Spurgeon: the heavenly duty

Sunday, March 29, 2026
    Palm Sunday
    Commemoration of Jack Winslow, Missionary, Evangelist, 1974
Meditation:
    Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
    —Revelation 5:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. The angels pray not, but they cease not to praise both day and night; and the redeemed, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary of singing the new song, “Worthy is the Lamb.”
    ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), for Oct. 30, Morning by Morning, New York: Sheldon & Co., 1867, p. 304 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 5:11-12; Ps. 9:1; 96:1; 149:1; Isa. 6:2-3; Rev. 4:8-9; 5:9; 7:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I sing Your praises. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Hanson: the final rebellion

Saturday, March 28, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
    —Matthew 23:37-39 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Here [in Matthew 23] is an interpretation of Israel’s history according to which God’s people have always been disobedient and rebellious: their alienation from God, it is clearly implied, is to reach its climax in the murder of the Messiah himself.
    ... Anthony T. Hanson (1916-1991), The Church of the Servant, London: SCM Press, 1962, p. 36 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:37-39; 12:39; 16:4; 17:17; Mark 8:12,38; 9:19; Luke 9:41; 11:29-30
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, extinguish the rebellious Jerusalem inside me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Short: the testimony of witnesses

Friday, March 27, 2026
Meditation:
    May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
    —Romans 15:13 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The New Testament is an intensely personal document. It is not the effort of a group of men who are out to prove something to us by the force of their rational arguments. But it is the testimony, or testament, of a group of witnesses... who are bent on simply reporting to us the experience of a love that overtook them and overwhelmed them, a peace that passed all their understanding, and a peace that they in turn would pass on to us.
    ... Robert L. Short (1932-2009), The Parables of Peanuts [1968], New York: HarperCollins, 2002, p. 249 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 15:13; John 21:24; Acts 14:15-17; Phil. 4:7; 1 Cor. 2:1-2; 1 John 5:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I receive Your Testament. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Bronnert: The light shines in the darkness

Thursday, March 26, 2026
    Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883
Meditation:
    But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
    —Malachi 4:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The light shines in the darkness

    Candles are always popular for giving a warm romantic glow and this time of year they are to be seen on many different occasions. Of course a candle is easy to blow out! So much so that its flickering light was chosen by Shakespeare as a picture of the transitory nature of life. Out out brief candle!
    Darkness is a reminder of evil, for it is in the darkness that people get lost, stumble and fall. It is in the darkness that power is misused, corruption reigns and evil is done. It is easy to imagine that in the end evil will triumph and the light will disappear. Situations change. Familiar landmarks—like this magazine!—disappear. There is the unrelenting pressure of a vanity fair society. The candle burns down and gives a thin wisp of smoke before going out.
    But there are also the special party candles that keep bursting back into life. They are a much better picture of the light of the gospel! For though they have been numerous attempts down the centuries to extinguish the light, it has kept on bursting back into flame.
    The light of Christ keeps on shining. New ways of sharing the good news come along. New believers are attracted to his light. Sleepy Christians are re-awakened. Fresh discoveries give even more confidence in the truth of the Bible.
    The light keeps on shining in the darkness. It is a statement and a promise at the same time. It is isn’t that once the light shone, but rather, that in the present it shines, and it will do so in the future as well. For the light comes from the one who is, as well as who was, and is also the one who is to come.
    ... David Bronnert, in a personal communication from the author
    See also Mal. 4:2; Luke 11:35-36; John 1:4-5,9-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my light within is only darkness; I truly see by Your light alone.

CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Calvin: literary grace and the Scriptures

Wednesday, March 25, 2026
    Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord to the Virgin Mary
Meditation:
    Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”
    —Amos 7:14-15 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Since such uncultivated and rude simplicity [with which the Gospel was communicated] inspires greater reverence for itself than any eloquence, what ought one to conclude except that the force of Sacred Scripture is manifestly too powerful to need the art of words?
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, I.viii.1 (see the book)
    See also Amos 7:14-15; Matt. 11:25; John 7:14-16; Acts 4:13; 1 Cor. 1:26-29; 1 John 5:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word never fails. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

de Sales: devotion of the will

Tuesday, March 24, 2026
    Feast of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, Martyr, 1980
    Commemoration of Paul Couturier, Priest, Ecumenist, 1953
Meditation:
    I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
    —2 Corinthians 11:2-3 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Devotion is neither more nor less than a prompt, fervent, loving service to God. And the difference between an ordinarily good man and one that is devout lies herein, that the first observes God’s commands without any special fervour or promptitude; whereas the latter not only keeps them, but does it willingly, earnestly, and resolutely.
    ... François de Sales (1567-1622), A Selection from the Spiritual Letters of St. Francis de Sales [1622], New York: E. P. Dutton, 1876, p. 16 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 11:2-3; Deut. 6:5; 11:13-14; Mark 12:22; 1 John 5:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a willing heart to obey Your commands. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Brooks: loyalty to a Person

Monday, March 23, 2026
Meditation:
    And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
    —Acts 4:24-28 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The characteristic of our modern Christianity, which correlates it with all apostolic times, is the substitution of loyalty to a person in place of belief in doctrines as the essence and test of Christian life. This is the simplicity and unity by which the Gospel can become effective.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Life and letters of Phillips Brooks, v. II, Alexander V. G. Allen, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1901, p. 333 (see the book)
    See also Acts 4:24-28; Matt. 4:19; Rom. 8:1-2; Gal. 3:26
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the Anointed One, and my loyalty is to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth