Polycarp: hold on to the hope

Sunday, February 23, 2025
    Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr, c.155
Meditation:
    Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
    —1 John 2:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Let us therefore without ceasing hold fast by our hope and by the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ who took up our sins in His own body upon the tree, who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, but for our sakes He endured all things, that we might live in Him. Let us therefore become imitators of His endurance; and if we should suffer for His name’s sake, let us glorify Him. For He gave this example to us in His own person, and we believed this.
    ... Polycarp (69?-155?), Letter to the Philippians A.D. 110-140, 8:1-2 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 2:6; 1 Chr. 16:11; Job 17:9; Ps. 37:23-24; 138:8; Hos. 12:6; Matt. 10:22; 24:12-13; Mark 13:13; John 13:15; Rom. 2:7; Eph. 5:1-2; Col. 2:6-7; 1 Pet. 2:21-24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen me so that I may follow Your example. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Morgan: the really good news

Saturday, February 22, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Blessed...”
    —Matthew 5:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The very first word that falls from His lips is a revelation of the will of God for man. “Blessed.” “Happy.” That is the Divine thought and intention for us. Sorrow, tears, pain, disappointment, all these may be, and are, of inestimable value in the Father’s discipline; but they are means to an end, made necessary by man’s sin. The end, in the purpose of God is blessedness. Happiness is that after which all men in every age seek, and the first note in the Saviour’s teaching reveals it, as what God is seeking also.
    ... G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945), Discipleship, New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1897, p. 24 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:3-12; Ps. 1:1; 32:1-2; 84:12; Luke 6:20-26; 11:28
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You shower blessing on Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Aragon: the true light

Friday, February 21, 2025
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:
    Any lights shining on the wrong subject will mislead you. I focus on my Lord Jesus, the true light that enlightens every man. He does not blind me, dazzle me, or confuse me. He shines on my path to show me the way, shines on my thoughts to show me the truth, and shines on my life to lead me to Life, because He is the way, the truth, and the life. His light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot resist it.
    ... Luis Fernando Aragón, Pilgrim: One Thousand Days on the Road, Enumclaw, WA: WinePress Publishing, 2010, p. 98 (see the book)
    See also John 1:4-5; Ps. 16:11; 18:28; 119:105; John 14:6; Heb. 12:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I always see You ahead in my pathway. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: the Christian life

Thursday, February 20, 2025
    Commemoration of Cecile Isherwood, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, Grahamstown, South Africa, 1906
Meditation:
    Then [Jesus] said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
    —Luke 9:23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If our common life is not a common course of humility, self-denial, renunciation of the world, poverty of spirit, and heavenly affection, we don’t live the lives of Christians.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 10-11 (see the book)
    See also Luke 9:23; Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; John 13:34-35; Acts 2:40; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Gal. 6:14; Jas. 4:4; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 2:15-17; 3:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, conform me to Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: God's slowness

Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Meditation:
    He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
    —Matthew 26:42 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Most Christians are affected far more than they know by the standards and methods of the surrounding world. In these days when power and size and speed are almost universally admired, it seems to me particularly important to study afresh the “weakness,” the “smallness of entry,” and the “slowness” of God as He begins His vast work of reconstructing His disordered world. We are all tempted to take short cuts, to work for quick results, and to evade painful sacrifice. It is therefore essential that we should look again at love incarnate in a human being, to see God Himself at work within the limitations of human personality, and to base our methods on what we see Him do.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Making Men Whole, London: Highway Press, 1952, p. 7-8 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 26:42; Isa. 42:1-4; 52:14; 53:2-7; Matt. 7:13; 18:2-3; 27:26-32; Luke 13:24; 14:33; John 10;9; 14:6; 19:1-3; 1 Cor. 1:27; Gal. 5:24; Phil. 3:7-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me Your imitator. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Jones: the party vs. the Kingdom

Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
    —Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It seems to me that the only way out is for the Christian movement to renounce party allegiance as primary and make the Kingdom of God primary. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God...and all these things shall be added unto you.” But if we seek first the party, then all these things shall be subtracted from us—as now. After making the Kingdom first we could say to the parties: “We will stand with you to the degree that you stand for the Kingdom. When you break with that Kingdom, we break with you. For to us the Kingdom loyalty is first, last, and always.”
    ... E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), The Christ of the American Road, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1944, p. 186-187 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:33; Isa. 29:13-14; Matt. 5:6; 15:7-9; Luke 12:31; John 6:27; 1 Cor. 1:10-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead Your people out of division. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: amazement

Monday, February 17, 2025
    Feast of Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977
Meditation:
    Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
    —Hebrews 5:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We are never nearer Christ than when we find ourselves lost in a holy amazement at his unspeakable love.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, ch. III-V, in Works of John Owen, v. XXI, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1854, p. 528 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 5:8-10; John 4:34; 6:38; Heb. 3:6; 10:5-7; Phil. 2:8; Rev. 5:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, you are worthy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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