Foster: offering the whole person

Saturday, October 7, 2023
Meditation:
O LORD, you have searched me
    and you know me.
    —Psalm 139:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The offering of ourselves can only be the offering of our lived experience, because this alone is who we are. And who we are—not who we want to be—is the only offering we have to give. We give God therefore not just our strengths but also our weaknesses, not just our giftedness but also our brokenness. Our duplicity, our lust, our narcissism, our sloth—all are laid on the altar of sacrifice.
    ... Richard J. Foster (b. 1942), Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, HarperCollins, 1992, p. 31 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 139:1,23; 1 Chr. 28:9; Pr. 17:3; Jer. 17:9-10; John 8:32; Rom. 8:27; 12:1; 1 Cor. 2:9-10; Heb. 4:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I offer myself with all my weaknesses. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tyndale: the peril of good intent

Friday, October 6, 2023
    Feast of William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Martyr, 1536
Meditation:
    From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
    Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
    Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
    —Matthew 16:21-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Beware of thy good intent, good mind, good affection, or zeal, as they call it. Peter of a good mind, and of a good affection or zeal, chid Christ, Matt. 16, because that he said he must go to Jerusalem, and there be slain: but Christ called him Satan for his labour, a name that belongeth to the devil, and said, “That he perceived not godly things, but worldly.” Of a good intent, and of a fervent affection to Christ, the sons of Zebedee would have had fire to come down from heaven to consume the Samaritans, Luke 9; but Christ rebuked them, saying that they wist not of what spirit they were: that is, that they understood not how that they were altogether worldly and fleshly-minded... It is another thing then, to do of a good mind, and to do of knowledge. Labour for knowledge; that thou mayest know God’s will, and what he would have thee to do. Our mind, intent, and affection or zeal, are blind; and all that we do of them, is damned of God: and for that cause hath God made a testament between him and us, wherein is contained both what he would have us to do, and what he would have us to ask of him. See therefore that thou do nothing to please God withal, but that he commandeth; neither ask any thing of him, but that he hath promised thee.
    ... William Tyndale (1492?-1536), “Parable of the Wicked Mammon” [1527], in Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions, Cambridge: The University Press, 1848, p. 105 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33; Luke 9:52-56; Rom. 8:5-8; 12:2; 1 Cor. 2:14-16; Phil. 3:18-19; Col. 3:2-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I seek Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Yaconelli: loving the unlovely

Thursday, October 5, 2023
Meditation:
    Again he denied it.
    After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
    He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”
    Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
    —Mark 14:70-72 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We can talk about love all we want, but loving those who are unlovely is how we learn about love. Jesus gave Peter some excellent teaching about betrayal and arrogance, but Peter didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about until he actually betrayed Jesus. Peter’s failure was the primary cause of his understanding and maturity.
    ... Mike Yaconelli (1942-2003), Messy Spirituality [2002], Zondervan, 2007, p. 91 (see the book)
    See also Mark 14:29-30,66-72; Pr. 12:19; Matt. 5:43-47; 26:33-34,69-75; Luke 22:33-34,55-62; John 13:37-38; 18:15-18,25-27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have forgiven my many betrayals. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Eckhart: contrary to God

Wednesday, October 4, 2023
    Feast of Francis of Assisi, Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor, 1226
Meditation:
    Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
    —1 John 2:15-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Love God, and do as you like, say the Free Spirits. Yes; but as long as you like anything contrary to God’s will, you do not love Him.
    ... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?), quoted in Light, Life and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages, William R. Inge, ed., p. xxx (see the book)
    See also 1 John 2:15-17; Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; John 15:19; Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:2; Jas. 4:4; 1 John 3:17; 4:20-21; 5:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, purge from my heart all that is not love for You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wesley: the opposition of the world's economy

Tuesday, October 3, 2023
    Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896
    Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958
Meditation:
    Then [Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
    —Luke 12:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion ... has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches.
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, v. X, New York: J. & J. Harper, 1827, p. 150 (see the book)
    See also Luke 12:15-20; Ps. 37:16-17; Matt. 19:23-26; Mark 4:18-19; 10:17-27; Luke 6:24-25; 18:18-27; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Jas. 5:1-5; 1 John 3:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in Your rich blessings, do not allow me to become indifferent. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fuller: the pull of sin

Monday, October 2, 2023
Meditation:
    Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
    —Romans 8:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Lord, before I commit a sin, it seems to me so shallow, that I may wade through it dry-shod from any guiltiness: but when I have committed it, it often seems so deep that I cannot escape without drowning.
    ... Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), Good Thoughts in Bad Times [1645], Chicago: United Society of Christian Endeavor, Boston, 1898, “Personal Meditations”, VII (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:6-8; Ps. 25:11; 51:2; 130:1-5; Hos. 8:7; Mark 7:21-23; John 3:19-20; Gal. 6:7-8; 2 Thess. 2:11-12; 1 John 1:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, to sin is so easy; grant me the strength to resist sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: the absence of purpose

Sunday, October 1, 2023
    Commemoration of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, 533
    Commemoration of Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite Nun, Spiritual Writer, 1897
Meditation:
    Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”
    —John 5:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We have the evidence of the dichotomy that runs through our culture. We all engage in purposeful activity, and we judge ourselves and others in terms of success in achieving the purposes that we set before ourselves. Yet we accept as the final product of this purposeful activity a picture of the world from which purpose has been eliminated. Purpose is a meaningful concept in relation to our own consciousness of ourselves, but it is allowed no place in our understanding of the world of facts.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Foolishness to the Greeks: the Gospel and Western culture, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 77-78 (see the book)
    See also John 5:17; Ps. 75:3; Rom. 9:22-24; 2 Cor. 5:21; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 4:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, the cosmos is filled with Your purpose. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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