Rees: testing the spirits

Saturday, January 14, 2023
    Commemoration of Richard Meux Benson, Founder of the Society of St John the Evangelist, 1915
Meditation:
    Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
    —1 Corinthians 12:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The first principle of differentiation was laid down by Paul, when dealing with the problems of the spiritual phenomena that had arisen at Corinth... In the confusion of spiritual phenomena, ... it was possible that evil spirits, as well as the Holy Spirit, inspired some of the manifestations. One in particular Paul singles out as being in obvious contradiction to the work of the Spirit of God: “No man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema (cursed be Jesus).” On the other hand, “No man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). It is difficult to conceive the state of mind of a member of a Christian congregation who would curse the name of Jesus. Yet it is evident that at Corinth, people gave way to such uncontrollable frenzy, that either in folly, or in momentary reversion to Judaism or heathenism, they cursed the name in whose honour they had met... But the spirit that inspired disloyal ty to Jesus Christ could not be the Holy Spirit, for in Paul’s experience and theology, the two beings were, if not identical, at least in perfect harmony of principle and action. This, then, was Paul’s first criterion for deciding which spiritual phenomena could be approved by Christians as the work of the Holy Spirit. They must be loyal to Jesus Christ as Lord of life, and as the object of faith and love for every believer. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Thomas Rees (1869-1926), The Holy Spirit in Thought and Experience, New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1915, p. 87-88 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 12:3; Matt. 16:16-17; Mark 9:39-40; John 15:26; 1 John 4:1-3;
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit proclaims You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: does prayer work?

Friday, January 13, 2023
    Feast of Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, Teacher, 367
    Commemoration of Kentigern (Mungo), Missionary Bishop in Strathclyde & Cumbria, 603
Meditation:
    Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
    —Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The very question “Does prayer work?” puts us in the wrong frame of mind form the onset. “Work”: as if it were magic or a machine—something that functions automatically. Prayer is either a sheer illusion or a personal contact between embryonic, incomplete persons (ourselves) and the utterly concrete Person. Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and wine. In it God shows Himself to us. That He answers prayer is a corollary—not necessarily the most important one—from that revelation. What He does is learned from what He is.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), “The Efficacy of Prayer” in The World’s Last Night [1960], Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 8 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 3:20-21; Ps. 106:1; 139:7-10; Matt. 6:9-13; Rom. 14:11; Eph. 2:18; Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2; Jas. 4:8-10; 1 John 1:9; Rev. 4:9-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, the privilege of prayer has opened up Your riches for me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tillotson: measuring sorrow for sin

Thursday, January 12, 2023
    Feast of Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167
    Commemoration of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, Scholar, 689
Meditation:
    Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
    —Acts 3:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If we would judge aright of the truth of our sorrow for sin, we must not measure it so much by the degrees of sensible trouble and affliction, as by the rational effects of it, which are hatred of sin, and a fixed purpose and resolution against it for the future: for he is most truly sorry for his miscarriage, who looks upon what he hath done amiss with abhorrence and detestation of the thing, and wisheth he had not done it, and censures himself severely for it, and thereupon resolves not to do the like again.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. VII, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, p. 291 (see the book)
    See also Acts 3:19-20; Ps. 36:1-2; Luke 15:7,10; John 3:20-21; 2 Cor. 7:10-11; 2 Tim. 2:25-26
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, only You can grant me true repentance. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Grou: ruling our thoughts

Wednesday, January 11, 2023
    Commemoration of Mary Slessor, Missionary in West Africa, 1915
Meditation:
    Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
    —Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Do not be troubled when you are dry, dull, unable to rouse yourself to any holy thoughts in prayer or communion—still less must you fancy that such prayers and communion are worthless. Self-love may pronounce them to be so, but God judges otherwise. He does not require us to have so absolute a control over our imagination as wholly to rule our thoughts. That is beyond our power, but it is within our power not to dwell upon distracting thoughts, to turn from them, to submit to spiritual advice. It is within our power to resist thoughts which militate against purity, faith or hope.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 44 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:8-9; Ps. 5:1-3; 88:14; Luke 18:1-8; 1 Thess. 5:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me power to resist evil thoughts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: your season

Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Meditation:
There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under heaven...
    —Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    You have your season, and you have but your season; neither can you lie down in peace, until you have some persuasion that your work as well as your life is at an end.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), Works of John Owen, v. VIII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, Serm. VIII, p. 355 (see the book)
    See also Eccl. 3:1-11; Job 7:1; Ps. 1:1-3; Eccl. 9:10; 1 Cor. 15:47-48
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have ordained our lives’ seasons. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Smith: seeing God in everything

Monday, January 9, 2023
Meditation:
    Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
    —Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Nothing else but this seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only the instruments for accomplishing His tender and wise purposes towards us, and we shall even find ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessings they bring us.
    ... Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911), Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, London: F. E. Longley, 1876, p. 93 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 13:5-6; Gen. 15:1; Ps. 46:1-3; 54:4; 56:10-11; 121:2-8; 139:7-8; 118:7-9; Matt. 10:40-42; 18:3-5; 25:40; Mark 9:41; Rom. 8:31; 1 John 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your loving care grants confidence to Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Nate Saint: expendable

Sunday, January 8, 2023
    27th anniversary of CQOD
    Commemoration of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, and Pete Fleming, martyrs, Ecuador, 1956
Meditation:
    When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
    —Revelation 6:9-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Missionaries constantly face expendability. And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives. They forget that when their lives are spent and the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.
    Some might say, isn’t it too great a price to pay? When missionaries consider themselves—their lives before God—they consider themselves expendable. And in our personal lives as Christians isn’t the same thing true? Isn’t the price small in the light of God’s infinite love?
    ... Nate Saint (1923-1956), quoted in Jungle Pilot: The Life and Witness of Nate Saint, Russell T. Hitt, Zondervan, 1974, p. 158 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 6:9-11; Ps. 96:10; Isa. 43:5-7; Matt. 10:16-23,34-39; 24:9; 28:19-20; Mark 13:9-13; 16:15; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:18-19; Acts 1:8; 9:15-16; 13:2-4,47; 21:30-31; 26:16-18; 1 Cor. 16:8-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your will is carried out all over the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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