Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Luke 8:16 Here, Jesus is making an absolutely obvious point. It would be absurd to go the trouble of lighting a lamp and then cover it so it cannot be seen. If you decide to light a lamp, you want its light to shine. So you find a place where the greatest number of people can see it and be helped by the illumination it brings. So much, so obvious. Jesus was clearly saying that if you have already...

Luke 8:15 Although this is still early on in Jesus’ public ministry, he already had a considerable following. In telling the parable of the sower, he was making it clear that it wasn’t enough for people merely to hear his message. They needed to let it go deep. Like any preacher, Jesus was aware of the wide range of reactions to his words. There were those who heard the message and almost immediat...

Luke 7:50 The woman in this story was almost certainly a prostitute. She had come to Jesus while he was visiting the home of a Pharisee called Simon, and had generously poured out an expensive perfume on Jesus, kissing his feet and wiping them with her hair. Simon the Pharisee saw this as a test case. If Jesus really was a prophet, he thought, he would identify this woman as a sinner and have noth...

Luke 7:35 John the Baptist and Jesus had very different personalities. John spent much of his time in the desert, well away from the main centres of population. He dressed in camel’s hair and ate locusts and wild honey. Many people concluded that he was possessed by a demon. On the other hand, Jesus spent his time with people - and often with the more unsavoury members of society. Far from keeping...

Luke 7:22 John the Baptist was in prison when he sent his disciples to check out Jesus. He asked them to go and ask him whether he really was the Messiah or whether they should be looking for someone else. John had prepared the way for Jesus’ coming by telling the people that the Messiah would judge people severely. He preached that the Messiah would “clean up the threshing area, gathering the whe...

Luke 7:6-7 The Roman officer who spoke these words was a fascinating character. He was not a Jew but was clearly deeply respectful of the Jewish faith. He had even paid for the construction of a synagogue and was, not surprisingly, much loved by the Jewish people. When his slave became ill, he decided to invite Jesus to heal him. His concern for his slave was remarkable in itself. Slaves were usua...

Luke 6:47-48 The foundations of a building are not a luxury. If you have ever purchased a house, you will have almost certainly had a building survey carried out. Part of this process would be to ensure that the foundations were solid. Subsidence is no laughing matter! The recent hot summers have caused problems for many, as loss of moisture in the soil has caused it to contract, damaging foundati...

Luke 6:46 The title ‘Lord’ is far more than just a term of respect. It is to affirm that they have authority, and deserve to be worshipped and obeyed. That was the reason the early Christians felt that they couldn’t possibly declare: “Caesar is Lord”, even when they were compelled to do so by law. They knew that Caesar did not have ultimate authority and didn’t deserve to be worshipped and obeyed....

Luke 6:45 Whether we like it or not, our words give us away. They reveal the kind of people we really are. The person whose words are always gentle, positive and encouraging gives us a window into their heart. But so, too, does the person who is forever complaining and cursing. Jesus’ observation might well sound obvious, but it needs our most careful attention. If we agree with him, it is clear t...

Luke 6:42 I am quite sure that Jesus was smiling when he spoke these words. The picture he gives is like a cartoon. It’s plainly ridiculous to pick out a tiny speck in someone else’s eye when you have a huge log stuck in your own. Jesus’ point is absolutely clear: we need to make sure that we are not being hypocritical, because it is very easily done. The danger of hypocrisy was one that greatly t...

Psalm 139:23-24 One of the reasons many people read daily newspapers is to find out what terrible things other people do, in order to feel a little bit better about themselves. I won’t ask you whether that has ever been your motivation! In this psalm, David reflected on the wickedness of other people. He expressed his hatred of people who hated God. But he didn’t hide from the fact that he was als...

Psalm 139:13-14 Our bodies are simply amazing. Here are a few random facts: Every second our bodies produce 25 million new cells. The tongue is covered in about 8,000 taste buds, each containing up to 100 cells. The entire surface of our skin is replaced every month. If we live to 70, our heart will have enjoyed about 2.5 million beats. The human brain possesses about 100 billion neurons with roug...

Psalm 139:1-2 These days, we are incredibly sensitive about protecting our personal data. Quite rightly, we don’t want everyone to know everything about us. We have no doubt all received emails or letters from organisations who know far more about us than we would want. However, this psalm reveals, with breath-taking clarity, that there is someone who knows absolutely everything about us – and I m...

Psalm 138:8 When you sing about it or listen to a sermon on the subject, guidance can often sound very straightforward. But life rarely runs in a straight line. King David, who wrote this psalm, was definitely aware of that. He got himself into endless scrapes and was always up against determined opposition. He was never without external enemies but, in addition, there were often many within Israe...

Acts 2:44-45 It’s fascinating to see the impact that the Holy Spirit had in the earliest days of the early Church. He transformed every part of their life. 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 people’s needs. This was revoluti...

Acts 2:42 The first weeks of the early Church must have been amazing. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit totally transformed the situation. From a small group of disappointed and frightened believers, there was now a large number of people 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...

Acts 2:37-38 A sermon is worth nothing if it doesn’t lead to action. Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost powerfully described the reason for Jesus’ death. In words that would have shocked many in his audience, he pointed out that they had been responsible for it. It was their sin that had driven Jesus to the cross just five weeks earlier. Having heard this, the people were deeply challenged and...

Acts 2:16-17 When Peter spoke these words, he was addressing the huge crowds of Jews who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the 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 Passover. It was one of three annual pilgrimage festivals, and Jerusalem would ha...

Luke 6:38 The metaphor used here would have been clear to Jesus’ listeners, but may mean little or nothing to us today. Let me explain: at the time, a person’s outer tunic had a large fold in it, which could be pulled out above the belt to make a pocket. Jesus is asking people to imagine a huge amount of grain being poured into this pocket. His message is clear: if you learn how to give, you will...

Luke 6:27-28;32 I could be wrong, but I suspect that most of us will struggle to identify any enemies. But I suspect that most of us can readily come up with a list of people whom we find difficult or awkward. Jesus very strong command means not just putting up with these people, but choosing to love them. Loving will involve us in deliberately going out of our way to help and encourage them. It w...

Luke 6:24-25 These words would have come as a huge surprise for Jesus’ hearers. They had been taught that being wealthy and well fed now were signs of God’s blessing. Jesus was seeking to wake his disciples up to the fact that you can’t have it both ways. If your single goal is to be wealthy now, you can’t expect to have God’s blessing. If becoming materially rich is your god, there is no space fo...

Luke 6:22-23 These are amazing words and, once again, they turn our normal human thinking upside down. That’s what Jesus did all the time. The idea of being hated, excluded, mocked and cursed is a horrible one. We spend much of our lives deliberately seeking to avoid such terrible experiences. But if we face those reactions because of our love for Jesus, we should be supremely happy. Jesus said we...

Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh.” These words are a shorter version of the Beatitudes that we find in Matthew’s Gospel, and they show that Jesus came to turn our normal human thinking upside down. Nothing...

Luke 6:12-13 This was a big moment in Jesus’ ministry. He didn’t come into this world to set up an organisation, but to share a message. And for that, he needed people who would work closely with him; people who would get to know him and his message and pass it on to others. Because of his status as the Son of God, one might assume that he automatically made brilliant decisions but Luke often emph...

Luke 5:37-39 Wine skins, usually made from goat hides, were the normal way of preserving wine in Jesus’ day. As we all know, skin dries out with time and so it would be absurd to put new wine into old wineskins. It would soon be completely lost. Jesus’ point was clear: he was introducing new wine and there was absolutely no point trying to contain it within the old wineskins of Judaism. He was ush...