Neill: self-forgetfulness

Saturday, March 5, 2022
Meditation:
    Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
    —Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Forgiveness can spring only from a self-forgetfulness that is more concerned about another’s well being than about its own, and that longs for the renewal of fellowship even when fellowship has been flouted and destroyed by the willful aggression of another.
    ... Stephen Neill (1900-1984), A Genuinely Human Existence: Towards a Christian Psychology, Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1959, p. 211 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:32; Matt. 6:14-15; 18:21-35; Mark 11:25; Jas. 2:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, restore my relationship with _____ and _____ through forgiveness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Flavel: Christ the source of delight

Friday, March 4, 2022
    Commemoration of Felix, Bishop, Apostle to the East Angles, 647
Meditation:
His mouth is sweetness itself;
    he is altogether lovely.
This is my lover, this my friend,
    O daughters of Jerusalem.
    —Song of Solomon 5:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christ [is] the very essence of all delights and pleasures, the very soul and substance of them. As all the rivers are gathered into the ocean, which is the congregation or meeting-place of all the waters in the world: so Christ is that ocean in which all true delights and pleasures meet.
    ... John Flavel (1628-1691), Serm. XII from The Method of Grace, in The Whole Works of the Reverend Mr. John Flavel, v. II, London: J. Mathews, 1799, p. 215 (see the book)
    See also Song of Solomon 5:16; Ps. 45:2; Matt. 12:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I cast myself on Your limitless grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: a late love

Thursday, March 3, 2022
Meditation:
Taste and see that the LORD is good;
    blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
    —Psalm 34:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Thou didst call, and cry aloud, and break through my deafness. Thou didst blaze forth, and shine, and scatter my blindness. Thou wert fragrant, and I drew in my breath, and pant for Thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for Thy peace.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, X.xxvii, p. 263-264 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 34:8; 42:1-2; Isa. 6:9-10; Matt. 11:4-6; John 9:25
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have conquered me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barth: the need to pray

Wednesday, March 2, 2022
    Ash Wednesday
    Feast of Chad, Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of Lichfield, Missionary, 672
Meditation:
Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks :
    so longeth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God :
    when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
    —Psalm 42:1-2 (Book of Common Prayer, 1662)
Quotation:
    It is not possible to say, “I shall pray” or “I shall not pray,” as if it were an act according to our own good pleasure. To be a Christian and to pray are one and the same thing; it is a matter that cannot be left to our caprice. It is a need, a kind of breathing necessary to life.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), Prayer, Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, p. 15 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 42:1-2; Job 42:5-6; Matt. 26:39; Mark 1:35; Rom. 12:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me this day the humility to pray. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: a living sacrifice

Tuesday, March 1, 2022
    Feast of David, Bishop of Menevia, Patron of Wales, c.601
Meditation:
    Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
    —Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Following the way of Jesus Christ and doing all we can for His cause and for our fellow men expresses something of our worship in action.
    But how to give Him a present to express our love is a bit of a problem. How can you give God anything when He owns everything? But does He? How about that power to choose, that precious free will that He has given to every living personality and which He so greatly respects?
    That is the only present we can give—ourselves, with all our powers of spirit, mind, and body—willingly, freely, given because we love Him.
    That is the best and highest worship that you and I can offer, and I am sure that it is this above all that God most highly appreciates.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Plain Christianity, London: Macmillan, 1954, p. 63 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 2:12-13; Ps. 19:14; Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:23-24; Matt. 2:1-2,9-11; 5:16; Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 2:10; 1 Pet. 2:4-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, bend my will to Yours. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Aldrich: the music of the Gospel

Monday, February 28, 2022
Meditation:
    In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
    —Ephesians 3:4-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The music of the gospel must precede the words of the gospel and prepare the context in which there will be a hunger for those words. What is the music of the gospel? The music of the gospel is the beauty of the indwelling Christ as lived out in the everyday relationships of life.
    ... Joseph C. Aldrich (1941-2009), Lifestyle Evangelism, Multnomah Press, 1981, p. 20 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 3:4-6; Matt. 5:14-16; 1 Cor. 14:15; 2 Cor. 4:10; 13:5; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27; 3:16; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, the life within began with You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Herbert: The God of love my shepherd is

Sunday, February 27, 2022
    Feast of George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633
Meditation:
    ... my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
    —Philippians 4:19 (NIV)
Quotation:
The God of love my shepherd is,
    And he that doth me feed:
While he is mine and I am his,
    What can I want or need?

He leads me to the tender grasse,
    Where I both feed and rest;
Then to the streams that gently passe:
    In both I have the best.

Or if I stray, he doth convert,
    And bring my minde in frame:
And all this not for my desert,
    But for his holy name.

Yea, in deaths shadie black abode
    Well may I walk, not fear:
For thou art with me, and thy rod
    To guide, thy staffe to bear.

Nay, thou dost make me sit and dine,
    Ev’n in my enemies’ sight;
My head with oyl, my cup with wine
    Runnes over day and night.

Surely thy sweet and wondrous love
    Shall meas ure all my dayes;
And as it never shall remove,
    So neither shall my praise.
    ... George Herbert (1593-1633), The Poetical Works of George Herbert, New York: D. Appleton, 1857, p. 219-220 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:19; Ps. 23; 2 Cor. 5:1; Eph. 3:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are my sole safety.

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