Owen: God's unchanging kindness

Saturday, May 13, 2023
Meditation:
“I was enraged by his sinful greed;
    I punished him, and hid my face in anger,
    yet he kept on in his willful ways.
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
    I will guide him and restore comfort to him,
    creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel.
Peace, peace, to those far and near,”
    says the LORD. “And I will heal them.”
    —Isaiah 57:17-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What then? loves he his people in their sinning? Yes; his people,—not their sinning. Alters he not his love towards them? Not the purpose of his will, but the dispensations of his grace. He rebukes them, he chastens them, he hides his face from them, he smites them, he fills them with a sense of [his] indignation; but woe, woe would it be to us, should he change in his love, or take away his kindness from us!
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), Of Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost [1657], in Works of John Owen, v. II, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, p. 31 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 57:17-19; 1 Chr. 16:34; Job 6:4; Ps. 6:6; 38:1-5; 39:11; 100:5; 136; Isa. 8:17; Mal. 3:6; Rom. 5:5; Heb. 12:7-9; Rev. 3:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your rebuke conveys Your love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: flee or die

Friday, May 12, 2023
    Commemoration of Aiden Wilson Tozer, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Meditation:
    For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
    —1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do—flee it or die upon it.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Root of the Righteous, Christian Publications, 1955, p. 63 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 1:17-18; Rom. 6:3-7; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; 6:14; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 2:11-15; 3:3,9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your cross is my salvation. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Basil: the music of the Psalms

Thursday, May 11, 2023
Meditation:
For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing to him a psalm of praise.
    —Psalm 47:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The melodious music of the Psalms has been designed for us, that those who are boys in years, or at least but lads in ways of life, while they seem to be singing, may in reality be carrying on the education of the soul. It is not easy for the inattentive to retain in their memory, when they go home, an injunction of an apostle or prophet; but the sayings of the Psalms are sung in our houses and travel with us through the streets.
    ... St. Basil the Great (330?-379), from Homily XXII, “Humility”, in A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, v. VIII, Philip Schaff & Henry Wace, ed., New York: Christian Literature Company, 1895, p. xlv (see the book)
    See also Ps. 47:7; 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 149:1; Luke 24:44; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Jas. 5:13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Rev. 5:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my soul is imprinted with Your holy songs. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: humility

Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Meditation:
    So Jesus went with them.
    He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
    When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
    —Luke 7:6-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Humility is a strange flower; it grows best in winter weather, and under storms of affliction.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Quaint Sermons of Samuel Rutherford: hitherto unpublished, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1885, p. 86 (see the book)
    See also Luke 7:6-10; Ps. 131:1-2; Matt. 8:5-8; 15:22-28; John 1:26-27; Rom. 7:18; 2 Cor. 12:7-9; Phil. 2:5-8; 4:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You know my unworthiness, yet You hear my plea. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Grou: accepting faults

Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Meditation:
    My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
    —1 John 2:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Above all, beware of letting go the spirit of peace because of your faults. Humble yourself before God because of them, repent, make such reparation for them as you are able, and then do not dwell upon them any more. It is often mere pride which frets at finding itself beset by the same often renewed faults, and at its lack of spiritual progress. Do not deceive yourself into the belief that such disquiet is humility. A really humble soul accepts its faults with patience, and goes afresh on in confidence and hope.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 147-148 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 2:1-2; Ps. 103:8-12; Mic. 6:8; John 3:16-17; Rom. 5:1-2; 12:16; 1 Cor. 1:27-29; 13:4; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; 10:5; Phil. 2:3; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Heb. 4:15-16; Jas. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 5:5; 1 John 1:4-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me peace in the forgiveness of my failings. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Juliana: from without beginning

Monday, May 8, 2023
    Feast of Juliana of Norwich, Mystic, Teacher, c.1417
    Commemoration of Dallas Willard, Teacher, Spiritual Writer, 2013
Meditation:
But from everlasting to everlasting
    the LORD’S love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
    —Psalm 103:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I saw full surely in this and in all, that ere God made us he loved us; which love never slackened, nor ever shall be. And in this love he hath done all his works; and in this love he hath made all things profitable to us; and in this love our life is everlasting. In our making we had beginning; but the love wherein he made us was in him from without beginning; in which love we have our beginning. And all this shall we see in God, without end.
    ... Juliana of Norwich (1342?-1417), Revelations of Divine Love, Grace Harriet Warrack, ed., Methuen, 1901, ch. LXXXVIII (see the book)
    See also Ps. 103:17; Gen. 1:26-27; Job 10:9-12; Ps. 22:9-10; 139:13-14; Isa. 44:2; Jer. 31:3; John 3:14-16; 6:51; 1 Thess. 4:17; 1 John 2:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love is without bounds. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Colson: secure in the truth

Sunday, May 7, 2023
Meditation:
    Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
    —Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The less secure people are in their beliefs, the more strident they become. Conversely, the more confident people are of the truth, the more grace they exhibit to those who don’t agree. “Tolerance is the natural endowment of true convictions,” wrote Paul Tournier.
    ... Charles W. Colson (1931-2012), The Body, Waco: Word, 1992, p. 102 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:29; Ps. 71:15; Matt. 10:18-20; Luke 4:22; 21:14-15; Rom. 14:1; Col. 4:6; 2 Tim. 2:25-26; 1 Pet. 3:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, secure my faith and guard my tongue, that I may give a good account of You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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