Tozer: unity

Sunday, October 5, 2025
Meditation:
    There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
    —Ephesians 4:4-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Unity in Christ is not something to be achieved; it is something to be recognized.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), God Tells the Man Who Cares, Moody, 2006, p. 36 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:4-6; Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:44; Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 10:17; 12:12-13,20; Eph. 2:18; 5:29-30; Col. 3:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, place the recognition of our unity in our hearts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Francis of Assisi: that I may never turn away

Saturday, October 4, 2025
    Feast of Francis of Assisi, Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor, 1226
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
    —John 10:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    My Lord Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd, who have shown Your very gentle mercy to us unworthy sinners in various physical pains and sufferings, give grace and strength to me, Your little lamb, that in no tribulation or anguish or pain may I turn away from You!
    ... St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), The Little Flowers of St. Francis, Ugolino of Montegiorgio, London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1912, p. 35 (see the book)
    See also John 10:11-16; Ps. 23:1-4; 80:1; Isa. 40:11; Eze. 34:12; Heb. 13:20-21; 1 Pet. 2:25
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your true flock follows You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Pike: pagan words for Christian thoughts

Friday, October 3, 2025
    Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896
    Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958
Meditation:
    When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
    —Acts 2:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Upon a little reflection one can see that no concepts which are restricted to Christianity could possibly be found in a language spoken only by pagans. How could pagans have developed words for Christian ideas which have never occurred to them? This identical situation existed when the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament. At that time many pagan words, with pagan-thought background, were used in Christian contexts; by the contexts the present Christian meaning eventually built up, until it was possible to express all the Christian meaning in the pagan terms.
    ... Kenneth L. Pike (1912-2001), With Heart and Mind, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962, p. 129 (see the book)
    See also Acts 2:6; Gen. 11:6-8; 2 Tim. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have made language Your tool. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Faber: to Whom we pray

Thursday, October 2, 2025
Meditation:
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
    —Psalm 103:2-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We must consider who it is to whom we pray. The infinitely blessed Majesty of God, than which nothing can be conceived more good, more holy, more pure, more august, more adorable, more compassionate, more incomprehensible, or more unutterable. The very thought of God takes away our breath. He is Three living Persons. We live and move and breathe in Him. He can do what He wills with us. He is no further bound to us than He has graciously and piteously chosen to bind Himself. He knows every thing without our telling Him or asking Him. Yet it is to Him we pray. Next, let us think where it is we pray. Whether it be a consecrated place or not. It is in God Himself. We are in the midst of Him, as fishes are in the sea. His immensity is our temple.
    ... Frederick William Faber (1814-1863), Thoughts on Great Mysteries, London: Suttaby and Co., 1884, p. 203-204 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 103:2-5; Deut. 5:24; 1 Chr. 16:27; Isa. 6:1-5; Matt. 6:8; Acts 17:28
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your greatness is beyond my comprehension. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Bayne: the Church's mission?

Wednesday, October 1, 2025
    Commemoration of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, 533
    Commemoration of Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite Nun, Spiritual Writer, 1897
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
    —John 6:44 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Church has no mission of its own. All we can have by ourselves is a club or a debating society; and our only hope, left to ourselves, is to win as many members for our own club and away from other clubs as we can. And whatever this is, it is not Mission. Mission belongs to God. The Mission was His from the beginning; it is His; it will always be His. He has His purposes from the foundation of the world, and the means to fulfill them; and the only part the Church has in this is obedience—a share in the eternal and life-giving obedience of the Son of God... And the most terrible judgment on the Church comes when God leaves us to our own devices because He is tired of waiting for our obedience—leaves us to be the domestic chaplains to a comfortable secular world—and goes Himself into the wilderness of human need and injustice and pain. This judgment does come on churches and nations, when they forget that God is in command, that He does the choosing.
    ... Stephen F. Bayne, Jr. (1908-1974), An Anglican Turning Point, Austin: Church Historical Society, 1964 (see the book)
    See also John 6:44; 1 Chr. 16:23-24; Ps. 96; Isa. 43:7; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 13:2-4,47; Rev. 14:6-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your church must follow You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Trench: He might have reared a palace at a word

Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Meditation:
    Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
    —Philippians 2:5-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
He might have reared a palace at a word,
Who sometimes had not where to lay his head:
Time was, and He who nourished crowds with bread
Would not one meal unto Himself afford:
Twelve legions girded with angelic sword
Were at his beck, the scorned and buffeted:
He healed another’s scratch, his own side bled,
Side, feet, and hands, with cruel piercings gored.
Oh wonderful the wonders left undone!
And scarce less wonderful than those He wrought;
Oh self-restraint, passing all human thought,
To have all power, and be as having none;
Oh self-denying Love, which felt alone
For needs of others, never for its own!
    ... Richard Chenevix Trench (1807-1886), Poems, London: Macmillan, 1874, p. 142 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 2:5-7; Matt. 8:20; 26:53; John 20:25-27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, empty me of all but Your Spirit. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Mother Teresa: kindness and mercy

Monday, September 29, 2025
    Feast of Michael & All Angels
Meditation:
    Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
    —1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness—kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting. In the slums we are the light of God’s kindness to the poor. To children, to the poor, to all who suffer and are lonely, give always a happy smile. Give them not only your care but also your heart. Because of God’s goodness and love every moment of our life can be the beginning of great things. Be open, ready to receive and you will find him everywhere. Every work of love brings a person face to face with God.
    ... Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) (1910-1997), In the Silence of the Heart: Meditations by Mother Teresa, compiled by Kathryn Spink, SPCK Publishing, 1983, ISIS Large Print, 1985, p. 38 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 3:16; John 15:16; Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:19-22; Gal. 5:22-23; 1 Pet. 2:4-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me Your messenger of love to those You send my way. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth