Barth: the final victory

Sunday, June 29, 2025
    Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles
Meditation:
    God made [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
    —2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Kingdom of God in the New Testament is both the life and the purpose of the world according as they agree with the intentions of the Creator. It is the efficacious and definitive shield against the threat which followed and had to follow sin, against the fatal danger, the annihilation which lay in wait for the world because the world is only a creature. The Kingdom of God is the final victory over sin.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), Prayer, Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, p. 35 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 5:17-21; Luke 17:20-21; Acts 2:38; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 3:13; 1 John 2:1-2; 4:10; 5:3-4; Rev. 21:1
Quiet time reflection:
    May Your Kingdom come, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Irenaeus: the good from God

Saturday, June 28, 2025
    Feast of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher, Martyr, c.200
Meditation:
    So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
    —Romans 2:3-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is no coercion with God, but a good will [towards us] is present with Him continually. And therefore does He give good counsel to all. And in man, as well as in angels, He has placed the power of choice (for angels are rational beings), so that those who had yielded obedience might justly possess what is good, given indeed by God, but preserved by themselves. On the other hand, they who have not obeyed shall, with justice, be not found in possession of the good, and shall receive condign punishment: for God did kindly bestow on them what was good; but they themselves did not diligently keep it, nor deem it something precious, but poured contempt upon His supereminent goodness.
    ... Irenaeus (c.130-c.200), from Adversus Haereses, The Writings of Irenaeus, v. II, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1869, IV.xxxvii.1, p. 36 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 2:3-4; Dan. 12:2; Matt. 8:11-12; 23:37; 25:41; Rom. 2:5,7; Rev. 12:7-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to honor Your grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hallesby: intimate prayer

Friday, June 27, 2025
Meditation:
    ... pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The spirit of prayer makes us so intimate with God that we scarcely pass through an experience before we speak to Him about it, either in supplication, in sighing, in pouring out our woes before Him, in fervent requests, or in thanksgiving and adoration.
    ... O. Hallesby (1879-1961), Prayer, London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1943, reprint, Augsburg Fortress Books, 1975, 1994, p. 172 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 5:17-18; Ps. 5:1; 18:49; 38:9; Luke 18:1; 21:36; Rom. 8:26; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 4:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fill me with the spirit of prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fenelon: die to our will

Thursday, June 26, 2025
Meditation:
    Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
    —Ephesians 6:14-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The most perfect preparation for this future, whatever it may be, is to die to every will of our own, and yield ourselves wholly up to his; we shall in this frame of mind, be ready to receive all the grace suitable to whatever state it shall be the will of God to develop in and around us.
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Spiritual Progress: or, Instructions in the Divine Life of the Soul, New York: M. W. Dodd, 1853, p. 79-80 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 6:11-17; Matt. 6:24; 10:38; Mark 8:38; 10:21; Luke 9:23; 14:27; Rom. 13:12; 2 Cor. 10:4; 12:9; 1 Thess. 5:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your grace fills up my weakness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Willard: what kind of gift?

Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Meditation:
    ...so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
    —Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    On the divine side, I assume that God has been willing and competent to arrange for the Bible, including its record of Jesus, to emerge and be preserved in ways that will secure his purposes for it among human beings worldwide. Those who actually believe in God will be untroubled by this. I assume that he did not and would not leave his message to humankind in a form that can only be understood by a handful of late-twentieth-century professional scholars, who cannot even agree among themselves on the theories that they assume to determine what the message is. The Bible is, after all, God’s gift to the world through the Church, not to the scholars.
    ... Dallas Willard (1935-2013), The Divine Conspiracy, HarperCollins, 1997, p. xvi (see the book)
    See also Isa. 55:11; Ps. 1:2; 12:6; 19:7-11; 119:89; Luke 24:27,45; John 5:39-40; Rom. 1:1-4; 3:1-2; 1 Cor. 15:3-5; Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; Heb. 4:12; Jas. 1:21-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word leads me to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Taylor: the foolishness of atheism

Tuesday, June 24, 2025
    Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
    —Luke 12:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Can any thing in this world be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth can come by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an oyster?
    ... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., v. V, London: Ogle, Duncan & Co., 1822, Sermon XX, p. 298-299 (see the book)
    See also Luke 12:25-26; Pr. 16:33; Matt. 5:36; 6:27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your purposes fill the earth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gordon: redemption of the body

Monday, June 23, 2025
    Feast of Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, c.678
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”
    —John 5:28-29 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is taken for granted by many that this house of clay was never intended either to be repaired or beautified by the renewing Spirit. The caged-eagle theory of man’s existence is widely prevalent—the notion that the soul is imprisoned in flesh, and is beating its bars in eager longing to fly away and be at rest—all of which may be very good poetry, but is very bad divinity... The redemption of the body, not its dissolution, resurrection not death is set before us in the gospel as the true goal of victory.
    ... A. J. Gordon (1836-1895), The Ministry of Healing, Boston: H. Gannett, 1883, p. 194 (see the book)
    See also John 5:28-29; Acts 4:2; 1 Cor. 15:12-14,49; 2 Cor. 5:1-4; Phil. 3:10-11,20-21; 2 Tim. 2:18; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I will rise to be with You forever. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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