Inge: the source of joy

Monday, July 20, 2026
    Commemoration of Bartolomè de las Casas, Apostle to the Indies, 1566
Meditation:
    We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
    —2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Joy was a characteristic of the Christian community so long as it was growing, expanding, and creating healthfully. The time came when the Church ceased to grow, except externally in wealth, power, and prestige; and these are mere outward adornments, or hampering burdens, very likely. They do not imply growth, or creativeness. The time came when dogmatism, tyranny, and ignorance strangled the free intellectual activity of the Church, and worldliness destroyed its moral fruitfulness. Then Joy spread her wings and flew away. The Christian graces care nothing for names and labels; where the Spirit of the Lord is, there they abide, but not in great Churches that have forgotten Him. How little of Joy there is in the character of the religious bigot or fanatic, or in the prudent ecclesiastical statesman! A show of cheerfulness they may cultivate, as they often do; but it is like the crackling of thorns under a pot: we cannot mistake it for the joy of the Lord wh ich is the strength of the true Christian.
    ... William R. Inge (1860-1954), Personal Religion and the Life of Devotion, London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1924, p. 66 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 8:1-2; John 14:16-18; Acts 20:24; 1 Thess. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:8-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I receive the joy of Your Spirit’s presence in my life and the church around me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Drummond: Christ changes men

Sunday, July 19, 2026
    Feast of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, & his sister Macrina, Teachers, c.394 & c.379
Meditation:
    Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...
    —Philippians 2:5 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Souls are made sweet not by taking [ill tempers] out, but by putting something in—a great Love, a new Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. Christ, the Spirit of Christ, interpenetrating ours, sweetens, purifies, transforms all. This only can eradicate what is wrong, ... renovate and regenerate, and rehabilitate the inner man. Will-power does not change men. Time does not change men. Christ does. Therefore “Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
    ... Henry Drummond (1851-1897), “The Greatest Thing in the World”, in Addresses, H. Altemus, 1891, p. 45-46 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 2:5; Rom. 8:35-39; 12:1-2; Eph. 3:16-19; 1 Tim. 1:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Christ, I seek Your mind. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Emrich: giving

Saturday, July 18, 2026
Meditation:
    For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
    —2 Corinthians 8:12-15 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Living for others, commitment to God’s redeeming purposes, is a means of grace. We give because of our faith, and our faith deepens as we give. If we permit ourselves and our people to give casually, we are really teaching contempt.
    ... Richard S. Emrich (1910-1997), “Stewardship,” included in Anglican Congress 1963: Report of Proceedings, Eugene Rathbone Fairweather, ed., Editorial Committee, Anglican Congress, 1963, p. 170 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 8:12-15; Matt. 6:1-4; Acts 20:35; 2 Cor. 9:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a loving and giving heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Bullock: the mystery in suffering

Friday, July 17, 2026
Meditation:
    Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
    —Job 38:1-7 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Suffering is sometimes a mystery. We must affirm both the mystery and God. The paradox remained, but now at least, Job knew that it belonged there—that it is built into the moral and physical orders, and into the very nature of God as He has permitted us humans to perceive Him. In a world where the universal principle is cause-effect, the book of Job reminds us that the principle is a reflection of the mysterious, self-revealing God. It is subsumed under Him, however, and He cannot be subsumed under it. The God-speeches remind us that a Person, not a principle, is Lord.
    ... C. Hassell Bullock (b. 1939), Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books, Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1979, p. 108-109 (see the book)
    See also Job 38:1-7; 40:2-5; 42:1-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You made all there is. Grant that I shall be content with Your creation. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Calvin: to God be the glory

Thursday, July 16, 2026
    Commemoration of Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, 1099
Meditation:
    At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.
    —2 Timothy 4:16-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We must always speak of the efficacy of the ministry in such a manner that the entire praise of the work may be reserved for God alone.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, v. I, W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1948, p. 289 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 4:16-17; Matt. 10:29-31; 1 Cor. 9:1-12; Eph. 4:11-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit is the author of all true ministry. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Lewis: Was Palestine the right choice?

Wednesday, July 15, 2026
    Commemoration of Swithun, Bishop of Winchester, c.862
    Commemoration of Bonaventure, Franciscan Friar, Bishop, Peacemaker, 1274
Meditation:
    But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
    —Galatians 4:4-5 (ESV)
Quotation:
    If we once accept the doctrine of the Incarnation, we must surely be very cautious in suggesting that any circumstance in the culture of first-century Palestine was a hampering or distorting influence upon His teaching. Do we suppose that the scene of God’s earthly life was selected at random?—that some other scene would have served better?
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The World’s Last Night [1960], Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 97 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 4:4-5; Gen. 49:10; Mal. 3:1; Mark 1:15; 1 Cor. 2:6-8; Eph. 1:9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep me from being seduced by the worldly authorities into doubting Your wisdom in all things. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

MacDonald: the unforgivable sin?

Tuesday, July 14, 2026
    Feast of John Keble, Priest, Poet, Tractarian, 1866
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”
    —Luke 12:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Some misapprehension, I say, some obliquity, or some slavish adherence to old prejudices, may thus cause us to refuse the true interpretation, but we are none the less bound to refuse and wait for more light. To accept that as the will of our Lord which to us is inconsistent with what we learned to worship in him already, is to introduce discord into that harmony whose end is to unite our hearts, and make them whole.
    “Is it for us,” says the objector who, by some sleight of will, believes in the word apart from the meaning for which it stands, “to judge the character of our Lord?” I answer, “This very thing he requires of us.” He requires of us that we should do Him no injustice. He would come and dwell with us, if we would but open our chambers to receive Him. How shall we receive Him if, avoiding judgment, we hold this or that daub of authority or tradition hanging upon our walls to be the re al likeness of our Lord?
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “It Shall Not Be Forgiven”, in Unspoken Sermons [First Series], London: A. Strahan, 1867, p. 68-69 (see the book)
    See also Luke 12:10; Ps. 34:8; Eze. 33:11; Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; John 7:37-39; Heb. 10:26-29; 1 Pet. 2:2-3; 1 John 2:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I know Your goodness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth