Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion
Bring some Spirit-filled peace into your hectic schedule every weekday morning with this new Daily Devotional.
July 3rd - John 9:24-25
John 9:24-25
For the second time [the Pharisees] called in the man who had been blind and told him, âGod should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.â âI donât know whether he is a sinner,â the man replied. âBut I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!â The Pharisees were fuming. Jesus had just healed a blind man, and they were determined to prove that he hadnât. First of all, they interviewed the man, and he confirmed that Jesus had given him back his sight. They were...
July 2nd - John 8:12
John 8:12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, âI am the light of the world. If you follow me, you wonât have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.â Jesus spoke these words during the Festival of Tabernacles, which was a seven-day holiday at the end of the harvest. It was one of three pilgrimage festivals, so Jerusalem would have been heaving with people. On the first evening, there was a ceremony called The Illumination of the Temple. Four great candelabra were placed in the centre of the Court of the Wo...
July 1st - John 8:7
John 8:7 [Jesus said:] âLet the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!â By this time, Jesus had become a deeply controversial person in Jerusalem. The teachers of the religious law and the Pharisees were always looking for ways to trip him up. On this particular day, they brought a woman to him who had been caught in the act of adultery. They reminded Jesus that, according to the Law of Moses, anyone who committed adultery should be stoned to death. This was a clever trap â if Jesus suggested he disagreed with the Mosaic Law, they would have all the pr...
June 30th - John 6:66-69
John 6:66-69
At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, âAre you also going to leave?â Simon Peter replied: âLord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.â Until now, Jesus seemed to have been attracting more and more followers. In chapter four, we hear that he was attracting more disciples than John the Baptist and people were believing in him even in the hostile territory of Samaria. In the G...
June 29th - John 6:33-35
John 6:33-35
The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.â âSir,â they said: âgive us that bread every day.â Jesus replied: âI am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.â When I was a boy, bread was only offered to us in two forms. It was either brown or white! These days, it is offered in a huge variety of ways â brioche, ciabatta, focaccia, multigrain, naan, pitta, rye, sourdough and wholewheat to name but a few â...
June 28th - John 6:8-9
John 6:8-9
Then Andrew, Simon Peterâs brother, spoke up: âThereâs a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?â Iâm sure weâre all familiar with Jesusâ miraculous feeding of the 5,000. It must have had a profound effect on everyone who witnessed it, but Iâm particularly interested in what happened before the miracle took place. Jesus asked Philip where it would be possible to buy food for the people, and then John added that Jesus knew exactly what he was going to do and was merel...
June 27th - John 5:2-6
John 5:2-6
Inside [Jerusalem], near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick peopleâblind, lame, or paralyzedâlay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him: âWould you like to get well?â I loved spending time in Jerusalem, but it is often impossible to know exactly where the events we read about in the Gospels took place. However, we know where the pool of Bethesda is, and...
June 26th - John 4:13-14
John 4:13-14
Jesus replied, âAnyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.â Here, Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman. Everything about their meeting was surprising. First of all, it would have astonished everyone that he had travelled through Samaria. The rivalry between the Samaritans and the Jews was intense for deep historical reasons. After the breakup of the kingdom, following the death of Solomon, the northern territory was annexed by t...
June 25th - John 3:29-30
John 3:29-30
[John the Baptist said:] âIt is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroomâs friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at [Jesusâ] success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.â John the Baptist knew his place. He knew that he was simply the one who was preparing the way, and that all the attention should be on Jesus. He was like a best man whose task is to do everything possible to make the wedding go smoot...
June 24th - John 3:16-17
John 3:16-17
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. I remember well the first time somebody, other than my parents, told me they loved me. I can recall everything about that moment, and it was simply amazing. In these verses, which are probably the most famous in the entire Bible, we hear the wonderful news that...
June 23rd - John 3:3
John 3:3
Jesus replied [to Nicodemus], âI tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.â
Nicodemus was an unlikely visitor to Jesus. He was a Pharisee, and Jesus was locked in a constant struggle with this group of Jewish leaders throughout his ministry. Perhaps thatâs why he came to Jesus at night. He wanted to ask his questions without being spotted by his fellow Pharisees. Jesus had no formal accreditation as a Jewish teacher, so it was generous of Nicodemus to address him as âRabbiâ. Clearly, he was impres...
June 22nd - John 2:23-25
John 2:23-25
Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didnât trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each personâs heart. Whether we like it or not, the world knows a great deal about us. Organisations go to extraordinary lengths to store information about every aspect of our lives so they can lure us into buying their products and using their services. However, although it might not...
June 21st - John 2:15-16
John 2:15-16
Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changersâ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, âGet these things out of here. Stop turning my Fatherâs house into a marketplace!â The Gospels generally present Jesus as a calm, compassionate and peaceful person. This account of him clearing the temple forecourts of traders seems to stand in marked contrast. Jesus was clearly angered by what he...
June 20th - John 1:45-46
John 1:45-46 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, âWe have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.â âNazareth!â exclaimed Nathanael. âCan anything good come from Nazareth?â Wherever you live, there is probably a town not far away with a dodgy reputation. For whatever reason, the place is held in suspicion, and you canât imagine that anything good would ever come out of it! Nathanael came from Cana, which is not far away from Nazareth, and it appears that a typical town rivalry made Nathanael resp...
June 19th - John 1:43
John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, âCome, follow me.â I love the simplicity of this verse. Jesus called Philip to follow him, and he did! From this moment onwards, Philipâs life was defined by following Jesus, right up until he was crucified upside down in Hierapolis about 50 years later. Throughout those years, he must have looked back to that initial moment when he responded to the call of Jesus. Johnâs Gospel is all about following Jesus, so it is no surprise that in the final chapter we hear Jes...
June 18th - John 1:40-41
John 1:40-41 Andrew, Simon Peterâs brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, âWe have found the Messiahâ (which means âChristâ). There used to be a lot of talk about friendship evangelism â bringing people to hear the good news of Jesus through friendship. I never liked the sound of it. It seemed scheming and awkward to me. I would much rather talk simply about friendship, and thatâs exactly what we see in this passage. Friendship is the most natural thing in the world. And...
June 17th - John 1:26-27
John 1:26-27 John [the Baptist] told them, âI baptise with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognise. Though his ministry follows mine, Iâm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.â We are familiar with the stories of Jesus and have probably all seen film portrayals of him. Itâs hard for us to imagine that there was a time when people didnât know who he was. He didnât stand out in a crowd. It seems that only John the Baptist could spot him; he recognised e...
June 16th - John 1:16-17
John 1:16-17 From Godâs abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but Godâs unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. People have very different understandings of God. Some see him as being a strict disciplinarian, like a divine policeman. Others see him as a nice old man on a cloud with a flowing beard, very kind but completely cut off from normal life. Then there is the picture of God that we find in Johnâs Gospel â someone who is unfailingly generous and involved in every part of our d...
June 15th - John 1:10-12
John 1:10-12 [Jesus] came into the very world he created, but the world didnât recognise him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. Rejection is always painful. If you meet with a new group of people and feel unwelcome, it is an uncomfortable experience, but if you are rejected by people who are close to you, it is particularly agonising. Many people have experienced rejection from their parents, children or spouse. There is no way of simply br...
June 14th - John 1:6-8
John 1:6-8 God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. John was determined to help people to see that Jesus, and only Jesus, is the Light of the World. John the Baptist had a really important part to play, but he wasnât the light. He simply prepared people to meet with Jesus. John wanted his readers to make sure that they were only looking for lifeâs meaning and purpose in J...
June 13th - John 1:4-5
John 1:4-5 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. There has been darkness on every page of human history, but the last century saw darkness on a colossal scale. During the terrible dictatorships of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao, many tens of millions of people were killed, but we have also seen horrifying amounts of abuse even within the Church. Every day, we hear stories of darkness, and we feel the weight of pain that is borne...
June 12th - John 1:1
John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. Can I be honest? I listened to these words for years without really understanding them. They are often used at Christmas carol services, and they seemed very mysterious to me. John would have been saddened by my reaction because for him and his readers, it was obvious. Everyone knew what he meant by âthe Wordâ or the Logos. This was an expression often used in Greek philosophy which shaped the thinking of his day. He was saying that Jesus was nothing less than...
June 11th - Acts 2:44-45
Acts 2:44-45 All the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. The Holy Spirit transformed every part of the early Christiansâ lives. Yes, they were committed to teaching, fellowship and prayer, but they also looked at their possessions with new eyes. They were eager to find opportunities to share their resources with one another according to peopleâs needs. This is revolutionary stuff. It is really important to ensure that a churchâs teaching, fellowship and prayer life are strong, but if they d...
June 10th - Acts 2:42
Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostlesâ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lordâs Supper) and to prayer. The early weeks of the Church must have been amazing. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit had totally transformed everything. From a small group of disappointed and frightened believers, there was now a large number of believers fired up with a determination to change the world. These verses in Acts give us the first clues of what the Church looked like, and this verse spells out three key aspects. Firstly, the believers needed teac...
June 9th - Acts 2:37-38
Acts 2:37-38 Peterâs words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, âBrothers, what should we do?â Peter replied: âEach of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.â A sermon is worth nothing if it doesnât lead to action. Peterâs sermon on the Day of Pentecost powerfully described the reason for Jesusâ death. In words that would have shocked much of his audience, he pointed out that...
June 8th - Acts 2:16-17
Acts 2:16-17 What you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: âIn the last days,â God says, âI will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.â When Peter spoke these words, he was addressing huge crowds of Jews who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the harvest festival known as Pentecost. On that day, the first fruits of the wheat harvest were offered to God. It was known as Pentecost because it occurred 50 days after the Sabbath that followed the Pass...
June 7th - Psalm 59:17
Psalm 59:17 O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love. Is your life a struggle at the moment? Iâm really sorry if so, but I want you to know youâre not alone. In this psalm, like many others, David pours out the detail of his struggles. He feels physically threatened and compares his opponents to vicious dogs, snarling as they prowl the streets. He also reflects on the curses and lies they keep hurling at him. There seems to be no limit to the challenges that...
June 6th - Psalm 57:8-9
Psalm 57:8-9 Wake up, my heart! Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. I have always loved singing and have sung with many choirs over the years. Many of you may have had a similar experience. You will know what a joy it is to contribute your little sound to the united voice of a choir. It isnât surprising that singing has always played such a major role in worship. It takes our words to an...
June 5th - Psalm 56:8
Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Everything seemed to be going wrong for David when he wrote this psalm. He was being attacked continually by the Philistines. They were constantly slandering and spying on him, looking for an opportunity to kill him. But amid it all, David affirmed his confidence in the Lord, knowing that with God on his side, he couldnât lose. He had a deep conviction that his all-knowing God had not only kept track of all his wo...
June 4th - Psalm 56:1-3
Psalm 56:1-3 O God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me. My foes attack me all day long. I am constantly hounded by those who slander me, and many are boldly attacking me. But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. On a number of occasions, I have stayed in Benedictine monasteries in this country and in France. The monksâ way of life is very different from my own, but I have been incredibly blessed by the opportunity to worship with them. Honesty forces me to admit that I didnât attend all eight of t...
June 3rd - Psalm 52:8-9
Psalm 52:8-9 But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in Godâs unfailing love. I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people. This passage begins with a âbutâ because David is contrasting himself with Doeg the Edomite, who had been seeking to stir up trouble for him with Saul. David has some harsh things to say about Doeg who had been bent on Davidâs destruction. He reflects that he had decided to live...
June 2nd - Jeremiah 29:4,5,7
Jeremiah 29:4,5,7 This is what the LORD of Heavenâs Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: âBuild homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produceâŚAnd work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.â Godâs people refused to listen to Jeremiah. They continued in their sinful ways, and in 597 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Jerusalem and took over 3,000 people into exile. This was total humi...
June 1st - Jeremiah 18:1-4
Jeremiah 18:1-4 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, âGo down to the potterâs shop, and I will speak to you there.â So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. My own attempts at pottery were a miserable failure. When I saw my teacher doing it, it all looked so simple. He just threw the clay onto the revolving wheel and within moments he was...
May 31st - Jeremiah 17:21-23
Jeremiah 17:21-23 This is what the LORD says: Listen to my warning! Stop carrying on your trade at Jerusalemâs gates on the Sabbath day. Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors, but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or accept my discipline. We were reflecting yesterday on the importance of maintaining good spiritual rhythms. Todayâs passage reminds us of the most important of them: the Sabbath, one day in seven set apart for God. God observed this in Crea...
May 30th - Jeremiah 17:7-8
Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. Weâve all got a choice: we can rely on human beings or on God. Jeremiah says that those who rely on mere humans are cursed. He compares them to stunted shrubs in the desert with no hope for the fu...
May 29th - Jeremiah 14:14
Jeremiah 14:14 The LORD said: âThese prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts.â Jeremiah had some very harsh things to say. He needed everyone to know that if they didnât change their ways, they would receive Godâs judgement. This was not what the people wanted to hear. They wanted prophets who would tell them that everything was fine and they had noth...
May 28th - Jeremiah 13:16
Jeremiah 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness and gloom. We are all good at putting things off. It might be filling in our tax returns, making things right with an aggrieved neighbour, buying Christmas presents or 1,001 other things. Jeremiah was desperately concerned that the people were putting off the most important thing of all: following the Lord. They were happy the way they...
May 27th - Jeremiah 10:12-13
Jeremiah 10:12-13 The LORD made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. The fact that God created the world is the foundation of the Bibleâs understanding of him. The first couple of chapters of Genesis tell us how God did this, and then the rest of the Bible points back to it...
May 26th - Jeremiah 10:2
Jeremiah 10:2 This is what the LORD says: âDo not act like the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them.â If youâve ever looked at a horoscope, youâll probably have concluded that it is all a lot of nonsense. They may have told you that today is a good day to make friends, or to avoid puddles or to plan your holidays. However, horoscopes are nothing new. For more than 4,000 years, people have taken astrology very seriously and have developed sophisti...
May 25th - Jeremiah 9:23-24
Jeremiah 9:23-24 The LORD says: âDonât let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD.â What are the things you boast about â the things that give you the most pride and pleasure? For many people, itâs their family, but for others itâs their education, their achievements, their influence or their wealth. Almost certainly, the answer is found in the things you are most keen to...