Aldrich: the Gospel solution

Sunday, November 10, 2024
    Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461
Meditation:
    The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
    —Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christians need to think through what the gospel can mean to a searching heart. Besides deliverance from a literal hell, it may put an unbeliever’s marriage back together, it may end his overpowering guilt, it may free him from a burdensome habit, it may bring peace, it may bring financial stability, it may solve many of his interpersonal problems, it may be the key to coping with illness, it may be the solution to a tragedy or some great loss, it may be the key to resources for living. Possibly it will be all of the above. That’s good news! Every basic human need or motive is matched by some facet of the gospel.
    ... Joseph C. Aldrich (1941-2009), Lifestyle Evangelism, Multnomah Press, 1981, p. 89 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 61:1-3; Hos. 2:23; Matt. 4:23; 5:3-12; Rom. 6:16-17,20-22; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:13-14; 2:1-3; 4:22-24; Heb. 4:16; Jas. 1:27; 1 Pet. 2:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enlarge my heart, so that I might extend the good news to more of your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cecil: ministers need a devotional habit

Saturday, November 9, 2024
    Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433
Meditation:
    Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
    —Titus 1:7-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is a manifest want of spiritual influence on the ministry of the present day. I feel it in my own case, and I see it in that of others. I am afraid that there is too much of a low, managing, contriving, maneuvering temper of mind among us. We are laying ourselves out, more than is expedient, to meet one man’s taste, and another man’s prejudices. The ministry is a grand and holy affair; and it should find in us a simple habit of spirit, and a holy but humble indifference to all consequences.
    The leading defect in Christian ministers is want of a devotional habit.
    ... Richard Cecil (1748-1810), The Works of the Rev. Richard Cecil, v. III, Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1825, p. 308-309 (see the book)
    See also Tit. 1:7-9; Pr. 28:1; 1 Cor. 16:13; Phil. 1:27-28; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 Pet. 4:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant my minister the spirit of devotion. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: observable love

Friday, November 8, 2024
    Feast of Saints & Martyrs of England
Meditation:
    Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
    —1 Corinthians 13:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    So often people think that Christianity is only something soft, only a kind of gooey love that loves evil equally with good. This is not the biblical position. The holiness of God is to be exhibited simultaneously with love. We must be careful therefore, not to say that what is wrong is right, whether it is in the area of doctrine or of life, in our own group or another. Anywhere what is wrong is wrong, and we have a responsibility in that situation to say that what is wrong is wrong. But the observable love must be there regardless of the cost.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), The Mark of the Christian, Inter-Varsity Press, 1976, p. 28 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 13:6; Rom. 12:9; Eph. 4:15; 1 John 3:18; 3 John 1:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are teaching Your people to love the way You love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: the undeveloped germ

Thursday, November 7, 2024
    Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
    —Matthew 5:21-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The murderer and the unloving sit on the same bench before the Judge of eternal truth... Until we love our brother,—yes, until we love our enemy,—who is yet our brother,—we contain within ourselves the undeveloped germ of murder. And so with every sin in the tables, or out of the tables.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Selections from the Writings of George MacDonald, F.L. Dusenberry, 1889, p. 29 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:21-22; Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17; Ps. 37:8; Matt. 5:43-45; Eph. 4:26-27,31-32; 1 Pet. 2:23; 3:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, convict me of my hatred, wherever it is. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Temple: faith is fellowship with God

Wednesday, November 6, 2024
    Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”
    —Matthew 23:2-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Faith is not the holding of correct doctrines, but personal fellowship with the Living God... What is offered to man’s apprehension in any specific Revelation is not truth concerning God but the Living God Himself.
    ... William Temple (1881-1944), Nature, Man and God, London: Macmillan, 1934, 1949, p. 322 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:2-3; John 3:18-19; 8:24,39; Heb. 11:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I seek You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Packer: hope for ruined humanity

Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Meditation:
    Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
    —1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.
    ... James I. Packer (1926-2020), Knowing God, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1973, p. 63 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 1:3-5; Isa. 42:1-4; Matt. 8:20; 27:54; Luke 1:76-79; 2:6-7,14; 19:42; John 14:27; 16:33; Rom. 15:12-13; Eph. 1:11-12; Col. 1:27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let the hope of glory spread throughout Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gregory of Nazianzus: the divine poverty

Monday, November 4, 2024
Meditation:
    For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
    —2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    He who gives riches becomes poor; for He assumes the poverty of my flesh, that I may assume the riches of His Godhead. He that is full empties Himself; for He empties Himself of His Glory for a short while, that I may have a share in His Fulness.
    ... St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329-389/390), from Oration XLV, A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, v. VII, Philip Schaff & Henry Wace, ed., Christian literature Company, 1894, p. 426 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 8:9; Isa. 53:2-3; Matt. 8:20; Rom. 15:3; Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 2:9; 12:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have given Your people sonship. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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