Barclay: poor in spirit

Saturday, February 25, 2023
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
    —Matthew 5:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Blessed are those who have realized their own utter helplessness, and who have put their whole trust in God. If people have realized their own utter helplessness, and have put their whole trust in God, there will enter into their lives two things.... They will become completely detached from material things, for they will know that things do not have the power to bring happiness or security; and they will become completely attached to God, for they will know that God alone can bring them help, hope, and strength. Those who are poor in spirit are men and women who have realized that things mean nothing, and that God means everything.
    ... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Gospel of Matthew, v. 2, Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1958, p. 105-106 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:3; Ps. 51:17; Pr. 16:19; Isa. 57:15; Mic. 6:8; Matt. 6:19-20; Luke 12:16-21; Titus 2:11-12; Heb. 11:24-26; 1 John 2:15-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I can do nothing of worth without You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Mallone: God is the cure

Friday, February 24, 2023
Meditation:
    Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
    —Hebrews 2:14-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God is often faulted for creating a world full of suffering and evil. The issue is complex, both philosophically and theologically; but surely it is inappropriate to blame God for a problem He did not initiate, and [that is] in fact, one which He has sought to alleviate, at great cost to Himself. God sent His Son to inaugurate the Kingdom and to “destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” God is not the cause of suffering and sickness; He is its cure! Jesus’ ministry and death guarantee this.
    ... George Mallone (b. 1944), Those Controversial Gifts, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1983, p. 109 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 2:14-15; Isa. 25:7-8; 53:4-7; Hos. 13:14; Matt. 12:12; John 12:31-32; Col. 2:15; 2 Tim. 1:10; Heb. 9:15; Jas. 5:14-15; Rev. 1:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You will set all things right. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: arduous love

Thursday, February 23, 2023
    Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr, c.155
Meditation:
    Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
    Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
    —John 13:36 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is natural for us to wish that God had designed for us a less glorious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wishing not for more love but for less.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Problem of Pain, New York: Macmillan, 1944, p. 31 (see the book)
    See also John 13:36; Matt. 7:13-14; 16:24; 20:22; Mark 8:34-35; 10:15,23-27; Luke 9:23-24,62; John 13:33,37-38; 16:33; 21:18-19; 2 Pet. 1:10-11; 1 John 2:1; 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, only You can sustain me on the road where You have placed me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Williams: Hard were the nails and cruel

Wednesday, February 22, 2023
    Ash Wednesday
Meditation:
    “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
    “Barabbas,” they answered.
    “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
    They all answered, “Crucify him!”
    “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
    But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
    —Matthew 27:21-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
Hard were the nails and cruel,
    To pierce that form of grace;
But now they hold the compass
    Of heaven in its place:
The hope of Adam’s children
    flows from that awful hour,
When earth beheld its Maker
    Abused by human power.
    ... William Williams (1717-1791), in Sweet Singers of Wales: a story of Welsh hymns and their authors, Howell Elvet Lewis, London: Religious Tract Society, 1889, p. 50 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 27:21-23; Job 42:5-6; Ps. 33:22; 119:81; Joel 2:25; Matt. 12:21; 1 Cor. 1:18; Tit. 2:11-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have prompted my repentance. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Smith: Love itself

Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Meditation:
    How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
    —1 John 3:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Some of us know what it is to love, and we know that could we only have our way, our beloved ones would be overwhelmed with blessings. All that is good, and sweet, and lovely in life would be poured out upon them from our lavish hands, had we but the power to carry out our will for them. And if this is the way of love with us, how much more must it be so with our God who is Love itself.
    ... Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911), Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, London: F. E. Longley, 1876, p. 43 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 3:1; Ps. 86:5,15; 136; Jer. 31:3; Mic. 7:18; Rom. 9:22-23; 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 1:7-8; 2:4-5; Tit. 3:4-7; 1 John 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all our love is but a distant reflection of Your love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ryle: useless prayer

Monday, February 20, 2023
    Commemoration of Cecile Isherwood, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, Grahamstown, South Africa, 1906
Meditation:
    In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
    “Yes, Lord,” he answered.
    The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
    —Acts 9:10-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Words said without heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drum beating of savages before their idols! Where there is no heart, there may be lip-work and tongue-work, but there is no prayer. Saul, I have no doubt, said many a long prayer before the Lord met him on the way to Damascus. But it was not until his heart was broken that the Lord said, “He prayeth.”
    ... J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), A Call to Prayer, published in the 1850’s as a pamphlet, American Tract Society, 1867, sec. III (see the book)
    See also Acts 9:10-12; Eccl. 5:2; Isa. 29:13; Jer. 12:2; Eze. 33:31; Matt. 6:7; Mark 12:38-40; Acts 8:1-3,20-21; 9:1-16; Phil. 4:6; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Tim. 2:8; Jude 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Spirit of God, awaken me when I am just going through the motions. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Robertson: the Christian debating team

Sunday, February 19, 2023
Meditation:
    The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
    —1 John 2:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christian life is action; not a speculating, not a debating, but a doing. One thing, and only one, in the world, has eternity stamped upon it. Feelings pass; resolves and thoughts pass; opinions change. What you have done lasts—lasts in you. Through ages, through eternity, what you have done for Christ, that, and only that, you are.
    ... Frederick W. Robertson (1816-1853), Sermons Preached at Trinity Chapel, Brighton, v. III, Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1859, p. 194 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 2:15-17; Ps. 143:10; Matt. 7:21; Mark 3:35; John 7:17; Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 9:25; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 4:1-2; 5:4; Rev. 14:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I be a vessel for the expression of Your concern for people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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