Brooks: the presence of future judgment

Sunday, March 26, 2023
    Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883
Meditation:
    Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
    —Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Oh, friends, it is not that God is going to judge us some day. That is not the awful thing. It is that God knows us now. If I stop an instant and know that God knows me through all these misconceptions and blunders of my brethren, that God knows me—that is the awful thing. The future judgment shall but tell it. It is here, here upon my conscience, now.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), from “The Beauty of a Life of Service”, in Addresses, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895, p. 28 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 4:13; 1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chr. 28:9; Matt. 9:4; 19:28; Mark 2:8; Luke 5:22; John 2:24; 5:41-42; 6:64; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:13-16; Jas. 5:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Are there areas of my conscience that I am not listening to? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: a walking miracle

Saturday, March 25, 2023
    Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord to the Virgin Mary
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
    —John 16:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A genuine Christian should be a walking mystery because he surely is a walking miracle. Through the leading and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is involved in a daily life and habit that cannot be explained.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Whatever Happened to Worship?, Christian Publications, 1985, p. 75 (see the book)
    See also John 16:13-15; Matt. 9:5-8; John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:10-16; Phil. 1:27-28; 2:14-16; 1 Pet. 3:15-16; 1 John 2:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Do I exhibit the unexplainable in my life? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brunner: not guilt

Friday, March 24, 2023
    Feast of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, Martyr, 1980
    Commemoration of Paul Couturier, Priest, Ecumenist, 1953
Meditation:
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
    and justified when you judge.
    —Psalm 51:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is characteristic of the thinking of our time that the problem of guilt and forgiveness has been pushed into the background and seems to disappear more and more. Modern thought is impersonal. There are, even to-day, a great many people who understand that man needs salvation, but there are very few who are convinced that he needs forgiveness and redemption... Sin is understood as imperfection, sensuality, [worldliness]—but not as guilt.
    ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Word and the World, London: Student Christian Movement Press, 1931, p. 49 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 51:4; Matt. 6:12,14-15; Luke 1:76-79; 24:46-47; Acts 16:29-31; Rom. 7:13; Jas. 2:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Do I ignore my sins to avoid the need for forgiveness? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Casteel: growth in grace

Thursday, March 23, 2023
Meditation:
    While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
    The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
    —Acts 13:2-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Above all, the group must keep remembering that true growth in grace is not to be achieved by our own efforts or contriving, but must be received as the gift of God’s Spirit, working in, and among, us. The work of the group is to keep open the channels of receptiveness through study, discipline, prayer, and self-offering... When a group learns to live in this faith, it can keep the lines of endeavor tentative and sensitive to new headings and possibilities, on the one hand; and on the other, move forward resolutely under such light as is now given.
    ... John L. Casteel (1903-1993/5), Spiritual Renewal through Personal Groups, NY: Association Press, 1957, p. 195 (see the book)
    See also Acts 13:2-4; Lev. 26:12; Luke 11:13; John 16:13; Acts 15:28; Rom. 8:9-10; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 1:13-14; 2:8-9; Phil. 2:5-7; Heb. 6:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Am I open to the Spirit’s guidance? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Warfield: inspiration

Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
        ’The Lord said to my Lord:
            “Sit at my right hand
        until I put your enemies
            under your feet.”’”
        —Mark 12:36 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If criticism has made such discoveries as to necessitate the abandonment of the doctrine of plenary inspiration, it is not enough to say that we are compelled to abandon only a “particular theory of inspiration,” though that is true enough. We must go on to say that that “particular theory of inspiration” is the theory of the apostles and of the Lord, and that in abandoning it we are abandoning them.
    ... Benjamin B. Warfield (1851-1921), The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, Volume 4, 1893, Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Review, 1893, p. 185-186 (see the book)
    See also Mark 12:36; 2 Sam. 23:2; Matt. 22:43; Luke 1:70; Acts 28:25; Rom. 3:2; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 4:12; 2 Pet. 1:21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, do I fully believe Your word? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fenelon: don't hold back

Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Meditation:
O LORD, the God who saves me,
    day and night I cry out before you.
May my prayer come before you;
    turn your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of trouble
    and my life draws near the grave.
    —Psalm 88:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them: show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability... Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God!
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Spiritual Letters of Archbishop Fénelon. Letters to men, London: Rivingtons, 1877, p. 205-206 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 88:1-3; 62:8; 142:2; Lam. 2:19; Mark 14:35-36; Rom. 8:26; Heb. 4:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Have I held back some need in prayer? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cecil: the foundation

Monday, March 20, 2023
    Feast of Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 687
Meditation:
    By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
    —1 Corinthians 3:10-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We cannot build too confidently on the merits of Christ, as our only hope; nor can we think too much of the mind that was in Christ, as our great example.
    ... Richard Cecil (1748-1810), The Works of the Rev. Richard Cecil, v. III, Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1825, p. 144 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 3:10-11; Isa. 28:16; Acts 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 2:16; 3:12-15; 11:1; Eph. 2:19-20; Phil. 2:5-7; 1 Tim. 1:16; 2 Tim. 2:19; 1 Pet. 2:6-8,21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the rock on which I stand. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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