Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

James 2:15-17 There have always been people who suggest that James and the apostle Paul disagreed with one another. Paul was absolutely clear that no amount of good works could ever earn us salvation. In Ephesians 2:8 he says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” In today’s verses, James is clearly saying that good works ar...

James 2:13 Mercy lies right at the heart of God’s dealings with us. Because we have sinned against God we have no right to expect anything other than condemnation. That’s what justice would demand. But God has decided that justice should be set to one side and that we should be shown mercy instead. There is nothing we could ever do to deserve this. It is simply a gift. Having received that gift, w...

James 2:1 It’s hard for us to imagine the social tensions with which the early Church had to live. The majority of Christians were poor, and many of them were slaves. Imagine the potential difficulties if a slave owner then became part of the church, too. Slaves had no legal rights. How would a slave master worship alongside someone that he ‘owned’? James was only too well aware of these challenge...

James 1:27 The question of what genuine faith looks like is one that we meet in both the Old and New Testaments. The prophet Amos spoke powerfully about the rich people in his society who were so pleased with themselves that they were sure God would reward them in due course. But he told them that, because they had built their wealth through exploiting the poor, God would judge them harshly. They...

James 1:26 James was deeply concerned about people who were phoney. They did religious things and made a good first impression but, in fact, their faith did nothing to affect their actions. And he was famously concerned about the abuse of the tongue. Later in this letter he has much more to say on the subject, but here he simply identifies the importance of controlling what we say. I am sure he wa...

James 1:23-24 My ability to forget things constantly amazes me, but it probably shouldn’t. The brain decreases in size in our 30s and 40s and, more rapidly, in our 60s. Norman Wisdom, the much- loved comedian and actor, said: “As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes...and I can’t remember the other two.” In our verses today James points out the absurdity of looking in a...

James 1:22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. Listening to God’s word is clearly a very good thing to do. But it isn’t enough. Anyone can listen to the Bible, a sermon or a Christian podcast. But the mere process of listening doesn’t change anything. What matters is that our listening then affects the way in which we live. My...

James 1:19 James was well aware that the normal inclination of human beings is to speak too much and listen too little. It’s worth reflecting for a moment on why this is the case. Listening is really hard work. It’s certainly much more demanding than speaking. When we give our full attention to another person, it requires a great deal of concentration and, if we do it for long, it can be exhaustin...

James 1:12 If we are honest, most of us would rather not have to face problems and difficulties. We often pray that God would take away any challenges in life so that we can enjoy a life of peace and joy. Surely that is just the sort of thing he would want for us! But in our broken and disordered world, we, like everyone else, will have to face many difficulties and challenges. And, as Christians,...

James 1:9-10 The Bible often invites us to think through the biggest question of all: Where can we find true wealth? James was clear about the answer. The most valuable thing in the world is to know God and to be a citizen of heaven. Nothing can possibly get better than that. James encouraged his poor Christian friends to understand just how honoured and blessed they were. Most of James’ readers w...

James 1:5 Whether we are looking at major life-changing decisions or little day-to-day issues, we all need wisdom. This verse reminds us that God is generous and loves to give his wisdom to us. When we ask for wisdom we can do so with confidence, knowing that he’s not going to make us feel embarrassed for asking. You couldn’t blame him if he said to us: “What, you again? Have you still not worked...

James 1:2-3 Talk to anyone involved in business or sport, and they will tell you that they learnt the most when things have gone badly. Times of financial loss or heavy defeats forced them to reflect and learn the most useful lessons. By working through the challenging times, they gained resilience - and that’s what we all need to be effective in life. We might wish that everything would always go...

Proverbs 3:13-14 Everyone wants joy. Of course we do. Talk to any parent and almost everyone will say that they want their children to be happy. They don’t mind what career they follow, where they live or who they marry but they want them to be happy and joyful. The words of the book of Proverbs are timeless. The writer tells us that the route to joy is through gaining wisdom. So we need to be abs...

Proverbs 3:9-10 Abba’s famous song ‘Money, money, money’ sums up a lot of our modern world’s thinking about wealth. The lyrics say: “In my dreams I have a plan / If I got me a wealthy man / I wouldn’t have to work at all, I’d fool around and have a ball / Money, money, money / Must be funny / In the rich man’s world / Money, money, money / Always sunny / In the rich man’s world”. I’m not suggestin...

Proverbs 3:5-6 One of the greatest privileges of my life is to spend time talking with people about guidance. I don’t do this because I am an expert at advising people which way to go, but because I know the Guide who wants to lead them. It has helpfully been said that the Bible never uses the word ‘guidance’ - it simply introduces us to the Guide, and that’s precisely what we read in these verses...

Proverbs 2:3-4 I have never had a metal detector, but I have a number of friends who rave about their hobby. They head out into muddy fields to eagerly search
for treasure and, most of the time, find nothing of interest. But the rare success stories are amazing and, of course, continue to inspire and motivate detectorists. The biggest and most spectacular discovery in the UK was the Staffordshire...

John 17:20-21 This is an amazing prayer. Within moments Jesus would be betrayed by Judas and arrested by Roman soldiers and Temple guards. Jesus knew exactly what was going on but, in the middle of it all, he calmly prayed this prayer to his Heavenly Father. He rejoiced in the unity they enjoyed together and longed for his followers to have a similar experience. It is a tragic truth that the Churc...

John 17:3 You can sum up Christianity very easily with the expression: “It’s not what you know but who you know that counts.” Christian faith is all about a personal relationship with God the Father and his son, Jesus. Everything hinges on that. Here in Jesus’ prayer to his Father, he reflects on the relationship they enjoyed. They lived in complete unity and Jesus expresses his desire that everyo...

John 15:18-19 Jesus faced opposition throughout his ministry. It was important that his disciples knew the same would be true for them. In these verses, Jesus gives the reason for this. Fundamentally, they no longer belonged to this world. Of course they continued to live in the world, but their values and objectives had totally changed since they met Christ. This was an important message for the...

John 15:16 If you are a follower of Jesus, you can probably remember the time when you chose to start following him. But one this is for sure: our step towards following Jesus came long after he took the first move towards us. What you and I did was merely responding to his love. He took the initiative. This is a really important point because, at times, it sounds as if we have done the Lord an en...

John 15:15 To be Jesus’ slave would be the greatest possible privilege. But Jesus wanted his disciples to know that he was looking for a much more intimate relationship than that. At the end of the day, a slave, however trusted and respected, had no rights at all and would certainly not be taken into the confidence of their master. But friends are different. The barriers are down. There is an inti...

John 15:5 Jesus’ language in this verse is uncompromising. We live in days when such language is deeply unpopular. People want to hear that every way of life is equally valid; it is just a matter of your own personal opinion. But that is completely different from Jesus’ approach. He claimed that, if we’re not living our lives in union with him, we can do nothing. He wasn’t offering an interesting...

John 15:1-2 I often drive past a large vineyard. When the vines are not in leaf there are few sights more unattractive. Just lines of contorted branches looking completely dead and useless. But then, in the spring, they burst into life and gradually produce the fruit for which they have been carefully cultivated. The whole purpose of a vine is to produce grapes, and a gardener will be absolutely d...

John 14:27 Peace is critically important for all of us. It has said that with peace of mind, a poor person is rich and, without it, a rich person is poor. The Bible tells us that Jesus was the Prince of Peace, and his intention was to offer his peace to everyone. But unfortunately, in our broken and tempestuous world, the word ‘peace’ tends to be seen negatively, or as merely the absence of war an...

John 14:26 How’s your memory? You will doubtless know the joke about the person who goes upstairs to get something only to totally forget why they went. They then return downstairs with something else simply to justify the journey. For me, that’s no longer a joke but a way of life! Forgetting is part of the human condition, and it undoubtedly gets worse with age, so it isn’t surprising that the Bi...