Barclay: seeing in God's light

Monday, May 18, 2026
Meditation:
    There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
    —Revelation 22:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Here is the great truth that, only when we see things in the light of God, do we see things as they are. It is only when we see things in the light of God that we see what things are really important, and what things are not. Things which seem vastly important, things like ambition, and prestige, and money and gain, lose all their value and importance when they are seen in the light of God. Pleasures and habits and social customs which seem permissible enough, are seen for the dangerous things they are when they are seen in the light of God. Things which seem evils, hardship, toil, discipline, unpopularity, even persecution, are seen in their glory when they are seen in the light of God.
    ... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Revelation of John, v. II, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961, p. 276 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 22:5; Ps. 36:10; Isa. 60:19-20; Matt. 25:31-32; Rom. 5:17; 8:18-19; 1 Pet. 1:3-4; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Thank You, Lord, for the Light of the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Clark: the school of happiness

Sunday, May 17, 2026
Meditation:
The Lord is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.
    —Psalm 145:9 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Among Christians so much prominence has been given to the disciplinary effects of sorrow, affliction, bereavement, that they have been in danger of overlooking the other and more obvious side: that by every joy, by every favor, by every sign of prosperity—yea, and by these chiefly—God designs to educate and discipline His children. This one-sided view of the truth has made many morbid, gloomy Christians, who look for God’s hand only in the lightning and never think of seeing it in the sunlight.
    ... F. E. Clark (1851-1927), included in Leaves of Gold, Evan S. Coslett & Clyde Francis Lytle, ed. [1948], Honesdale, Pa.: Coslett Publishing Company, 1938, p. 84 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 145:9; 107:8; 65:9-13; Nahum 1:7; Matt. 5:44-45; Acts 14:17; 17:25
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, as You cause me to be sorrowful for my sins, You fill my heart with gladness at my salvation. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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de Sales: patience

Saturday, May 16, 2026
    Commemoration of Caroline Chisholm, Social Reformer, 1877
Meditation:
    Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
    —Romans 15:2-3 (ESV)
Quotation:
    A really patient servant of God is as ready to bear inglorious troubles as those which are honorable. A brave man can easily bear with contempt, slander, and false accusations from an evil world; but to bear such injustice at the hands of good men, of friends and relations, is a great test of patience.
    ... François de Sales (1567-1622), Introduction to the Devout Life [1609], London: Rivingtons, 1876, III.iii, p. 137 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 15:2-3; Ps. 119:86; Matt. 5:10-12; Rom. 5:7-8; Jas. 5:10-11; 1 Pet. 2:19-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I fail in patience. Send Your Spirit to instruct me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Paton: God's will in Christian missions

Friday, May 15, 2026
    Commemoration of Charles Williams, Spiritual Writer, 1945
Meditation:
    This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
    —Ephesians 3:12 (ESV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    The Christian Mission is thus anchored in dogma, is a result of what ordinary Christians believe. It is God’s plan, God’s activity; but because God became man and took up manhood into Himself, it is God’s will embodied in active obedience on the part of the Christian individual, the Christian group within the Church, and the Christian Church as a whole—we are all involved in it, all of us, in our various callings.
    ... David M. Paton (1913-1992), Christian Missions and the Judgment of God, London: SCM Press, 1953, p. 11 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 3:12; Rom. 5:1-2; Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-22; 1 Thess. 4:13-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Show me what I must do, Lord, for _____ and _____, to bring them to knowledge of Your Kingdom. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Paton: the mystery of Christian missions

Thursday, May 14, 2026
    Ascension
    Feast of Matthias the Apostle
Meditation:
    To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
    —Ephesians 3:8-11 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The Christian Mission is what the New Testament calls a ‘mystery’. It is what St. Paul calls the mystery—a secret hidden within God even before the creation of the world, but now made known to men and women of faith, whereby all nations are to be gathered up and presented to God through Jesus Christ. This gathering up takes place in the Church, the mystical Body of Christ. The mystery has been unfolded according to a divine plan; prepared by the vocation of the Jewish people; and substantially realized by the mission of the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, who by His Ascension introduced human nature for all eternity into the sphere of the life of the Divine Trinity: and this plan is to be accomplished among the various peoples of the world, during the time between Pentecost and the Second Coming. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... David M. Paton (1913-1992), Christian Missions and the Judgment of God, London: SCM Press, 1953, p. 11 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 3:8-11; Matt. 13:11; Rom. 16:25-26; 1 Cor. 2:7-10; Col. 1:26-29
Quiet time reflection:
    I bow before Your divine plan, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brooks: following their examples

Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Meditation:
    Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
    —Philippians 4:8-9 (KJV)
Quotation:
    You go to your saint and find God working and manifest in him. He got near to God by some saint of his that went before him, or that stood beside him, in whom he saw the divine presence. That saint again lighted his fire at some flame before him; and so the power of the sainthoods animates and fills the world.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1878, p. 122 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:8-9; 1 Cor. 10:31-33; 11:1; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14; 4:1-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank you for the saints who came before, that You used them to show us the right way. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: solitude

Tuesday, May 12, 2026
    Commemoration of Aiden Wilson Tozer, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Meditation:
    Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
    —Psalm 4:4 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. It wears us out by multiplying distractions and beats us down destroying our solitude, where otherwise we might drink and renew our strength, before going out to face the world again.
    “The thoughtful soul to solitude retires,” said the poet * of other and quieter times; but where is the solitude to which we can retire today? ... “Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still,” is a wise and healing counsel; but how can it be followed in this day of the newspaper, the telephone, the radio and the television? These modern playthings, like pet tiger cubs, have grown so large and dangerous that they threaten to devour us all. What was intended to be a blessing has become a positive curse. No spot is now safe from the world’s intrusion...
    The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today. What the world will do about it is their problem. Apparently the masses want it the way it is, and the majority of Christians are so completely conformed to this present age that they, too, want things the way they are. They may be annoyed a bit by the clamor and by the goldfish-bowl existence they live, but apparently they are not annoyed enough to do anything about it.
* from Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, stanza IV
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Of God and Men, Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1960, p. 103,105 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 4:4; 46:10; Hab. 2:20; Zech. 2:13; Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; 6:12; John 6:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me stillness, that I might hear You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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