Quote of the day, 3 September: Brother Lawrence

Means to acquire the presence of God:

It would be appropriate for beginners to formulate a few words interiorly, such as: My God, I am completely yours, or God of love, I love you with all my heart, or Lord, fashion me according to your heart, or any other words love spontaneously produces.

But they must take care that their minds do not wander or return to creatures. The mind must be kept fixed on God alone, so that seeing itself so moved and led by the will, it will be obliged to remain with God.

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, o.c.d.

Spiritual Maxims, 30

Lawrence of the Resurrection, B; De Meester, C 1994, Writings and Conversations on the Practice of the Presence of God,  translated from the French by Salvatore Sciurba, OCD, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Photographer Marko Vombergar captured this image of a pilgrim to Argentina’s 2016 National Eucharistic Congress in Tucumán. Image credit: Marko Vombergar for aleteia.org / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#BrotherLawrenceOfTheResurrection #GodAlone #loveForGod #mentalPrayer #presenceOfGod

Quote of the day, 18 August: Hermann Cohen

Faith is acquired through prayer, which, united to faith, imparts peace, love, wisdom, light, freedom—all of which are contained in Jesus Christ.

It is not possible for someone who does not love Jesus Christ to be happy.

We love happiness, and Jesus Christ, our sole happiness, is not loved. We love wealth, and Jesus Christ, eternal sufficiency, is not loved. We love pleasures and celebrity, and Jesus Christ, the most desirable one, splendor of eternal glory, is not loved.

Look, you who now listen to me, how is it that it takes a Jew to come here and beg Christians to adore Jesus Christ?

Sun, refuse to shine, clouds cease to pour down rain, melt away you rocks of granite! Daughters of Sion, holy virgins, take up the discipline, cover yourselves in ashes, weep, fast, keep vigil, Jesus is not loved, because he is not known! We study, we know everything except Him.

And even so, missionaries carry his name to the ends of the earth. Even so, martyrs die on the scaffold.

Servant of God Augustine Mary of the Blessed Sacrament (Hermann Cohen)

Sermon in Bordeaux Cathedral, 1852

Tierney, T  2017,  A Life of Hermann Cohen: From Franz Liszt to John of the CrossBalboa Press,  Bloomington, IN

Featured image: Andrés López, The Sacred Heart of Jesus adored by angels, 1785, oil on copper. Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. PI 4459B. Source: Ojeda, A 2005-2025, Project for the Engraved Sources of Spanish Colonial Art (PESSCA), viewed 16 August 2025, https://colonialart.org.

#adoration #AugustineMaryOfTheBlessedSacrament #HermannCohen #loveForGod #martyrs

Quote of the day, 3 April: St. John of the Cross

To begin our discussion on the subject of oratories, some individuals never grow tired of adding images of one kind or another to their oratories, or of taking delight in the arrangement and adornment of these images so the place of prayer will appear well decorated and attractive.

But they do not love God more when it is arranged in this way instead of that, rather they love him less, since the delight they find in these ornate paintings withdraws their attention from the living person represented, as we pointed out.

If you fail in this love because of these other objects, he will not merely fail to reward you, but will punish you for not having sought his pleasure in all things instead of your own.

We get a clear understanding of this in the festivity that was celebrated in honor of His Majesty when he entered Jerusalem.

Evidently they were celebrating themselves more than God, which often happens today when there is a solemn festival in some locality. Many are usually happier because of the recreation derived from the celebration—by seeing or being seen, or by eating, or by some other means—than because of God’s pleasure. In these inclinations and intentions they do not please God.

God does not record for their merit what they do for their own pleasure or for that of others. On the contrary, many taking part in festivals in honor of God will be only diverting themselves, and God will be angry with them.

He was angry in this way with the children of Israel when he killed many thousands of them while they were celebrating a festival singing and dancing to their idol, thinking their festivity was in honor of God [Ex 32:7-28].

How many festivals, my God, do the children of this earth celebrate in your honor in which the devil has a greater role than you! And the devil, like a merchant, is pleased with these gatherings because he does more business on those days.

Saint John of the Cross

The Ascent of Mount Carmel, III, chap. 38, nos. 2–3

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Adoration of the Golden Calf is an oil on canvas painting by Italian artist Andrea di Lione (1610–1685). The work dates to 1626–1629 and is part of the collection at the Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco. Image credit: Thomas Hawk / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

💠 Appreciate these quotes from the Carmelites?
Subscribe for more Carmelite wisdom delivered straight to your inbox.

💠 Reflection question:
What helps you keep God’s pleasure—not your own—at the center of your prayer or worship?
Share your thoughts in the comments.

#devil #festival #God #loveForGod #Moses #StJohnOfTheCross

Bible Gateway passage: Exodus 32:7-28 - New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

Bible Gateway

Those who love Jesus

In Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism we looked at a specific blog where the Christadelphians where accused of not loving Jesus. The blog mentioned is not the only one which tries to blacken the Christadelphian community and let her readers to believe that we would not love Jesus. In the discussion of the blog Honor «god» and Queen of Heaven you might find their reasoning. So often we get people complaining to us that we are not following God’s Word and that we are blasphemous and hate Jesus because we do not take him to be God. Having so many times to defend our Christadelphian faith and to proof to people that it well can be that we do love Jesus even much more than they do, that we decided to open some platform where we specifically go deeper into that subject of loving Jesus and following Jesus.

C4U: Christ For You & Christadelphians For You, started on 7 February 2015

On 2015, February the 7th, C4U a Wix.com website was created to tell the world that we have Christ for us and that the Christadelphians are willing to show the world why it is so important to have Christ for us.

We want to show the importance the Christadelphians put on Bible reading and following what is written and advised in the Bible. It is not just o.k. to read it now and then, but when we do love God, we should want to read the Book of books, with His infallible Word in it, regularly. When we do love God we would also listen very carefully to His Voice which resounds throughout the 66 books of the Canonic Bible.

From the beginning of that compilation of books, we are told about creation, what has happened to it and what is going to happen in the future. We can also see that there is put a lot of focus on one particular man, who was already promised in the Garden of Eden, many years later to several people who wanted to listen to the different prophets God had chosen to represent Him. The prophet Isaiah gave a light of the future world and with him many pointed out to a saviour to come. Like the astrologers who came to visit the newborn in Bethlehem, everybody could come to the same conclusion as they when they would listen attentively to the Word of God, given to all in the Book of books, the Bible.

The prophet born in Bethlehem, who came to live with his parents in Nazareth and later in life started a public life, which did not last long, because people had sought to kill him, is the one we want to put our focus on.

All for Christ, a website started in 2015, February 8, to show people the reason of the importance of Christ Jesus for us all, and how we all should come to follow him, who is the Way to Jehovah God

Also “All for Christ” wants to look at this spectacular man, who had not such special looks or was not so rich, but was special because of his way how he could cope with people and how he could explain the Words of God.

Both new websites want to focus on Jesus Christ and bring the reasons forward why this man of flesh and blood is so special for humankind.

At the same time they want to show that it are perhaps those, who really want to believe what is written in the Bible, about that man and who want to stick to those words instead of following human doctrines, who are the real lovers of Christ.
Those who cannot accept that it ever would be possible that a man could follow God’s commandments do not have trust in the Maker of man, because than He would have created a being impossible to follow His wishes, and as such have created from the start an imperfect being and having demanded straight ahead too much. Not only do they injustice to the maker of man. They also do totally injustice to Jesus, because they consider him impossible to be a man of flesh and blood not capable to do the Will of God, but as God he could naturally do that Will of God, because then he would be that God Himself doing His own Will. They also forget that they, making Jesus into God, make of him a liar, because God knows everything, though Jesus said he did not know when he would come back, did not know when the end-times would take place and did not know who would be seated next to him. In case he is God, he would not have told the truth because God knows everything. But it makes Scriptures even more untrustable, because in it is told that God can not be seen or man would fall dead, that God can not be tempted, that God is an eternal Spirit (meaning he cannot die) Who does not tell lies. Though we are told Jesus was born (had a beginning) and was seen by many. We are also told that Jesus was tempted more than once. Worst of all is that in the New Testament is said Jesus died and after he was taken out of the dead, having been three days in hell, he showed to his disciples his wounds and confirmed to them that he was not a spirit (this would once more be a contradiction then in the Scriptures).

With the new websites we want to show people who Christ Jesus really was and is, and how he has been made higher than before (having been lower than angels, though God was, is and always shall be the Most High), now seated next to Jehovah God to be the one mediator between man and God.

Both sites want to show the world what Christ has done for us all and why he earns the glory. they shall bring forward how important it is to recognise what Jesus really did, giving his life for all mankind, offering himself as a lamb and a ransom for God.

Everybody should know that those who love Jesus most are those who believe what Jesus himself said and are willing to follow up everything Jesus asked.

Christadelphians are Brothers and Sisters in Christ not only willing to be part of the Body of Christ passively, but taking up the task Jesus has given seriously, going out in the world proclaiming the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God.

+

Find the new websites:

All for Christ

C4U

+++

Related articles

  • January 31 – culture (cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com)
    Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
    +
    When we bring Jesus to people we don’t have to bring our ethnicity with Him. We don’t even need to hold too strongly to the culture of Circle of Hope! We are called to show honor to people as they are. Their transformation starts from the inside out. Whatever conformity happens is the work of the Spirit. Jesus is going to transform every culture as He relentlessly creates Christ culture. It is a wonder how large and inclusive Christ culture is! God enjoys all the flavors in which his truth and love can be served.
  • Today’s Defeat Is Tomorrow’s Victory (dailybibleplan.com)
    The members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen had accused Stephen of blasphemy (the same charge against Jesus) and brought him before the Sanhedrin for trial.  When the high priest asked Stephen if the charges against him were true, Stephen could have used his time to mount his own defense.  Instead, Stephen used his time to recap Israel’s relationship with God.  He spoke about the many times in Israel’s history in which God was faithful to his promises yet the people rejected God and His prophets, including the Messiah Jesus Christ.  Even when faced with untrue charges against him, Stephen stood firm in his beliefs and spoke of his Lord to the very end when the religious leaders got so caught up in their anger that they stoned Stephen to death without even giving him a proper trial.
  • Relax in the promises of God (disciplesofhope.wordpress.com)
    Learn to relax in the promises of God. Never get carried away by the external that you forget to trust God inwardly. Indeed, Jesus rebuked those disciples about their low faith when they were scared of of the great storm despite being with him the boat (Refer Mark 4:35-41). Do not get fearful about anything, for instance the economy, wars, relationships etc. Instead put your trust in the word of God.
    +
    Then there are people who do read the Bible regularly but do not read it in faith. Bible reading is not be mere reading alone. You got to try to understand it. You got to believe in it. Most importantly, one who reads the Bible must read it so one becomes more like Christ in obedience to God.
  • Christian: if New Testament is false, why not Hebrew Bible too? (dailyminyan.com)
    A Christian told me the other day that I was being hypocritical by questioning New Testament’s validity as inspired scripture. I was warned that I should not cast stones at the New Testament, that is to claim that it is based on lies, since there are atheist critics of the “Old Testament” (the Jewish Bible) who assert that it is just as false and full of discrepancies as the New Testament.
  • Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? (renewamerica.com)
    We can stipulate that “Allah” is the generic word for “God” in Arabic, just as “El” and “Elohim” are in Hebrew and “theos” is in Greek. Thus there are many Christians in the Arabic speaking world who refer to the God of the Bible as “Allah,” and who use it in phrases such as “Inshallah,” which means “God willing.”(It’s worth noting in passing that the highest court in Malaysia recently ruled that Muslims and Muslims alone are permitted to use the word “Allah.”)

    But generic words for God, because they are generic, can be used to refer to a multiplicity of gods. So the term must be narrowed down. If someone uses a generic word for “God,” the follow-up question must be asked, “Which ‘god’ are your referring to?”

    Our remark: Naturally when those Christians do take Jesus to be the God, than you could say the Jews and Muslims do have an other God, because they, like Jesus have the God of Abraham, which is only One True God, not existing out of three persons.

  • Have a brilliant weekend (0: (hmweimar.wordpress.com)
    We thank you Lord for being our father, we thank Christ for his sacrifice and the Holy Spirit for guidance and compassion.
  • Listen: The New Birth, Part 2 (Onward Christian Soldiers #69 with Daniel Whyte III) (blackchristiannews.com)
    Faith is necessary for the new birth. The requirement for the new birth is faith in Jesus Christ who was crucified for our sins. The Lord Jesus explained this to Nicodemus by reminding him of something that happened to the children of Israel while they were in the wilderness.
  • Advocate,which is name for attorney (divinedirection.typepad.com)
    You have your own attorney when you go into the judge’s chambers for adjudication. According to God’s Word, you have an Advocate,which is another name for attorney.
  • A Defense Attorney Has Been Appointed For You (fbcpolson.wordpress.com)
    Because Jesus died, our debt is paid. Hallelujah! Though our sins are as scarlet, He will wash them white as snow!
  • “I Die Daily” (birdchirp.wordpress.com)
    When we surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ we say by that surrender, “I am dying to the world and coming alive in Christ, to walk in His steps, to share the cross with Him, to lose my life in His service.”

Rate this:

#2015 #69 #AllForChristWebsite_ #BeingPartOfTheBodyOfChrist #Bethlehem #BibleReading #BookOfBooks #C4U #CommandmentsOfGod #EternalSpirit #Focus #FocusOnSonOfGod #FollowingJesusChrist #GloryOfChrist #HatingJesus #HumanDoctrines #HumanJesus #ImperfectBeing #KnowingEverything #Liar #LoveForChrist #LoveForGod #LoveGod #LoversOfChrist #LovingJesus #Maker #ManFromNazareth #ManJesus #MostHigh #Proclaiming #Saviour #SeatedNextToGod #SovereignMaker #Spirit #TellingLies #TellingTheTruth #Trinity #WordOfGod

Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism

Dave Burke asks: Why is our local preaching so unsuccessful while our overseas evangelism rises from strength to strength? It’s not that we don’t know how to evangelise, or that preachi…

Belgian Ecclesia Brussel - Leuven