Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

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June 24th - John 3:16-17
John 3:16-17 For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. I remember well the first time somebody, other than my parents, told me they loved me. I can recall everything about that moment, and it was simply amazing. In these verses, which are probably the most famous in the entire Bible, we hear the wonderful news that God loves us, and that his love is so total that he gladly sent his own Son into the world so that we could have eternal life. There is great emphasis upon God’s love for the people of Israel in the Old Testament, but now we see that the doors are flung open to the whole world. Everyone is welcome. The last thing God wants is for anyone to perish, so he invites everyone to believe in him and find eternal life. In the Old Testament, we meet Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his precious son, Isaac, in obedience to God’s command (Genesis 22). He bound his son, laying him on the altar on top of the wood, and took hold of the knife to kill him. In that terrifying moment, an angel told Abraham not to lay a hand on his son but instead to offer a ram which was caught in a thicket nearby. God’s willingness to offer his son, Jesus, is a clear reminder of Abraham’s obedience long ago, but there is a significant difference because Jesus actually died. God made the complete sacrifice. Whether you are in a secure, loving relationship or not, you need to know that God loves you completely and always will. He has proved that by sending his precious Son into the world, and we can be sure that we can rely on his love for time and eternity. Question What does it mean to you personally to know how much God loves you? Prayer Lord God, I thank you for loving me and opening the door to eternal life Amen
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3:16
June 23rd - John 3:3
John 3:3 Jesus replied [to Nicodemus], “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Nicodemus was an unlikely visitor to Jesus. He was a Pharisee, and Jesus was locked in a constant struggle with this group of Jewish leaders throughout his ministry. Perhaps that’s why he came to Jesus at night. He wanted to ask his questions without being spotted by his fellow Pharisees. Jesus had no formal accreditation as a Jewish teacher, so it was generous of Nicodemus to address him as “Rabbi”. Clearly, he was impressed by Jesus’ teaching and miraculous signs and acknowledged that there was clear evidence that he had been sent by God. Jesus didn’t engage with this but responded to Nicodemus with words which would have rocked his world. He needed to be born again. Nicodemus seemed confused by Jesus’ words. He was baffled by the thought of entering his mother’s womb a second time, so Jesus spelt out exactly what he meant: just as human life starts with a birth, so too does spiritual life. Nicodemus needed to allow the Holy Spirit to breathe new life into him if he was to enter the kingdom of God. Nothing has changed. Two thousand years later, if we are to experience spiritual life, we need to be born again. I sometimes hear people talk about ‘born again Christians’ as if they are something different from normal Christians! That is not the case – the only way to become a Christian is by being born again. Being born into a Christian home, attending church and living in a supposedly Christian country is irrelevant. Without new birth, you cannot start out on the Christian life. The apostle Paul was in complete agreement with this. He wrote: “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). No amount of human effort can ever make us into Christians. It is only as we allow the Holy Spirit to take over our lives that we can experience new birth. Question How do you respond when people refer to born again Christians? Prayer Loving Father, thank you that through the power of your Holy Spirit it is possible for people to be born again. Amen
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3:30
June 22nd - John 2:23-25
John 2:23-25 Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart. Whether we like it or not, the world knows a great deal about us. Organisations go to extraordinary lengths to store information about every aspect of our lives so they can lure us into buying their products and using their services. However, although it might not feel like it at times, there are limits to what they know. They can’t see into the deeper recesses of our minds, but there is one who can. In these verses, John reveals that Jesus knew all about the people of his time. Some were responding to his message because of the miraculous things he was doing, but Jesus knew that for many of them, this was a superficial response which would soon evaporate. He understood human nature completely and knew every person’s heart. When we first hear that Jesus knows everything about us, we might feel concerned and even anxious. We would like to think we have some privacy, and that we’re able to hang on to at least a few secrets, but it cannot be done. However, when we come to realise that Jesus only has love for us and will only ever use the information that he has for loving purposes, we can start to relax. His knowledge of us is nothing like our knowledge of ourselves. We only understand a very limited amount about ourselves, but he knows the whole story. When we put our lives in Jesus’ hands, we are putting them in the most secure and loved place possible. Question How do you respond to the fact that Jesus knows absolutely everything about you and, at the same time, loves you perfectly? Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you know me and love me completely. I gladly place my life in your hands. Amen
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3:15
June 21st - John 2:15-16
John 2:15-16 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” The Gospels generally present Jesus as a calm, compassionate and peaceful person. This account of him clearing the temple forecourts of traders seems to stand in marked contrast. Jesus was clearly angered by what he saw and determined that it should stop. He longed for his Father’s house to be a focus of prayer and worship, yet all he could hear was the noise of sheep, cattle, money and shouting traders. It could be argued that the money changers and the sellers of sacrificial animals were all making a contribution to the people’s worship, but the way they were doing it totally obscured the purpose of the temple. Jesus may not have actually used the whip he made, but the act of making it shows us how determined he was to clear the temple. His anger came from knowing nothing was more important than worshipping God, and the traders were making that impossible. He had to take action, and he did so in an extremely dramatic way. There are times when it is absolutely right for us to be angry. When we see people being abused or discriminated against, we should be angry. It would be sinful for us to look at abuse or discrimination and to accept it. However, unlike Jesus, we are not sinless, so we need to make sure that we never allow our anger to lead us into sin. The apostle Paul was very familiar with anger, and he wrote to the Ephesians: “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). We will all have times of feeling steamed up about an issue, and Paul’s advice is important. We need always to make sure that, if we are angry, we are letting God control us, not the anger. Question How do you cope with your times of anger? Prayer Lord God, help us live so close to you that our times of anger will not be destructive but a blessing. Amen
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3:32
June 20th - John 1:45-46
John 1:45-46 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Wherever you live, there is probably a town not far away with a dodgy reputation. For whatever reason, the place is held in suspicion, and you can’t imagine that anything good would ever come out of it! Nathanael came from Cana, which is not far away from Nazareth, and it appears that a typical town rivalry made Nathanael respond in that way. Philip wasn’t put off by Nathanael’s dismissive response to Jesus. He invited Nathanael to see Jesus for himself. That changed everything. Jesus saw Nathanael and made the amazing statement: “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity” (John 1:47). Within moments, Nathanael had declared that Jesus was the Son of God, the King of Israel. None of that would have happened unless Philip had persisted. He could easily have felt a bit hurt by Nathanael’s cynical response and decided not to push it, but he didn’t. He gave Nathanael the opportunity to meet Jesus for himself. When we speak about Jesus, we will often face a dismissive response. I have found that many people dismiss Christianity because of what they’ve seen of the Church. They will be quick to point out any whiff of hypocrisy that they have picked up, or to tell the story of a rude church minister. We should always listen to those accusations with grace and patience. Their stories may be entirely correct. We Christians are not perfect and are capable of hypocrisy, rudeness and much else besides. Our role is never to point to Christians or the Church, but to encourage them to meet Jesus, knowing that he alone can give them life. Question How do you respond when people are cynical about Christianity? Prayer Loving Father, thank you that we can always point people to Jesus with confidence, knowing that he will never let them down. Amen
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3:21