Calvin: slain

Sunday, March 16, 2025
Meditation:
    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 8:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As we have a natural aversion to God, we shall never aim at that which is right, without a previous renunciation of ourselves. Therefore we are so frequently commanded to put off the old man, to renounce the world and the flesh, to forsake our lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Besides, the very word mortification reminds us how difficult it is to forget our former nature; for it implies that we cannot be formed to the fear of God, and learn the rudiments of piety, without being violently slain and annihilated by the sword of the Spirit. As though God had pronounced that, in order to our being numbered among his children, there is a necessity for the destruction of our common nature.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.iii.8, p. 541 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:13-14; 8:7; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 6:17; Col. 3:5; Heb. 4:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, assist me to dispatch my sinful nature. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Auden: becoming prayer

Saturday, March 15, 2025
Meditation:
    And [Jesus] went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
    —Matthew 26:39 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Our wishes and desires—to pass an exam, to marry the person we love, to sell our house at a good price—are involuntary and, therefore, not in themselves prayers. They only become prayers when addressed to a God whom we believe to know better than ourselves whether we should be granted or denied what we ask. A petition does not become a prayer unless it ends with the words, spoken or unspoken, “nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.”
    ... W. H. Auden (1907-1973), A Certain World, London: Faber and Faber, 1971, p. 307 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 26:39,42; 6:10; John 6:38; Rom. 12:2; 15:3; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 10:7; 1 Pet. 4:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may my speech become true prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: the life of the Church

Friday, March 14, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
    —Acts 1:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Church lives neither by her faithfulness to her message nor by her abiding in one fellowship with the apostles; she lives by the living power of the Spirit of God.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Household of God, London, SCM Press, 1953, New York: Friendship Press, 1954, p. 105 (see the book)
    See also Acts 1:8; Deut. 8:3; Rom. 15:13; 1 Cor. 3:11; 1 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, your presence give life to your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pusey: still, small Voice

Thursday, March 13, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?”
    
    —John 5:44 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is much, yea, it is everything, not to turn away the ear, to be willing to hearken, not to drown His Voice... It is a secret, hushed voice, a gentle intercourse of heart to heart, a still small voice, whispering to the inner ear. How should we hear it, if we fill our ears and our hearts with the din of this world, its empty tumult, its excitement, its fretting vanities, or cares, or passions, or anxieties, or show, its rivalries, and its whirl of emptinesses? A loud voice will often not reach an occupied heart. The Voice of the Son of God in the flesh, though it waked Lazarus from the dead, reached not those whose ears and minds were filled with the love of the praise of men.
    ... Edward B. Pusey (1800-1882), Parochial Sermons, v. II, London: Rivingtons, 1868, p. 247 (see the book)
    See also John 5:44; 1 Kings 19:12; Ps. 25:14; Eze. 2:7; Matt. 23:5-7; Luke 16:15; John 5:41; 11:43; 12:43; 1 Thess. 2:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Speak, Lord, for I am listening. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Micklem: Christian ethics depend on Christianity's truth

Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Meditation:
    Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.
    —John 7:24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This concern for the rights and liberties and welfare of the backward peoples is rooted in the Christian ethic of justice and of the duty to help and protect the weak, upon the Christian valuation of man as of spiritual dignity and worth, as made for freedom, as a potential child of God. These principles have no validity unless the Christian view of man be true.
    ... Nathaniel Micklem (1888-1976), The Theology of Politics, London: Oxford University Press, 1941, p. 114 (see the book)
    See also John 7:24; Jer. 22:1-4; Amos 5: 7,8; Mic. 6:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Help me to hold fast to the truth of your Word, and let me not fall into worldly ways of thinking. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: patience

Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.”
    —Luke 21:17-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    One of the principal parts of faith is patience.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Weighed and Wanting, Boston: D. Lothrop and Company, 1882, p. 542 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 37:7-9; 40:1-2; Luke 8:15; 21:17-19; Rom. 2:7; 8:25; 1 Cor. 13:4-5; Heb. 12:1; Jas. 1:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the patience to wait upon You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Eckhart: God's devotion to you

Monday, March 10, 2025
Meditation:
    The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For however devoted you are to [God], you can rest assured that He is immeasurably more devoted to you and He trusts you far more, for He is loyalty itself.
    ... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?), Treatises and Sermons, Harper, 1958, p. 83 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 5:24; Ps. 9:10; 100:5; 111:5; 121:3-4; Neh. 9:7-8; Jer. 32:40; Matt. 23:37; John 8:26; 1 Cor. 1:9; Heb. 10:23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You watch over my every step. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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