Brooks: blessing or curse

Sunday, June 30, 2024
Meditation:
    Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.
    —1 Samuel 16:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We shall understand [the story of King Saul] best if we consider how wide the law of life is that it opens to us. The law is that: a beneficent power, if we obey it, blesses and helps us; but the same power, if we disobey it, curses and ruins us. That law runs everywhere... Was not Judas cursed by the same friendship with Jesus that perfected John?
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Visions and Tasks, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1910, p. 302,305 (see the book)
    See also 1 Sam. 16:14; Jonah 1:12; Matt. 27:5; John 13:23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your friendship is surpassing blessing to me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Yelchaninov: spiritual gifts

Saturday, June 29, 2024
    Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles
Meditation:
    Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
    —1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Our help to people is often not in the system of the deliberate actions, influencing their soul, but in the invisible and unknown for us action of our spiritual gifts on them.
    ... Alexander Yelchaninov (1881-1934), Advice of Fr. Alexander Yelchaninov to Young Priests [1934], in A Treasury of Russian Spirituality, Georgii Petrovich Fedotov, ed., Nordland, 1975 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 14:1; Ps. 29:11; Pr. 2:6; Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 1:5-7; 12:4-11; Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 1:29; 1 Tim. 4:14; Jas. 1:5,17; 4:5-6; 1 Pet. 4:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I earnestly desire a heart and mind like Yours. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Halverson: God's time

Friday, June 28, 2024
    Feast of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher, Martyr, c.200
Meditation:
    And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
    —Ephesians 1:9-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God has a time for everything, a perfect schedule. He is never too soon, never too late. The when of His will is as important as the what and the how.
    ... Richard C. Halverson (1916-1995), No Greater Power: Perspective for Days of Pressure, Multnomah Press, 1986, p. 213 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 1:9-12; Matt. 6:27; 26:52-56; Mark 1:15; Luke 12:35-40; John 13:1; Acts 17:26; 1 Cor. 10:11; Gal. 4:4-5; Heb. 1:1-2; 11:39-40
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I ever remain ready for Your will and purposes. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Neill: from faith to faith

Thursday, June 27, 2024
Meditation:
    But these [accounts] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
    —John 20:31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Every book of the New Testament is written from faith to faith, by believers for the edification of other believers, or for those who are not yet believers that they may be brought to the faith. But this faith is not to be confused with mere acquiescence or intellectual assent; it involves death and life, confrontation and commitment, as almost every book in the New Testament makes plain, to a way that is inseparable from danger and suffering.
    ... Stephen Neill (1900-1984), Jesus Through Many Eyes, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976, p. 194-195 (see the book)
    See also John 20:31; Luke 1:1-4; John 21:24; Rom. 1:17; 1 Cor. 4:14; 5:11; 14:37; 2 Cor. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:14-15; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; 1 John 2:7-8,26; 2 John 1:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your people are safe in Your hands, informed by Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Baillie: giving thanks to God

Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Meditation:
    And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
    —Colossians 3:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
For the power Thou hast given me to lay hold of things unseen:
For the strong sense I have that this is not my home:
For my restless heart which nothing finite can satisfy:
    I give Thee thanks, O God.
For the invasion of my soul by Thy Holy Spirit:
For all human love and goodness that speak to me of Thee:
For the fullness of Thy glory outpoured in Jesus Christ
    I give Thee thanks, O God.
    ... John Baillie (1886-1960) & Donald M. Baillie (1887-1954), A Diary of Private Prayer, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1939, p. 53 (see the book)
    See also Col. 3:17,23-24; 2 Chr. 31:20-21; Ps. 42:1-2; Phil. 4:8; Pr. 3:6; 1 Cor. 10:31
Quiet time reflection:
    Am I truly thankful for the many blessings I receive? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Saphir: all Scripture is Gospel

Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Meditation:
    Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
    —Galatians 3:24-25 (KJV)
Quotation:
    When Paul speaks [II Cor. 3] of our being ministers of the New Testament, he does not refer to books most of which were not yet written, but to the gospel, which he found in the Scripture he possessed. The Jews could only see “Old Testament” in Moses and the prophets, because they were blind. To the spiritual all Scripture is gospel, or New Testament (the Law being the schoolmaster, bringing us to Christ), but to the natural and self righteous, as we ought to know from experience and observation, all Scripture (gospels and epistles included) is Old Testament, or Covenant of Works.
    ... Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 191 (see the book)
    See also Gal.3:24-25; Gen. 15:6; Jer. 31:31-34; 32:40; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 8:6-13; 9:15; 10:16-17; 13:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I praise You for the liberty of Your new covenant. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ryle: the source of holiness

Monday, June 24, 2024
    Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
    —John 15:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Holiness comes not of blood—parents cannot give it to their children: nor yet of the will of the flesh—man cannot produce it in himself: nor yet of the will of man—ministers cannot give it you by baptism. Holiness comes from Christ. It is the result of vital union with Him. It is the fruit of being a living branch of the True Vine.
    ... J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), Holiness [1877, 1879], Sovereign Grace Publishers, reprint, 2001, p. 32 (see the book)
    See also John 15:1-8; Rom. 12:1-2; Phil. 1:9-11; 1 Thess. 5:22; 1 Tim. 6:11-12; Tit. 1:15; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; 2 Pet. 1:4-8; 1 John 1:6-7; 3:2-3; 2 John 1:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You nourish Your people with holiness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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