Grou: nothing but trust

Saturday, November 5, 2022
Meditation:
    Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
    —1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Self-rule will probably err. Moreover, those who choose their own path must be responsible for the consequences thereof, however serious; whereas when God rules, we need nothing save patient trust. He loves us far more than we can love ourselves, and He watches over us with more than a Father’s love. Trust in Him, and it is impossible for devil or man to hinder His grace.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 1 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 5:7; Ps. 52:7-8; 119:41-42; Nah. 1:7; 2 Cor. 1:9; 10:3-4; Jas. 2:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to trust You more deeply. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Amiel: the witness

Friday, November 4, 2022
Meditation:
    Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
    —1 Peter 2:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Every life is a profession of faith and exercises an inevitable and silent influence.
    ... Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881), The Journal Intime of Henri-Frédéric Amiel, tr. Mrs. Humphry Ward, New York: Macmillan, 1885, p. 36 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 2:12; Matt. 5:14-16; Rom. 13:13-14; Eph. 5:8; Phil. 2:14-16; 1 Thess. 2:11-12; Tit. 2:7-8; 1 Pet. 3:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You show Yourself even in Your weakest people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: the bearer of the Word

Thursday, November 3, 2022
    Feast of Richard Hooker, Priest, Anglican Apologist, Teacher, 1600
    Commemoration of Martin of Porres, Dominican Friar, 1639
Meditation:
    Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
    —1 Timothy 4:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 23 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 4:13; Acts 15:32; Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:14-26; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 2:14; 4:11-13; Col. 1:27; 3:15-16; 2 Tim. 2:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have received Your word from my brethren. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Booth: not heard the call?

Wednesday, November 2, 2022
    Feast of All Souls
Meditation:
    [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”
    —Mark 16:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    “Not called,” did you say? Not heard the call, I think you should say. He has been calling loudly ever since He spoke your sins forgiven—if you are forgiven at all—entreating and beseeching you to be His ambassador. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull poor sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonised heart of humanity and listen to its pitying wail for help. Go and stand by the gates of Hell and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house, and bid their brothers, and sisters, and servants, and masters not to come there. And then look the Christ in the face, whose mercy you profess to have got, and whose words you have promised to obey, and tell Him whether you will join us heart and soul and body and circumstances in this march to publish His mercy to all the world.
    ... William Booth (1829-1912), All the World, v. I, London: Salvation Army Book Stores, 1884-1885, n.1, Nov. 1884, p. 2 (see the book)
    See also Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:19; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 9:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Piper: God's worldwide purpose

Tuesday, November 1, 2022
    Feast of All Saints
Meditation:
    [The Lord:] “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
    —Acts 9:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose. If we do this, God’s omnipotent commitment to His name will be over us like a banner, and we will not lose, in spite of many tribulations.
    ... John S. Piper (b. 1946), Let the Nations Be Glad!, Baker Academic, 2010 (3rd ed.), p. 62 (see the book)
    See also Acts 9:16; John 15:20; 16:2-4; Rom. 8:35-39; 2 Tim. 2:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, align my will with Your own. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Spurgeon: saving grace

Monday, October 31, 2022
    Reformation Day
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “...yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
    —John 5:40 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I will go as far as Martin Luther, in that strong assertion of his, where he says, “If any man doth ascribe aught of salvation, even the very least, to the free-will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright.” It may seem a harsh sentiment; but he who in his soul believes that man does of his own free-will turn to God, cannot have been taught by God, for it is one of the first principles taught us when God begins with us, that we have neither will nor power, but that he gives both; that he is “Alpha and Omega” in the salvation of men.
    ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), Spurgeon’s Sermons Volume 1: 1855, CCEL, Sermon 52 (see the book)
    See also John 5:40; Isa. 6:9-10; 54:13; Mic. 4:2; Matt. 11:25; 13:13-15; 23:37; John 1:11; 6:44-45; 12:37-41; Eph. 1:4-6; 2:8-9; Rev. 22:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I am helpless without You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Luther: hate sin

Sunday, October 30, 2022
    Commemoration of Martin Luther, Teacher, Reformer, 1546
Meditation:
An oracle is within my heart
    concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God
    before his eyes.
For in his own eyes he flatters himself
    too much to detect or hate his sin.
    —Psalm 36:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Always preach in such a way that if the people listening do not come to hate their sin, they will instead hate you.
    ... Martin Luther (1483-1546) (see the book)
    See also Ps. 36:1-2; 69:4; 97:10; Pr. 8:13; Amos 5:15; John 7:7; 15:18-20; Rom. 12:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I confess that I do not hate my sin enough. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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