Phillips: silence and humility

Sunday, December 22, 2024
    Advent IV
Meditation:
    Then [the child Jesus] went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
    —Luke 2:51 (NIV)
Quotation:
    By far the most significant event in the whole course of human history will be celebrated, with or without understanding, at the end of this season of Advent... What we are in fact celebrating is the awe-inspiring humility of God, and no amount of familiarity with the trappings of Christmas should ever blind us to its quiet but explosive significance... God’s insertion of himself into human history came about with an almost frightening quietness and humility... As millions will testify, he will come once again with the same silence and the same devastating humility into any heart which is ready to receive him.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Good News: Thoughts on God and Man, New York: Macmillan, 1963, p. 157, 162-164 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:51; Isa. 8:13-15; 53:7; Matt. 21:42-44; Mark 6:3; Luke 2:10-11,29-35; Rom. 9:30-32; 1 Pet. 2:21,23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, show me Your way to humility. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Mascall: the virgin birth

Saturday, December 21, 2024
Meditation:
    But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
    All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
    “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”
    —Matthew 1:20-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I do not wish to imply that God the Son could not, absolutely speaking, have become incarnate by a non-virginal conception, any more than I should wish to deny that God might, absolutely speaking, have redeemed mankind without becoming incarnate at all; it is always unwise to place limits to the power of God. What we can see is that both an incarnation and a virginal conception were thoroughly appropriate to the needs and circumstances of the case and were more “natural,” in the sense of more appropriate, than the alternatives... In practice, denial of the virginal conception or inability to see its relevance almost always goes with an inadequate understanding of the Incarnation and of the Christian religion in general.
    ... E. L. Mascall (1905-1993), The Secularization of Christianity, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966, p. 270-271 fn (see the book)
    See also Matt. 1:18-25; Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Luke 1:31-35; John 1:14; Rom. 1:16; Gal. 4:4-5; Heb. 2:14-17; 10:5; 1 John 4:2-3; 2 John 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    I praise You, Lord, for this sign of Your coming. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Thurman: When the song of the angels

Friday, December 20, 2024
Meditation:
    The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to [Jesus]. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
    “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
    Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
    —Luke 4:17-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
    ... Howard Thurman (1899-1981), The Mood of Christmas, Friends United Press, 1985, p. 23 (see the book)
    See also Luke 4:17-21; Isa. 61:1-3; Matt. 2:12; Luke 2:20; 19:10; John 3:34; Rev. 22:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Your coming, Lord, heals the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: heaven on earth

Thursday, December 19, 2024
Meditation:
    For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
    —2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 86 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 4:6; Ps. 119:18; Isa. 32:3-4; Eph. 1:18-19; 5:8-10; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my heart longs to see You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonar: duty

Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Meditation:
    And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
    Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
    —Romans 8:11-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    And do these objectors mean to say that, because God has redeemed us from the curse of the law, therefore we owe him nothing, we have no duty now to him? Has not redemption rather made us doubly debtors? We owe him more than ever: we owe his holy law more than ever; more honor, more obedience. Duty has been doubled, not canceled, by our being delivered from the law; and he who says that duty has ceased, because deliverance has come, knows nothing of duty, or law, or deliverance.
    ... Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), God’s Way of Holiness, London: J. Nisbet, 1864, p. 67 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:11-14; 6:1-4; 7:6; 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 4:17,22-24; 5:8-10; Phil. 2:3-7; Col. 1:10-12; 3:9-10; 1 Pet. 4:1-2; 2 Pet. 1:4-9; 1 John 2:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit is my true guide. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Sayers: just a feeling?

Tuesday, December 17, 2024
    Commemoration of Dorothy Sayers, Teacher and Spiritual Writer, 1957
    Commemoration of Eglantyne Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of ‘Save the Children’, 1928
Meditation:
    Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
    —1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality, unless they are prepared to take their stand upon the fundamentals of Christian theology. It is a lie to say that dogma does not matter; it matters enormously. It is fatal to let people suppose that Christianity is only a mode of feeling; it is vitally necessary to insist that it is first and foremost a rational explanation of the universe.
    ... Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957), Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World, Eerdmans, 1969, p. 31 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 4:16; John 7:16-17; Acts 2:42; Rom. 6:17; Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 4:6; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 4:3; Tit. 1:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your truth governs the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hammarskjold: the Cross in Bethlehem

Monday, December 16, 2024
Meditation:
    Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
    —Luke 2:34-35 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How proper it is that Christmas should follow Advent. For him who looks toward the future, the manger is situated on Golgotha, and the cross has already been raised in Bethlehem.
    ... Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Markings, tr. Leif Sjöberg & W. H. Auden, (q.v.), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964 (post.), p. 198 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:34-35; Isa. 9:6; 53:2-5; John 1;14; Rom. 8:3-4; Eph. 5:1-2; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 10:5-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your purpose is always to save. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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