Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Galatians 2:20

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. In these first two chapters of Galatians, Paul gives a fascinating summary of his life story since he became a Christian, reminding his readers of his background. He had been so deeply committed to his Jewish faith that h...

Galatians 1:4

Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. Every now and again, we hear about rescue missions. Brave soldiers are put down behind enemy lines, often in a low flying helicopter, and set some prisoners free. It’s all very exciting and impressive. Here, the apostle Paul talks about us being rescued, and it sounds as if God is coming to ...

Galatians 1:1

This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. Yesterday, we were reflecting on the call of Isaiah. He was absolutely clear that he was called by God to his challenging ministry. Today, in this reading from Galatians, we meet the apostle Paul hundreds of years later making it c...

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah’s encounter with God in the temple was so intimate that he was able to overhear God having a conversation. God was wondering who he could send as a messenger, and Isaiah immediately put up his hand and offered his services. Isaiah’s response stands in marked contrast to others, such...

Isaiah 6:5-7 [Isaiah] said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man…” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” You may have had the experience of cleaning a window with great care. The last smudge has been removed and you are...

Isaiah 6:1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Uzziah had become king when he was 16 and reigned for 52 years. For much of that time, the kingdom of Judah had thrived. Uzziah had listened to the prophet Zechariah and walked in the ways of the Lord. However, later on in his reign he had become arrogant, and on one occasion, he went ...

Isaiah 5:7 The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence. There is only one reason why you would plant a vineyard: because you were wanting grapes. You certainly wouldn’t plant one for the vines’ natural beauty or because you w...

Isaiah 2:4

The LORD will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. This beautiful verse gives us an insight into the heart of God, who always longs for world peace. In this passage, we are given a vision of what the world will look like at the end of tim...

Isaiah 2:2-3

In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all…people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from all nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” Isaiah 1 makes for scary reading. God is hopping mad at the unfaithfulness of his people. They ...

Isaiah 1:18

“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” If you want to know what God is like when he’s in a rage, read through this first chapter of Isaiah. He was fuming. He simply couldn’t believe that anyone could treat him like this. After all he had done for his people, it was as thou...

Proverbs 29:25

Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. The posh word for fearing other people is ‘anthropophobia’, and it can happen for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps other people are threatening us. The psalmists often spoke of the people who were out to get them. They seemed to be surrounded by people who were trying to trip them up and make their lives a misery. Fearing other people might also b...

Proverbs 29:23

Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honour. William Hazlitt, the brilliant 19th-century writer, put his finger on the problem with pride when he observed that it “erects a little kingdom of its own, and acts as sovereign in it”. When we are puffed up with pride, we take total charge and push God out, together with everyone else. The proud person might look impressive for a while but, as the writer of P...

Proverbs 29:20

There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking. The writer of Proverbs has a lot to say about fools. They live dangerously and destructively, and he does everything he can to encourage his readers to avoid foolishness and to live a life of wisdom. When he declares that there is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking, he is clearly describing the most terrible d...

Proverbs 29:11

Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back. I love the down-to-earth realism of the Bible. It meets us where we are and engages in the sharp reality of our lives. We all have very different anger thresholds. Some people rarely get angry, and others can get steamed up about the most minor issues. Wherever you are on the scale of anger, we all need to know what to do with it. The writer of Proverbs, in...

Proverbs 28:27

Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed. The writer of Proverbs often refers to poverty. In his society, there was no welfare state, so poverty was an ever-present and terrible threat. If their family was unable to give support, a person could become totally destitute. Begging would be the only option. It’s not surprising that many proverbs speak of the ...

Proverbs 28:26

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe. The book of Proverbs has a great deal to say about fools. Time and again, the writer notes how stupid, ignorant and destructive they are. Many of his observations would be incredibly funny if they weren’t so serious and sad. In Proverbs 26, he wrote: “A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralysed leg…like a thorny...

Proverbs 28:23

In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery. The first three words are crucial in this verse! At first, probably all of us would rather be overwhelmed by flattery than offered criticism. We all want to be loved and to have people tell us how wonderful we are. However, in the end, honest criticism is far more valuable, and we should be forever grateful for those words of wisdom that give us...

Proverbs 28:13

People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. Sin always tries to hide itself. It’s a pathetic process because it is always bound to fail. Sooner or later, the sin will be revealed. Given that we are all sinners and regularly do things that are well short of perfection, we all need to know what to do when we sin. The writer is clear that the best ap...

Proverbs 28:6 Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich. This is such a typical proverb. It’s punchy, it’s brief and it contains a massive amount of wisdom. Honesty is always the best policy. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States of America, said: “Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.” It’s not surprising that the book of Proverbs has much to say about honesty. It speaks often ...