Brandon: the spirit of fellowship

Tuesday, June 23, 2026
    Feast of Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, c.678
Meditation:
    If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
    —Philippians 2:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In several striking cases of conversion I have studied, those in need were inspired and affected, not merely by the kindness of an individual... but by the love and sympathy of the Church as a whole... Examples could be multiplied. This type of service is a great witness to the reality of Christian life and faith; but it presupposes a spirit of fellowship within the Church, a spirit which is all too rare. It means that there is mutual respect and trust between the minister and the members of his Church; and a spirit of fellowship which is outward-looking and which issues in service.
    ... Owen Brandon, The Battle for the Soul: Aspects of Religious Conversion, Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1959, p. 45-46 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 2:1-2; Mark 9:37; Rom. 5:3-5; 8:9-16; 1 Cor. 3:16; 1 John 3:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to the ministry of love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: the wonders of His Word

Monday, June 22, 2026
    Feast of Alban, first Martyr of Britain, c.209
Meditation:
    Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
    —Romans 3:20 (KJV)
Quotation:
    The doctrine of justification by faith—a Biblical truth, and a blessed relief from sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort—has in our times fallen into evil company and has been interpreted by many in such a manner as actually to bar men from the knowledge of God. The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless. Faith may now be exercised without a jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Adamic ego. Christ may be “received” without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver. The man is “saved,” but he is not hungry or thirsty after God. In fact, he is specifically taught to be satisfied and encouraged to be content with little.
    The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 12 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 3:20; Pr. 1:7; Jer. 7:22-23; Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:6-8; Matt. 5:6; 7:9,10; 13:19-23; 1 Cor. 8:1-2; 2 Cor. 10:5;
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, loose Your Spirit among all those whose faith is still shallow. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gossip: people's ignorance of God

Sunday, June 21, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.”
    —Matthew 23:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christ became ever more and more painfully convinced that men did not know God. They can’t, He said, or they could not live as they are doing. Some of them are so anxious and worried, with all God’s care and strength and love to lean against! They cannot know of it, and be so fidgety and nervous as they are. Some of them are afraid. Their consciences have drawn so grim a picture of Him that fearfully they shrink out of His presence, wish there were not God! Frightened of God, with His free and full and eager forgiveness, with His incredible generosity, with His compassionate heart that nobody can sour into ill-will, do what he may. And even the best of them are not quite sure. Their faith at most is but a timorous hope, and a trembling perhaps; no more. Often in the Synagogue He had watched them sobbing out their penitential psalms and begging God to turn from anger and be gracious toward them... And it amazed Christ. Look at His sun, He cries, how it streams down in all its midday fullness on the most unworthy, and at the rain, how it falls healingly upon the fields of the least grateful, and how He keeps thrusting His benefits and blessings into the most soiled hands, loading the most impossible people with His kindnesses. If only I could make them see God as He really is: if only they could realize that He is their Father, that what their own child is to them, that and far more, each of them is to Him.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), The Galilean Accent, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1926, p. 102 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:9; 7:9-11; John 10:10; Heb. 12:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the humility to submit to Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: in a swoon

Saturday, June 20, 2026
Meditation:
    And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
    —Mark 4:9 (KJV)
Quotation:
    I will not judge a person to be spiritually dead whom I have judged formerly to have had spiritual life, though I see him at present in a swoon as to all evidences of the spiritual life. And the reason why I will not judge him so is this,—because if you judge a person dead, you neglect him, you leave him; but if you judge him in a swoon, though never so dangerous, you use all means for the retrieving of his life.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), “Several Practical Cases of Conscience Resolved” [1721], in Works of John Owen, v. IX, New York: R. Carter, 1851, Discourse IX, p. 388 (see the book)
    See also Mark 4:9; 10:26-27; Joel 2:21; Matt. 19:25-26; Luke 18:26-27; Acts 2:21; 1 John 2:15; Jude 1:22-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make Yourself known to ____. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Singh: ask for God

Friday, June 19, 2026
    Commemoration of Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu, Evangelist, Teacher, 1929
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
    —Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For the first two or three years after my conversion, I used to ask for specific things. Now I ask for God. Supposing there is a tree full of fruits, you will have to go and buy or beg the fruits from the owner of the tree. Every day you would have to go for one or two fruits. But if you can make the tree your own property, then all the fruits will be your own. In the same way, if God is your own, then all things in Heaven and on earth will be your own, because He is your Father and is everything to you; otherwise you will have to go and ask like a beggar for certain things. When they are used up, you will have to ask again. So ask not for gifts, but for the Giver of Gifts: not for life but for the Giver of Life—then life and the things needed for life will be added unto you.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), quoted in The Message of Sadhu Sundar Singh, B. H. Streeter & A. J. Appasamy, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922, p. 74 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:33; Luke 12:31; John 6:27-29; Gal. 5:6; Phil. 2:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send me Yourself, that I may be full. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tennyson: More things are wrought by prayer

Thursday, June 18, 2026
Meditation:
    Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
    —Psalm 141:2 (KJV)
Quotation:
More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
    ... Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), The Works of Tennyson, London: Macmillan, 1913, p. 465 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 141:2; 5:3; 63:4; Pr. 15:8; Luke 6:12; 9:28-29; 1 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 5:8; 8:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You speak to me in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: avoiding perfection

Wednesday, June 17, 2026
    Commemoration of Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformers, 1913 & 1936
Meditation:
    And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
    —Genesis 17:1 (KJV)
Quotation:
    It is as reasonable to suppose it the desire of all Christians to arrive at Christian Perfection, as to suppose, that all sick men desire to be restored to perfect health; yet experience shows us, that nothing wants more to be pressed, repeated, and forced upon our minds, than the plainest rules of Christianity.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 481 (see the book)
    See also Gen. 17:1; Lev. 19:2; 20:26; Matt. 5:48; 2 Cor. 7:1; 13:9-11; Phil. 1:6; 3:12-15; Col. 1:28
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, continue reminding me of Your laws. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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