Franck: Jesus, priceless treasure

Sunday, July 28, 2024
    Commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach, musician, 1750
Meditation:
    Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
    —John 15:14 (KJV)
Quotation:
Jesu, priceless treasure,
Source of purest pleasure
    Truest friend to me!
Long my heart has panted,
Till it well-nigh fainted,
    Thirsting after Thee!
Thine I am, O spotless Lamb!
I will suffer naught to hide Thee,
    Ask for naught beside Thee.

In Thine arm I rest me,
Foes who would molest me
    Cannot reach me here;
Though the earth be shaking
Every heart be quaking,
    Jesus calms my fear;
Sin and hell in conflict fell
With their heaviest storms assail me,
    Jesus will not fail me.

Hence, all thoughts of sadness,
For the Lord of gladness,
    Jesus, enters in!
Those who love the Father,
Though the storms may gather,
    Still have peace within;
Yea, whate’er we here must bear,
Still in Thee lies purest pleasure,
    ; Jesu, priceless treasure!
    ... Johann Franck (1618-1677), Christian Singers of Germany, Catherine Winkworth, New York: Macmillan & Co., 1869, p. 228-229 (see the book)
    See also John 15:14-16; Matt. 6:21; 12:50; 13:44-46; John 14:15; 1 Cor. 2:9-10; Col. 2:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, there is nothing more precious than Your Kingdom.

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Stott: peacemaking

Saturday, July 27, 2024
    Commemoration of Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher, 1901
    Commemoration of John R. W. Stott, spiritual writer and teacher, 2011
Meditation:
    Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
    —James 3:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The incentive to peacemaking is love, but it degenerates into appeasement whenever justice is ignored. To forgive and to ask for forgiveness are both costly exercises. All authentic Christian peacemaking exhibits the love and justice—and so the pain—of the cross.
    ... John R. W. Stott (1921-2011), The Cross of Christ, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986, p. 289 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 85:8; 122:6-8; Hos. 10:12; Matt. 5:9; Luke 17:3-4; Rom. 12:1-2,18; 14:17-19; Gal. 5:22-23; 6:1-2; Col. 3:13; Jas. 3:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have paid the price for peace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Spurgeon: the sinful prayer

Friday, July 26, 2024
Meditation:
    And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
    —Romans 8:27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The prayer which moves the arm of God is still a sinful prayer, and only moves that arm because the Sinless One, the great Mediator, has stepped in to take away the sin of our supplication.
    ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), Spurgeon’s Sermons Volume 9: 1863, CCEL, Sermon 515 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:26-27,34; Isa. 6:6-7; 64:6; Zech. 12:10; Eph. 2:18; 1 John 2:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Purify my prayer, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gossip: a gift from Christ

Thursday, July 25, 2024
    Feast of James the Apostle
Meditation:
    Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
    —John 14:9-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God, as we know Him, is a gift to us from Christ.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), From the Edge of the Crowd, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1924, p. 9 (see the book)
    See also John 14:9-11; Luke 24:44; John 5:39-40; Acts 26:22-23; Rom. 1:16-17; 1 Pet. 1:10-11; Rev. 1:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Blessed are the eyes of faith that you have granted to me, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Thomas a Kempis: love motivates

Wednesday, July 24, 2024
    Commemoration of Thomas à Kempis, priest, spiritual writer, 1471
Meditation:
    When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
    “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
    Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
    Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
    He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
    Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
    The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
    Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
    Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
 &nb sp;  —John 21:15-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Whoever loves much, does much.
    ... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, I.xv.2, p. 51 (see the book)
    See also John 21:15-17; Ps. 78:70-72; John 14:15; Acts 20:28; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Gal. 5:6; 1 Pet. 5:1-4; 1 John 4:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a heart like Yours. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: bearing one another's burdens

Tuesday, July 23, 2024
    Commemoration of Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373
Meditation:
    Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
    —Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is the fellowship of the Cross to experience the burden of the other. If one does not experience it, the fellowship he belongs to is not Christian. If any member refuses to bear that burden, he denies the law of Christ.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 101 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:2; Isa. 53:4; Matt. 5:41; 8:17; 11:29-30; Rom. 15:1; 1 Pet. 2:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me alert to the one whose burden is heavy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: worldly pride

Monday, July 22, 2024
    Feast of Mary Magdalen, Apostle to the Apostles
Meditation:
    Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
    —Ephesians 6:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For these tempers of worldly pride, and vain glory, are not only evil when they mix with our good works, but they have the same evil nature, and make us odious to God, when they enter into the common business of our employment. If it were allowable to indulge covetous or vain passions in our worldly employments, it would then be allowable to be vain-glorious in our devotions. But as our alms and devotions are not an acceptable service, but when they proceed from a heart truly devoted to God, so our common employment cannot be reckoned a service to Him, but when it is performed with the same temper and piety of heart.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 51-52 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 6:5-9; Pr. 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Hos. 12:7-8; Amos 8:4-6; Mic. 6:10-11; Matt. 10:41-42; Rom. 2:6-10; 1 Cor. 3:3; Eph. 4:28; Phil. 2:3; Col. 3:23-24; Heb. 11:26
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may my first object be always to please You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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