Owen: our treasure

Sunday, May 11, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
    —Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If our principal treasure be, as we profess, in things spiritual and heavenly, (and woe unto us if it be not so!) on them will our affections, and consequently our desires and thoughts, be principally fixed.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), The Grace and Duty of being Spiritually Minded [1681], in Works of John Owen, v. VII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 302 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:19-21; Ps. 62:10; Pr. 16:16; Luke 12:16-21,33-34; Col. 2:2-3; 1 Tim. 6:8-10; Heb. 12:2; 13:5; 1 John 2:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fix my eyes on You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: waking up to the Presence

Saturday, May 10, 2025
Meditation:
    Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
    —Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labor is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1964, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 75 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 13:2; Isa. 58:6-7; Matt. 25:40; Rom. 12:13; Gal. 6:9; Tit. 1:8; 2 Thess. 3:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep me alert to Your presence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: to banish sin

Friday, May 9, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
    —Luke 22:42 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Anything large enough for a wish to light upon, is large enough to hang a prayer upon: the thought of him to whom that prayer goes will purify and correct the desire. To say, ‘Father, I should like this or that,’ would be enough at once, if the wish were bad, to make us know it and turn from it... Was it not thus the Lord carried himself towards his Father when he said, ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass from me’? But there was something he cared for more than his own fear—his Father’s will: ‘Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.’
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “The Word of Jesus on Prayer”, in Unspoken Sermons, Second Series, London: Longmans, Green, 1886, p. 75 (see the book)
    See also Luke 22:42; Ps. 10:17; Matt. 10:19-20; 26:39; Rom. 8:15,26-27; Eph. 2:18; 6:18; Jas. 4:3; Jude 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You change my heart while in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Willard: Christ the Teacher

Thursday, May 8, 2025
    Feast of Juliana of Norwich, Mystic, Teacher, c.1417
    Commemoration of Dallas Willard, Teacher, Spiritual Writer, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
    —Luke 6:43-45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The overshadowing event of the past two centuries of Christian life has been the struggle between orthodoxy and modernism. In this struggle the primary issue has, as a matter of fact, not been discipleship to Christ and transformation of soul that expresses itself in pervasive, routine obedience to his “all that I have commanded you.” Instead, both sides of the controversy have focused almost entirely upon what is to be explicitly asserted or rejected as essential Christian doctrine. In the process of battles over views of Christ the Savior, Christ the Teacher was lost on all sides.
    ... Dallas Willard (1935-2013), The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship, HarperCollins, 2006, p. 109 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:43-45; Ps. 51:10,17; 119:11; Pr. 4:21; Matt. 23:25-26; Mark 7:21-23; John 4:23-24; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Eph. 3:16-19; Col. 3:12-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make Your people disciples once again. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: complacency

Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
    —John 14:26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A Christian can never say, “I knew the power of the Holy Spirit yesterday, so today I can be at rest.” It is one of the existential realities of the Christian life to stand before God consciously recognizing our need.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), No Little People, Downer Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1974, reprint, Crossway, 2003, p. 66-67 (see the book)
    See also John 14:26; Ps. 42:1-2; Luke 12:31; Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 2:14; Heb. 6:4-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You constantly renew Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Ryle: the one lifted up

Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”
    —John 12:32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is true that we are sinners;—but Christ has suffered for us. It is true that we deserve death;—but Christ has died for us. It is true that we are guilty debtors;—but Christ has paid our debts with His own blood. This is the real Gospel! This is the good news! On this let us lean while we live. To this let us cling when we die. Christ has been “lifted up” on the cross, and has thrown open the gates of heaven to all believers.
    ... J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), Expository thoughts on the Gospels, with the text complete, St. John, v. I, Robert Carter and brothers, 1874, p. 143 (see the book)
    See also John 12:32; Ps. 22:16; Matt. 26:54; Luke 18:31-33; John 3:14-15; 6:44; 8:28; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Heb. 9:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Heaven shines on Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Flavel: desertion?

Monday, May 5, 2025
Meditation:
    About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
    —Matthew 27:46 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Did God really forsake Jesus Christ upon the cross? Then from the desertion of Christ’s, singular consolation springs up to the people of God... Christ’s desertion is preventive of your final desertion. Because He was forsaken for a time you shall not be forsaken forever. For He was forsaken for you... Though God deserted Christ, yet at the same time He powerfully supported Him. His omnipotent arms were under Him, though His pleased Face was hid from Him. He had not indeed His smiles, but He had His support. So Christian, just so shall it be with thee. Thy God may turn away His face, He will not pluck away His arm.
    ... John Flavel (1628-1691), The Fountain of Life [1671], in The Whole Works of the Reverend Mr. John Flavel, v. I, Paisley: A. Weir and A. McLean, 1770, p. 170 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 27:46; Ps. 22:1; 37:28; 71:11-12; Matt. 28:20; Mark 15:34; Heb. 5:7; 12:2; 13:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You will never leave me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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