Brooks: following their examples

Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Meditation:
    Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
    —Philippians 4:8-9 (KJV)
Quotation:
    You go to your saint and find God working and manifest in him. He got near to God by some saint of his that went before him, or that stood beside him, in whom he saw the divine presence. That saint again lighted his fire at some flame before him; and so the power of the sainthoods animates and fills the world.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1878, p. 122 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:8-9; 1 Cor. 10:31-33; 11:1; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14; 4:1-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank you for the saints who came before, that You used them to show us the right way. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: solitude

Tuesday, May 12, 2026
    Commemoration of Aiden Wilson Tozer, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Meditation:
    Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
    —Psalm 4:4 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. It wears us out by multiplying distractions and beats us down destroying our solitude, where otherwise we might drink and renew our strength, before going out to face the world again.
    “The thoughtful soul to solitude retires,” said the poet * of other and quieter times; but where is the solitude to which we can retire today? ... “Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still,” is a wise and healing counsel; but how can it be followed in this day of the newspaper, the telephone, the radio and the television? These modern playthings, like pet tiger cubs, have grown so large and dangerous that they threaten to devour us all. What was intended to be a blessing has become a positive curse. No spot is now safe from the world’s intrusion...
    The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today. What the world will do about it is their problem. Apparently the masses want it the way it is, and the majority of Christians are so completely conformed to this present age that they, too, want things the way they are. They may be annoyed a bit by the clamor and by the goldfish-bowl existence they live, but apparently they are not annoyed enough to do anything about it.
* from Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, stanza IV
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Of God and Men, Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1960, p. 103,105 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 4:4; 46:10; Hab. 2:20; Zech. 2:13; Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; 6:12; John 6:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me stillness, that I might hear You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: a bad proof of rightness

Monday, May 11, 2026
Meditation:
    Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
    —Romans 14:1-4 (ESV)
Quotation:
    I am persuaded that some have scarce any better or more forcible argument to satisfy their own minds that they are in the right in religion, than the inclination they find in themselves to hate and persecute them whom they suppose to be in the wrong.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), “Indulgence and Toleration Considered” [1667], in Works of John Owen, v. XIII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 538 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 14:1-4; Isa. 40:11; Eze. 34:4; Rom. 14:21; 15:1,7; Zech. 11:16; Matt. 14:31; 18:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, allow me to see what others tolerate in me and give thanks for Your grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tournier: studying ourselves

Sunday, May 10, 2026
Meditation:
    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
    —Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Every other creature in nature is simply itself, without this discord which is our constant lot. That is why we can study everything else in nature much more surely than we can study ourselves. With ourselves, all we have to go on is an occasional glimpse of some small part of the truth, and we must be content with that, knowing that we are truly known by Him who alone knows us.
    ... Paul Tournier (1898-1986), The Meaning of Persons, New York: Harper, 1957, p. 83 (see the book)
    See also Pr. 1:7; Ps. 71:6; 111:10; Pr. 9:10; Isa. 49:5; Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I trust You to know what is in all hearts. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: whose is truth?

Saturday, May 9, 2026
Meditation:
    ... to [false brothers] we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
    —Galatians 2:5 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The truth is neither mine nor his nor another’s; but belongs to us all whom Thou callest to partake of it, warning us terribly, not to account it private to ourselves, lest we be deprived of it.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, XII.xxv, p. 342 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 2:5; John 14:6; 1 Cor. 14:4; Gal. 4:16; Eph. 1:13; 2 Pet. 1:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Praise be to You, Lord, for Your truth that illuminates Your church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Juliana: prayer and trust

Friday, May 8, 2026
    Feast of Juliana of Norwich, Mystic, Teacher, c.1417
    Commemoration of Dallas Willard, Teacher, Spiritual Writer, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
    —Luke 11:11-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This is our Lord’s will, that our prayer and our trust be both alike large. For if we do not trust as much as we pray, we fail in full worship to our Lord in our prayer; and also we hinder and hurt ourselves. The reason is that we do not know truly that our Lord is the ground from which our prayer springeth; nor do we know that it is given us by his grace and his love. If we knew this, it would make us trust to have of our Lord’s gifts all that we desire. For I am sure that no man asketh mercy and grace with sincerity, without mercy and grace being given to him first.
    ... Juliana of Norwich (1342?-1417), Revelations of Divine Love, Grace Harriet Warrack, ed., Methuen, 1901, ch. XLII (see the book)
    See also Luke 11:11-13; Ps. 4:5; 73:26; 142:5; Pr. 3:5; Lam. 3:24; Matt. 7:7-11; John 4:10; 7:37-39; 14:13; 16:23-24; Jas. 1:5; 1 John 5:14-15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, show me the way of perfect trust. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tauler: cold, modern hearts

Thursday, May 7, 2026
Meditation:
    But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
    —1 Peter 4:13-14 (ESV)
Quotation:
    It is no longer the fashion to suffer for the sake of God, and to bear the Cross for Him; for the diligence and real earnestness, that perchance were found in man, have been extinguished and have grown cold; and now no one is willing any longer to suffer distress for the sake of God.
    ... Johannes Tauler (ca. 1300-1361), The Inner Way, Sermon XXII (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 4:13-14; Rom. 8:17; Phil. 3:10-11; Col. 1:24; 1 Pet. 5:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, place Your holy fire in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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