The Christian Quotation of the Day

Juliana: prayer and trust

2026-05-07T23:00:07.460-05:00

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
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Tauler: cold, modern hearts

2026-05-06T23:00:41.624-05:00

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
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Milford: ultimate hope

2026-05-05T23:00:26.017-05:00

Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Meditation:
    For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
    —1 Peter 4:17-19 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Christians must learn again what Christians have always known—how to live without immediate hopes in the world.
    ... T. R. Milford (1895-1987), quoted in Christian Missions and the Judgment of God, David M. Paton, London: SCM Press, 1953, p. 57 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 4:17-19; Jer. 49:12; Matt. 3:9-10; Luke 12:47-48; 1 Tim. 6:17; 1 John 2:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my hope is in You alone. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Thomas a Kempis: what to look for in Scripture

2026-05-04T23:00:05.909-05:00

Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Meditation:
    I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
    —2 Timothy 4:1-4 (ESV)
Quotation:
    It is Truth which we must look for in Holy Writ, not cunning of words. All Scripture ought to be read in the spirit in which it was written. We must rather seek for what is profitable in Scripture, than for what ministereth to subtlety in discourse.
    ... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, I.v.1, p. 37 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 4:1-4; Ps. 19:8; 119:105; Pr. 6:23; John 8:45; 1 Cor. 2:4; Col. 1:28-29; 1 Thess. 5:20; 2 Pet. 1:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I never win an argument at the risk of wounding a soul. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Patmore: all that God can give

2026-05-03T23:00:40.886-05:00

Monday, May 4, 2026
    Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
    —John 15:13 (KJV)
Quotation:
    To love another as oneself is only the halfway house to Heaven, though it seems as far as it was prudent to bid man go. The “greater love than this” of which our Lord speaks, though He does not command it, is to give oneself for one’s friends. And when one does this, or is ready to do this, prayer even for “us” seems too selfish—and it is unnecessary, for we then possess all that God Himself can give us. The easy renunciation of self for the Beloved becomes the very breath of life.
    ... Coventry Patmore (1823-1896), Memoirs and Correspondence of Coventry Patmore, v. II, London: George Bell & Sons, 1900, p. 88 (see the book)
    See also John 15:13; Lev. 19:18; John 10:11-15; Rom. 5:6-8; Eph. 5:1-2; 1 John 4:7-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I might know the reality of sacrifice for the Body. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Brunner: utopianism vs. hope

2026-05-02T23:00:08.824-05:00

Sunday, May 3, 2026
Meditation:
    But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you...
    —1 Peter 3:14-15 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Utopias of historical progress cannot seduce those who believe in Christ. Utopias are the straws to which those cling who have no real hope; utopias are as unattractive as they are incredible, for those who know what real hope is. Utopias are not a consequence of true hope but a poor substitute for it and therefore a hindrance and not a help. The hope that is in Jesus Christ is different from all utopias of universal progress. It is based on the revelation of the crucified one. It is, therefore, not an uncertain speculation about the future but a certainty based upon what God has already revealed. One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without knowing for certain that God’s victory over all powers of destruction, including death, is the end towards which the time process moves as its own end.
    ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Scandal of Christianity, London: SCM Press, 1951, reprint, John Knox Press, 1965, p. 111 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 3:14-15; Col. 1:27; Tit. 1:1-2; Heb. 3:6; 6:18-19; 1 Pet. 1:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I partake in Your victory. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Underhill: partaking of Christ's nature

2026-05-01T23:00:06.928-05:00

Saturday, May 2, 2026
    Feast of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”
    —Matthew 10:26-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Christian’s life is lived in the open, not in a pious cubby-hole. As Christ gives Himself to feed us, so we have to incarnate something of His all-loving, all-sacrificing soul. If we do not, then we have not really received Him. That is the plain truth. It has been said that there are many ways and degrees of receiving the Blessed Sacrament. It really depends on how wide we open our hearts. A spiritually selfish communion is not a communion at all.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Light of Christ, New York: Longmans, Green, 1949, p. 89 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 10:26-27; Matt. 5:37; Acts 5:20; 2 Cor. 3:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I live to know and follow Your example. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Lubbock: goodness and pleasure

2026-04-30T23:00:55.132-05:00

Friday, May 1, 2026
    Feast of Philip & James, Apostles
Meditation:
    Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
    —Philippians 4:4 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Many worthy people, and many good books, with no doubt the best intentions, ... have represented a life of sin as a life of pleasure; they have pictured virtue as self-sacrifice, austerity as religion... Even in everyday life we meet with worthy people who seem to think that whatever is pleasant must be wrong, that the true spirit of religion is crabbed, sour, and gloomy; that the bright, sunny, radiant nature which surrounds us is an evil and not a blessing; a temptation devised by the Spirit of Evil and not one of the greatest delights showered on us in such profusion by the Author of all Good.
    ... Sir John Lubbock (1834-1913), The Use of Life, Macmillan & Co., 1894, p. 15 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:4; Matt. 6:16-18; Rom. 8:13; 12:12; Phil. 3;1; 1 Thess. 5:16-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Grant me a joyful heart, Lord, to give thanks for all the good things You give in life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Anselm: from grace to holiness

2026-04-29T23:00:42.663-05:00

Thursday, April 30, 2026
    Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
    —Luke 11:9-10 (ESV)
Quotation:
    O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and seeking find Thee; and so finding Thee may love Thee; and loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed us.
    ... St. Anselm (1033-1109), included in The New Christian Year, Charles Williams, London: Oxford University Press, 1958, p. 44 (see the book)
    See also Luke 11:9-10; Ps. 27:8; 34:4; 105:3-4; Jas. 4:8; Rev. 3:20; 21:6; 22:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I found You, seeking me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Troutman: why we can pray

2026-04-28T23:00:52.797-05:00

Wednesday, April 29, 2026
    Feast of Catherine of Siena, Mystic, Teacher, 1380
Meditation:
    For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
    —Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The criterion for our intercessory prayer is not our earnestness, nor our faithfulness, nor even our faith in God, but simply God Himself. He has taken the initiative from the beginning, and has built our prayers into the structure of the universe. He then asks us to present these requests to Him that He may show His gracious hand.
    ... Charles H. Troutman (1914-1990)
    See also Eph. 3:14-19; Ps. 38:9; Matt. 6:8,32; Luke 12:30; John 16:23-27; Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:1-2; 1 John 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank you for being the Answer to prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Holland: untouched

2026-04-27T23:00:51.711-05:00

Tuesday, April 28, 2026
    Commemoration of Peter Chanel, Religious, Missionary in the South Pacific, Martyr, 1841
Meditation:
    ... We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.
    —1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A man may carry the whole scheme of Christian truth in his mind from boyhood to old age without the slightest effect upon his character and aims... It has had less influence than the multiplication table.
    ... J. G. Holland (1819-1881), in an editorial entitled, “American Sunday-Schools”, Scribner’s Monthly, v. II, New York: Scribner & Co., 1871, p. 548 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 8:1-3; Pr. 26:12; Matt. 23:2-3,15,23; Rom. 1:22-26; Gal. 6:3; 1 Tim. 1:5-7; 6:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the humility and wisdom to seek first the knowledge of You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Rossetti: Love is strong as death

2026-04-26T23:00:07.110-05:00

Monday, April 27, 2026
    Feast of Christina Rossetti, Poet, 1894
Meditation:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
    He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.
    —Psalm 23:1-3 (KJV)
Quotation:
Love is strong as death

“I have not sought Thee, I have not found Thee,
    I have not thirsted for Thee:
And now cold billows of death surround me,
Buffeting billows of death astound me,—
    Wilt Thou look upon, wilt Thou see
    Thy perishing me?”

“Yea, I have sought thee, yea, I have found thee,
    Yea, I have thirsted for thee,
Yea, long ago with love’s bands I bound thee:
Now the Everlasting Arms surround thee,
    Thro’ death’s darkness I look and see
    And clasp thee to Me.”
    ... Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), Christina Rossetti: the complete poems, London: Penguin Classics, 2001, p. 372 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 23; 22; Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:13; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 2:15-16; 4:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, without You, my case is hopeless; with You, I am safe.

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

Steinmann: the Covenant of God for all men

2026-04-25T23:00:43.984-05:00

Sunday, April 26, 2026
Meditation:
    John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
    —Luke:3:16 (ESV)
Quotation:
    From his baptism until his return to Galilee, Jesus lived in the company of the disciples of the Baptist. It was there that he received the first public witness of his Messianic role and found his first followers. The gospel was to be rooted in John’s teaching of asceticism and regeneration. But we see from the start that the gospel of Jesus was to be quite different. To the baptism of water would be added the baptism of the Spirit, and the new message was to be addressed to all. The widening of the circle of hearers and converts, which had preoccupied John, ... was to expand still further with the gospel of Jesus. Of the hundreds of thousands of Jews, the Essenes only regarded as saved a few thousand elect. Jesus was soon to offer the Covenant of God to all men.
    ... Jean Steinmann (1911-1963), Saint John the Baptist, New York: Harper, 1958, p. 90 (see the book)
    See also Luke 3:16; Joel 2:28-29; Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:7-8; John 1:26,33; Acts 1:5; 11:16; 10:44; 11:15; 13:24-25; 1 Cor. 12:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let the holy fire of Your Spirit cover me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Whittier: one fixed trust

2026-04-24T23:00:05.689-05:00

Saturday, April 25, 2026
    Feast of Mark the Evangelist
Meditation:
O taste and see that the LORD is good:
    blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
    —Psalm 34:8 (KJV)
Quotation:
I see the wrong that round me lies,
    I feel the guilt within;
I hear, with groan and travail-cries,
    The world confess its sin.

Yet, in the maddening maze of things,
    And tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed trust my spirit clings;
    I know that God is good!
    ... John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), The Complete Poetical Works of Whittier, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1894, p. 442 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 34:8; 36:10; 52:1; 84:12; 1 John 4:7-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have tasted Your goodness.

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

MacDonald: the signs of His coming

2026-04-23T23:00:23.939-05:00

Friday, April 24, 2026
    Commemoration of Mellitus, First Bishop of London, 624
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
    —Matthew 24:44 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Do those who say, lo here, or lo there, are the signs of His coming, think to be too keen for Him, and spy His approach? When He tells them to watch lest He find them neglecting their work, they stare this way and that, and watch lest He should succeed in coming like a thief!
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “The Word of Jesus on Prayer”, in Unspoken Sermons, Second Series, London: Longmans, Green, 1886, p. 61-62 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 24:44; 25:13; Mark 13:33-36; Luke 12:35-40; 1 Thess. 5:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 16:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I should always be prepared to receive you. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Erasmus: where to write the Gospel

2026-04-22T23:00:21.469-05:00

Thursday, April 23, 2026
    Feast of George, Martyr, Patron of England, c.304
    Commemoration of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1988
Meditation:
    But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
    —Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV)
Quotation:
    You have... the Gospel written upon vellum; it deserv’d to be set with diamonds, except that the heart of a man were a fitter repository for it.
    ... Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536), The Colloquies of Erasmus, v. I, tr. N. Bailey & ed. E. Johnson, London: Reeves & Turner, 1878, p. 197 (see the book)
    See also Jer. 31:33; Deut. 30:6; Ps. 40:8; Eze. 11:19; 36:26; Rom. 2:15; 2 Cor. 3:3; Heb. 8:10; 10:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, there is nothing good in me save what You have placed there. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Chambers: drastic obedience

2026-04-21T23:00:50.603-05:00

Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”
    —John 9:4 (ESV)
Quotation:
    All God’s revelations are sealed until they are opened to us by obedience. You will never get them open by philosophy or thinking. Immediately you obey, a flash of light comes. Let God’s truth work in you by soaking in it, not by worrying into it... Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up. One reads tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit when... five minutes of drastic obedience would make things clear as a sunbeam. [We say,] “I suppose I shall understand these things some day.” You can understand them now: it is not study that does it, but obedience. The tiniest fragment of obedience, and heaven opens up and the profoundest truths of God are yours straight away. God will never reveal more truth about Himself until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of being “wise and prudent.”
    ... Oswald Chambers (1874-1917), My Utmost for His Highest, Leicester: F.A. Thorpe, 1927, p. 284 (see the book)
    See also John 9:4; Ps. 119:100; Matt. 7:21-25; 11:25; 12:50; Luke 11:28; John 13:17; Acts 6:7; Jas. 1:22; 1 John 2:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I confess to wasting time on meaningless activities and hesitation. Grant me Your grace to focus my energies on following Your word and to let the rest go. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Nathan: God of pity and love

2026-04-20T23:00:06.532-05:00

Tuesday, April 21, 2026
    Feast of Anselm, Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1109
Meditation:
    And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
    —John 1:14 (ESV)
Quotation:
God of pity and love, return to this earth.
Go not so far away, leaving us to evil.
Darkness is loose upon the world, the Devil
Walks in the land, and there is nothing worth.
Death like a dog runs howling from his lair;
His bite has made men mad, they follow after
All howling too, and their demoniac laughter
Drowns like a sea our solitary prayer.
Return, O Lord, return. Come with the day,
Come with the light, that men may see once more
Across this earth’s uncomfortable floor
The kindly paths, the old and loving way.
Let us not die of evil in the night.
Let there be God again. Let there be light.
    ... Robert Nathan (1894-1985), Selected Poems of Robert Nathan, A. A. Knopf, 1935, p. xiii (see the book)
    See also John 1:14; Gen. 1:3; Isa. 9:2; John 1:19; 8:12; 2 Cor. 4:6; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 22:20
Quiet time reflection:
    You took me out of darkness, Lord, and into Your light. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Pascal: seeking Him

2026-04-19T23:00:07.344-05:00

Monday, April 20, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus] told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,
    ”‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
        and ever hearing but never understanding;
    otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”
    —Mark 4:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God wanted to redeem men and open the way of salvation to those who seek Him. But men make themselves so unworthy of it that it is only just that God should refuse to some, because of the hardness of heart, what He gives to others from a compassion that they do not deserve. If He had wanted to overcome the obstinacy of the most hardened, He could have done so by revealing Himself to them so obviously that they could not have doubted the truth of His Being—just as He will appear at the last day with such a clap of thunder and such an upheaval of nature that the dead will revive and the blindest will see.
    It is not in this way, however, that He willed to appear at His gentle coming: because so many men had made themselves unworthy of His mercy, He willed to leave them deprived of the good which they did not desire. And so it would not have been fair for Him to have appeared in an obviously divine manner, absolutely capable of convincing all men. But also it would not have been fair for Him to appear in a manner so hidden that even those who were sincerely seeking Him should not be able to recognize Him... So He has tempered His knowledge, by giving marks of Himself which were visible to those who seek Him, and not to those who seek Him not.
    ... Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensées (Thoughts) [1660], P.F. Collier & Son, 1910, #430, p. 143-144 (see the book)
    See also Mark 4:11-12; Ex. 33:19; Isa. 6:9-10; Matt. 7:7; 11:25; 13:11-12; Luke 8:10; 10:21; Rom. 9:15-16; Jas. 1:16-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I pray that the blindness be lifted from ____ and ____, that they may see Your truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Maurice: the beam in my own eye

2026-04-18T23:00:05.305-05:00

Sunday, April 19, 2026
    Commemoration of Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1012
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
    —Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christians in general are far too eager to urge special exceptions when they hear these charges [of corruption in the church] preferred; far too ready to make out a case for themselves while they admit their application to others; far too ready to think that the cause of God is interested in the suppression of facts. The prophets should have taught us a different lesson. They should have led us to feel that it was a solemn duty, not to conceal, but to bring forward all the evidence which proves, not that one country is better than another, or one portion of the church better than another, but that there is a principle of decay, a tendency to apostasy in all, and that no comfort can come from merely balancing symptoms of good here against symptoms of evil there, no comfort from considering whether we are a little less contentious, a little less idolatrous than our neighbours.
    ... Frederick Denison Maurice (1805-1872), Prophets and Kings of the Old Testament, Cambridge: Macmillan, 1853; Boston: Crosby, Nichols, 1853, p. 461-462 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 7:3-5; Isa. 65:2-5; Matt. 3:7-10; Luke 6:41-42; 18:11; Jas. 2:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, cleanse the whole church for Your name’s sake. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Shoemaker: God at work in all things

2026-04-17T23:00:26.980-05:00

Saturday, April 18, 2026
Meditation:
    For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
    —1 Timothy 6:10-11 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Anybody with any maturity knows that an experienced Christian is more eager to have God use him than he is to use God for his own ends; but this does not mean that God is absent from the processes of business and livelihood, nor unconcerned about them, nor unable to reveal Himself through them. When we begin to look upon work, business, money, as potential sacraments through which God can work, we shall make better use of them.
    ... Samuel M. Shoemaker (1893-1963), The Experiment of Faith, New York: Harper, 1957, p. 29 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 6:10-11; Ps. 2:11; Rom. 12:11; Eph. 4:28; 1 Thess. 4:11-12; 2 Thess. 3:7-12; Tit. 3:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, sanctify the things in my life, so that they may serve You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Kraemer: steps to renewal

2026-04-16T23:00:50.841-05:00

Friday, April 17, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
    —Matthew 10:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If one thing is clear as soon as the Church becomes serious about its missionary and ministerial calling for the world, it is that two difficult roads in particular have to be trodden: first, the road towards overcoming the scantiness of its knowledge of the world of today, and its ignoring of what really goes on in the world under its surface; secondly, the road towards reforming its spirit, atmosphere, and inherited structure, in so far as they give no room for new vitality.
    ... What can and must be said and resaid, with all gratitude for what in many places is already happening, is that a fearless scrutiny and revision of structure is one of the most urgent aspects of a renewal of the Church.
    ... Hendrik Kraemer (1888-1965), A Theology of the Laity, London: Lutterworth Press, 1958, p. 177 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 10:16; Isa. 42:9; Luke 10:3; 1 Cor. 14:20; Eph. 5:15-17; Phil. 2:14-16; 1 Thess. 5:22; Rev. 21:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may You be glorified in all the activities of Your church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Neill: the only remedy

2026-04-15T23:00:43.649-05:00

Thursday, April 16, 2026
Meditation:
    And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
    —Luke 5:29-32 (ESV)
Quotation:
    This Christian claim [of universal validity] is naturally offensive to the adherents of every other religious system. It is almost as offensive to modern man, brought up in the atmosphere of relativism, in which tolerance is regarded almost as the highest of the virtues. But we must not suppose that this claim to universal validity is something that can quietly be removed from the Gospel without changing it into something entirely different from what it is... Jesus’ life, his methods, and his message do not make sense, unless they are interpreted in the light of his own conviction that he was in fact the final and decisive word of God to men... For the human sickness there is one specific remedy, and this is it. There is no other.
    ... Stephen Neill (1900-1984), Christian Faith and Other Faiths, London: Oxford U.P., 1970, p. 16-17 (see the book)
    See also Luke 5:29-32; John 10:7-9; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 2:23; Rev. 20:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I embrace Your exclusivity. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Moule: the Church's one foundation

2026-04-14T23:00:37.609-05:00

Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Meditation:
    For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
    —1 Corinthians 15:22-23 (ESV)
Quotation:
    From the very first, the conviction that Jesus had been raised from death has been that by which [the Christians’] very existence has stood or fallen. There was no other motive to account for them, to explain them... At no point within the New Testament is there any evidence that the Christians stood for an original philosophy of life or an original ethic. Their sole function is to bear witness to what they claim as an event—the raising of Jesus from among the dead... The one really distinctive thing for which the Christians stood was their declaration that Jesus had been raised from the dead according to God’s design, and the consequent estimate of him as in a unique sense Son of God and representative man, and the resulting conception of the way to reconciliation.
    ... C. F. D. Moule (1908-2007), The Phenomenon of the New Testament, v. I, London: SCM, 1967, p. 11,14,18 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 15:17-23; Mark 14:27-28; 16:5-6; Rom. 3:25-26; 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:3-8; 1 Pet. 2:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me a witness in the world to Christ’s resurrection. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Lewis: authorities

2026-04-13T23:00:38.887-05:00

Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus concluding a parable:] “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
    “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
    —Luke 16:30-31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The rejection as unhistorical of all passages which narrate miracles is sensible if we start by knowing that the miraculous... never occurs. Now I do not want here to discuss whether the miraculous is possible: I only want to point out that this is a purely philosophical question. Scholars, as scholars, speak on it with no more authority than anyone else. The canon, “If miraculous, unhistorical,” is one they bring to their study of the texts, not one they have learned from it. If one is speaking of authority, the united authority of all the Biblical critics in the world counts for nothing. On this they speak simply as men—men obviously influenced by, and perhaps insufficiently critical of, the spirit of the age they grew up in.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Fern-seed and Elephants, Walter Hooper, Fontana, 1975, p. 113 (see the book)
    See also Luke 16:30-31; Amos 4:6-11; Matt. 13:58; Luke 13:3; Rom. 1:20; Rev. 16:9-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I need Your power and grace in my life, and Your miracles in my struggles. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth