de Sales: complaint and self-love

Saturday, June 24, 2023
    Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist
Meditation:
    Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.
    —Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Complain as little as possible of your wrongs, for, as a general rule you may be sure that complaining is sin: [because] self-love always magnifies our injuries.
    ... François de Sales (1567-1622), Introduction to the Devout Life [1609], London: Rivingtons, 1876, III.iii, p. 139 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 2:14-16; Rom. 4:2; Gal. 6:2; Phil. 2:4; 2 Tim. 3:2-4; Philemon 1:18; Jas. 5:9; 1 Pet. 2:12,20; 1 John 3:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, reduce my concerns about myself and magnify concerns for others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barth: the eternal present

Friday, June 23, 2023
    Feast of Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, c.678
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
    —Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In the kingdom of God there are no other tasks than those of the present.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), from “Be Not Anxious!”, in Come Holy Spirit: Sermons, New York: Round Table Press, 1933, reprint, Mowbrays, 1978, p. 99 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:23-24; Ps. 37:5; Matt. 6:25,34; 8:21-22; 19:21; Luke 9:23; 12:11-12,22; John 5:8-11; Phil. 4:6; Heb. 13:5-6; 1 Pet. 5:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let there be no delay in my following You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Manley: how to promote Christian unity

Thursday, June 22, 2023
    Feast of Alban, first Martyr of Britain, c.209
Meditation:
    But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
    —Romans 10:8-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The fundamental doctrines of our evangelical belief are... the full inspiration and ruling authority of Holy Scripture, with its consequences, the Divinity of Christ, the finality of His Atonement, and salvation through faith alone. These basic truths should be studied as set forth in the New Testament, that they may be asserted or defended whenever occasion requires. If this be done in a humble and Christian spirit, we shall in the long run be promoting the cause of Christian unity, which must ultimately find its basis in the truth which God has revealed.
    ... G. T. Manley (1872?-1961?), Christian Unity, London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1945, p. 74 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 10:8-11; John 3:16-17; 2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 3:15-16; Jude 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, unite us in Your truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Reeves: the foundation of fellowship

Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Meditation:
    Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
    —1 Peter 2:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The primary truth about our church membership is not that we are members of a particular congregation, but that we have been born into this new race of human beings, the Christian race, which is made up of people out of every nation and tribe and class. Further, each local church is a church only in so far as it is the expression, in a particular place, of this new race that has come into the world through Jesus Christ. It is the mighty acts of God in Christ that are the guarantee of our fellowship in the Church.
    ... Ambrose Reeves (1899-1980), Bishop of Johannesburg [1956]Church and Race in South Africa, David M. Paton, London: SCM Press, 1958, p. 31 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 2:10; Eze. 11:19; 36:26; Hos. 1:9-10; John 3:3,5; Rom. 9:25-26; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, without You, there is no fellowship. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Milton: Christ used force

Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Meditation:
    In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
    —John 2:14-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We read not that Christ ever exercised force but once; and that was to drive profane ones out of his Temple, not to force them in.
    ... John Milton (1608-1674), “A Treatise of Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes” [1659], in Prose Works, London: Westley and Davis, 1835, p. 421 (see the book)
    See also John 2:14-17; Ps. 69:9; Jer. 7:11; Zech. 4:6; Matt. 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46; 2 Cor. 10:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, equip Your people to represent Your holiness before the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Sundar Singh: preparation by prayer

Monday, June 19, 2023
    Commemoration of Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu, Evangelist, Teacher, 1929
Meditation:
    When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
    —Acts 1:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To pray does not imply that without prayer God would not give us anything or that He would be unaware of our needs, but it has this great advantage, that in the attitude of prayer the soul is best fitted to receive the Giver of blessing as well as those blessings He desires to bestow... Thus it was that the fullness of the Spirit was not poured out upon the Apostles on the first day, but after ten days of special preparation.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), At the Master’s Feet, Fleming H. Revell, 1922, p. 46 (see the book)
    See also Acts 1:13-14; Matt. 6:6-8; Acts 2:1-4; 1 Thess. 5:17; Heb. 4:16; Rev. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, use my prayer to prepare me for Your blessings. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: simply Lord

Sunday, June 18, 2023
Meditation:
    As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
    “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
    “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
    The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
    —Acts 9:3-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No one but God has the right and the power to contradict my devotion to God. “Who are you?” is Paul’s trembling question. It is the same as Moses’ question at the burning bush: “What is your name?” The answer, “I am Jesus,” means that from henceforth Saul knows Jesus as simply and absolutely Lord.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Foolishness to the Greeks: the Gospel and Western culture, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 5 (see the book)
    See also Acts 9:3-8; Ex. 3:13-14; Acts 26:9,14-18; Rom. 10:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Jesus is Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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