Gossip: people's ignorance of God

Sunday, June 21, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.”
    —Matthew 23:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christ became ever more and more painfully convinced that men did not know God. They can’t, He said, or they could not live as they are doing. Some of them are so anxious and worried, with all God’s care and strength and love to lean against! They cannot know of it, and be so fidgety and nervous as they are. Some of them are afraid. Their consciences have drawn so grim a picture of Him that fearfully they shrink out of His presence, wish there were not God! Frightened of God, with His free and full and eager forgiveness, with His incredible generosity, with His compassionate heart that nobody can sour into ill-will, do what he may. And even the best of them are not quite sure. Their faith at most is but a timorous hope, and a trembling perhaps; no more. Often in the Synagogue He had watched them sobbing out their penitential psalms and begging God to turn from anger and be gracious toward them... And it amazed Christ. Look at His sun, He cries, how it streams down in all its midday fullness on the most unworthy, and at the rain, how it falls healingly upon the fields of the least grateful, and how He keeps thrusting His benefits and blessings into the most soiled hands, loading the most impossible people with His kindnesses. If only I could make them see God as He really is: if only they could realize that He is their Father, that what their own child is to them, that and far more, each of them is to Him.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), The Galilean Accent, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1926, p. 102 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:9; 7:9-11; John 10:10; Heb. 12:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the humility to submit to Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: in a swoon

Saturday, June 20, 2026
Meditation:
    And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
    —Mark 4:9 (KJV)
Quotation:
    I will not judge a person to be spiritually dead whom I have judged formerly to have had spiritual life, though I see him at present in a swoon as to all evidences of the spiritual life. And the reason why I will not judge him so is this,—because if you judge a person dead, you neglect him, you leave him; but if you judge him in a swoon, though never so dangerous, you use all means for the retrieving of his life.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), “Several Practical Cases of Conscience Resolved” [1721], in Works of John Owen, v. IX, New York: R. Carter, 1851, Discourse IX, p. 388 (see the book)
    See also Mark 4:9; 10:26-27; Joel 2:21; Matt. 19:25-26; Luke 18:26-27; Acts 2:21; 1 John 2:15; Jude 1:22-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make Yourself known to ____. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Singh: ask for God

Friday, June 19, 2026
    Commemoration of Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu, Evangelist, Teacher, 1929
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
    —Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For the first two or three years after my conversion, I used to ask for specific things. Now I ask for God. Supposing there is a tree full of fruits, you will have to go and buy or beg the fruits from the owner of the tree. Every day you would have to go for one or two fruits. But if you can make the tree your own property, then all the fruits will be your own. In the same way, if God is your own, then all things in Heaven and on earth will be your own, because He is your Father and is everything to you; otherwise you will have to go and ask like a beggar for certain things. When they are used up, you will have to ask again. So ask not for gifts, but for the Giver of Gifts: not for life but for the Giver of Life—then life and the things needed for life will be added unto you.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), quoted in The Message of Sadhu Sundar Singh, B. H. Streeter & A. J. Appasamy, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922, p. 74 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:33; Luke 12:31; John 6:27-29; Gal. 5:6; Phil. 2:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send me Yourself, that I may be full. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tennyson: More things are wrought by prayer

Thursday, June 18, 2026
Meditation:
    Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
    —Psalm 141:2 (KJV)
Quotation:
More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
    ... Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), The Works of Tennyson, London: Macmillan, 1913, p. 465 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 141:2; 5:3; 63:4; Pr. 15:8; Luke 6:12; 9:28-29; 1 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 5:8; 8:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You speak to me in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: avoiding perfection

Wednesday, June 17, 2026
    Commemoration of Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformers, 1913 & 1936
Meditation:
    And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
    —Genesis 17:1 (KJV)
Quotation:
    It is as reasonable to suppose it the desire of all Christians to arrive at Christian Perfection, as to suppose, that all sick men desire to be restored to perfect health; yet experience shows us, that nothing wants more to be pressed, repeated, and forced upon our minds, than the plainest rules of Christianity.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 481 (see the book)
    See also Gen. 17:1; Lev. 19:2; 20:26; Matt. 5:48; 2 Cor. 7:1; 13:9-11; Phil. 1:6; 3:12-15; Col. 1:28
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, continue reminding me of Your laws. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: bringing healing

Tuesday, June 16, 2026
    Feast of Richard of Chichester, Bishop, 1253
    Commemoration of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, Moral Philosopher, 1752
Meditation:
    We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
    —Romans 15:1 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Only the one who has been hurt can bring healing. The other person cannot. It is the one who has been hurt who has to be willing to be hurt again to show love, if there is to be hope that healing will come.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer: Spiritual Reality in the Personal Christian, Good News Publishers, 1986, p. 226 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 15:1; Isa. 35:3-4; 40:29-31; 53:7; Rom. 14:1; 1 Cor. 1:25; 9:22; 2 Cor. 12:9; Gal. 6:2; Eph. 3:16; Heb. 2:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You were wounded for my sake. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Underhill: the talent of love

Monday, June 15, 2026
    Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
    —Matthew 25:14-29 (ESV)
Quotation:
    If we do not at least try to manifest something of Creative Charity in our dealings with life, whether by action, thought, or prayer, and do it at our own cost—if we roll up the talent of love in the nice white napkin of piety and put it safely out of the way, sorry that the world is so hungry and thirsty, so sick and so fettered, and leave it at that: then, even that little talent may be taken from us. We may discover at the crucial moment that we are spiritually bankrupt.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The School of Charity, New York: Longmans, Green, 1934, reprinted, Morehouse Publishing, 1991, p. 106 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 25:14-29; Isa. 57:12; John 6:63; 12:42-43; 1 Cor. 13:1-3; Jas. 2:14-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, love cost You so much. May I never begrudge the small price of love in my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Baxter: the sum of the universe

Sunday, June 14, 2026
    Commemoration of Richard Baxter, Priest, Hymnographer, Teacher, 1691
Meditation:
    He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
    —2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As the enjoyment of God is the heaven of the saints, so the loss of God is the hell of the ungodly. And, as the enjoying of God is the enjoying of all, so the loss of God is the loss of all.
    ... Richard Baxter (1615-1691), The Saint’s Everlasting Rest, in The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, v. XXII, ed. William Orme, London: J. Duncan, 1830, p. 368 (see the book)
    See also 2 Thess. 1:8-10; Ps. 4:6; 21:6; 30:5; 63:3; Matt. 7:22-23; Phil. 1:23; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have granted Your people knowledge of ultimate reality. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chesterton: inner vs. outer light

Saturday, June 13, 2026
    Commemoration of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Apologist and Writer, 1936
Meditation:
    All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
    —Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    That Jones shall worship the “god within him” turns out ultimately to mean that Jones shall worship Jones. Let Jones worship the sun or moon, anything rather than the Inner Light; let Jones worship cats or crocodiles, if he can find any in his street, but not the god within. Christianity came into the world firstly in order to assert with violence that a man had not only to look inwards, but to look outwards, to behold with astonishment and enthusiasm a divine company and a divine captain. The only fun of being a Christian was that a man was not left alone with the Inner Light, but definitely recognized an outer light, fair as the sun, clear as the moon, terrible as an army with banners.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), Orthodoxy, London, New York: John Lane Company, 1909, p. 138-139 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 64:6; Luke 18:9-14; 2 Cor. 10:17,18; Gal. 6:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my inner light is all darkness. I thank you and praise You for bringing light to me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fraser: the Lord's prerogatives

Friday, June 12, 2026
Meditation:
    The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
    He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
    —Matthew 16:1-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Lord’s dealings and method with others are not our rule. It is the cause of much doubting and disquietness that persons, reading inattentively in books the Lord’s way to others, hence cut out this channel to themselves, and think, Thus and thus I must be dealt with, or else not at all.
    ... James Fraser of Brea (1639-1698), Select Biographies, v. II, W. K. Tweedie, ed., Ediburgh: The Wodrow Society, 1847, p. 270 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 16:1-4; 12:39; 2 Kings 5:11-12; Jonah 1:17; Luke 11:27-30; John 21:20-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to accept Your ways for me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Haskins: better than light

Thursday, June 11, 2026
    Feast of Barnabas the Apostle
Meditation:
    Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
    —Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)
Quotation:
    And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
    “Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!”
    And he replied:
    “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
    That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.”
    ... Minnie L. Haskins (1875-1957), from The Desert (privately printed c.1908), introduction, included in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, James Dalton Morrison, ed., New York: Harper & Bros., 1948, p. 92 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 41:10; Ps. 16:11; Isa. 59:1; Eph. 5:13-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Christ, You shall be my light. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: a holy distance

Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Meditation:
    In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,
    —Revelation 4:7-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Faith keeps the soul at a holy distance from these infinite depths of divine wisdom, where it profits more by reverence and holy fear than any can do by their utmost attempt to draw nigh to that inaccessible light wherein these glories of the divine nature do dwell.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), A Discourse Concerning Holy Spirit, bk. VI-IX [1674], in Works of John Owen, v. IV, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 369 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 4:7-9; Ex. 15:11; Ps. 139:5-6; Isa. 6:3; Col. 1:27; 1 Tim. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I bow to you in wonder and awe. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: God nearer than our thoughts

Tuesday, June 9, 2026
    Feast of Columba, Abbot of Iona, Missionary, 597
    Commemoration of Ephrem of Syria, Deacon, Hymnographer, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law. Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
    —Psalm 119:150-151 (KJV)
Quotation:
    We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 62 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 119:150-151; Deut. 4:7; Ps. 46:1; 139:2,7-10,13; 145:18; Matt. 1:23; 28:19-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I reach out, and You are there. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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