Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Proverbs 21.3 NLT 'The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.' The offering of sacrifices lay right at the heart of Old Testament worship. Strange as it may seem to us, it was the way that God expected people to approach him so that their relationship with him could be put right. This led many people to conclude that all they needed to do was to f...

Hebrews 13.20-21 NLT 'Now may the God of peace who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood, may he equip you with all you need for doing his will.' As this amazing letter comes towards an end, the writer prays a blessing upon his readers. He states that he has written the letter to bring them encouragement and this s...

Hebrews 13.17 NLT 'Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.' The letter to the Hebrews often refers to the importance of obedience to the word of God. The writer therefore urges his readers to obey their church le...

Hebrews 13.15-16 NLT 'Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.' The letter to the Hebrews devotes a great deal of attention to the old sacrificial system, and celebrates the fact that in Christ it has completely come to...

Hebrews 13.8 NLT 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.' Yesterday we were encouraged to reflect on our former Christian leaders and to remember the example that they set. Much as we thank God for them the fact is that their life and ministry came to an end. The writer to the Hebrews contrasts them with Jesus whose ministry never comes to an end. Unlike them he is the same yester...

Hebrews 13.7 NLT 'Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.' Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the U.S.A., wrote “A good example is the best sermon.” He makes a good point and, as I think back to those preachers that I have heard over the years, it is undoubtedly their way of li...

Hebrews 13.5 NLT Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” As a little boy it was a fantastic moment when I had enough money to buy a Mars Bar. I therefore assumed that the perfect world must be the one in which you could buy lots of Mars Bars. My mind then focused on a friend of ours who clearly had a lot of money and I...

Hebrews 13.4 NLT 'Give honour to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.' Faithfulness is crucial to every relationship. Without it, relationships suffer from insecurity and uncertainty and cannot possibly thrive. Supremely we see it at the heart of God’s relationship with us. He can be completely relied...

Hebrews 13.3 NLT 'Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.' I am so grateful that when I was at university I was encouraged to visit in the local prison once a week. We visited the young offenders’ wing and so I was meeting people of my own age and that was such a valuable experience. I had never me...

Hebrews 13.2 NLT 'Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realising it!' In Genesis chapter 18 we read a remarkable account of hospitality when Abraham generously welcomed three mysterious visitors. It was the hottest part of the day and as soon as he saw them, Abraham ran to meet them and welcome them. He then encouraged them to r...

Hebrews 12.28-29 NLT 'Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.' It’s important that we never lose a sense of amazement that we are able to worship God at all. When Isaiah entered the Temple after the death of King Uzziah (recorded in Isaiah chapter 6) he was completely overwhelm...

Hebrews 12.15 NLT 'Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.' Life can be incredibly hard, and many people experience terrible unkindness and injustice. It isn’t at all difficult to understand why this can lead to bitterness, but the fact is that that is the worst possible re...

Hebrews 12.14 NLT 'Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.' The United Kingdom is blessed with a huge number of amazing gardens. As we revel in the beauty of the flowers, shrubs and trees it is absolutely right for us to give thanks to God for the miracle of creation. But the fact is that, normally out of sight, there...

Hebrews 12.1-2 NLT 'And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.' It is often and rightly observed that life is not a sprint but a marathon. If we are honest that is not what we want to hear because we would like life to have as few challenges and problems as possible, but the truth is that...

Hebrews 12.1 NLT 'Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.' Over the years I have played lots of different sports with a great deal of enthusiasm and, truth to tell, not much success. However, I have had a number of friends and acquaintances who have be...

Hebrews 11.31 NLT 'It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.' In this chapter the writer to the Hebrews introduces us to a number of Old Testament heroes of the faith. It isn’t anything like a complete list. Hundreds of important characters receive no mention at all. And so it...

Hebrews 11.17 -18 NLT It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” This is a really tough passage. The idea of God apparently asking a parent to kill their child is tough enough,...

Hebrews 11.12 NLT 'And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.' The writer to the Hebrews doesn’t beat about the bush. He described Abraham as being as good as dead. That’s not flattering but he was describing a man of 99 years of age who was married to...

Hebrews 11.8 NLT 'It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.' Everything about Abraham’s life is amazing but, for me, this is the most incredible moment. At the age of 75 he headed out from his home in Haran without having a clue where he was going! People, in m...

Hebrews 11.7 NLT 'It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before.' The account of Noah building an ark and saving his family together with vast numbers of birds and animals is a wonderful story and I suspect that most of us were told it from our earliest years. It’s a story of enormous courag...

Hebrews 11.1 NLT 'Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.' Many people seem to think of faith as being a rather weak, sentimental way of thinking and are inclined to say that they would rather trust the facts. Some philosophers have compared faith with taking a leap in the dark. Personally, I would never encourage anyone to take a leap in the dark....

Hebrews 10.36 NLT 'Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.' There is a wonderful prayer which runs, “O God, grant me the courage to change what I can, the patience to endure what I cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference.” In all our lives there are many things which we are powerless to change,...

Hebrews 10.24-25 NLT 'Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.' The New Testament has no understanding of a lone Christian, who heroically keeps going by themselves. Time and again we are reminded that we have resp...

Hebrews 9.27-28 NLT 'And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.' The quotation, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes” is attributed to many different people but especially Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain. However, it is such an obvious observation that it actual...

Hebrews 6.18-19 NLT 'We who have fled to God for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.' I suspect that if you spoke with most people about the future they would be full of fears and uncertainties. We live with the continual threat of international terrorism and the wildfires, floods and hurricanes th...