Nida: commanding love

Saturday, September 2, 2023
    Commemoration of Martyrs of Papua New Guinea, 1942
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
    —John 15:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It has been said that agapao refers to “the love of God” and phileo is only “the love of men.” But this distinction is only a very small part of the difference, and as such is in itself incorrect. Both of these words may convey intense emotion or may be relatively weak in their meanings. These words do not indicate degree of love, but kinds of love. Agapao refers to love which arises from a keen sense of the value and worth in the object of our love, and phileo describes the emotional attachment which results from intimate and prolonged association. That is why in the Scriptures we are never commanded to “love” with the word phileo. Even when husbands and wives are instructed to love one another, the word agapao is used, for it is impossible to command that kind of love which can arise only from intimate association. On the other hand, the saints are admonished to appreci ate profoundly the worth and value in others, and agapao is used to convey this meaning. All Christians are not necessarily to have sentimental attachments for one another (phileo). This would be impossible, for our circle of intimate friends is limited by the nature of our lives. But we can all be commanded to appreciate intensely the worth of others.
    ... Eugene A. Nida (1914-2011), God’s Word in Man’s Language, New York: Harper, 1952, p. 63 (see the book)
    See also John 15:12; 13:34; 1 Cor. 13:4-7; Gal. 6:10; Eph. 5:1-2; Phil. 2:1-2; 1 John 4:7-11; 5:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have implanted Your love within Your church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Head: Yes

Friday, September 1, 2023
    Commemoration of Giles of Provence, Hermit, c.710
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.”
    —John 17:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Not pleading with the Father, but expressing the Father’s good pleasure is the key-note of true intercession. Forgiveness is God’s idea, God’s desire; and it is He who appoints both the Judge and the Counsel for the Defense. It was He who inaugurated the priestly work, that men might receive His cleansing and turn to the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. God has provided for himself a Lamb. It is He who sends His Son to be our Elder Brother, and to incorporate us as adopted sons into the circle of His Fatherly love. So then it is the voice of His beloved Son which is most clearly heard by the Father in heaven. In that voice of intercession, all the voices of intercession are contained and heard. The Son is talking to the Father about us, and what He says is not “Please” but “Yes,” for in Him is the “Yea” and “Amen.”
    ... David Head, Shout for Joy, New York: MacMillan Co., 1962, p. 147 (see the book)
    See also John 17:9; Isa. 53:12; Matt. 28:18; Mark 1:10-11; John 5:26-27; 2 Cor. 1:20; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 9:15; 1 Pet. 2:5; 1 John 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I belong to Your Son. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bunyan: abundant grace

Thursday, August 31, 2023
    Feast of Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 651
    Commemoration of Cuthburga, Founding Abbess of Wimborne, c.725
    Commemoration of John Bunyan, Spiritual Writer, 1688
Meditation:
    [The Father] chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
    —James 1:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    But upon a day the good providence of God did cast me to Bedford to work on my calling: and in one of the streets of that town, I came where there were three or four poor women sitting at a door in the sun, and talking about the things of God; and being now willing to hear them discourse, I drew near to hear what they said, for I was now a brisk talker also myself in the matters of religion. But now I may say I heard, but I understood not; for they were far above, out of my reach; for their talk was about a new birth, the work of God on their hearts... And methought they spake as if joy did make them speak; they spake with such pleasantness of Scripture language, and with such appearance of grace in all they said, that they were to me as if they had found a new world.
    ... John Bunyan (1628-1688), Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners [1666] The Whole Works of John Bunyan, v. I, London: Blackie, 1862, p. 10 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 1:18; Jer. 33:10,11; Matt. 11:15; John 1:12-13; 3:3-7; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 5:18-20; Tit. 3:4-7; 1 Tim. 1:15-16; 1 Pet. 1:3,23-25; 1 John 2:29
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your people praise You that You gave us new birth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Torrey: organization

Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Meditation:
[The LORD:] “The wild animals honor me,
    the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the desert
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
    the people I formed for myself
    that they may proclaim my praise.
“Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob,
    you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.”
    —Isaiah 43:20-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We live in a day characterized by the multiplication of man’s machinery and the diminution of God’s power. The great cry of our day is work, work, work, new organizations, new methods, new machinery; the great need of our day is prayer. It was a master stroke of the devil when he got the church so generally to lay aside this mighty weapon of prayer. The devil is perfectly willing that the church should multiply its organizations, and deftly contrive machinery for the conquest of the world for Christ if it will only give up praying.
    ... R. A. Torrey (1856-1928), How to Pray, Fleming H. Revell, 1900, p. 128 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 43:20-22; Job 21:14-15; Ps. 14:4; Isa. 64:7; Jer. 10:21; Dan. 9:13; Luke 18:6-8; 1 Thess. 5:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lead us, Lord, to pray continually. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pinnock: persuasive evidence

Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Meditation:
    Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.”
    He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
    —Matthew 12:38-39 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We cannot wait until all uncertainty disappears before dealing with ultimate issues. A decision has to be made in spite of the risk of choosing amiss. The risk after all is greatly diminished on account of the evidential signposts indicating the truth of the gospel, and we ought to take them very seriously. It is not God’s way to overpower us with undeniable demonstrations. We will wait for them in vain. In respect of our cognitive freedom, his way is to provide us with good and sufficient evidence of reasonable, persuasive force, and then to invite us to enter into the trustful certitude of faith.
    ... Clark H. Pinnock (1937-2010), Reason Enough, Exeter: Paternoster, 1980, p. 120-121 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 12:38-39; John 6:58-64; Acts 17:27-31; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 1:22-23; Eph. 3:12; Heb. 11:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, faith in You is my certainty. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: iniquity

Monday, August 28, 2023
    Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430
Meditation:
    “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
    —John 4:34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I inquired what iniquity was, and found it to be no substance, but the perversion of the will, turned aside from Thee, O God, the Supreme, towards these lower things.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, VII.xvi, p. 162 (see the book)
    See also John 4:34; Ps. 32:2; 36:1-3; 125:4-5; 141:4; Matt. 6:10; Mark 3:35; John 6:38-40; Rom. 12:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep my eyes on Your will alone in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Shakespeare: mercy

Sunday, August 27, 2023
    Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387
Meditation:
    Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
    —James 2:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,—
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
    ... William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merchant of Venice, in The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, London: Jones, 1823, Act IV, scene 1, p. 200 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 2:12-13; Jer. 9:23-24; Amos 5:24; Matt. 5:7; Eph. 2:4-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I cannot stand without Your mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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