Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Acts 2:1-4 Pentecost Sunday marks the birthday of the Church. Jesus had asked his followers to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit – and now he has arrived. Pentecost was a Jewish harvest festival and was held 50 days after Passover. It was one of the three annual pilgrimages and so Jerusalem would have been heaving with visitors from all over the region. Jesus’ followers were

Acts 1:24-26 After the ascension of Jesus, the eleven disciples needed to find a successor to Judas Iscariot. They identified two candidates whom they considered to be suitable, Barsabbas and Matthias. We don’t know anything about them, but clearly they had spent time with Jesus and were part of his wider circle of followers. What might strike you as strange is that, having commi

Acts 1:12-14 The days between Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost were filled with prayer. The disciples knew that they had to wait and they didn’t want to do this alone. We read that they met together in an upper room, which may well have been the place where they had gathered for the Last Supper. What matters is that they were together and it is interesting to note that the eleven

Acts 1:9-11 The ascension of Jesus brought his ministry on earth to an end in an amazing way. It is not surprising that the disciples looked intently into the sky to see where he had gone. They were probably longing for him to come back down again. As they stood there, they were told that the day will come when Jesus returns in the same way as he left. The second coming of Jesus sh

Acts 1:8 What an amazing day this must have been for the disciples! They were just about to see Jesus disappear before their eyes and, before he did so, he commissioned them to take the good news to the whole world, no less. These days we know a great deal about the world and can easily communicate across the globe. But for Jesus’ disciples, this must have seemed an overwhelming

Acts 1:3-4 Dr Luke wrote two books – his Gospel and what is often called ‘The Acts of the Apostles’. The first tells us what happened during Jesus’ earthly ministry and the second describes the story of the birth and growth of the Church. However, before Dr Luke launched into the story of the Church, he wanted his readers to know that there is no doubt about Jesus’ resurr

Proverbs 16:32 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 through this question. Many people would assume that it is good to be powerful, to have control of people and even whole communities. But the writer observes that it is far more important to have patience and self-control than great power and

Proverbs 13:20 When we think of wisdom we may be inclined to think about books and formal education. However, the writer of Proverbs is clear that key to wisdom is spending time with the right people. Quite simply, if we spend time with wise people, some of their wisdom will rub off. On the other hand, spending time with fools will be sure to get us into trouble. The book of Psalms

Proverbs 13:16 Much of the wisdom that we find in the book of Proverbs is so obvious that you wonder why it needs to be said. But a moment’s reflection shows that it doesn’t just need to be said, but needs to be said repeatedly. I suspect we can all think of numerous times when we acted too quickly. Perhaps it was an impulse buy. A clever salesperson persuaded us to act quickly

Proverbs 13:11 Oscar Wilde wrote: “The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” Work is often seen as something negative, to be avoided if at all possible and, if not, then 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 lazines