Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Psalm 44:9-10 NLT 'But now you have tossed us aside in dishonour. You no longer lead our armies to battle. You make us retreat from our enemies and allow those who hate us to plunder our land.' Life is often a battle. When a loved one was taken ill and when those I trusted undermined me, I fell into self-pity. We can all experience self-pity, but sometimes we get stuck there. Wallowing in self-pit...

Psalm 44:8 NLT 'O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.' For years I had my quiet time in the morning, then headed into the day without considering where God was. It was as though my early morning prayer and scripture reading was a talisman to see me through the day. I neglected to consider what friendship with God meant in my daily rhythm of living. St Paul remin...

Psalm 44:5-7a NLT 'Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes. I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies…' My parents were always keen to build my self-confidence. I was encouraged to believe I could achieve what I wanted to. However, my father was told by my secondary schoo...

Psalm 44:1 NLT 'O God, we have heard it with our own ears – our ancestors have told us of all you did in their day, in days long ago.' I was recently explaining to a young priest why my  train fares were discounted due to my senior railcard. Joking about my age and its benefits, he added other attributes that are to be appreciated that can come with age, including wisdom. Of course, getting old do...

Luke 24:31-33a NLT Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared! They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. The disciples who encountered Jesus after his resurrection record a number of different experien...

Luke 24:15-16 NLT 'As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.' The pursuit of God is a journey. We are invited to travel its winding pathway in conversation with God, who is always with us. The challenge is that we may not always recognise God’s presence. Another complicating factor is that what once s...

Luke 24:12 NLT 'However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.' Peter, the impetuous disciple, the one Jesus identified as the foundation for the Church, is unhappy simply with dismissing the women’s account. So he goes to check the grave out for himself. All is as they reported,...

Luke 24:9-11 NLT 'So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples – and...told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.' Like the male disciples, I am sure I would have dismissed the women’s tale. Like the disciples, Jesus confronts my denial through personal encounter. The Easter message proclaims that we can encount...

Luke 24:5b-7 NLT 'Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.' Throughout my life, since leaving my parental home, I have carried a box of precious things. These are i...

Isaiah 53:12 NLT 'I will give him the honours of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.' In today’s world we are fixated with celebrity culture, fascinated by the lives of regular people living irregular lives. We are in danger of concluding that the extraordinary is desirable and attainable. Y...

Luke 21:3-4 NLT “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” “You can only do your best” is a popular phrase we regularly use to encourage others. It suggests that so long as we put everything we have into whatever it is that is asked of us, th...

Luke 20:1-2 NLT One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” Jesus disturbed the world in which he lived. Those used to exercising power, religious and secular, were surprised by his impa...

Luke 19:45-47 NLT 'Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” After that, he taught daily in the Temple…' There is a great wave of satisfaction following a genuine clear-out. The challenge of downsizing is that many thi...

Luke 19:36-37 NLT 'As he rode along, the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him. When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.' Today we begin a short series of readings that leads us into Easter. On Palm Sunday a jubilant crowd ce...

Psalm 130:5-6 NLT 'I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word. I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.' Waiting demands trust. It is easy to place my hope in God’s word. It is clear and expresses God’s commitment to me and the basis upon which that commitment is built. Intellectually I get it. Tr...

Romans 12:12 NLT 'Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.' Self-esteem and confidence are seen as key measures of our well-being. Our self-esteem can be dented by various mishaps; from social and economic factors through educational experiences and our relationships. Low self-esteem can reduce our ability to handle future challenges. Unexpectedly cast into the ro...

Psalm 25:4-5 NLT 'Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.' For many years. I lived in fear of disappointing God and messing up my life by straying from God’s path onto the wrong road. Slowly I learned that God was not some cosmic police chief breathing down my neck, waiting to pounce upon the slighte...

1 John 3:2 NLT 'Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.' You are composed of three interlocking aspects, which affects who you are. Some factors that have affected your life you had no control over – for example, you did not select your parents. A...

Psalm 25:4-5 NLT 'Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.' Waiting has negative associations today. Western society expects instant results or access, whether it is medical results, superfast broadband access to the internet – even finding a suitable partner has bee...

1 Peter 1:3-4 NLT 'All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance – an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.' I am greatly helped when thinking of blessi...

Psalm 96:1-3 NLT 'Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.' One of my life’s great challenges is to avoid stagnation; the tendency to put off decisions, avoiding what must be done, to let relationsh...

Psalm 16:7-9 NLT 'I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.' Unlike the psalmist, I cannot with authentically claim that “I will not be shaken”. At times, I really struggle with the challenges life brings. Clinging t...

Psalm 103:1-5 NLT 'Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!' It is very easy...

Philippians 2:10-11 NLT '…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' You may know that the word “blessing” means “happy”, as in the Sermon on the Mount. Yet, it has its roots in the idea of blood sacrifice from Proto-Germanic roots, as well as it’s Hebrew meaning of “to...

Psalm 63:6-8 NLT 'I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.' It is easy to agree with the sentiment that God is “my helper”. However, my submission to God leads me into contexts I would never have chosen for myself. Yet, God remains my friend, and...