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    Justification is withdrawn from works, not that no good works may be done, or that what is done may be denied to be good, but that we may not rely upon them, glory in them, or ascribe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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Hebert: the admiring disbelievers

Monday, October 12, 2026
    Commemoration of Wilfrid, Abbot of Ripon, Bishop of York, Missionary, 709
    Commemoration of Elizabeth Fry, Prison Reformer, 1845
Meditation:
    [Paul:] “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
    —Acts 17:30-32 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Finally, what do we mean by the word “true?” How do we distinguish real Truth from human notions and ideas and opinions and doctrines? We are compelled to say that the word “true” means “grounded in reality, based on the real nature of things, on the basic facts which underlie the universe.” Hence, if people say, as many have said, that the moral ideals set out in the gospels are high and noble ideals, and express admiration for the moral character of Jesus, and stop there, not daring to affirm more than that, the answer they are giving to the Question [Is the Gospel true?] is “No”.
    ... Gabriel Hebert (1886-1963), The Christ of Faith and the Jesus of History, London: SCM Press, 1962, p. 102 (see the book)
    See also Acts 17:30-32; John 3:16; Acts 2:36; Rom. 8:3-4; Gal. 4:4-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word is truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Donne: faith's reasons and choices

Sunday, October 11, 2026
    Commemoration of Ethelburga, Abbess of Barking, 675
Meditation:
    After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.
    —Acts 24:24-26 (ESV)
Quotation:
    We may search so far, and reason so long of faith and grace, as that we may lose not only them, but even our reason too, and sooner become mad than good. Not that we are bound to believe anything against reason, that is, to believe, we know not why. It is but a slack opinion, it is not Belief, that is not grounded upon Reason... It is true, we have not a Demonstration; not such an Evidence as that one and two are three, to prove these to be Scriptures of God; God hath not proceeded in that manner, to drive our reason into a pound, and to force it by a peremptory necessity to accept these for Scriptures, for then, here had been no exercise of our will, and our assent, if we could not have resisted.
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. V, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Sermon CXVII, p. 55-57 (see the book)
    See also Acts 24:24-26; Matt. 21:32; Luke 22:67-69; 24:36-43; John 3:12; 5:37-40,46-47; 7:5; 10:25-26; Rom. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I believe, and I am nourished by Your Word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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