Law: it was not anger

Saturday, January 7, 2023
Meditation:
    Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
    —Romans 5:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God himself was not angry at all, or at a small act of eating a fruit, and so in anger turned man out of paradise, into a world cursed for that sin. But man freely and voluntarily chose, against the will and command of God, to be in the world in its cursed state, unblessed by paradise; for he chose to enter into a sensibility and feeling of its good and evil, which is directly choosing to be where paradise is not; for nothing that is in paradise, can be touched, or hurt by anything of the outward world. Therefore the first state of man was a state of such glory, and heavenly prerogatives... and his fall was a fall into or under the power of this outward world.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), Christian Regeneration [1739], in Works of Rev. William Law, v. V, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 21-22 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 5:12-21; Gen. 3:6-13; Eccl. 7:29; Hos. 6:7; 1 Cor. 15:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have redeemed us from this fall. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Lawrence: without pleasing men

Friday, January 6, 2023
    EPIPHANY
Meditation:
    Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
    —Ephesians 6:5-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The most excellent method which he had found of going to God, was that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing men, and (as far as we are capable) purely for the love of God.
    ... Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, New York, Revell, 1895, Fourth Conversation, p. 16 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 7:22; Gal. 1:10; Eph. 6:5-6; Col. 3:23-24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I dedicate my labors to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Phillips: God-starved

Thursday, January 5, 2023
Meditation:
    After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.”
    —John 17:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Our society today bears all the marks of a God-starved community. There is little real moral authority because no ultimate Authority is known or acknowledged.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), God Our Contemporary, New York: Macmillan, 1960, p. viii (see the book)
    See also John 17:1-2; Prov. 29:18; Matt. 7:28-29; 9:4-8; 28:18-20; Mark 1:22; Luke 4:32; John 5:26-27; 10:17-18; 1 Thess. 4:2; Tit. 2:15; Jude 1:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, reveal Yourself anew to those who do not know You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Calvin: free gifts

Wednesday, January 4, 2023
Meditation:
    For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
    —1 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Those talents which God has bestowed upon us are not our own goods but the free gifts of God; and any persons who become proud of them show their ungratefulness.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.vii.4, p. 622 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 4:7; Deut. 8:11-14; 1 Chr. 29:11-14; Pr. 2:6; Hos. 13:6; John 1:11,16; Jas. 1:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me ever mindful of my stewardship. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Schaeffer: an honest apologetic

Tuesday, January 3, 2023
    Commemoration of Gladys Aylward, Missionary in China, 1970
Meditation:
    The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
    —Acts 5:41-42 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As Christians we must not minimize the need to give honest answers to honest questions. We should have an intellectual apologetic. The Bible commands it and Christ and Paul exemplify it. In the synagogue, in the marketplace, in homes and in almost every conceivable kind of situation, Jesus and Paul discussed Christianity. It is likewise the Christian’s task to be able to give an honest answer to an honest question and then to give it.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), The Mark of the Christian, Inter-Varsity Press, 1976, p. 16-17 (see the book)
    See also Acts 5:41-42; Ps. 119:46-47; Matt. 21:23; Mark 12:35; 14:49; Luke 6:6; 19:47; 20:1; 21:14-15,37; John 7:28-29; Acts 14:1; 17:1-3,17; 18:4; Col. 4:6; 2 Tim. 2:25; 1 Pet. 3:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You equip Your witnesses with the truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Basil: whose feet will you wash?

Monday, January 2, 2023
    Feast of Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Teachers, 379 & 389
    Commemoration of Seraphim, Monk of Sarov, Mystic, Staretz, 1833
Meditation:
    Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
    —John 13:3-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Lord also did not think that the teaching of his word alone was enough, but he wanted to give us an example of humility when, girded with a towel, he washed the feet of his disciples. Whose feet do you wash? Whom do you care for? To whom do you make yourself inferior and last of all, since you live alone?
    ... St. Basil the Great (330?-379), Little Asceticon, Question 3.9, concerning community (see the book)
    See also John 13:3-5; Eze. 36:25; Matt. 19:30; 20:16; Mark 9:35; 10:31; Luke 13:30; 22:27; John 13:12-14; Eph. 5:25-27; Phil. 2:5-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, place the Servant’s heart within me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Johnson: for the new year

Sunday, January 1, 2023
    Feast of the Naming & Circumcision of Jesus
Meditation:
    Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
    —James 4:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Almighty and everlasting God, in whom we live and move, and have our being; glory be to Thee for my recovery from sickness, and the continuance of my life. Grant, O my God, that I may improve the year which I am now beginning, and all the days which Thou shalt add to my life, by serious repentance and diligent obedience; that, by the help of thy Holy Spirit, I may use the means of grace to my own salvation, and at last enjoy thy presence in eternal happiness, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
    ... Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Prayers and Meditations, London: Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe, 1806, January 1, 1756, p. 18-19 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 4:8-10; Acts 17:28; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; 1 John 1:9; Rev. 2:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Grant me true repentance, Lord, for the sake of Your mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth