Sadgrove & Wright: the family of God

Sunday, July 21, 2024
Meditation:
    If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
    —Galatians 3:29 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Old and New Testaments never waver in their assertion that the promises of Abraham were for all the nations of the earth: physical descent from the patriarch is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for salvation. But the theology of the Church is in no way weakened by this point; it is rather given more definite content. God’s way of salvation is to start a family; we are saved by belonging to it.
    ... Michael Sadgrove (b. 1950) & N. T. Wright (b. 1948), “Jesus Christ the Only Saviour”, in The Lord Christ [1980], John Stott, ed., vol. 1 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 68 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 3:29; Gen. 18:18; Ps. 72:17; Acts 3:25; Rom. 4:16; 8:16-17; Gal. 3:8; Eph. 3:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all nations will praise You for Your salvation. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Morgan: no peace with sin

Saturday, July 20, 2024
    Commemoration of Bartolomè de las Casas, Apostle to the Indies, 1566
Meditation:
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
    —Psalm 51:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Thank God that He will not make peace with sin in my heart... I bless His name for the thunder of His authority, and for the profound conviction that He is fierce and furious in His anger against sin, wherever it manifests itself.
    ... G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945), Living Messages of the Books of the Bible, v. I, New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1912, p. 114 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 51:10; 24:3-4; 30:5; 51:7; Isa. 57:15-16; John 3:19-20; Heb. 12:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I long for the day when I will be free of sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Finney: whom to pray for

Friday, July 19, 2024
    Feast of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, & his sister Macrina, Teachers, c.394 & c.379
Meditation:
    And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
    —Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Be filled with his Spirit, and he will give you objects enough to pray for. He will give you as much of the spirit of prayer as you have strength of body to bear.
    ... Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), Lectures on Revivals of Religion, New York: Leavitt, Lord & Co., 1835, p. 76 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 6:18; Luke 4:1; Acts 2:4,8; 4:31; 6:3-4; 7:55; 9:17; 13:52; Eph. 5:18-20; Jude 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, increase my love for the fellowship. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Luther: hungry for Christ

Thursday, July 18, 2024
Meditation:
    Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
    —John 4:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The proverb has it that Hunger is the best cook. The Law makes afflicted consciences hungry for Christ. Hungry hearts appreciate Christ. Thirsty souls are what Christ wants.
    ... Martin Luther (1483-1546), Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, tr. Theodore Graebner, MobileReference, 2009, p. 134 (see the book)
    See also John 4:13-14; Ps. 42:1-2; Matt. 11:28-30; John 6:27,35; 7:38; Gal. 3:21; Rev. 7:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone quench my thirst. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Murray: the humblest

Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”
    —Mark 10:43-44 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jesus the Holy One is the humble one: the holiest will ever be the humblest. There is none holy but God: we have as much of holiness as we have of God. And according to what we have of God will be our real humility, because humility is nothing but the disappearance of self in the vision that God is all. The holiest will be the humblest.
    ... Andrew Murray (1828-1917), Humility: the Beauty of Holiness, New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Co., 1895, p. 78 (see the book)
    See also Mark 10:43-44; Matt. 5:3; 11:29; 18:2-4; 20:26-28; 23:12; Mark 9:35-37; Luke 9:46-48; 14:10-11; 22:26; John 13:14-16; Rom. 12:3; 1 Cor. 1:28-29; Eph. 4:2; 5:21; Phil. 2:3; Jas. 1:9-10; 4:6,10; 1 Pet. 5:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a more humble heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: the living church

Tuesday, July 16, 2024
    Commemoration of Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, 1099
Meditation:
    [Jesus praying:] “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
    —John 17:20-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The world looks, shrugs its shoulders and turns away. It has not seen even the beginning of a living church in the midst of a dying culture. It has not seen the beginning of what Jesus indicates is the final apologetic—observable oneness among true Christians who are truly brothers in Christ. Our sharp tongues, the lack of love between us—not the necessary statements of differences that may exist between true Christians—these are what properly trouble the world.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), The Mark of the Christian, Inter-Varsity Press, 1976, p. 40 (see the book)
    See also John 17:20-23; Ps. 133:1; Matt. 23:8; Acts 4:32; 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:3; Phil. 1:27-28; 2:1-2; 1 Pet. 3:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, restore our outward unity for Your name’s sake. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Trueblood: change in us

Monday, July 15, 2024
    Commemoration of Swithun, Bishop of Winchester, c.862
    Commemoration of Bonaventure, Franciscan Friar, Bishop, Peacemaker, 1274
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
    —John 14:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Gospels are of transcendent value because of what they tell us of the eternal and unchanging nature of God. Since God is the Supreme Person, naturally His clearest revelation had to be, not in the starry heavens, wonderful and extensive as they undoubtedly are, but in a completely personal existence, with all its pains and victories. Christ is significant, then, in what He reveals. We encounter Him, as did the plain men and women of Galilee, or the Roman soldier, and suddenly it comes to us with a shock of revelation that this is what God is like. The nature of God, as depicted in Christ’s words and deeds, was not something new, but something that has always been true. If there is any change, it is in us, and not in Him.
    ... Elton Trueblood (1900-1994), The Future of the Christian, Harper & Row, 1971, p. 80 (see the book)
    See also John 14:7-11; Matt. 27:54; John 1:18; 12:44-45; 17:6,26; Phil. 2:6; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in Christ we have Your fullness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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