Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Daniel 2.44 NLT 'During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.' Daniel had the seemingly impossible task of not only interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream but actually telling the King what he had dreamt. Amazingly he did exactly that and told the...

Daniel 2.23 NLT “I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded.” Daniel had been given what looks to me like an impossible job. Not only did he have to tell King Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of his dream, but he had also been told to inform the King what he had dreamt abou...

Daniel 1.17 NLT 'God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.' The book of Daniel transports us to the time when Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, invaded Judah and took thousands of its residents into exile. This happened in the 6th Century BC. God had clearly prophesied that this would happen if the people failed to obey him, and Babylon’s victory was c...

Proverbs 25.12 NLT 'To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewellery.' Johannes Kepler, the German astronomer, said, “I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.” All I can say is, “Good for Johannes Kepler!” but I suspect we all really enjoy people saying nice things about us. Sharp criticism might b...

Proverbs 24.26 NLT 'An honest answer is like a kiss of friendship.' Like most of us, I am sure, I was brought up with the saying that honesty is the best policy. But what they didn’t tell me was that it’s often the most difficult policy. It’s often easier to keep the truth to yourself and not to share it because it might not be well received. Indeed, the hearer might be deeply offended by the trut...

Proverbs 24.16 NLT 'The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.' The big question is not whether we experience failure, but what we do with it when it happens. The writer is clear that the person who knows God has resilience. We may get knocked back many times, but each time we are able to bounce back because we know that God is t...

Proverbs 23.29-30 NLT 'Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.' The abuse of alcohol is clearly not a new problem. These verses reveal a deep understanding of a challenge which continues to test our society. In the UK more than...

Proverbs 23.17-18 NLT 'Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the Lord. You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed.' Here the writer tells us that we shouldn’t envy sinners, but the tenth commandment is much wider than that. It tells us that we shouldn’t envy at all. The last commandment tells us that we shouldn’t covet our neighbour’s house, wife, servant, ox, donk...

Proverbs 22.13 NLT The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!” I love this wonderful book of Proverbs. There is so much blunt truth, and here the writer laughs his socks off at the lazy person who has always got an excuse for doing nothing. On this particular day he fears that there may be a lion outside, and is concerned that he may get killed. He consi...

Proverbs 22.3 NLT 'A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.' This proverb, like so many of them, is just sheer good sense. It’s the kind of statement that could easily be turned into a good fridge magnet! At one level it is screamingly obvious, but we all know how incredibly easy it is to act the part of the simpleton and t...

Proverbs 21.26 NLT 'Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give!' Longing for more money and possessions is a terrible disease, but our materialistic society is built on the assumption that that is how we should all live. Long ago, the Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote, “Nothing is enough to the man for whom enough is too little.” And yet the place of true peace and contentme...

1 Peter 5.8-9 NLT 'Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.' I have visited Africa on a number of occasions and have gone on several safaris. The fun of safaris is that you never know what you are going to see. They are not at all like safari parks in this country...

1 Peter 5.7 NLT 'Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.' Whether they are large or small, we all carry various cares and concerns. They may be focused on health issues for ourselves or those who are close to us. We may be concerned about the future, money, or what is happening in the world today. It is impossible to avoid a whole range of concerns, so the question isn’t wh...

1 Peter 5.5 NLT All of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Some years ago I was privileged to attend a conference at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. We were given the task of identifying the most important personal qualities that were needed for strategic leadership. My small group included a chief constable, a gen...

1 Peter 5.1-2 NLT 'As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.' After Jesus’ resurrection, he shared breakfast with his disciples beside the Sea of Galilee and, there, he commanded Peter to take care of his sheep. In today’s verses, which we...

1 Peter 4.10-11 NLT 'God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.' The New Testament is absolutely clear that we each have a gift, but it’s i...

1 Peter 4.7-8 NLT 'The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other.' The idea of the world coming to an end is a challenging thought, but Peter wasn’t in any sense threatening his readers. The New Testament writers all spoke of this as the climax and fulfilment of God’s purposes. The end of...

1 Peter 3.15-16 NLT 'If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.' When Peter wrote his letter, Christianity was still quite new and so I am sure that many people were very curious about it. They wondered what this new-fangled faith was all about, and Peter was keen that his readers shouldn’t miss any opportunity to talk...

1 Peter 3.9 NLT 'Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.' If you have ever been insulted, you will know that the immediate reflex reaction is to want to even the scores. In the pain of the moment, we are all inclined to cry out for justice becau...

1 Peter 3.3-4 NLT 'Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.' I don’t feel competent to comment on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery or beautiful clothes; I’ve never had any...

1 Peter 2.21 NLT 'For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.' I’ve known some wonderful people, and I am sure you have as well. I have only to think of words such as kindness, graciousness, love, thoughtfulness, joy, integrity, hospitality and hope, to be reminded of people who have reflected tho...

1 Peter 2.18 NLT 'You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel.' Everything about slavery is horrifying. The idea that someone could own another human being sounds barbaric, and so it is difficult for us to handle a verse like this which doesn’t seem to raise any objections to the institu...

1 Peter 1.16 NLT 'You are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.' On the face of it this verse doesn’t seem to make much sense. Surely freedom means that you can do whatever you like. All constraints have been thrown off and you can do exactly what pleases you. But it doesn’t take long to realise that this kind of freedom would be a horrific experience....

1 Peter 2.12 NLT 'Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbours. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honourable behaviour, and they will give honour to God when he judges the world.' Socrates, the famous Greek philosopher, once said: “The unconsidered life is not worth living.” Peter would have agreed with him, because he knew that it was crucially impor...

1 Peter 2.10 NLT “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” The television series, Who do you think you are? always makes fascinating viewing. Researchers delve into the lives of famous people and reveal amazing details about their family history. It is interesting to know about our history, but what really matte...