Newbigin: knowing the Spirit

Monday, October 19, 2026
    Feast of Henry Martyn, Translator of the Scriptures, Missionary in India & Persia, 1812
Meditation:
    And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.
    —Acts 19:1-7 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The apostle asked the converts of Apollos one question: “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” and got a plain answer. His modern successors are more inclined to ask either “Did you believe exactly what we teach?” or “Were the hands that were laid on you our hands?” and—if the answer is satisfactory—to assure the converts that they have received the Holy Spirit even if they don’t know it.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Household of God, London, SCM Press, 1953, New York: Friendship Press, 1954, p. 104 (see the book)
    See also Acts 19:1-7; Joel 2:28; Acts 8:12-17; 10:44-48; Gal. 3:2-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, turn our eyes from the forms to the reality of Your Presence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Cogdell: Jesus, the pioneer of faith

Sunday, October 18, 2026
    Feast of Luke the Evangelist
Meditation:
I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.
    —Psalm 34:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jesus ventured to trust God far beyond the degree that any other man had trusted God. Abraham, Moses, and David were valiant believers, but compared to Jesus they were timid souls. Consider the human disappointments Jesus endured: rejected in his home town, harassed and persecuted by the religious leaders of his nation, misunderstood by his own family, betrayed with a kiss and abandoned by all his followers. Yet through it all Jesus never complained or rebelled against God; he trusted God even on the cross. Psalm 34 sets forth Jesus’ pioneering discovery of God’s faithfulness and delivering power. Thus Jesus was “delivered from all his fears” (v 4), “saved ... out of all his troubles” (v 6), “delivered out of all his afflictions” (v 19).
    Certainly Jesus is our primary teacher and example in trusting God. If David could teach his followers to trust in God, how much more Jesus. As we see the steadfast faith of our Lord through weariness, disappointment, rejection, and even death on a cross, we cannot but be encouraged to believe that God can deliver us through our small trials. That is why we should run the race set before us looking unto Jesus.
    ... John R. Cogdell, “The humanity of Jesus Christ, as revealed in certain Psalms”, section II (see the book)
    See also Ps. 34; Isa. 53:7; Matt. 5:11-12; Mark 15:2-5; Acts 20:24; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17-18; Heb. 12:1-2; 1 Pet. 1:6-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep my eyes on You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: temptation

Saturday, October 17, 2026
    Feast of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, Martyr, c.107
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
    —Luke 22:31-32 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Steadfastness in believing doth not exclude all temptations from without. When we say a tree is firmly rooted, we do not say the wind never blows upon it.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), Works of John Owen, v. IX, New York: R. Carter, 1851, Serm. I, p. 27 (see the book)
    See also Luke 22:31-32, Ps. 1:1-3; 46:1; John 14:1; Rom. 4:20; Jas. 1:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your strength is my only hope. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: no reliance on good works

Friday, October 16, 2026
    Commemoration of the Oxford Martyrs, Hugh Latimer, Nicolas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, bishops and martyrs, 1555
Meditation:
    For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
    —Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Justification is withdrawn from works, not that no good works may be done, or that what is done may be denied to be good, but that we may not rely upon them, glory in them, or ascribe salvation to them.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. II, tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.xvii.1, p. 34 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:20-24,28; Gal. 2:15-16; 3:11,24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I cannot save myself. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Teresa: prayer

Thursday, October 15, 2026
    Feast of Teresa of Avila, Mystic, Teacher, 1582
Meditation:
    And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
    —Luke 22:45-46 (ESV)
Quotation:
    We must not content ourselves with the gift of prayer, or with liberty and consolation and gust in prayer. We must come out from prayer the most rapturous and sweet, only to do harder and ever harder works for God and our neighbors. Otherwise the prayer is not good, and the gusts are not from God.
    ... Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Santa Teresa, an Appreciation, Alexander Whyte, ed., London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 1897, p. 72 (see the book)
    See also Luke 22:45-46; Ps. 17:1; 34:4; Luke 18:1-7; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2; 1 Pet. 4:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You strengthen me in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hammarskjold: the everyday commitment

Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Meditation:
    Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
    —Philippians 3:17 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The “great” commitment is so much easier than the ordinary, everyday one—and can all too easily shut our hearts to the latter. A willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice can be associated with, and even produce, a great hardness of heart.
    ... Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Markings, tr. Leif Sjöberg & W. H. Auden, (q.v.), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964 (post.), p. 131 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 3:17-19; Jer. 6:16; 1 Cor. 10:32-33; 11:1; Phil. 4:9; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Thess. 3:9; Heb. 12:1; 13:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, open my eyes to the small services You call me to do. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brother Lawrence: dealing with our sins

Tuesday, October 13, 2026
    Feast of Edward the Confessor, 1066
Meditation:
    ... let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
    —Isaiah 55:7 (ESV)
Quotation:
    [He said:] That all possible kinds of mortification, if they were void of the love of God, could not efface a single sin. That we ought, without anxiety, to expect the pardon of our sins from the blood of Jesus Christ, only endeavoring to love Him with all our hearts. That GOD seemed to have granted the greatest favors to the greatest sinners, as more signal monuments of His mercy.
    ... Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, New York, Revell, 1895, Second Conversation, p. 12-13 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 55:7; Matt. 10:37-38; Luke 7:41-47; John 21:15-17; Gal. 5:6; 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 John 4:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I rely on Your mercy more than ever. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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