Barth: an uprising

Sunday, November 23, 2025
    Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100
Meditation:
    After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
    —Acts 4:31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), as reported by numerous students
    See also Acts 4:31; Judg. 16:28; 1 Sam. 8:6; Dan. 6:10; Jon. 2:1; Matt. 26:42; Luke 5:16; Jas. 5:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may You lift the world out from its bondage. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Lewis: submission to blessing

Saturday, November 22, 2025
    Commemoration of Cecilia, Martyr at Rome, c.230
    Commemoration of Clive Staples Lewis, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Meditation:
    Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
    Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
    —Matthew 16:22-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I am beginning to feel that we need a preliminary act of submission not only toward possible future afflictions but also toward possible future blessings. I know it sounds fantastic; but think it over. It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily, reject the good that God offers us because, at that moment, we expected some other good.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1964, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 26 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 16:22-23; Ps. 84:11; Matt. 7:9-11; Luke 11:11-13; Acts 1:6-7; Rom. 8:28
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, open my eyes to see Your goodness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Carmichael: silence in prayer

Friday, November 21, 2025
Meditation:
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the LORD.
    —Lamentations 3:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Do not be afraid of silence in your prayer time. It may be that you are meant to listen, not to speak. So wait before the Lord. Wait in stillness. Wait as David waited when he “sat before the Lord.” And in that stillness, assurance will come to you. You will know that you are heard; you will know that your Lord ponders the voice of your humble desires; you will hear quiet words spoken to you yourself, perhaps to your grateful surprise and refreshment.
    ... Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), Thou Givest...They Gather: Truths Gleaned from the Word of God, CLC Publications, 2010, p. 27 (see the book)
    See also Lam. 3:25-26; 2 Sam. 7:18; Ps. 27:14; 37:7; 40:1; 86:6; Matt. 6:7-8; Mark 9:5-7; Heb. 10:36-37
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I wait for Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Tozer: The Universal Presence

Thursday, November 20, 2025
    Feast of Edmund of the East Angles, Martyr, 870
    Commemoration of Priscilla Lydia Sellon, a Restorer of the Religious Life in the Church of England, 1876
Meditation:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
    —Psalm 139:7-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Universal Presence is a fact. God is here. The whole universe is alive with His life. And He is no strange or foreign God, but the familiar Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whose love has for these thousands of years enfolded the sinful race of men. And always He is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 67 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 139:7-10; 34:18; 63:8; 73:23; 90:16; Isa. 6:3; Jer. 23:23-24; Hab. 2:14; John 1:14; 2 Cor. 4:6; Eph. 1:18; Jas. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are close by. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Mechthild: compassion

Wednesday, November 19, 2025
    Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680
    Commemoration of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, Philanthropist, 1231
    Commemoration of Mechtild, Bèguine of Magdeburg, Mystic, Prophet, 1280
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
    —Luke 6:31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If you love Jesus Christ more than you fear human judgment, then you will not only speak of compassion, but act with it. Compassion means seeing your friend and your enemy in equal need, and helping both equally. It demands that you seek and find the stranger, the broken, the prisoner, and comfort him and offer him your help. Herein lies the holy compassion of God that causes the devil much distress.
    ... Mechthild of Magdeburg (ca. 1212-ca. 1282), Meditations, p. 143 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:31; Ps. 35:12-13; Matt. 5:43-45; 10:42; Luke 6:27-28; 10:33; Rom. 12:12; 1 Cor. 12:26; Gal. 6:2; Heb. 13:3; 1 John 3:17; 4:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, move me to the deeds of compassion. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Barclay: the duty of encouragement

Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Meditation:
    Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
    —Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement... It is easy to laugh at men’s ideals; it is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.
    ... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Letter to the Hebrews, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955, p. 137-38 (see the book)
    See also Heb.10:25; Job 4:4; Rom. 12:7-8; 14:19; 15:2; 1 Cor. 14:3; Eph. 4:29; 1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me words of encouragement to give to others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Head: the cross-eyed church

Monday, November 17, 2025
    Feast of Hugh, Carthusian Monk, Bishop of Lincoln, 1200
Meditation:
    “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
    —Matthew 4:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Church on earth is a cross-eyed church, with one eye on God in His heavenly benediction, and one eye on the needy world of men.
    ... David Head, Shout for Joy, New York: MacMillan Co., 1962, p. 108 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 4:15; Isa. 9:2; 32:3; 42:6-7; 61:1; Acts 6:1-4; 2 Cor. 4:6; Eph. 1:3,18-19; Heb. 12:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have placed Jesus before us as we serve those in need. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth