Willard: the eternal kingdom

Sunday, October 27, 2024
Meditation:
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is faithful to all his promises
    and loving toward all he has made.
    —Psalm 145:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We will not doubt that that kingdom has existed from the moment of creation and will never end. It cannot be “shaken” and it is totally good. It has never been in trouble and never will be. It is not something that human beings produce or, ultimately, can hinder. We do have an invitation to be a part of it, but if we refuse we only hurt ourselves.
    ... Dallas Willard (1935-2013), The Divine Conspiracy, HarperCollins, 1997, p. 25 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 145:13; Isa. 9:6-7; Dan. 7:14; Matt. 25:34; Luke 1:32-33; Heb. 12:27-29; 1 Pet. 1:3-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, receive me into Your kingdom. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Maclaren: the riches of God

Saturday, October 26, 2024
    Feast of Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899
    Commemoration of Cedd, Founding Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of the East Saxons, 664
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
    —Matthew 7:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the treasure chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank, and told to help himself, and comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor? Whose fault is it that Christian people generally have such scanty portions of the free riches of God?
    ... Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910), The Gospel of St. Matthew, v. 1, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1892, p. 112 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 7:1-12; Ps. 84:11; 85:12; Matt. 6:19-21; 13:44-46; Luke 11:13; 12:33-34; 2 Cor. 9:8-11; Eph. 3:8-9; Col. 2:2-3; Tit. 3:4-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your gifts are beyond price. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Forsyth: to seek God

Friday, October 25, 2024
    Commemoration of Crispin & Crispinian, Martyrs at Rome, c.285
Meditation:
I love those who love me,
    and those who seek me find me.
    —Proverbs 8:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If prayer is not a play of the religious fantasy, or a routine task, it must be the application of faith to a concrete actual and urgent situation. Only remember that prayer does not work by magic, and that stormy desire is not fervent, effectual prayer. You may be but exploiting a mighty power; whereas you must be in real contact with the real God. It is the man that most really has God that most really seeks God.
    ... P. T. Forsyth (1848-1921), The Soul of Prayer [1916], Regent College Publishing, 2002, p. 76 (see the book)
    See also Pr. 8:17; Deut. 4:29; Ps. 119:10; Jer. 29:12-14; Lam. 3:25; Matt. 6:33; 7:7-8; John 3:18-19; Heb. 4:2; 11:6; 1 John 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, draw me closer to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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McCabe: beside us

Thursday, October 24, 2024
Meditation:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
    —Psalm 139:7-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Never again are we to look at the stars, as we did when we were children, and wonder how far it is to God. A being outside our world would be a spectator, looking on but taking no part in this life where we try to be brave despite all the bafflement. A God who created, and withdrew, could be mighty, but he could not be love. Who could love a God remote, when suffering is our lot? Our God is closer than our problems, for they are out there, to be faced; He is here, beside us, Emmanuel.
    ... Joseph E. McCabe (1912-2001?), Handel’s Messiah, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978, p. 27 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 139:7-10; 46:7; 145:18; Isa. 9:6-7; 44:3; Jer. 13:24; Eze. 36:25-27; Joel 2:28-29; Matt. 1:23; John 1:14; 17:3; Acts 2:38-39; 8:17 Rom. 8:11; 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are closer than my own thoughts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Saphir: the humanity of Christ

Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Meditation:
    Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
    —Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Let us not forget the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not think of it vaguely, and fall into the heretical fancy that the Son of God became man merely to transact certain things which were necessary to secure the salvation of men, and that after this object was achieved His human nature recedes into the background and impenetrable obscurity. No, it is not so; all-important as His work on earth was—the only foundation of our hope and blessedness—let us adore the revealed mystery that God gave us His Son, never to recall Him, as it were, and take Him away from us; He spared Him not and gave Him to us, allowing Him to become man, exalting Him as the Son of Man, enthroning Him because of his obedience unto death, and giving unto Him as the Son of Man all power in heaven and earth.
    ... Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 145-146 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 2:5-11; Ps. 22:1-5; Isa. 53:10; Matt. 4:1-2; 11:29; 28:18-20; Luke 24:41-43; John 1:14; 3:16-17; Rom. 5:8; 8:32; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 12:2; 1 John 1:2-3; 4:2-3,10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we adore You that You have deigned to become one of us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bronnert: witness identification

Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Meditation:
    For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
    —Hebrews 2:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The theology of incarnation is fundamental; Jesus came to live among those for whom he died to save. The Christian has always to be identified closely with those to whom he is called to witness. More than physical presence is needed, there needs to be a psychological presence too. It is possible to live in one area whilst having one’s children educated outside it, and for one’s thought-life and friendships to be in quite a different world. If the presence is to be real, it needs to be a committed and involved presence in the local church life and in the local community.
    ... David Bronnert, “The Gospel and Culture”, in The Changing World, Bruce Kaye, ed., vol. 3 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 127 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 2:17-18; Matt. 9:10-12; Luke 5:30-32; 15:1-2; 19:5; John 1:14; 2 Cor. 5:16; Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 2:11-12; 1 John 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to serve those whom I have been placed among. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Warren: spiritual adultery

Monday, October 21, 2024
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
    —Mark 8:38 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Your identity is in eternity, and your homeland is heaven. When you grasp this truth, you will stop worrying about “having it all” on earth. God is very blunt about the danger of living for the here and now and adopting the values, priorities, and lifestyles of the world around us. When we flirt with the temptations of this world, God calls it spiritual adultery.
    ... Rick Warren (b.1954), The Purpose Driven Life [2002], Zondervan, 2012, p. 48 (see the book)
    See also Mark 8:38; Ps. 15; Hos. 1:2; Matt. 6:24; 12:39; 16:4; Luke 12:15-21; Rom. 12:2; Heb. 11:13; Jas. 4:1-2,4; 1 Pet. 1:1-2; 1 John 2:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, open my hands, that I may no longer hold on to things. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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