Peterson: the opposing crowds

Friday, April 26, 2024
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
    —Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This world is no friend to grace. A person who makes a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior does not find a crowd immediately forming to applaud the decision or old friends spontaneously gathering around to offer congratulations and counsel.
    ... Eugene H. Peterson (1932-2018), A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, InterVarsity Press, 2000, p. 15 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:11-12; 10:22; 13:57-58; 23:37; 24:9; Luke 4:24,28-30; 6:22; John 1:45-46; 4:44; 15:18-21; 16:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your power is sufficient to cover our weakness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rhymes: Sunday piety

Thursday, April 25, 2024
    Feast of Mark the Evangelist
Meditation:
    For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
    —1 John 5:4 (KJV)
Quotation:
    If our faith is not relevant to our daily life in the world and in the parish, then it is no use; and if we cannot be Christians in our work, in the neighborhood, in our political decisions, then we had better stop being Christians. A piety reserved for Sundays is no message for this age.
    ... Douglas Rhymes (1914-1996), “The Place of the Laity in the Parish”, in Layman’s Church, ed. John A. T. Robinson, London: Lutterworth Press, 1963, p. 29 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 5:4-5; Matt. 13:54-58; John 16:33; 1 Cor. 15:57; 1 John 2:16-17; 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are present in our daily lives. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Merton: learning prayer and love

Wednesday, April 24, 2024
    Commemoration of Mellitus, First Bishop of London, 624
Meditation:
    Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
    —Matthew 26:36-39 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Prayer and love are learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart has turned to stone.
    ... Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Seeds of Contemplation, London: Hollis & Carter, 1949, New Directions. 1949, p. 140 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 26:36-39; Mark 14:34-36
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, only you can teach me prayer and love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Evan Hopkins: self-renunciation

Tuesday, April 23, 2024
    Feast of George, Martyr, Patron of England, c.304
    Commemoration of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1988
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
    —Matthew 5:40-42 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Christ] looks today, as He has ever looked, not for crowds drifting aimlessly in His track, but for individual men and women whose undying allegiance will spring from their having recognized that He really wants only those who are prepared to follow the path of self-renunciation which He trod before them.
    ... H. A. Evan Hopkins (1907-1994), Henceforth: the Meaning of Christian Discipleship [1942], Chicago, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1964, p. 22 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:40-42; 10:37-39; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24; 14:26-27; 21:4; John 12:25; Acts 20:24; 1 Cor. 10:32-33; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Phil. 3:7-8; 1 Pet. 2:11; Heb. 13:12-13; Rev. 12:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to loosen my grip on the things of this world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: reasonable love?

Monday, April 22, 2024
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “... I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...”
    —Matthew 5:44 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Is it then reasonable to love our enemies? God does; therefore it must be the highest reason. But is it reasonable to expect that man should become capable of doing so? Yes; on one ground: that the divine energy is at work in man, to render at length man’s doing divine as his nature is. For this our Lord prayed when he said: “That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” Nothing could be less likely to human judgment: our Lord knows that one day it will come.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “Love Thine Enemy”, in Unspoken Sermons [First Series], London: A. Strahan, 1867, p. 218-219 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:43-48; Pr. 25:21; Luke 6:27-29,35; John 17:20-21; Rom. 5:10; 12:14,20-21; 1 Pet. 2:23; 3:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have loved us when we were Your enemies. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pink: prayer as confession

Sunday, April 21, 2024
    Feast of Anselm, Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1109
Meditation:
All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;
    my sighing is not hidden from you.
    —Psalm 38:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayer is not appointed for the furnishing of God with the knowledge of what we need, but it is designed as a confession to Him of our sense of the need. In this, as in everything, God’s thoughts are not as ours. God requires that His gifts should be sought for. He designs to be honoured by our asking, just as He is to be thanked by us after He has bestowed His blessing.
    ... A. W. Pink (1886-1952), The Sovereignty of God [1918], CCEL, 1972, p. 180 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 38:9; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Job 9:32; Matt. 6:8; Luke 12:30; 18:1; John 16:23-24; Rom. 11:29; 1 Cor. 14:1; Col. 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jas. 5:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, for all Your gifts Your people give You thanks and praise. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newbigin: the ground of assurance

Saturday, April 20, 2024
Meditation:
    [The LORD:] “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.”
    —Isaiah 45:22-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The community of faith celebrates the resurrection of Jesus as the ground of assurance that the present and the future are not under the control of blind forces but are open to unlimited possibilities of new life. This is because the living God who was present in the crucified Jesus is now and always the sovereign Lord of history and therefore makes possible a continuing struggle against all that ignores or negates his purpose.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Foolishness to the Greeks: the Gospel and Western culture, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 63 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 45:22-23; Ps. 72:11; Isa. 25:7-8; Hos. 13:14; Rom. 8:10-11; 2 Cor. 4:13-14; Phil. 2:10; 3:10-11; 2 Tim. 1:10; Rev. 1:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Your victory over death has become ours as well, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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