Wesley: Scripture interprets Scripture

Thursday, April 3, 2025
Meditation:
    Then [Jesus] opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
    —Luke 24:45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church. And Scripture is the best expounder of Scripture. The best way, therefore, to understand it is carefully to compare Scripture with Scripture, and thereby learn the true meaning of it.
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, v. X, New York: J. & J. Harper, 1827, p. 52 (see the book)
    See also Luke 24:45; Ps. 119:18; Rom. 15:4; 2 Cor. 3:14-18; 4:4-6; Eph. 5:13-14; 2 Tim. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word is truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bounds: connected

Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Meditation:
    The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
    —Proverbs 15:29 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayer and a holy life are one. They mutually act and react. Neither can survive alone... We are in danger of substituting churchly work and a ceaseless round of showy activities for prayer and holy living. A holy life does not live in the closet, but it cannot live without the closet. If, by any chance, a prayer chamber should be established without a holy life, it would be a chamber without the presence of God in it.
    ... E. M. Bounds (1835-1913), Purpose in Prayer, New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1920, p. 49 (see the book)
    See also Pr. 15:29; 2 Kings 4:32-33; Ps. 17:1; Matt. 6:6; 14:23; Acts 10:9; Eph. 3:14-15; Jas. 5:16; 1 Pet. 3:12; 1 John 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, visit me at prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Maurice: called to unity

Tuesday, April 1, 2025
    Commemoration of Frederick Denison Maurice, Priest, teacher, 1872
Meditation:
    Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.
    —Philippians 1:27-28 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Unless we look upon ourselves as called to unity, we shall never be united. If God does not will that we should be united, what can our devices for producing it avail? Whereas, if we believe that it is His will, and that we are fighting against His will by our divisions, we have a right confidently to hope that He will at last bring us to repentance, or, if we do not repent, will accomplish His purposes in spite of us.
    ... Frederick Denison Maurice (1805-1872), Hope for Mankind, Macmillan, 1868, p. 27 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 1:27-28; Ps. 133:1; Matt. 23:8; John 17:20-21; Acts 4:32; Rom. 12:16; 15:5-7; Eph. 4:3; Phil. 2:1-2; Heb. 3:1; 1 Pet. 3:8; 2 Pet. 1:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may Your Spirit unite Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Donne: God's good greater

Monday, March 31, 2025
    Commemoration of John Donne, Priest, Poet, 1631
Meditation:
    We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
    —2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is not in the power of the devil to do so much harm, as God can do good; nay, we may be bold to say, it is not in the will, not in the desire of the devil to do so much harm, as God would do good.
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. III, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Sermon LXII, p. 93 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 4:8-10; John 13:2-3; 14:18; Rom. 5:3-5; 1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 4:16-17; Eph. 6:11-12; Jas. 1:17; 1 Pet. 5:8-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all good comes from You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: a far worse sin

Sunday, March 30, 2025
Meditation:
    “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
    ”‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
    “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
    “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
    “The first,” they answered.
    Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
    —Matthew 21:28-31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting; the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Mere Christianity, New York: MacMillan, 1952, reprint, HarperCollins, 2001, p. 91 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 21:28-31; 20:6; Luke 7:29,37-38; 15:1-2; 19:9-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, purge cruelty and pride from my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: the reason for divisions

Saturday, March 29, 2025
    Commemoration of Jack Winslow, Missionary, Evangelist, 1974
Meditation:
    Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
    —Colossians 3:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Were Christians duly instructed how many lesser differences, in mind, and judgment, and practice, are really consistent with the nature, ends, and genuine fruit of the unity that Christ requires among them, it would undoubtedly prevail with them so as to manage themselves in their differences, by mutual forbearance and condescension in their love, as not to contract the guilt of being disturbers or breakers of it... To speak plainly, among all the churches in the world which are free from idolatry and persecution, it is not different opinions, nor a difference in judgment about revealed truths, nor a different practice in sacred administrations, but pride, self-interest, love of honour, reputation, and dominion, with the influence of civil or political intrigues and considerations, that are the true cause of that defect of evangelical unity that is at this day amongst them.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), A Discourse Concerning Evangelical Love [1672], in Works of John Owen, v. XV, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, P. 113 (see the book)
    See also Col. 3:13-15; Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:3-6; 5:29-30
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead Your people to put away our pride. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kelly: the cross on the road

Friday, March 28, 2025
Meditation:
    Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
    —1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God, out of the pattern of His own heart, has planted the Cross along the road of holy obedience.
    ... Thomas R. Kelly (1893-1941), A Testament of Devotion, London: Quaker Home Service, 1941, reprint Harper, Collins, 1996, p. 71 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 4:12-13; Matt. 16:24; Acts 5:41; Rom. 5:3-4; Gal. 2:20; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; Heb. 2:10; 10:32; Jas. 5:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I might praise You in hardship. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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