Jones: rediscovering the Kingdom

Saturday, July 23, 2022
    Commemoration of Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373
Meditation:
    I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
    —1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Church union set in the framework of denominational relativisms becomes a tug of war as to which denominational truth is recognized as uppermost, and therefore church union becomes impossible. But church union set in the framework of the Kingdom puts each denomination in its place, not as the Truth, but as a phase of something beyond itself. Church union is an almost inevitable corollary of the rediscovery of the Kingdom.
    ... E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), The Christ of the American Road, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1944, p. 222 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 1:10; Ps. 133:1; Matt. 23:8; Luke 17:20-21; John 17:22-23; Acts 4:32; Rom. 14:13; 1 Cor. 15:50; Eph. 3:4; Phil. 1:27; Col. 1:13-14; 1 Pet. 3:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, place Your Kingdom first in our hearts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kirk: no Christian revolution?

Friday, July 22, 2022
    Feast of Mary Magdalen, Apostle to the Apostles
Meditation:
    [Christ Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
    —Ephesians 2:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is never a “Christian revolution”. Our task is not to set up Christian states or societies, but to humanize the secular order... The coming of the Kingdom confronts Christianity and society with the dynamic principle of a society always reforming. If revolution means “change of relationships”, “new life”, “new men”, etc., these are clearly Christian concepts.
    ... David Kirk (1935-2007), Quotations from Chairman Jesus, Springfield, Ill.: Templegate Publishers, 1969, p. 53 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 2:13-17; Ps. 85:4,8; Jer. 7:3; 18:11; Amos 5:24; Mal. 3:5; Mark 13:9-11; Luke 12:11-12; 21:15; Rom. 13:1-6; Phil. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enable Your people to speak Your peace to the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newton: carrying the burden for the day

Thursday, July 21, 2022
Meditation:
    [Jesus, praying:] “Give us today our daily bread.”
    —Matthew 6:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in the course of the year, to a great bundle of faggots, far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once; he mercifully unties the bundle, and gives us first one stick, which we are to carry today, and then another, which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage, if we would only take the burden appointed for us each day; but we choose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday’s stick over again today, and adding tomorrow’s burden to our load, before we are required to bear it.
    ... John Newton (1725-1807), The Life of John Newton, American Tract Society by Pudney, Hooker & Russell, 1854, p. 116 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:11; Ps. 37:3; 55:22; Lam. 3:22-23; Matt. 6:25,31-34; Luke 12:27-29; 1 Pet. 5:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You banish all anxieties. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Murray: our only joy

Wednesday, July 20, 2022
    Commemoration of Bartolomè de las Casas, Apostle to the Indies, 1566
Meditation:
    [Haggai:] “‘I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,’ declares the LORD.”
    —Haggai 2:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is an unspeakable mercy that the Father comes with His chastisement, makes the world round us all dark and unattractive, leads us to feel more deeply our sinfulness, and for a time lose our joy in what was becoming so dangerous. He does it in the hope that, when we have found our rest in Christ in time of trouble, we shall learn to choose abiding in Him as our only portion; and when the affliction is removed, have so grown more firmly into Him, that in prosperity He still shall be our only joy. So much has He set His heart on this, that though He has indeed no pleasure in afflicting us, He will not keep back even the most painful chastisement if He can but thereby guide His beloved child to come home and abide in the beloved Son.
    ... Andrew Murray (1828-1917), Abide in Christ, Philadelphia: The Rodgers Co., 1895?, p. 133-134 (see the book)
    See also Hag. 2:17; Amos 4:8-11; John 15:2-4; Heb. 12:5-11; 2 John 1:9; Rev. 3:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Correct me, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Griffith Thomas: the silence

Tuesday, July 19, 2022
    Feast of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, & his sister Macrina, Teachers, c.394 & c.379
Meditation:
    You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.
    —Revelation 5:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The NT is entirely silent as to this special and, as it were, localized priesthood. Surely, if the ministry had been regarded as exercising a priesthood distinguishable from the priesthood of all believers, or regarded as the priesthood of the church in a specialized way, it would have been necessary to show that this ministerial priesthood existed in the early church. Yet there are no priestly functions associated with the Christian ministry as such in the NT. Instead, the priesthood of all believers is inherent in their relation to Christ. This is the divine warrant for it and there is no such warrant for any narrower or modified form of it.
    ... W. H. Griffith Thomas (1861-1924), from “A Question for the Day” [ca. 1900] (see the book)
    See also Rev. 5:10; Eph. 4:16; 2 Tim. 2:2; Heb. 7:24; 1 Pet. 1:23; 2:5,9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead us to be true to Your example. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brent: God's silences

Monday, July 18, 2022
Meditation:
O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent.
    Do not be far from me, O Lord.
    —Psalm 35:22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If God is silent now at times when we long for some sign from Him, it is because by means of silence He can best make known to us His mind. His silence may mean that our request is so foreign to His will, that it may not be heeded without hurt to the petitioner. Or, on the other hand, He may be luring on our faith and inciting it to a more ambitious flight. Or, again, it may be that His silence is His way of telling us that the answer to our query or petition lies in ourselves.
    ... Charles H. Brent (1862-1929), With God in the World [1899], London: Longmans Green, 1914, p. 37 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 35:22; 28:1; 83:1; 94:8-10; Isa. 59:1-2; Matt. 13:13-16; Luke 11:34-35; 17:20-21; John 8:47; Rom. 14:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, increase my faith so that I may hear You more clearly. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Munson: Because upon the first glad Easter day

Sunday, July 17, 2022
Meditation:
    The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
    —Romans 13:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
Because upon the first glad Easter day
The stone that sealed His tomb was rolled away,
So, through the deepening shadows of death’s night,
Men see an open door ... beyond it, light!
    ... Ida Norton Munson (1877-1968)
    See also Rom. 13:12; Matt. 4:15-16; John 10:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the light in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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