by the word “God,” but only as much as could be revealed through a perfect human personality living in absolute obedience to God’s will. The knowledge of God that men have by virtue of Jesus’ revelation is quite enough for men to live by in this life, and to live gloriously and thankfully by, Christians maintain—the knowledge that God the Creator, the Almighty and Eternal, the Lord of history, is man’s Heavenly Father, and that love might well be, and indeed is, the ultimate meaning of human existence.
    ... Frederick Ward Kates (1910-1987), A Moment Between Two Eternities, New York: Harper & Row, 1965, p. 3 (see the book)
    See also Mark 9:2-8; Matt. 17:1-9; Luke 9:28-35; John 1:1-2,14; 10:30; 14:21; Phil. 2:5-7; Heb. 4:15; Rev. 19:11-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have shown us Yourself in Jesus. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: a hint of the truth

Monday, November 22, 2021
    Commemoration of Cecilia, Martyr at Rome, c.230
    Commemoration of Clive Staples Lewis, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Meditation:
    At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”
    “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
    Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
    Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
    —Acts 26:24-29 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I have been asked to tell you what Christians believe, and I am going to begin by telling you one thing that Christians do not need to believe. If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all those religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Mere Christianity, New York: MacMillan, 1952, reprint, HarperCollins, 2001, p. 35 (see the book)
    See also Acts 26:24-29; 10:1-2; 17:22; Rom. 2:14-15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to discern Your truth wherever it might be seen. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Forsyth: finding a Master

Sunday, November 21, 2021
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.”
    —Matthew 23:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is useless to preach the Kingdom when we do not carry into the centre of life the control of a King. The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master. And the first charge of every Church is to offer, nay to mediate, Him.
    ... P. T. Forsyth (1848-1921), Positive Preaching and Modern Mind, New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son, 1907, p.42 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:8; 8:19; Rom. 6:18; Gal. 5:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I cast all other masters away. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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