Allen: missionary zeal from love

Sunday, August 18, 2024
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
    —Matthew 13:44 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love. If I do not love a person I am not moved to help him by proofs that he is in need; if I do love him I wait for no proof of a special need to urge me to help him. Knowledge of Christ is so rich a treasure that the spirit of love must necessarily desire to impart it. The mere assurance that others have it not is sufficient proof of their need. This spirit of love throws aside intellectual arguments that they can do very well without it. But if this spirit is not present, a man is easily persuaded that to impart a knowledge of Christianity (for it is noteworthy that such men always speak of Christianity rather than of Christ) is not necessary, nay, is superfluous expense of energy which might be better used in other ways.
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), Pentecost and the World, London: Oxford University Press, 1917, included in The Ministry of the Spirit, David M. Paton, ed., London: World Dominion Press, 1960, p. 35 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 13:44; Ps. 18:49; Isa. 43:5-11; John 3:16-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, the whole world needs Your grace and mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Blake: God appears, and God is Light

Saturday, August 17, 2024
Meditation:
    In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
    —John 1:4-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
God appears, and God is Light
    To those poor souls who dwell in night,
But does a human form display
    To those who dwell in realms of day.
    ... William Blake (1757-1827), Poems of William Blake, ed. William Butler Yeats, London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1893, p. 472 (see the book)
    See also John 1:4-5; Isa. 9:2; 50:10; 60:1-3,19; Luke 2:30-32; John 8:12; 12:46; Eph. 5:8-14; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 John 1:5-7; Rev. 22:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You light lifts all Your people out of darkness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Skelton: O radiant luminary of light interminable

Friday, August 16, 2024
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
    —John 9:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
O radiant luminary of light interminable,
    Celestial Father, potential God of might,
Of heaven and earth, O Lord incomparable,
    Of all perfections the essential most perfite!
    O Maker of mankind, that formëd day and night,
Whose power imperial comprehendeth every place:
    Mine heart, my mind, my thought, my whole delight
Is after this life, to see thy glorious face.

Whose magnificence is incomprehensible,
    All arguments of reason, which far doth exceed,
Whose deity doubtless is indivisible,
    From whom all goodness and virtue doth proceed;
    Of thy support all creätures have need:
Assist me, good Lord, and grant me of thy grace
    To live to thy pleasure in word, thought, and deed,
And after this life to see thy glorious face.
    ... John Skelton (1460-1529), Pithy, Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, London: C. Davis, 1736, p. 121-122 (see the book)
    See also John 9:5; Gen. 1:5; Matt. 4:15-16; John 1:4-5; 8:12; 2 Cor. 10:5; Eph. 5:13-14; Col. 1:27; Jas. 1:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the only true source of light.

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Yaconelli: unfinished

Thursday, August 15, 2024
Meditation:
    Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
    —1 Peter 2:2-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jesus understood unfinishedness very well, which is why he was comfortable leaving eleven unfinished disciples. When he died, the disciples were confused, depressed, afraid, and doubtful. They faced a lifetime of finishing, just like you and me. Messy spirituality not only reminds us we will always be a work in progress; it also reminds us that the unfinished life is a lot more spiritual than we imagined.
    ... Mike Yaconelli (1942-2003), Messy Spirituality [2002], Zondervan, 2007, p. 30 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 2:2-3; Matt. 16:15-23; 28:17; Mark 8:29-33; John 20:25; Rom. 8:5-8; 1 Cor. 2:14-15; 3:1-2; 14:20; Eph. 4:11-15; Col. 1:28; 3:2; Heb. 5:12-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, increase my growth in You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: part of Christ's mission

Wednesday, August 14, 2024
    Commemoration of Maximilian Kolbe, Franciscan Friar, Priest, Martyr, 1941
Meditation:
    But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
    —2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To be elect in Christ Jesus, and there is no other election, means to be incorporated into his mission to the world, to be the bearer of God’s saving purpose for his whole world, to be the sign and the agent and the first fruit of his blessed kingdom which is for all.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1989, p. 86-87 (see the book)
    See also 2 Thess. 2:13; Rom. 8:23; 9:11-12; Jas. 1:18; 2 Pet. 1:10; Rev. 14:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I be a sign to others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Taylor: the seeds of praise

Tuesday, August 13, 2024
    Feast of Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down & Connor, Priest, Teacher, 1667
    Commemoration of Florence Nightingale, Social Reformer, 1910
    Commemoration of Octavia Hill, Worker for the Poor, 1912
Meditation:
The LORD upholds all those who fall
    and lifts up all who are bowed down.
    —Psalm 145:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Every furrow in the book of the Psalms is sown with such seeds [of praise and thanksgiving]. I know nothing more certain, more constant, to expel the sadness of the world, than to sound out the praises of the Lord as with a trumpet: and when the heart is cast down, it will make it rebound from earth to heaven.
    ... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), Christian Consolations, in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., v. I, London: Ogle, Duncan and Company, 1822, p. 131 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 145:14; 81:1; 135:3; 147:1; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we lift Your psalms in praise to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Davidman: making the day holy

Monday, August 12, 2024
Meditation:
    Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
    —Exodus 20:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How do you make a day holy? By stopping work—that is, by stopping all the pursuits we engage in for necessity not for pleasure, all our struggles with the world conceived as an enemy that is trying to starve us to death. By looking at that world and seeing that it is good. By entering into all its good and friendly and loving activities, and rejoicing in them. And, above all, by looking beyond the world to the Love that sustains it.
    ... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955, reprint, Westminster John Knox Press, 1985, p. 58 (see the book)
    See also Ex. 20:8; Gen. 1:31; 2:3; Ex. 31:13; Lev. 23:3; Ps. 75:3; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love is the foundation of our existence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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