Rashdall: following Christ

Sunday, September 20, 2026
    Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871
Meditation:
    “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
    —Matthew 4:19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Belief in God through Christ is the most important of all aids to the following of Christ, but (let us never forget) the following is the great thing. To those who, by whatever means they are attracted to Him, really seek to do God’s will as He revealed it, Christ will prove a Saviour—a Saviour from sin, a Saviour from the power of sin here, and from the misery which sin brings with it here and hereafter.
    ... James Hastings Rashdall (1858-1924), Principles and Precepts, Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1927, p. 127 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 4:19; 1:21; 8:19-23; 16:24; 19:21; Mark 1:17; 8:34; 10:21; Luke 5:27-28; 9:23,57-62; 14:27; 18:22; John 1:43; 10:3-4,27; 1 Cor. 11:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I follow You more fully. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: keeping God in his place

Saturday, September 19, 2026
    Commemoration of Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, 690
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”
    —John 3:20-21 (ESV)
Quotation:
    I think that most Christians would be better pleased if the Lord did not inquire into their personal affairs too closely. They want Him to save them, to keep them happy, and to take them off to heaven at last, but not to be too inquisitive about their conduct or services.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), That Incredible Christian, Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1964, p. 105 (see the book)
    See also John 3:20-21; Amos 5:10; Luke 11:45; John 7:7; Jas. 1:23-25
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, shine Your light in the darkest places of my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: the only fear

Friday, September 18, 2026
    Commemoration of George MacDonald, Spiritual Writer, 1905
Meditation:
    Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
    —John 18:37 (ESV)
Quotation:
    If I mistake, He will forgive me. I do not fear Him; I only fear lest, able to see and write these things, I should fail of witnessing, and myself be, after all, a castaway—no king but a talker; no disciple of Jesus, ready to go with Him to the death, but an arguer about the truth.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “Kingship”, in Unspoken Sermons, Third Series, London: Longmans, Green, 1889, p. 104 (see the book)
    See also John 18:37; 7:17; 8:47; 1 Pet. 1:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me true discipleship. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fenelon: shrinking from health

Thursday, September 17, 2026
    Feast of St. Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
    —Mark 2:9-11 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The more we fear crosses, the more reason we have to think that we stand in need of them: let us not be dejected when the hand of God layeth heavy ones upon us. We ought to judge of the violence of our disease by the violence of the remedies which our spiritual physician prescribes us. It is a great argument of our wretchedness and of God’s mercy, that, notwithstanding the difficulty of our recovery, He vouchsafes to undertake our cure.
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Pious Reflections for Every Day in the Month, London: H. D. Symonds, 1800, p. 33-34 (see the book)
    See also Mark 2:9-11; Gen. 18:14; Ps. 41:4; 147:3; Hos. 14:4; Matt. 9:12-13; 17:20; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31; 14:27; Phil. 3:21; 4:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord Jesus, You are the Messiah, the great Physician. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pusey: the grace of patience

Wednesday, September 16, 2026
    Feast of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, Martyr, 258
    Commemoration of Ninian, Bishop of Galloway, Apostle to the Picts, c. 430
    Commemoration of Edward Bouverie Pusey, Priest, tractarian, 1882
Meditation:
    May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
    —Colossians 1:11-12 (ESV)
Quotation:
    We have need of patience with ourselves and with others; with those below and those above us, and with our own equals; with those who love us, and those who love us not; for the greatest things and for the least; against sudden inroads of trouble, and under daily burdens; [against] disappointments as to the weather or the breaking of the heart; in the weariness of the body, or the wearing of the soul; in our own failure of duty, or others’ failure towards us; in every day wants, or in the aching of sickness or the decay of old age; in disappointment, bereavement, losses, injuries, reproaches; in heaviness of the heart, or its sickness amid delayed hopes... In all these things, from childhood’s little troubles to the martyr’s sufferings, patience is the grace of God, whereby we endure evil for the love of God.
    ... Edward B. Pusey (1800-1882), Parochial Sermons, v. II, London: Rivingtons, 1868, p. 80-81 (see the book)
    See also Col. 1:11-12; Acts 5:41; Rom. 5:3-5; 2 Cor. 12:9-10; Eph. 4:2; 2 Tim. 2:3; Heb. 12:1-2; Jas. 1:2-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, add patience to Your gifts to me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lindskoog: society or humanity

Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Meditation:
“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
You will rule them with an iron scepter;
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
    —Psalm 2:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christ did not die for society, but for humanity.
    ... Kathryn Lindskoog (1934-2003), C. S. Lewis, Mere Christian, Glendale, Cal.: G/L Publications, 1973, reprint, Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1981, p. 75 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 2:8-12; 22:27; Isa. 11:1-5,10; John 3:16-17; Rom. 8:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, the nations groan to know Your rule. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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St. Francis: temptation

Monday, September 14, 2026
    Feast of the Holy Cross
Meditation:
    Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
    —James 1:2-4 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Be not afraid that thou art tempted, for the more thou art assailed by temptations, the greater friend and servant of God do I hold thee, and the greater love do I bear thee. Verily, I say to thee, let no man deem himself the perfect friend of God until he have passed through many temptations and tribulations... I am ready to endure patiently all things that my Lord would do with me.
    ... Ugolino of Montegiorgio (d.1274), quoting St. Francis, The Little Flowers of St. Francis, London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1912, p. 106,113 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 1:2-4; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1-2; Heb. 2:10,18; 1 Pet. 1:6-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I do not greet trials with joy. May You straighten my heart out so that this Scripture becomes true in me as well. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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