Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

2 Corinthians 8:11-12 Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. People often ask what amount of money they should give to the Lord, and I think Paul’s words are incredibly helpful. It is probable that the majority of people in the Corinthian church were poor, and his intention wasn’t to...

2 Corinthians 8:10-11 Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Does any of this ring a bell with you? It certainly does with me! We begin to do someth...

2 Corinthians 8:9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. The Christian life is, before anything else, characterised by giving, and the reason for this is that it’s how Jesus lived. As we follow in his footsteps, our lives need to be shaped by giving generously. His generosity was so...

2 Corinthians 8:7 Since you excel in so many ways – in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us – I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. This is a remarkable verse. The two letters that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth lift the lid on a community which was very divided and disorganised in its worship, and in which there were seri...

Proverbs 4:18-19 The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over. I have spent most of my life in towns or cities, which means I have had very little experience of darkness. However, when I lived in a village in India, I found out exactl...

Proverbs 3:13-14 Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. The writer of Proverbs spends a lot of time reflecting on wealth, and the question is: where can you find it? It is fascinating that the writer often speaks of the preciousness of silver and gold. Some things don’t change. Over the...

Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. There are many different ways of giving. Some people give in order to impress. Jesus once spotted rich people placing their gifts in the temple treasury, no doubt giving a significant amount of money which would be a...

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Trusting is something we do all the time. We trust mechanics, electricians, gas engineers, teachers, police, judges, doctors, nurses – the list could go on and on. However, our trust in them can never be complete, because they are huma...

Proverbs 3:1-2 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. What’s your memory like? Time and again, I trudge upstairs to get something and haven’t a clue what I’m looking for by the time I get there! Pathetically, I try to find something else useful to do while I’m there to justify...

Proverbs 3:1-2 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. What’s your memory like? Time and again, I trudge upstairs to get something and haven’t a clue what I’m looking for by the time I get there! Pathetically, I try to find something else useful to do while I’m there to justify...

Proverbs 1:8-9 My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honour around your neck. I would be fascinated to know what you remember your parents teaching you. Their words shape the whole of our lives. I clearly remember my father insisting that we show “instant obedience”, presumably b...

Proverbs 1:8-9 My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honour around your neck. I would be fascinated to know what you remember your parents teaching you. Their words shape the whole of our lives. I clearly remember my father insisting that we show “instant obedience”, presumably b...

Proverbs 1:7 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. You need to be careful with the book of Proverbs. It’s very easy to read too much of it and get indigestion! It’s a book which needs lots of time for careful reflection, and this is the wisest and most crucial verse of all. True knowledge begins with knowing God personally. It’s our relation...

Mark 8:36-37 What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Our cynical, materialistic society was well summed up by Oscar Wilde as knowing “the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Like many one-liners, that’s a bit harsh, but he was making an important point. It’s very easy for our money-mad society to overlook the most im...

Mark 8:34-35 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, [Jesus] said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.” Jesus’ breathtaking honesty is very striking. Day by day, we are constantly being encouraged to sign up to organisations which can improve our health, wealth or gene...

Mark 8:33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” I have a soft spot for Peter. When Jesus informed his disciples that he was going to suffer at the hands of the Jewish authorities and then be killed, Peter did what any friend would do. He told Jesus off f...

Mark 8:27,29 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi…He asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” As you look back through your life, you may be able to spot turning points. At the time, the day was just like any other, but with hindsight you realise that nothing was quite the same afterwards. Jesus’ visit to Caesar...

Mark 7:14-15 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” The Pharisees had got really worked up by the disciples not washing their hands properly before eating. Elaborate rules had been developed over the years, and the Pharisees were meticu...

Mark 6:37 Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” The feeding of the 5,000 was a spectacular miracle, but Jesus didn’t rush into performing it. First of all, he challenged the disciples with a blunt command: “You feed them.” Just imagine how they would’ve felt! Suddenly, they had to come up with an...

Mark 6:31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. The disciples had just returned from their first mission trip, and they were full of it. They couldn’t wait to update Jesus and he, in turn, was keen to hear what had been going on. He invi...

Mark 6:3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. This was an agonising moment. Jesus was rudely dismissed by the people of Nazareth. They couldn’t work out how someone they’d known for nearly 30 years had such an amazing ministry...

Mark 5:18-19 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” This healing took place on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. It was a very different area from the other side of the lake, where Jesus spent most of his time liv...

Mark 4:38-39 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. The account of Jesus stilling the storm is well known, but only Mark records the rather...

Mark 4:26-27 Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens.” This wonderful little parable tells us why it is so exciting to work for God. As I sit down at my laptop to write these reflections, I haven’t any idea how God will use them. I have no...

Mark 4:21 Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine.” Jesus often spoke using parables. On the surface, they were just simple stories, but they all had a very deep spiritual meaning. Like me, you may well have been listening to the parables since you were young, and I’m sur...