Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

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Bring some Spirit-filled peace into your hectic schedule every weekday morning with this new Daily Devotional.

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April 26 · 3 min
April 26th - Exodus 19:5-6
Exodus 19:5-6 [The Lord said:] “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.” When God spoke these words to Moses it was exactly two months since the people had left Egypt. They were getting used to their new life in the desert and God wanted to establish the basis of their relationship with him. He took Moses up Mount Sinai to give him the foundation principles upon which their new life should be lived, and at the heart of it was the word ‘covenant’. God would care and provide for His people but, at the same time, they needed to understand their own responsibilities before God. These would be expressed not only in the ten commandments, which God would soon give to Moses, but also in a large number of other regulations. The whole Bible is based on the principle of covenant, and that is the invitation which God gives to us today. He promises us His salvation, His guidance and His protection, but He looks to us to be obedient to him. At the heart of this are commands which are the same in the Old and New Testaments. Jesus summed them up in this way: “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). A one-way relationship simply doesn’t work. It’s not a relationship in any meaningful sense. Our relationship with our spouse, children, society or any organisation needs to be two-way, so we shouldn’t be surprised that when God makes generous promises to us, He looks to us to take responsibility and to live by His rules. Let’s step into today thanking God for His love for us and making sure we live in a way that passes on His love. Question What will it mean for you to pass on God’s love today? Prayer Lord God, I thank You for Your perfect love for me. Give me your strength and guidance as I seek to share love with those around me today. Amen
April 25 · 3 min
April 25th - Exodus 19:4
Exodus 19:4 [The Lord said:] “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” The eagle is a huge bird with a wingspan of more than two metres. It was an impressive sight for the Israelites as they walked through the desert. It is easy to understand how it was often seen as a symbol of God’s loving provision. In Moses’ final speech before the people entered the Promised Land, he described God in this beautifully tender way: “He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; he guarded them as he would guard his own eyes. Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spread his wings to take them up and carried them safely on his pinions” (Deuteronomy 32:10-11). God perfectly understood and provided for the needs of His people. We all know times when we are totally out of our depth. We can’t cope and we need God’s peace and strength. When an eaglet is learning to fly, the mother eagle flies under them with her wings spread out to catch them. She doesn’t actually carry them because they would then never learn to fly, but she gives them total security by being there underneath them. Isn’t that a wonderful picture of how God cares for us? He wants us to grow in strength and to be able to serve Him effectively, but He also knows that we need the security of His continual presence. I wonder what challenges you are facing at the moment. God wants you to give Him the best of your intellect, determination, gifts and strength but, as you do so, you need to keep reminding yourself that you are not alone. His wings will always be beneath you, able to catch you when you fall, giving you continual security. Question In what way does the security that God gives you affect your daily life? Prayer Loving Father, thank You for the complete security that You give me as I live for You today. Amen
April 24 · 3 min
April 24th - Isaiah 53:5-6
Isaiah 53:5-6 He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah was ministering among a people in exile. They were living in Babylon (modern Iraq) far from home and everything seemed hopeless. They longed to be allowed to return to Jerusalem, but as the years passed, that seemed increasingly unlikely. In this bleak situation, Isaiah boldly proclaims that God has not forgotten them and that He will send a servant who will bring them salvation. As we read these words, we see them as a staggeringly powerful prophecy about Jesus, the Messiah. We need to continually gasp with amazement that God was willing to send His own son into our broken world. No other person could have done what Jesus did. He alone could take upon himself the sins of the world. Only because He was the perfect Son of God could He bear the full weight of the brokenness and rebellion of humankind and bring salvation. The miracle of Easter is that it is through the appalling suffering and death of Jesus that we are made whole. God never wanted humankind’s life to be spoilt by sin, but that was our choice. God’s intention was always that we should enjoy our lives to the full and live in close partnership with Him, but sin entered the world. Whatever sin touches, it damages and disfigures, and only by facing up to its full, awful reality could we ever be set free. That is precisely what Jesus did when He died on the cross. He took the full weight of your sin and mine and opened up a new way into the presence of God. As we reflect on Jesus’ death on the cross, let’s do so with a new sense of amazement, gratitude and worship. Question How do you respond to the fact that Jesus was willing to be killed to make you whole? Prayer Loving Father, thank You that You sent Jesus into the world and that He was willing to die the most terrible death out of love for me. Amen
April 23 · 3 min
April 23rd - Isaiah 46:4
Isaiah 46:4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. I have huge respect for many people, but at the top of my list come carers. I am constantly amazed by the way in which so many people pour out their lives to support others. They give up their own convenience and opportunities in order to give people their love. It is impossible to know the exact number of carers, but in many countries it will be about ten per cent of the population – so I am absolutely sure that this describes many of you. Today’s verse focuses attention on the supreme carer – God Himself. He is the pre-eminent carer because He never sleeps and there is no limit to His wisdom and strength. Amazingly, He is the carer for all of us. Whatever our needs, He is able to reach out to us and give us support, from the time when we are born to the time when we have white hair. The latter is now a fitting description of me, so I find this particularly powerful and encouraging. There may be times in our lives when we are unaware that God is our carer, perhaps because we are overwhelmed with our busy lives and don’t have time to think about Him. God’s people living in exile in Babylon were often totally unaware of Him. They frequently felt that they had been forgotten about and that life was hopeless. Through it all, however, God was nearer to them than their breath. He stood beside them, offering to care for them in every moment. Whether you are feeling happy and confident today or that the bottom has recently fallen out of your world, you need to remember that God cares for you and will not leave your side. Question In what way do you need God to be your supreme carer today? Prayer Thank You Lord that You are constantly nourishing and supporting me, even when I forget about You. Amen
April 22 · 2 min
April 22nd - Isaiah 44:8-9
Isaiah 44:8-9 You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock—not one! How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame. Isaiah has a great deal to say about idols. He laughs at the sheer stupidity of those who spent their time carving idols out of blocks of wood. Some of the wood would be used for burning in order to keep everyone warm and to bake bread or cook a meal, and another part of the wood was then carefully shaped into an idol to be worshipped. Could anything be more foolish? Isaiah reminds his hearers that they have one true God who is a Rock and who alone is worthy of worship. Worshipping anyone or anything else is a complete waste of time. Our society is full of idols. They are not often carved out of wood, but they are just as real because an idol is anything that is put in the place that is rightfully God’s. A car, house, career, family, sport, hobby or anything at all can be an idol if it becomes the focus of our attention and if we give it priority in our lives. None of these things is bad in themselves, but when they force God out of His number one spot, they become idolatrous and destructive. What matters above anything else is that we give God the first place in our lives and encourage others to do the same. We are witnesses to a God of love who longs to fill everyone with His life, so we need to warn other people that anyone or anything else will be a complete waste of their time. Question What seem to be the most attractive idols to the people that you know? Prayer God, You are my Rock. I worship You because You are worthy of my praise. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit as I put You first in my life and encourage others to do the same. Amen
April 21 · 3 min
April 21st - Isaiah 43:19
Isaiah 43:19 I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. In recent years, I have talked to lots of churches about their vision. It’s really important for any organisation to be inspired by a clear and captivating vision for the future. It keeps us going when life is dull and hard work, and it keeps us heading together in a definite direction. However, time and again I have sensed that churches’ visions are for getting back to how things used to be. A church I once worked with had memories of the time when all 1,200 seats would be filled for the evening service. By the time I met them, they had shrunk to a small community of about 50 people at the Sunday services and they longed to put the clock back to the good old days. In many ways this is very understandable, but Isaiah tells us that God doesn’t want to take us backwards. His vision is for us to head on a new journey to a new place. In this chapter, Isaiah speaks about the Exodus. This was a turning point in the life of the people of Israel. After 400 years in Egypt, during which they had lived as slaves, God had set them free by bringing them miraculously through the Red Sea on dry ground. They’d had a supreme experience of God’s salvation. In this passage, however, Isaiah tells them to forget about it. He doesn’t want them to dwell on the past. Wonderful as the Exodus was, God had no intention of doing a repeat performance. He wanted to lead them on an exciting new journey. None of us can be certain what our future will look like – that is in God’s secure hands – but the one thing we can be absolutely sure about is that our future won’t be a repeat of the past. Question In what ways can you see God doing something new in your life? Prayer Loving God, help me to keep my eyes fixed on the new things that You are wanting to do in my life. Amen
April 20 · 3 min
April 20th - Isaiah 43:2
Isaiah 43:2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. If you’ve got the impression that following God will give you the smoothest journey through life, you obviously haven’t read the Bible! From first to last in the Old Testament we discover that following God often involves suffering and rejection. In the New Testament, we meet Jesus, who despite being fully man and fully God saw suffering at its worst, even to the point of death on the cross. As He promised, His disciples were hated just as He had been, and most of them suffered terribly for their faith. In our verse today, God says it how it is. He recognises honestly that His hearers would suffer in all sorts of ways. They would be confronted by deep and threatening waters and even have to face fire, but through it all God would be with them. The threats of life could never break their constant relationship with Him. Paul speaks very similarly in his letter to the Romans. In chapter 8, he concludes: “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). If you don’t know God as your own personal friend, I am sad to say that the future is full of threats and uncertainty. But if you do know God and walk in His ways, you can look to the future with peace and confidence because you know that whatever happens, your loving heavenly Father will be right there beside you. Question Are you looking to the future with peace and confidence? Prayer Loving Heavenly Father, I thank You that You promise to be with me whatever I face in the future. Amen
April 19 · 3 min
April 19th - Psalm 106:6-7
Psalm 106:6-7 Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly! Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the LORD’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea. I strongly recommend that you read through this psalm and the previous one because they are twins. In Psalm 105, we hear about all the amazing things that God did to guide and strengthen His people from the earliest days until their entry into the Promised Land. Now in Psalm 106, the psalmist takes another tour through the history of God’s people and concludes that, humanly speaking, it was a complete disaster. Just as God was consistently faithful and loving, His people were repeatedly faithless and disobedient. But the psalmist didn’t simply point the finger at people in the past. He recognised that his own generation was also guilty of disobeying God and forgetting to walk in His ways. As we look back through human history, there is much that we can learn. Every page of history contains accounts of bad decisions and stupid failures and, if we are honest, we aren’t so very different. Our lives fall well short of perfection and we need to own up and find out how we can live them in a richer, fuller and more obedient way. The point of looking back is that we can learn. We don’t have to repeat the past. Instead, we can set off on a new journey inspired by its lessons. The most consistent fault of God’s people in this psalm was the sin of forgetting. I’m sure that we will all own up to the sin of forgetting. A lot of the time, it doesn’t matter that much. We may forget someone’s name or whether they take milk in their tea. Such things are minor. Forgetting God is another matter. Time and again, we read that the people of Israel forgot how God had blessed them. They carried on with their lives as if God didn’t exist. We need to do everything we can to remember who God is and what He has done. We need to ensure that we maintain a rhythm of worship and prayer so that we can’t possibly forget our great God. Question What do you do to ensure that you don’t forget what God has done in your life? Prayer Loving God, thank You that You never forget me. Help me to make sure that I never forget You. Amen
April 18 · 3 min
April 18th - Psalm 105:1-2
Psalm 105:1-2 Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. In this beautiful psalm, the writer rooted his praise in how God had acted in history. He looked back to how God had led Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and finally Moses. Through the years, God had been consistently faithful to His people, and they had every reason to rejoice. The psalm was written for a very specific moment in Israel’s history when David brought the ark to the place of meeting in Jerusalem. In 1 Chronicles 16:7, we are told that David gave Asaph and his fellow Levites this psalm as a song of thanksgiving to the Lord. It wasn’t a general song of worship but one which specifically charted how God had been at work among His people. We need to remember our history. A birthday is a brilliant moment for looking back, and every church would be wise to have a specific annual moment to reflect on its history. It’s very easy to forget the story of faith of a church community unless it is regularly repeated. We need to listen to the people who were part of the church ten, 20, 30, 40 or more years ago. Almost certainly, there will have been times of encouragement and despair, success and failure, growth and decline, but through it all God has been faithful and we need to celebrate together. If your church has only been planted in the last few years, listen to the stories of faith from those who founded the church and the ways in which God led them. Our remembering should never be a selfish activity to make us feel good about life, but should always lead us to action. As we recall the history of what God has done, we are challenged to go forward with the mission on which He has sent us. That will always involve proclamation. We will want to proclaim God’s faithfulness within our churches in order to encourage one another, and then to everyone else we meet in order to help them to see how great God is. Question In what ways does your own church celebrate the history of what God has done? Prayer Loving God, I praise You for your faithfulness. Help me never to forget the amazing things that You have done. Amen
April 17 · 3 min
April 17th - Psalm 104:24-25
Psalm 104:24-25 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small. Many of the psalmists use the wonder of creation as a springboard for their worship. This particular psalm does so by reminding us of the six days of creation. The poetic language is beautiful. Take, for example, day one, when God made light. He writes: “You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind. The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your servants” (Psalm 104:2-4). As he looks through the days of creation, it becomes clear that God didn’t create the world and then disappear but continues to be actively involved. It is good for us to spend time reflecting on creation because as we do so, we are bound to gasp in wonder. Sir Isaac Newton, the famous scientist, said: “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence.” Our bodies are thought to be made up of about 100 trillion cells. We all have about 100 billion neurons, which fire off between five and 50 messages each second. I could go on, but however you happen to be feeling today, let me assure you that you are simply amazing. If you look at a flower, you will need to gasp some more. The intricate detail of each petal and leaf is amazing, to say nothing of the miracle of growth. Wherever you look, creation screams at us that God is a great God and worthy of all our praise. Many of us were taught from an early age to pray with our eyes shut to save us from distractions, but I would strongly encourage you to pray with your eyes open from time to time. Look at the people around you and the world that God has made and give thanks to him for the wonder of His creation. As we do so, let us gasp in wonder. Thomas Carlyle said that “wonder is the basis of worship”, and I think he was right. Question When did you last gasp at creation and why? Pray Creator God, I worship You. Forgive me for those times when I have taken Your amazing world for granted. Teach me afresh how to enjoy the wonder of Your creation. Amen
April 16 · 3 min
April 16th - Psalm 103:2-4
Psalm 103:2-4 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. This psalm begins with King David talking to himself! He called to mind how his life had been wonderfully blessed by God and concluded that his whole being needed to be involved in giving thanks for God’s generosity to him. In the words of the famous hymn ‘Praise, my soul, the King of heaven’, he had been ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven. Surely he had his adultery with Bathsheba in mind as he wrote this psalm. He had foolishly strayed from God’s way, and one disaster followed another until he repented and received God’s healing and forgiveness. As he reflected on how God had dealt with him, he not only praised the Lord but also urged the whole world to join him! In the final verse of the psalm, he proclaimed: “Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom” (Psalm 103:22). It's important that we talk to ourselves! I know it’s often seen as the first sign of madness, but I much prefer the observation that it’s actually the first sign of gladness! It’s good to remind ourselves of the ways in which the Lord has blessed our lives. We may not have known the dramatic ups and downs of King David’s life, but we have all had moments of success and failure, of blessing and disobedience, of fulfilment and loss, and through it all God has been faithful. We need to ensure we are continually giving thanks to God for all that He has done in our lives and taking the opportunity to encourage others to do the same. Question As you look back through your life, what are the main reasons why you want to praise God? Prayer Lord God, I thank You that You have been so generous to me. Help me to make praise increasingly central to my life. Amen
April 15 · 3 min
April 15th - Psalm 101:1-2
Psalm 101:1-2 I will sing of your love and justice, LORD. I will praise you with songs. I will be careful to live a blameless life—when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. Here, David reflects on his responsibility as king to care for the whole of society and to ensure that justice prevails. The final verse of the psalm gives us a powerful picture of his daily work “to ferret out the wicked and free the city of the Lord from their grip” (Psalm 101:8). It was no easy task, and he knew it would be impossible if he wasn’t practising justice and integrity at home. Whenever we are told that a politician’s private life is their own personal matter and of no consequence to their public duties, we know that they are talking nonsense! King David was far from perfect, but he was clear that it was vital for him to live a consistent life. Living a consistent life is not easy! It’s no wonder that when David proclaims his intention to be careful in living a blameless life, he asks the question: “when will you come to help me?” He knew he couldn’t do this by himself. He needed God’s inspiration and strength to live a consistent life. I don’t know what your life looks like. You will have tensions, blessings and challenges that are very different from my own, but I do know that only God can enable you to live a life of consistent integrity. These thoughts should spur us to pray for all those who live in the public eye. I believe we have a special responsibility to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters who bear public responsibilities and whose lives are always under the spotlight. Let’s pray they will know God’s daily renewing strength so that there is no gap between their home and public lives. Question How can you ensure that you live for God both at home and beyond? Prayer Loving Father, thank You that You are present in every part of my life, and that You give me the strength to live for You, whatever the circumstances and pressures. Amen
April 14 · 3 min
April 14th - 2 Thessalonians 3:16
2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. As Paul brought this letter to an end, he gave them this wonderful greeting. I love these words and, over the years, when I have sent a card to someone, I have very often quoted this verse. What greater blessing could you seek for another person than that they would know the Lord’s peace at all times and in every situation? Peace needs to be carefully understood. Alexander Maclaren, the famous Victorian preacher, got to the heart of the issue when he wrote: “Peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God.” It is precisely when we live in close partnership with God that we discover what real peace is, and that it is able to withstand any challenge. At the heart of a hurricane, there is complete stillness and quiet. While destruction swirls around, at the eye of the storm there is peace. Miraculously, that is what God is able to give us as we place our trust in him. As Jesus said to His fearful disciples just before His death: “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift that the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). Peace is God’s gift to us when we place ourselves completely in His hands. While we are still struggling and trying to make peace, we will never find it. It is only as we recognise that God is the source of peace that we will discover it for ourselves. Jean-Paul Sartre, the French philosopher, put it well when he observed: “You will never find peace and happiness until you are ready to commit yourself to something worth dying for.” Question What has been your experience of God’s peace? Prayer Lord Jesus, I thank You that You are the source of true peace and that You love to share Your peace with all those who put their trust in You. Fill me, and those around me, with Your peace today. Amen
April 13 · 3 min
April 13th - 2 Thessalonians 3:11-13
2 Thessalonians 3:11-13 We hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. There were people in the church in Thessalonica who thought they were so spiritual that they should spend their days waiting for the return of Jesus and not going to work. Because they didn’t work, they became a burden on the other believers who they thought of as less spiritual. Worse than that, instead of being busy workers, they became busybodies. They spent their time interfering in other people’s lives and causing grief. As CH Spurgeon, the Victorian preacher, said: “Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle.” Paul responded to these lazy people by pointing to his own example. He had worked hard day and night in order not to be a burden to others. He was convinced that everyone should work hard and never grow tired of doing good. The problem that Paul faced in Thessalonica isn’t one that I’ve encountered, but his teaching does help us to reflect on the issue of work. Work is often spoken of as if it is a great evil which needs to be avoided. The good times are weekends and holidays, and the objective is to get to retirement as quickly as we can. However, God looks to us to be busy and to use the gifts and abilities that He has given us to bless other people. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 takes us to the heart of Paul’s teaching about the resurrection. Having praised God for the victory that He has won over sin and death, he challenged his readers to work hard for God. He wrote: “Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Life changes for all of us but whoever we are and however old we are, God calls us to be busy workers for Him – and never busybodies. Question What is the work that God has called you to do? Prayer Loving God, thank You for the work that You have asked me to do. Help me to do it with enthusiasm and determination. Amen
April 12 · 3 min
April 12th - 2 Thessalonians 3:1
2 Thessalonians 3:1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honoured wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. As Paul brings this letter to a close, we see into his heart. He asks the Thessalonians to pray for him. He could go into some detail about his specific needs, but he doesn’t. He immediately invites prayer that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly. A literal translation of the Greek would be “that the word of the Lord may run”. Because Paul so often used athletic imagery, he was almost certainly trying to convey his desire that the good news should be spread quickly and effectively. He longed for the message to be respected and accepted by as many people as possible. That’s what had happened when he’d visited Thessalonica, and he was eager that it should happen in the same way in the much tougher context of Corinth, from which he was writing this letter. I believe that we need to be praying today with a new urgency “that the word of the Lord may run”. It’s all too easy for us to accept our multi-religious society and to lose our passion for sharing the good news of Jesus. We are called to show grace and generosity to people of other religions. It is good that we get to know them, befriend them and embrace opportunities for working alongside them. However, we are also called out of our love for them to be faithful to our Lord who came to die on a cross that they might experience His forgiveness and new life. When we pray for one another, we should keep the focus on the spreading of the good news. Let’s pray that we will all become more urgent in our evangelism and increasingly eager to see word of the Lord run throughout our society. Question What do you find the biggest challenges to sharing your faith with others? Prayer Lord God, I ask You to give me a renewed determination to share Your good news with those I meet each day. Amen
April 11 · 3 min
April 11th - 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. Whether we are conscious of it or not, our thoughts about the future have a huge impact on how we live today. That’s probably most easily seen when we are worried about something – perhaps a visit to the dentist, a meeting with our boss, or a tense issue in the family which needs to be resolved. In this letter, Paul was particularly concerned that the Thessalonian church should have a clear understanding of the future that God had in store for them. He was quite clear that the return of Jesus was at the heart of this, but he was alarmed that some people had decided this was a reason to give up their jobs. Paul knew that the believers needed to keep committed to their regular employment alongside a confidence that the Lord might return at any time. Paul wanted his readers to look to the future with hope because the best was yet to be. It’s really important that we handle the word hope carefully. Most of the time, there is a maybe in our voice when we use the word. We hope it will be sunny tomorrow or that the train will run on time. We would be delighted if these things happened, but we’ve lived long enough to know that they might not work out like that. However, there is no maybe in the hope of the New Testament. We are talking about certainties. Because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and know that our relationship with Him is eternal, we look death in the face with peace and confidence. The biggest lie materialism tells us is that this life is all that there is. It’s very easy for us to fall for that lie and to become sucked into the world’s way of thinking. The hope we have in Christ lasts for time and eternity, and Paul wants that knowledge to transform the way in which we live our daily lives. Question What impact does your eternal security have on your daily life? Prayer Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of eternal life. I pray that the way in which I live today will reflect the fact that I have a totally secure future. Amen
April 10 · 3 min
April 10th - 2 Thessalonians 1:11
2 Thessalonians 1:11 We keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. It is often, and rightly, pointed out that the Christian life is a marathon and not a sprint. Keeping something up isn’t too difficult if you are doing it for just a short while, but keeping going as a Christian for years on end is a different matter. Living for Christ consistently in the face of all the ups and downs of life is not easy. How do you keep up your faith when you are in pain or you have financial problems or family disputes or your work is difficult? Paul’s answer is that God enables us to keep going. He gives us the power to do all those good things that He has called us to do, so we must not think of the Christian life as being a heroic solo effort. Although we might feel alone at times, God is beside us and we are never without Christian brothers and sisters, even if they may be far away. The problem with our strength is that one day we may feel able to face every challenge, and the next we might be feeling limp and useless. It’s important that we keep our eyes fixed on God, who is entirely different. He never gets tired or has an off day. Isaiah wrote: “He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31). As we pray for one another, let’s specifically pray that our Christian brothers and sisters will know that God is continually strengthening them as they live for Him. Question In what specific way do you need spiritual strength at the moment? Prayer Lord God, I need Your strength today. Please come to me in the power of Your Holy Spirit and make me strong for You. Amen
April 9 · 3 min
April 9th - 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4
2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. From this bold introduction to Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica, you might have thought that they were perfect, but they weren’t! As the letter progresses, he addresses a number of issues. They had got confused about the timing of the Lord’s return and many of them had become lazy, using the excuse that there was no point in getting a job if the Lord might come back at any moment. They were far from perfect, but there was still much to celebrate, and Paul did so with confidence. Their faith was deepening, their love for one another was growing and the way in which they were standing up to persecution was impressive. It's so easy for us to focus on the failings of other people. Because churches are made up of sinners, we shouldn’t be surprised that there is often misunderstanding, tension and difficulty among Christians. Sad as that is, it is an inevitable part of living in a broken world. We must be careful not to focus our attention on the negatives. We need to encourage one another and so, amid the disappointments, we should look carefully for those things that we can praise and celebrate in one another. Paul was clearly convinced that encouragement was the right approach. I think the most stunning illustration of this is found in his opening words to the church in Corinth. In his first letter he reveals such a long list of their failures that it might feel as if they got absolutely nothing right. Their worship was chaotic; they were divided; they totally misunderstood and mishandled spiritual gifts; and to cap it all they had a case of incest in the church which they hadn’t addressed. It was a very gloomy situation, but Paul began the letter by saying: “I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you” (1 Corinthians 1:4). What a wonderful attitude! When we are feeling glum and depressed about the failures of our fellow Christians, we would do well to remember Paul’s example. Question In what ways would you praise the members of your church? Prayer Lord God, thank You for the blessing of belonging to Your Church. Help me to celebrate the qualities of my Christian brothers and sisters and to forgive their shortcomings. Amen
April 8 · 3 min
April 8th - Proverbs 16:32
Proverbs 16:32 Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city. It’s good for us to ask the question: “What matters most in life?” Time and again, the book of Proverbs helps us to think this through. Many people would assume that it is good to have control of people and even whole communities. Some would want to be a powerful politician or the head of a major company. To be in charge of a whole city might seem like an amazing and very desirable achievement, but the writer observes that it is far more important to have patience and self-control than to have great power and influence. He is talking about what the New Testament describes as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Bible never suggests that it is wrong to have wealth or power. If either have come your way, you should give thanks to God for them. What matters is that we put them in their proper place. They are nowhere near as important as living for God with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control which He gives to all those who walk in His ways. Money and power come and go. They are temporary. But the fruit of the Spirit is of a completely different nature, being as eternal and indestructible as God Himself. As ever, the focus of the book of Proverbs is on helping the reader to live life to the full. The writer’s many severe words of warning are always with the intention of helping the reader to avoid pitfalls and disaster. He sees living for God as the most exciting and desirable way of life which brings blessing to us and all those around us. Choosing God’s way is often not the easiest path, but it’s always the best. Question Be honest. What matters most to you in your life? Prayer Thank You Lord that You love us so much that You share the unvarnished truth with us. Help us to seek the fruit of Your Holy Spirit before anything else. Amen
April 7 · 3 min
April 7th - Proverbs 13:11
Proverbs 13:11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. Work is often spoken about negatively. It is seen as something that gets in the way of the really exciting things of life. It needs to be avoided, and if that can’t be achieved, one should aim to retire as early as possible. This thinking is in complete contrast with Proverbs, where work is seen as something inherently good. It is worklessness and laziness which are to be avoided at all costs. It is interesting that the writer of Proverbs refers to get-rich-quick schemes. This all sounds very modern, but throughout history people have wanted to find short cuts to wealth. There’s nothing new about laziness! God wants us to work hard because it not only provides for our needs and the needs of other people but also enables us to bless others with the gifts that God has given us. We have all been given the ability to enhance the lives of people around us, and God looks to us to work hard at doing so. The apostle Paul wrote: “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9). Over the years, I have been particularly blessed by the way I have seen retired people working hard for God. At a time when they had no pressure upon them to earn money, they wanted to make sure they were still being productive for God. I have been inspired by their example. Working hard is good at any time of life, but it needs to be added that working too hard is never what God intends. Overwork causes tension and pressure that is never God’s desire. Whatever our age, we need to find a balance between the work that God calls us to do and times of leisure and refreshment which allow us to continue to serve Him with confidence and enthusiasm. Question How well are you balancing your work and leisure? Prayer Loving God, thank You for the blessing of work. I pray Your blessing on those who struggle to find work, or who find their work difficult. Amen