The Christian Quotation of the Day

Erasmus: full-time Christianity

2026-07-11T23:00:56.025-05:00

Sunday, July 12, 2026
Meditation:
    We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
    —Romans 6:9-11 (ESV)
Quotation:
    I take it that every Christian delivers himself up wholly to God in his baptism, when he renounces all the pomps and vanities of Satan, and enlists himself as a soldier to fight under Christ’s banner all his life after. And Saint Paul, speaking of those that die with Christ, that they may live no longer to themselves, but to Him that died for them; does not mean this of monks only, but of Christians universally.
    ... Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536), The Colloquies of Erasmus, v. II, London: Reeves & Turner, 1878, p. 286 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 6:9-11; 14:7-8; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 5:15; Phil. 1:21; 1 Thess. 5:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to a life lived for You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: the will to goodness

2026-07-10T23:00:41.425-05:00

Saturday, July 11, 2026
    Feast of Benedict of Nursia, Father of Western Monasticism, c.550
Meditation:
    And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
    —Romans 8:28 (KJV)
Quotation:
    No creature can be a child of God but because the goodness of God is in it; nor can it have any union or communion with the goodness of the Deity till its life is the Spirit of Love. This is the one only band of union betwixt God and the creature... Here the necessity is absolute; nothing will do instead of this will; all contrivances of holiness, all forms of religious piety, signify nothing, without this will to all goodness. For as the will to all goodness is the whole nature of God, so it must be the whole nature of every service or religion that can be acceptable to him.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), The Spirit of Love [1752-4], in Works of Rev. William Law, v. VIII, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 5 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:28; Gen. 50:20; Ps. 46:1-2; 2 Cor. 4:15-17; 5:1; 1 Pet. 1:7-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we are held in Your goodness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Grou: true path to peace

2026-07-09T23:00:07.479-05:00

Friday, July 10, 2026
Meditation:
    Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
    —James 4:7-8 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The soul which gives itself wholly and without reserve to God is filled with His own Peace; and inasmuch as we are prone to grow like that to which we are closely united, the closer we draw to our God, so much the stronger and more steadfast and more tranquil shall we become.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 2 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 4:7-8; Ps. 73:28; 145:18; Isa. 55:6-7; Hosea 6:1-2; Matt. 11:29; Rom. 14:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, show me what I may be in You. Grant this also to ____ and to ____, that they may have renewed peace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gossip: the adventure in Christ's appeal

2026-07-08T23:00:39.072-05:00

Thursday, July 9, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
    —Luke 14:28-33 (ESV)
Quotation:
    And think of the appeal Christ made to men and women! He had many, but His favourite was to their chivalry and valour. Often He underlines the difficulties of discipleship, warns us what it will cost, that it means risk and loss and sacrifice, and pulling hard against fierce currents; and then He turns and looks at us, with that honouring trust of His in us that sets the blood tingling, and makes the cheeks flush with pride. That, He says quietly, is why I am so sure that you will come: you are too big to keep out of it! And, indeed, in His own day, it was only daring and adventurous spirits who would risk declaring for Him, as it is only daring and adventurous spirits still who have the pluck to try to follow so original and unpopular a Master in the real living-out of life.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), From the Edge of the Crowd, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1924, p. 168 (see the book)
    See also Luke 14:26-33; Matt. 8:20; 10:22; 20:22-23; John 16:23; Acts 21:13; Rom. 8:18,36-37; Heb. 11:13; 2 Pet. 1:13-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the courage to follow You unconditionally. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: the Spirit of Love in you

2026-07-07T23:00:53.529-05:00

Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Meditation:
    For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
    —2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Now this is the ground and original of the Spirit of Love in the creature, it is and must be a will to all goodness; and you have not the Spirit of Love in you till you have this will to all goodness at all times and on all occasions. You may indeed do many works of love and delight in them, especially at such times as they are not inconvenient to your state or temper or occurrences in life. But the Spirit of Love is not in you till it is the spirit of your life, till you live freely, willingly, and universally according to it.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), The Spirit of Love [1752-4], in Works of Rev. William Law, v. VIII, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 4 (see the book)
    See also 2 Tim. 1:7; Rom. 5:5; 8:15; Gal. 5:22-23; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 4:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enlarge my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: transfiguring love

2026-07-06T23:00:41.207-05:00

Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
    —John 13:34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    All love, in general, hath an assimilating efficacy; it casts the mind into the mould of the thing beloved... Every approach unto God by ardent love and delight is transfiguring.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), V.1 in A Discourse Concerning Holy Spirit, bk. I-V [1674], in Works of John Owen, v. III, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 585 (see the book)
    See also John 13:34; Ps. 30:4; 37:1-6; 40:8; Zech. 9:17; 1 Cor. 13:4-8; 1 John 3:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I love others as You have loved me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Dodd: Paul on baptism

2026-07-05T23:00:06.851-05:00

Monday, July 6, 2026
    Feast of John Huss, Reformer, Martyr, 1415
    Feast of Thomas More, Scholar & Martyr, &
    John Fisher, Bishop & Martyr, 1535
Meditation:
    What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
    —Romans 6:1-3 (ESV)
Quotation:
    [Paul] makes use of the symbolism of baptism, which in the East was performed by the complete immersion of the believer in water. “We were buried with Christ through our baptism (and so entered) into a state of death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the splendour of the Father, we too might walk in the newness which belongs to (real) life.” To the rite as such Paul did not attach overwhelming importance. “Christ,” he says, “did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel.” ... Paul recognized in the idea a most suggestive figure for the change wrought by faith in Christ. He found it necessary to guard against the crude sacramentalism which found in the mere physical process, as such, the actual impartation of new life, quite apart from anything taking place in the realm of inward experience. The Israelites in the wilderness ... received baptism in the Red Sea and in the cloud which ove rshadowed them; and yet they were disobedient, “the majority of them God did not choose,” and they perished miserably. The inference is plain. No sacramental act achieves anything unless it is an outward symbol of what really happens inwardly in experience. The test of that is the reality of the new life as exhibited in its ethical consequences. “How can we who are dead to sin live any longer in sin?” If baptism is a real dying and rising again, then it is indeed a profound revolution in the personal life, a revolution which is simply bound to show itself in a new moral character.
    ... C. Harold Dodd (1884-1973), The Meaning of Paul for Today, London: Swarthmore, 1920, reprint, Fount Paperbacks, 1978, p. 118-119 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 6:1-11; 1 Cor. 1:1-11,13-17; 10:1-5; Col. 2:10-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we acknowledge Your power and grace in sacraments, as You directed. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Clifford: the vindication of prayer

2026-07-04T23:00:57.452-05:00

Sunday, July 5, 2026
Meditation:
    O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
    —John 17:25-26 (KJV)
Quotation:
    I cannot answer all the curious questions of the brain, concerning Prayer and Law; not half of them, indeed; and I will not attempt it; but ... I will cast my anchor here, in this revealing fact that He, the Holiest of the holy and the Wisest of the wise, He prays: therefore I am assured this anchorage of Divine example will hold the vessel in the tossings of the wildest sea of doubt, and that I shall be safe as He was if the vessel itself is engulfed in the waves of suffering and sorrow. His act is an argument. His prayer is an inspiration. His achievements are the everlasting and all-sufficient vindication of prayer.
    ... John Clifford (1836-1923), Social Worship, London: James Clarke & Co., 1899, p. 54 (see the book)
    See also John 17:25-26; Matt. 14:23; 26:36; Mark 6:46; 14:32; Luke 6:12; 9:28; 11:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, implant in me a Spirit that knows how to please You in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brown: from the Godward side of life

2026-07-03T23:00:06.999-05:00

Saturday, July 4, 2026
Meditation:
    Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
    —1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is the Church’s mission to confront the world from the Godward side of life with the Christian principles of a free and just society. The dignity, the value, and the importance of every individual are made abundantly clear by the Son of God. He has shown us what human life is intended to be, and we must be willing to stand against whatever is amiss in the temper and disposition of the world, or of any segment of it.
    ... Robert R. Brown (1910-1994), “Totalitarianism, Communism, Secularism,” included in Anglican Congress 1963: Report of Proceedings, Eugene Rathbone Fairweather, ed., Editorial Committee, Anglican Congress, 1963, p. 34 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 2:11-12; John 15:19; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 2:1-2; 1 John 2:15; 4:4-5; 5:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, while we strive here, You hold open the door to our true home. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Underhill: the worth of prayer

2026-07-02T23:00:52.068-05:00

Friday, July 3, 2026
    Feast of Thomas the Apostle
Meditation:
    And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
    —2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)
Quotation:
    The purifying worth of prayer consists in the increasing contrast which it sets up between the holy God and the creature; subordinating that creature’s fugitive activities and desires to the standard set by this solemn apprehension of Reality.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Golden Sequence, Dutton, 1933, p. 104 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 5:18-21; John 14:10-11; 17:23; Rom. 8:26; Eph. 6:18; Jude 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, conform my being to Your will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: being the Body

2026-07-01T23:00:38.332-05:00

Thursday, July 2, 2026
Meditation:
    This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
    —John 15:12 (KJV)
Quotation:
    We shall benefit very much from the Sacrament if this thought has been impressed and engraved upon our minds: that none of the brethren can be injured, despised, rejected, abused, or in any way offended by us, without [our] injuring, despising, and abusing Christ by the wrongs we do; that we cannot disagree with our brethren without at the same time disagreeing with Christ; that we cannot love Christ without loving Him in the brethren; that we ought to take the same care of our brethren’s bodies as we take of our own; for they are members of our body; and that, as no part of our body is touched by any feeling of pain which is not spread among all the rest, so we ought not to allow a brother to be affected by any evil, without being touched with compassion for him.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, IV.xvii.38, p. 573 (see the book)
    See also John 15:12; 13:34-35; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; Gal. 6:2; Phil. 2:1-2; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 3:11,23; 4:7-8,11-12; 2 John 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, bind our fellowship together in love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rauschenbusch: religious talk

2026-06-30T23:00:55.330-05:00

Wednesday, July 1, 2026
    Commemoration of John & Henry Venn, Priests, Evangelical Divines, 1813, 1873
Meditation:
    But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
    —Matthew 6:7-8 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Jesus evidently felt deeply the emptiness and futility of much of the religious talk. He was interested only in those emotions and professions which could get themselves translated into character and action. Words have always been the bane of religion as well as its vehicle. Religious emotion has enormous motive force, but it is the easiest thing in the world for it to sizzle away in high professions and wordy prayers. In that case, it is a substitute and counterfeit, and a damage to the Reign of God among men.
    ... Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918), The Social Principles of Jesus, New York: Association Press, 1916, p. 67 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:7-8,1-2,16-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me away from performance to action and truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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South: grace to prosper labor

2026-06-29T23:00:27.090-05:00

Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Meditation:
    And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
    —Genesis 3:17-19 (KJV)
Quotation:
    God generally gives spiritual Blessings and Deliverances as He does temporal; that is, by the Mediation of an active and a vigorous Industry. The Fruits of the Earth are the Gift of God, and we pray for them as such; but yet we plant, and we sow, and we plow, for all that; and the Hands which are sometimes lift up in Prayer must at other times be put to the Plow, or the Husbandman must expect no Crop. Every Thing must be effected in the Way proper to its Nature, with the concurrent Influence of the divine Grace, not to supersede the Means, but to prosper and make them effectual.
    ... Robert South (1634-1716), Twelve Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions, v. VI [1692], London: J. Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, 1727, p. 361 (see the book)
    See also Gen. 3:17-19; Acts 18:3; 20:34-35; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:7-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have blessed us with work. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Finney: revival (2)

2026-06-28T23:00:24.146-05:00

Monday, June 29, 2026
    Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles
Meditation:
    Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
    —Psalm 85:6 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    4. When the church finds its members falling into gross and scandalous sins, then it is time for the church to awake and cry to God for a Revival of Religion. When such things are taking place as give enemies of religion an occasion for reproach, it is time for the church to ask God, “What will become of Thy great name?”
    5. When there is a spirit of controversy in the church or in the land, a revival is needful. The spirit of religion is not the spirit of controversy. There can be no prosperity in religion, where the spirit of controversy prevails.
    6. When the wicked triumph over the church, and revile them, it is time to seek for a Revival of Religion.
    7. When sinners are careless and stupid, and sinking into hell unconcerned, it is time the church should bestir themselves. It is as much the duty of the church to awake, as it is for the firemen to awake when a fire breaks out in the night in a great city. The church ought to put out the fires of hell which are laying hold of the wicked. Sleep! Should the firemen sleep, and let the whole city burn down, what would be thought of such firemen? And yet their guilt would not compare with the guilt of Christians who sleep while sinners around them are sinking stupid into the fires of hell.
    ... Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), Lectures on Revivals of Religion, New York: Leavitt, Lord & Co., 1835, p. 22-23 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 85:6; Amos 5:4; Hab. 3:2; Rom. 12:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, awaken us to the plight of the lost. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Finney: revival (1)

2026-06-27T23:00:24.030-05:00

Sunday, June 28, 2026
    Feast of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher, Martyr, c.200
Meditation:
    All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
    —Psalm 22:29-31 (KJV)
Quotation:
    1. When there is a want of brotherly love and Christian confidence among professors of religion, then a revival is needed. Then there is a loud call for God to revive his work. When Christians have sunk down into a low and backslidden state, they neither have, nor ought to have, nor is there reason to have, the same love and confidence toward each other, as when they are all alive, and active, and living holy lives...
    2. When there are dissensions, and jealousies, and evil speakings among professors of religion, then there is great need of a revival. These things show that Christians have got far from God, and it is time to think earnestly of a revival. Religion cannot prosper with such things in the church, and nothing can put an end to them like a revival.
    3. When there is a worldly spirit in the church: it is manifest that the church is sunk down into a low and backslidden state, when you see Christi ans conform to the world in dress, equipage, parties, seeking worldly amusements, reading novels and other books such as the world reads. It shows that they are far from God, and that there is a great need of a Revival of Religion. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), Lectures on Revivals of Religion, New York: Leavitt, Lord & Co., 1835, p. 21-22 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 22:29-31; Isa. 57:15; Hos. 6:2; Zech. 8:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, do not delay Your renewal. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brooks: life without prayer foolish

2026-06-26T23:00:37.159-05:00

Saturday, June 27, 2026
Meditation:
    And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
    “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘
    “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
    “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
    —Luke 12:16-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If man is man and God is God, to live without prayer is not merely an awful thing: it is an infinitely foolish thing.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Addresses, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895, p. 138 (see the book)
    See also Luke 12:16-21; Ps. 14:1; Prov. 14:16; 1 Thess. 5:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep my heart in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacDonald: all providence

2026-06-25T23:00:50.306-05:00

Friday, June 26, 2026
Meditation:
    [Hannah:] “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed... The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.”
    —1 Samuel 2:3,6-9 (KJV)
Quotation:
    God’s care is more evident in some instances of [His providence] than in others to the dim and often bewildered vision of humanity. Upon such instances men seize and call them providences. It is well that they can; but it would be gloriously better if they could believe that the whole matter is one grand providence.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood, v. I [1867], London: Strahan & Co., 1873, p. 17 (see the book)
    See also 1 Sam. 2:3,6-9; Deut. 32:39; 1 Kings 8:39; Ps. 37:23-24; 44:21; 91:11-12; 94:7-10; 121:3; 147:5; Pr. 16:9; Heb. 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:3-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I rely on You in all things. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Reid: the precious relic

2026-06-24T23:00:05.462-05:00

Thursday, June 25, 2026
Meditation:
    And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
    —Matthew 4:23 (ESV)
Quotation:
    It might help us in our thinking if we drew a distinction between preaching, which the New Testament talks about as a continuing activity in society at large, and sermonising, which we have made into a special activity in the church premises...
    A great many people sermonising in our churches today would be better off and of greater service if they absolved themselves from the bondage and disciplines of the pulpit and came down among their congregations, teaching informally on sounder educational principles. After all, the vital matter in the ministry of the Word is not that a clergyman delivers himself of a discourse but that the people to whom he ministers end up being taught something.
    The tragedy is that the professional clergy have been trained to sermonise and they seem overwhelmed with fears and a sense of insecurity when they contemplate other methods.
    A f urther problem, of course, is that most of our churches contain a significant number of people who become emotionally disturbed at any departure from what they have always done in the past. To them, the sermon is part of their Christianity—even if it bores them stiff!
    ... Gavin Reid (b. 1934), The Gagging of God, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1969, p. 33-34 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:15; Luke 8:1; 1 Cor. 1:17-18,22-23; 2 Cor. 2:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I confess that I fear departure from the familiar. Teach me to sense Your Spirit’s prompting in all things. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: life's reward

2026-06-23T23:00:54.766-05:00

Wednesday, June 24, 2026
    Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist
Meditation:
    But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
    —Hebrews 2:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Alas, we but chase feathers flying in the air, and tire our own spirits, for the froth and over-gilded clay of a dying life. One sight of what my Lord hath let me see within this short time, is worth a world of worlds.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, Feb. 9, 1637, p. 179 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 2:9; Isa. 11:1; 45:22; Mic. 7:7; Zech. 12:10; John 1:29; 8:56; Eph. 1:18; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 12:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have seen You with my heart’s eyes. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brandon: the spirit of fellowship

2026-06-22T23:00:50.025-05:00

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

2026-06-21T23:00:37.817-05:00

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

2026-06-20T23:00:51.165-05:00

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

2026-06-19T23:00:51.012-05:00

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

2026-06-18T23:00:07.016-05:00

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

2026-06-17T23:00:46.356-05:00

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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