Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

• November 25th - Romans 16:3-5

  Romans 16:3-5 Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home. This final chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans contains greetings to a number of specific people. It gives us a fascinating window into the early Church. We find that the Roman church was incredibly diverse in terms of race, social rank and gender. We can see in the following verses that it was composed of people from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. Some of the people have names that were common among slaves, but alongside them we meet people like Aristobulus who, many scholars suggest, was the grandson of Herod the Great and friend of the Emperor Claudius. Particularly notable is the fact that of the 26 people named, nine of them were women. It’s also interesting to note that six of these women are described in terms of their ministry, whereas only three of the men are described in this way, and two of the men ministered alongside their female partners. These verses reveal how generously inclusive the early Church was. Paul’s conviction was that in Christ, all human divisions came crashing to the ground. In Galatians 3:28, he wrote: “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Our society, like Paul’s, is full of divisions between people. We erect walls along lines of age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, wealth, health and education, to name but a few. When we become Christians, we don’t suddenly lose an awareness of these distinctions because they are so hard-wired into the thinking and life of our society, but when we join Christ’s Church, we come into a transformed community. This is no easy task but, in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is miraculously possible. Question Is your church truly welcoming to every kind of person? Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, thank you the miracle of your Church. Help me to reflect your love and welcome to every kind of person. Amen

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• November 24th - Romans 15:30

  Romans 15:30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. It is an incredible privilege to belong to the Christian family. As soon as you become a Christian, you have brothers and sisters who are part of your new worldwide and eternal family. I treasure that moment recorded in Acts 9:17 when Ananias went to meet Saul after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Ananias knew of Saul’s violent reputation and he was clearly surprised at the news that he had met the Lord, but we read that Ananias went into the house where Saul was staying, placed his hands on him and said: “Brother Saul.” What a miracle! In today’s verse, Paul speaks of how his brothers and sisters could join him in his struggle. There is no doubt of their love and respect for Paul, and I am sure that they were eager to do whatever they could to support him. Paul told them that the way to do so was through prayer motivated by the love for him that the Holy Spirit had given them. When we see someone struggling, we want to do something practical to help them, but often the greatest support that we can give is in prayer. There are many Christians struggling today. Millions of believers live in countries where the government is opposed to Christianity, and life is a continual challenge for them. I am sure that there are also Christians in your own community who are struggling. Perhaps their struggle is with health issues, or the care of relatives, or relationship difficulties, or challenges at work, or problems in their church. We won’t need to look far to find people who are struggling, and I pray that because of the love that the Holy Spirit has put in our hearts, we will commit ourselves to praying for them. Question Who do you know who is struggling at the moment? Take some time to pray for them right now. Prayer Lord God, I pray for those I know who are struggling at this time. Please show me how I can bring them your love and encouragement. Amen

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• November 23rd - Romans 15:23-24

  Romans 15:23-24 But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you. I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey. Paul’s love for the church in Rome is very clear, and he couldn’t wait to visit them. I love how he sets out his strategy so clearly. He was always looking to develop the mission of the Church, so, having paid them a visit, he then aimed to go to Spain to preach the gospel. In order to enable that mission to succeed, he would be looking to the Roman church to support him. These few verses give us an insight into Paul’s heart and his plans, but, as we all know, it didn’t work out in the way that he had hoped. His first task was to go to Jerusalem to take the money he had collected for the relief of the famine victims. He knew that it would be a potentially dangerous journey. His presence in Jerusalem was never going to be widely welcomed. He was arrested, and for the next few years, he was a prisoner. When he did finally arrive in Rome, it was under armed guard. We can learn so much from Paul. We should be inspired by his passionate mission heart and his careful planning, but we should also remember that things don’t always work out in the way that we plan. We need to be humble before God and recognise that even if things don’t work out in the way that we hope and plan, God is still God and his plans will triumph in the end. When things go in the opposite way from our plans, it can be deeply discouraging. We can feel that we have failed. In such times, we need to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Lord, knowing that we are ultimately secure in his hands. Question How would you respond if your life plans suddenly changed? Prayer Loving Father, thank you that our lives are in your hands. Help us to have complete confidence in you, whether or not life works out in the way that we had expected. Amen

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• November 22nd - Romans 15:13

  Romans 15:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hope is a slippery word, so we need to be quite clear what Paul means by it. When we use the word ‘hope’, there is normally a ‘maybe’ in our voice – we are not confident. When I say “I hope it will be sunny tomorrow”, you know that I mean well and would love to think that it might be sunny, but I also realise that it might not be. Or if I say I hope the train will arrive on time, once again you know that I’m not absolutely sure it will. In order to understand Paul’s use of the word ‘hope’, we need to get rid of any suggestion of doubt, because he was absolutely confident that the future was secure in God’s hands. His future hope was built on the solid rock of Jesus’ death and resurrection. He didn’t have any trace of doubt that what God has promised would come true. The language of confident hope was so important for the Christians in Rome. Their daily life was a continual battle. They were few in number and surrounded by a sea of cynicism and opposition. Paul knew it was crucial that they should be inspired and strengthened by their hope in Christ. His language is amazing. He doesn’t merely say they should be full of hope as they lived for Christ – he goes much further by suggesting that they should overflow with hope! They wouldn’t merely have enough hope to keep them going, but have hope to spare to share with those around them. In our society, there are not many people who speak about hope as they look to the future. The normal language is one of threats and fears, but we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and in the power of the Spirit to overflow with his hope. Question Are you hopeful as you look to the future? Prayer Holy Spirit, I invite you to fill me to overflowing with hope as I live in your strength today. Amen

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• November 21st - Romans 15:5-6

  Romans 15:5-6 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You don’t need to be a genius to work out why Paul so often spoke about the issue of unity! He knew how hard it was to achieve. If the early Church had always enjoyed harmonious relationships, he could have kept quiet on the subject. His continual reiteration of the message of unity was because he knew that it was the demanding daily work of the Church – and it still is! It is often very small issues which cause huge disputes in churches. It’s just the same in marriage. When I’ve had the privilege of walking with couples who have encountered difficulties, almost always when I ask them to trace back to the original dispute, they fall about laughing at the absurd triviality of the issue. If a small disagreement is not resolved, it can soon turn into an agonisingly vast and unbridgeable chasm. The only way to live in complete harmony is by recognising that we cannot do it by ourselves. We need the God of patience and encouragement to accompany us. We need to commit our difficulties to him in fervent prayer so that we can find his Spirit’s way of resolving the situation. The outcome that we are looking for is united worship. When our eyes are fixed on the Lord and we can sing together with one voice, we will know that we have found true unity. Always remember that unity is fragile, so you and I need to make our contribution to unity if it is to flourish. Question In what way can you contribute to the unity of the Church today? Prayer Lord God, I thank you that you are the source of true unity. Thank you for your endless patience with me and your constant encouragement. Amen

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