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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Robertson: the rewards of virtue

Monday, July 13, 2026
Meditation:
    [Paul:] “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
    —Acts 20:35 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Do right, and God’s recompense to you will be the power of doing more right. Give, and God’s reward to you will be the spirit of giving more: a blessed spirit, for it is the Spirit of God Himself, whose Life is the blessedness of giving. Love, and God will pay you with the capacity of more love; for Love is Heaven—Love is God within you.
    ... Frederick W. Robertson (1816-1853), Expository Lectures on St. Paul’s Epistles to the Corinthians, London: Smith, Elder, 1860, p. 481 (see the book)
    See also Acts 20:35; Matt. 10:8; Luke 14:12-14; 2 Cor. 8:16-24; 9:1-15; Heb. 13:1-2,16; 1 John 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send the Spirit of Love to me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Erasmus: full-time Christianity

Sunday, July 12, 2026
Meditation:
    We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
    —Romans 6:9-11 (ESV)
Quotation:
    I take it that every Christian delivers himself up wholly to God in his baptism, when he renounces all the pomps and vanities of Satan, and enlists himself as a soldier to fight under Christ’s banner all his life after. And Saint Paul, speaking of those that die with Christ, that they may live no longer to themselves, but to Him that died for them; does not mean this of monks only, but of Christians universally.
    ... Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536), The Colloquies of Erasmus, v. II, London: Reeves & Turner, 1878, p. 286 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 6:9-11; 14:7-8; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 5:15; Phil. 1:21; 1 Thess. 5:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to a life lived for You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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