Griffiths: confession

Sunday, June 2, 2024
Meditation:
    Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
    —James 5:19-20 (KJV)
Quotation:
    At the earlier Methodist class meetings, members were expected every week to answer some extremely personal questions such as the following: Have you experienced any particular temptations during the past week? How did you react or respond to those temptations? Is there anything you are trying to keep secret, and if so, why? At this point the modern Christian swallows hard! We are often coated with a thick layer of reserve and modesty which covers “a multitude of sins”; usually our own. Significantly James 5:16-20, the original context of that phrase, is the passage which urges, “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
    ... Michael Griffiths (1928-2022), God’s Forgetful Pilgrims, p. 79 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 5:16-20; Ps. 32:1; Pr. 10:12; 11:30; Matt. 3:5-6; 18:15-17; Acts 19:18; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Tim. 4:16; 1 Pet. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, build bonds of trust and honesty among Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: theory vs. following

Saturday, June 1, 2024
    Feast of Justin, Martyr at Rome, c.165
    Commemoration of Angela de Merici, Founder of the Institute of St. Ursula, 1540
Meditation:
    “But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”
    —Hebrews 10:38 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jesus is the creating and saving lord of our intellects as well as of our more precious hearts; nothing that he does not think, is worth thinking; no man can think as he thinks, except he be pure like him; no man can be pure like him, except he go with him, and learn from him. To put off obeying him till we find a credible theory concerning him, is to set aside the potion we know it our duty to drink, for the study of the various schools of therapy. You know what Christ requires of you is right.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “Justice”, in Unspoken Sermons, Third Series, London: Longmans, Green, 1889, p. 152 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 10:38; Ps. 85:8; Matt. 11:29-30; 13:22; 19:21-22; Mark10:21-22; Luke 18:22-23; Jas. 1:6-8; 2 Pet. 2:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I will delay no longer in following You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Moody: called to shine

Friday, May 31, 2024
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:
    God has called us to shine, just as much as Daniel was sent into Babylon to shine. Let no man or woman say that they cannot shine because they have not so much influence as some others may have. What God wants you to do is to use the influence you have. Daniel probably did not have much influence down in Babylon at first, but God soon gave him more because he was faithful and used what he had.
    ... Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899), “To the work! To the work!”: Exhortations to Christians, Chicago: F. H. Revell, 1884, p. 139 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 2:14-16; Pr. 4:18; Isa. 58:8; 60:1-3; Matt. 5:14-16; Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16; 11:33; Rom. 13:12; Eph. 5:8-10; 1 Pet. 2:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me to be a candle for You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bruce: Christ is Lord of all

Thursday, May 30, 2024
    Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906
    Commemoration of Joan of Arc, Visionary, 1431
    Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, 1933
Meditation:
    But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
    —1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The truth of Christ’s supremacy over all the powers in the universe is one which modern man sorely needs to learn. He is oppressed by a sense of impotence in the grasp of merciless forces which he can neither overcome nor escape. These forces may be Frankenstein monsters of man’s own creation, or they may be horrors outside his conscious control; either way, he is intimidated by the vastness of those fateful currents which threaten to sweep him on to destruction, whether he will or no. And to modern man in his frustration and despair, the full-orbed gospel of Christ, as Paul presents it to the Colossians, is the one message of hope. Christ crucified and risen is Lord of all; all the forces in the universe, well-disposed and ill-disposed, are subject to Him. To be united to Christ by faith is to throw off the thraldom of hostile powers, to enjoy perfect freedom, to gain the mastery over the dominion of evil, because Christ’s victory is our s.
    ... F. F. Bruce (1910-1990), The Apostolic Defense of the Gospel, London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1959, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959, p. 78-79 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 15:57; Ps. 2:8; Isa. 9:6-7; Matt. 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:25-27; Eph. 1:18-23; Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:5-6,16-18,27; 2:9-10; 3:1-3; 1 Pet. 3:21-22; Rev. 5:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have granted Your people the victory. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: Love one another

Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Meditation:
    [God] has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
    —2 Corinthians 1:10-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A frequent intercession with God, earnestly beseeching Him to forgive the sins of all mankind, to bless them with His providence, enlighten them with His Spirit, and bring them to everlasting happiness, is the divinest exercise that the heart of man can be engaged in.
    Be daily therefore on your knees, in a solemn, deliberate performance of this devotion, praying for others in such forms, with such length, importunity, and earnestness, as you use for yourself; and you will find all little, ill-natured passions die away, your heart grow great and generous, delighting in the common happiness of others, as you used only to delight in your own...
    It was this holy intercession that raised Christians to such a state of mutual love, as far exceeded all that had been praised and admired in human friendship. And when the same spirit of intercession is again in the world, when Christianity has the same power over the hearts of people, that it then had, this holy friendship will be again in fashion, and Christians will be again the wonder of the world, for that exceeding love which they bear to one another.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 413 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 1:10-11; John 13:34-35; Gal. 6:2; Eph. 6:18; 1 Tim. 3:1-2; Philem. 1:4-6; Jas. 5:14-15; 1 John 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I invest my heart in those You would have me pray for. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Davidman: the political use of religion

Tuesday, May 28, 2024
    Commemoration of Lanfranc, Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1089
Meditation:
    So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
    —Acts 10:34-35 (ESV)
Quotation:
    There have always been two kinds of Christianity—man’s and Christ’s. Does anyone today remember how the emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion? It is said that he had a vision—saw a cross in the sky with the inscription, “In this sign shalt thou conquer.” He accepted the new faith promptly, because he thought it would defeat his enemies for him. That is man’s Christianity, a means to earthly triumph. And in our present crisis [1955] we are appealing to it to defeat the Russians for us. We hear of the life-and-death struggle between Christianity and Communism, the necessity of saving the world once for all, the religious duty of “keeping God alive as a social force”—as if our Lord could not survive a Soviet victory!
    It is a poor sort of faith that imagines Christ defeated by anything men can do.
    ... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955, reprint, Westminster John Knox Press, 1985, p. 135 (see the book)
    See also Acts 10:34-35; Gen. 18;14; Ps. 2:6-9; 110:1-3; Isa. 9:6-7; Jer. 32:17; Dan. 7:14; Matt. 11:27; 28:18; Luke 1:32-33; John 13:3; 1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:20-22; Phil. 2:9-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You call people from every tribe and nation to praise Your Name. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: predestination

Monday, May 27, 2024
    Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564
Meditation:
    So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
    —Romans 11:5-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When they inquire into predestination, they are penetrating the sacred precincts of divine wisdom. If anyone with carefree assurance breaks into this place, he will not succeed in satisfying his curiosity and he will enter a labyrinth from which he can find no exit. For it is not right for man unrestrainedly to search out things that the Lord has willed to be hidden in Himself; nor is it right for him to investigate from eternity that sublime wisdom, which God would have us revere but not understand, in order that through this also He should fill us with wonder. He has set forth by His Word the secrets of His will that He has decided to reveal to us. These He decided to reveal in so far as He foresaw that they would concern and benefit us.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.xxi.1, p. 142 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 11:2-6; Ex. 33:19; Matt. 6:8; 22:14; Acts 2:23; Rom. 8:29-30; 9:15-18; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:4-5; 1 Pet. 2:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, with Your mysteries, Your church is content. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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