Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

2 Timothy 2:6 Hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labour. Paul was well aware of what a hard job it was to be a Christian leader. When he wrote to the Corinthians, he told them that he was pressed on every side by troubles. He knew what it was to be perplexed and hunted down and to live in constant danger of death (2 Corinthians 2:4-11). He didn’t want Timothy to have any illusions about the challenges that would face him and so, having compared his ministry to that of a soldier and an athlete, he ne...

2 Timothy 2:5 Athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. I wonder if you remember that agonising moment in the 2022 Commonwealth Games when England’s 4 x 400 women’s relay team was disqualified. It was all the more painful because they seemed to have won the race. They gave a confident and delighted interview straight after their success, only to learn that Jodie Williams and Victoria Ohuruogu had stepped out of lane on the second leg of the race. Their smiles of rejoicing quickly turned to tears of distress. Hard as it may be, there have to be rules in ever...

2 Timothy 2:3-4 Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. It’s not surprising that the apostle Paul often referred to soldiers in his letters. He had seen plenty of Roman soldiers in his time and had no doubt often reflected on their lives. They provided him with a powerful metaphor for the Christian life. I was interested to see that on their website the British army identifies its six values, all of which coul...

2 Timothy 2:2 You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Every sensible organisation needs to reflect on its succession planning. Leaders come and go and it’s important to think carefully about how potential new leaders are identified, trained and appointed. This was Paul’s concern in this verse. He had trusted his young friend Timothy to teach the Christian truths, but Timothy, in turn, needed to look out for people to whom he could entrust this resp...

2 Timothy 1:13 “Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me – a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus.” Living the Christian life doesn’t come naturally to any of us. We all need teaching to help us live for Christ. However, there’s a problem with the word [itals]teaching[end itals] – it tends to make us think about classrooms and exams. We might be tempted to think that there is a textbook somewhere with the answers to every question of the Christian life, but there isn’t. The teaching that we need is int...

2 Timothy 1:12 I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. Security is a big issue in our society. Billions of pounds are spent each year in an attempt to keep things safe. Nothing could make it clearer that, sadly, we live with a massive level of insecurity. I’ve only once lived in a house which had its own safe. It was so heavy that we never attempted to move it, but we were very grateful to have it be...

2 Timothy 1:9 God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time – to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. When Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus, everything changed. He moved from darkness to light. He experienced the forgiveness of his sins and entered into a new life with God which would never end. His whole life changed direction and he became an enthusiastic champion of the Christian faith, encouraging everyone to discover this salvation for themselves. In th...

2 Timothy 1:8 Never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. This wasn’t the first time that Paul had spoken about the issue of shame. In his letter to the church in Rome, he declared boldly that he was not ashamed of the good news of Christ (Romans 1:16). Paul had been brought up in the strict disciplines of the Jewish faith. He was a Pharisee and had studied under the most respected rabbis of his day. He knew that there were many people who wanted him to feel thoroughly ashamed of his Christian convictions, which they saw as a terrible be...

2 Timothy 1:7 God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline. The apostle Paul wanted his young friend Timothy to be the best. There was no question that Timothy was going to have to face enormous challenges. He would be continually confronting opponents to the Christian faith, and he would also have to face up to issues of church organisation and discipline. He had a tough job ahead of him, and Paul knew it was vital that he was neither fearful nor timid. From the references to Timothy in Paul’s first letter to...

2 Timothy 1:5-6 “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.” When I was a boy, one of the great pleasures of Saturday afternoons was that I would light a bonfire with my dad. I came to love the smell of bonfires, probably because it reminded me of those happy moments. The greatest pleasure of all was...

2 Timothy 1:3 [The apostle Paul wrote:] “Timothy, I thank God for you – the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.” Paul’s second letter to his young friend Timothy is deeply moving. Paul knew that he was close to death and was keen to do everything he could to encourage, strengthen and direct Timothy in his ministry. He knew it was absolutely vital that Timothy had a clear conscience. When we trudge through life with a guilty conscience, it is an oppressive burden to bear. I’m sure Pau...

Psalm 98:7-9 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the earth and all living things join in. Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness. When we think about praising God, we naturally think of people joining together in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world every Sunday. It’s inspiring to think of millions of people every week sharing in acts of worship. Ho...

Psalm 98:1 Sing a new song to the LORD, for he has done wonderful deeds. His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power! I love the fact that God’s people through thousands of years have enjoyed singing. The psalmist had a very clear reason for encouraging people to sing: God’s salvation. Throughout his dealings with his people, he had shown them his ability to save, supremely when he led them out of slavery in Egypt. After 400 years in that land, God set them free in the most dramatic way. Nothing has chan...

Psalm 97:10 You who love the LORD, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. One of the signs that we truly love God is that we start to hate evil, and this is critically important because the many great evils in the world will never come to an end unless people begin hating them. The Transatlantic Slave Trade only stopped when people identified its horror and started hating it. I once visited the ancient fort at Cape Coast in Ghana where slaves were held before being ferried to the...

2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. As Paul concludes this tough letter in which he has responded to fierce criticism of his ministry, he ends by blessing the church in Corinth. These beautiful words are repeated millions of times every year as Christians meet together because they are the strongest words of blessing that could be imagined. They summarise the majestic work of the Trinity. Jesus’ life and ministry are wonderfully summed up in the word grace. Grace means gift, and his li...

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 [The Lord] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. The apostle Paul revealed that he had suffered a thorn in the flesh. He didn’t give any hint of what kind of thorn this was, so there have been endless suggestions over the...

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. Paul was under attack from people within the church in Corinth. Some of them thought he was quite timid when he was with them in person but extremely bold in his letters while away from them. It’s never pleasant to be the target of criticism, and Paul responds by helping his critics understand that he wasn’t trying to impress them with powerful oratory...

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. We can likely all think of occasions when we have been really generous and times when other people have been generous to us. They are precious moments, but that’s just it – they are moments, and they come and go. What the apostle Paul is talking abou...

2 Corinthians 9:7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” Some years ago, I was involved with setting up a new hospice. There was a desperate need to raise funds and, although I had never done such a thing before, I offered to organise a house-to-house collection. I recruited collectors and off we went. It was the most beautiful experience. Almost everyone was not only keen to give but thankful that we went to the trouble of knocking on their door...

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this – a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. The law of the harvest is easy to understand: you reap what you sow. If you are miserly with your giving, you need to expect a deeply disappointing harvest. However, if you give generously, you can be sure of an amazing crop, probably far larger than anything you had imagined. Money is particularly important because, as Jesus observed, it is a rival god. You have to make a choice between serving God or mo...

2 Corinthians 8:20-21 We are travelling together to guard against any criticism for the way we are handling this generous gift. We are careful to be honourable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honourable. Paul had spent some time encouraging people to give money towards a collection that would help the Christians in Judaea who had suffered a severe famine. He knew how easily there can be accusations about the misuse of money, so he put measures in place to prevent this. One of them was to appoint Titus as his travelling companion...

2 Corinthians 8:11-12 Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. People often ask what amount of money they should give to the Lord, and I think Paul’s words are incredibly helpful. It is probable that the majority of people in the Corinthian church were poor, and his intention wasn’t to make their lives more difficult. At the same time, he knew it was very important that they should give in a disciplined and thoughtful way, so he enc...

2 Corinthians 8:10-11 Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Does any of this ring a bell with you? It certainly does with me! We begin to do something and we feel very enthusiastic about it, but then other things get in the way. In Corinth, the church had shown...

2 Corinthians 8:9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. The Christian life is, before anything else, characterised by giving, and the reason for this is that it’s how Jesus lived. As we follow in his footsteps, our lives need to be shaped by giving generously. His generosity was so complete that he gave everything and became totally poor in order to make other people rich. This is a huge challenge to all of us in a so...

2 Corinthians 8:7 Since you excel in so many ways – in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us – I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. This is a remarkable verse. The two letters that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth lift the lid on a community which was very divided and disorganised in its worship, and in which there were serious disciplinary issues that hadn’t been addressed. However, Paul was able to come up with a long list of their good qualities! I love how encouraging he was to the...

Proverbs 4:18-19 The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over. I have spent most of my life in towns or cities, which means I have had very little experience of darkness. However, when I lived in a village in India, I found out exactly what it was like. I can recall occasions when I would walk around on our compound without a single clue as to what...

Proverbs 3:13-14 Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. The writer of Proverbs spends a lot of time reflecting on wealth, and the question is: where can you find it? It is fascinating that the writer often speaks of the preciousness of silver and gold. Some things don’t change. Over the last few years of intense instability on the world’s financial markets, the price of silver and gold have shot up. After thousands of years, even though the world has...

Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. There are many different ways of giving. Some people give in order to impress. Jesus once spotted rich people placing their gifts in the temple treasury, no doubt giving a significant amount of money which would be a great help to the temple. Then, Jesus noticed a poor widow, who put two very small copper coins into the treasury. Her gift was tiny and unlikely to be...

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Trusting is something we do all the time. We trust mechanics, electricians, gas engineers, teachers, police, judges, doctors, nurses – the list could go on and on. However, our trust in them can never be complete, because they are human. They will have good days, but they will have some bad ones as well. Occasionally, there are some people who are totally untrustworthy and let us down completely. Go...

Proverbs 3:1-2 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. What’s your memory like? Time and again, I trudge upstairs to get something and haven’t a clue what I’m looking for by the time I get there! Pathetically, I try to find something else useful to do while I’m there to justify the journey. Forgetting things is part of the human condition and always has been, and the writer of Proverbs often addresses the issu...

Proverbs 3:1-2 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. What’s your memory like? Time and again, I trudge upstairs to get something and haven’t a clue what I’m looking for by the time I get there! Pathetically, I try to find something else useful to do while I’m there to justify the journey. Forgetting things is part of the human condition and always has been, and the writer of Proverbs often addresses the issu...

Proverbs 1:8-9 My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honour around your neck. I would be fascinated to know what you remember your parents teaching you. Their words shape the whole of our lives. I clearly remember my father insisting that we show “instant obedience”, presumably because we so often failed to do it! I remember my mother giving us great encouragement when we were kind to others. My parents are no longer with us, but their influenc...

Proverbs 1:8-9 My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honour around your neck. I would be fascinated to know what you remember your parents teaching you. Their words shape the whole of our lives. I clearly remember my father insisting that we show “instant obedience”, presumably because we so often failed to do it! I remember my mother giving us great encouragement when we were kind to others. My parents are no longer with us, but their influenc...

Proverbs 1:7 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. You need to be careful with the book of Proverbs. It’s very easy to read too much of it and get indigestion! It’s a book which needs lots of time for careful reflection, and this is the wisest and most crucial verse of all. True knowledge begins with knowing God personally. It’s our relationship with the creator of the universe that enables us to gain access to real knowledge which will help us to live our lives to the full. I wond...

Mark 8:36-37 What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Our cynical, materialistic society was well summed up by Oscar Wilde as knowing “the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Like many one-liners, that’s a bit harsh, but he was making an important point. It’s very easy for our money-mad society to overlook the most important things because of its obsession with the temporary things that have a price tag. Jesus pours scorn on this way of thinking. Forget owning a really large ho...

Mark 8:34-35 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, [Jesus] said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.” Jesus’ breathtaking honesty is very striking. Day by day, we are constantly being encouraged to sign up to organisations which can improve our health, wealth or general wellbeing. Their marketing is slick and highly polished and calculated to get us to subscribe to their products or services. They help us to dream of a h...

Mark 8:33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” I have a soft spot for Peter. When Jesus informed his disciples that he was going to suffer at the hands of the Jewish authorities and then be killed, Peter did what any friend would do. He told Jesus off for saying such terrible things. He loved Jesus and hated the thought of him going through such suffering, but Jesus would have none of it. “Get away from me...

Mark 8:27,29 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi…He asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” As you look back through your life, you may be able to spot turning points. At the time, the day was just like any other, but with hindsight you realise that nothing was quite the same afterwards. Jesus’ visit to Caesarea Philippi with his disciples was undoubtedly a major turning point in his ministry. Up until this moment, Jesus had been preaching and healing with the rumble of threats from...

Mark 7:14-15 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” The Pharisees had got really worked up by the disciples not washing their hands properly before eating. Elaborate rules had been developed over the years, and the Pharisees were meticulous in their adherence to them. They were sure that in order to be acceptable to God, they needed to keep these rules, but Jesus turned their thinking upside down. He p...

Mark 6:37 Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” The feeding of the 5,000 was a spectacular miracle, but Jesus didn’t rush into performing it. First of all, he challenged the disciples with a blunt command: “You feed them.” Just imagine how they would’ve felt! Suddenly, they had to come up with an answer. They started thinking through the implications and quickly worked out that they would need to work for a long time to earn enough to feed such a huge crowd. They wer...