Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Matthew 5:10

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The life to which Jesus calls us is one of blessing. This is life at its very best. But Jesus never tried to disguise the fact that His followers would face rejection and persecution just as He did. Jesus assures His followers in every age that if they stand up for the truth, there will inevitably be many people who have a vested interest in bringing them down.

Persecution is normally subtle. For the majority of Christians in Eastern Europe during the communist era, the challenge was not the likelihood of imprisonment or martyrdom. That happened from time to time for a few, but the ever-present daily challenges were in areas such as education and employment. I recall visiting Romania during those tough years and hearing about the relentless daily pressures on Christians because they weren’t card-carrying communists.

In our society, the challenges are very different, but they are inevitable. In a society that has long since rejected Christianity, it can be exceptionally hard to speak about personal faith. We will often be accused and even mocked for our faith. Many Christians live with a continual barrage of sarcasm. And if you find yourself in a position where you believe your organisation is acting unethically, it can be incredibly tough to stand up for truth and justice.

Jesus is not encouraging us to go looking for persecution and suffering, but rather to be totally unsurprised when it happens.

Question

In what ways have you faced resistance because of your Christian faith?

Prayer

Loving God, give me Your strength day by day so that I will be able to stand strongly for You, whatever the challenges. Amen

Matthew 5:9

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

In this beatitude, Jesus isn’t talking about being peace-lovers but peacemakers, and that’s something very different. A peace-lover will often do anything to avoid conflict. They will even allow bad behaviour to continue because of the desire to ‘keep the peace’. Sadly, that kind of attitude does nothing to bring healing to the situation and can easily lead to it becoming far worse. Peacemaking is the tough task of not turning away from conflict but, in the name of Christ, deliberately facing it and seeking to bring His miraculous gift of peace. Robert V Taylor, the president of the Desmond Tutu Foundation, wrote: “If you want peace, don’t talk to your friends, talk to your enemies.”

I suspect we all dislike conflict. We hate it when voices are raised and people storm out of meetings or fall out with one another. It’s exhausting, discouraging and sad. But it’s also very common and always has been. That’s precisely why Jesus recruited followers 2,000 years ago and still does. He needs you and me to get to know Him well enough to have the courage to walk towards conflicts and not away from them. If we always run away from places of anger and brokenness, we will never be able to make Jesus’ offer of peace, and we will deny ourselves the joy of seeing people find unity and a new future. As the children of God, peacemaking is God’s way for each one of us.

Question

Where is God calling you to be a peacemaker at the moment?

Prayer

Loving God, thank You for Your gift of peace. Give me renewed determination to bring Your peace wherever I go. Amen

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

If you have any gold or silver, you will know that it is vital for the metal to be free from all impurity. If it is even slightly impure it will be worth only a fraction of the value of the pure metal. Here, Jesus is saying that the same rule applies to our spiritual lives. We need to be single-minded, keeping our eyes fixed on His kingdom and not allowing ourselves to be distracted by any lesser objective.

For most of us, this will make uncomfortable reading. Even our best efforts can very easily be spoilt by unhelpful motives. When we give generously to help others, we will often feel personal pleasure and pride at what we have given. In fulfilling our roles in our churches, it is easy to focus far too much attention on the love and gratitude we gain from our service. Even in preaching the word of God there is always the danger of self-satisfaction at having preached a wonderful sermon. One day after John Bunyan had just finished delivering a sermon, someone came up and told him that he had preached well. He apparently replied: “The devil already told me that as I was coming down the pulpit steps.”

Honesty compels us all to admit that we are a long way away from living lives of complete purity. God knows that, and by His Spirit He helps us to live more closely to Him.

Question

What would help you to live more single-mindedly for God?

Prayer

Lord God, I confess that I easily get distracted from following Your will. I praise You for Your forgiveness and for the renewing power of Your Spirit. Amen

Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Jesus told many stories that make us sit up. One of the most powerful was the story of the king who was owed millions of pounds by one of his servants (Matthew 18:21-35). The man couldn’t possibly pay his debt, so he fell on his knees and begged the king to be patient. The king took pity on him and cancelled the debt. If you have ever been deeply in debt, you will know what an amazing experience that was for the servant. The relief must have been incredible. The servant then went out and met a friend who owed him a trivial amount, but the servant demanded that he be paid back in full. He threw his friend into prison until he recovered all his money. When the king heard this, he was incensed and ordered that the servant, who had been let off the most enormous debt, be thrown into prison and tortured until he paid back every last penny. Ouch! Jesus concluded by saying that this was exactly how His heavenly Father would treat anyone who failed to show forgiveness to others.

God wants to show us His mercy and forgiveness, but we are then under an obligation to pass it on. It isn’t a choice and it isn’t easy. We need to keep our eyes fixed on the incredible gift of forgiveness that we have received – a gift we could never have deserved. And then in God’s strength we must pass that forgiveness on to others.

Question

What have You learned from the times when you have forgiven other people?

Prayer

Lord God, thank You for Your gift of forgiveness. Help me to be ready to pass on that gift to others. Amen

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

I wonder when you last felt painfully hungry or thirsty. I suspect for most of us that if it has ever happened, it is a distant memory. However, it is likely that Jesus’ hearers would have been very familiar with both. Harvests could be good or bad, and it was impossible to achieve a reliable flow of food. Additionally, in a hot country, people would often have felt desperately thirsty, and finding a good supply of clean water would never have been easy. Jesus wanted His followers to have just this kind of desperate longing for God’s will to be done in the world.

Christianity suffers desperately from those who give it merely polite agreement. They live respectable and considerate lives and consider that Christian faith is generally a very good thing. Jesus is looking for something completely different. He wants us to have the same passion for His kingdom as a hungry and thirsty person has for food and drink. He wants our lives to be dominated by the longing to see His will done and for society to be ordered in a way that honours Him.

The wonderful promise is that God will answer the prayers of those who have this passionate longing for His kingdom. For as long as we live on this earth, we will be battling with the reality of sin and injustice. They are sadly an inevitable part of a fallen world, but we can be sure that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, God will satisfy us completely.

Question

How hungry and thirsty are you for God’s kingdom?

Prayer

Dear Lord, forgive me for my half-heartedness. Give me a passionate desire to do Your will. Amen

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Meekness and humility lie at the heart of the kingdom of God. As previously mentioned, Jesus once told His disciples that the only way to enter the kingdom was to become as humble as a child (Matthew 18:4). They were still looking for power and influence, but Jesus wanted to turn their thinking upside down. We only serve God effectively by giving up all thoughts of our own advancement and seeking to strengthen and bless others.

Mother Teresa provided an amazing example of humility in her work in India. She has helpfully left us a humility list, and this offers us an excellent way of checking whether we are really growing in humility. Here are five of them: speak as little as possible about yourself; accept small irritations with good humour; do not dwell on the faults of others; accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded; do not seek to be admired and loved. I love these simple, practical challenges, and they illustrate the fact that humility is no easy option. Humility is the path for those who long to see the kingdom of God become a reality here and now and who are happy to accept a huge challenge.

When writing to the Colossian church, the apostle Paul encouraged his readers to clothe themselves in humility (Colossians 3:12). Living humbly needs to be so natural to us that wherever we go and whatever we do it is always an integral part of our daily life.

Question

Which of Mother Teresa’s five challenges do you find most relevant to you?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for the humility that You showed in your earthly life. Help me day by day to learn more about the joy of living humbly. Amen

Matthew 5:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

The word used for ‘mourn’ here is also used in the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, to describe Jacob’s grief when he was led to believe that Joseph, his treasured son, was dead (Genesis 37:34). He was grief-stricken. God’s promise is that those who are overwhelmed with sorrow now will find His comfort and strength. This leaves us with a question: who are the people that are mourning so profoundly today?

Jesus probably had in mind, among others, those who knew the agony of losing a loved one. We all know the pain of friends and family members dying, and many of us have had the awful experience of people dying suddenly or even violently. None of us would want to make light of these terrible experiences, but Jesus reminds us that death doesn’t have the last word. Even in the midst of our loss, God is there with us, offering His peace, strength and love.

Jesus was almost certainly speaking about others who mourn as well, for example people who are overwhelmed by the brokenness and suffering in the world. And then there are those who feel crushed by their failures and sinfulness. Jesus comes to all those who are overwhelmed with sadness and grief and announces His good news. Miraculously, He is able to bring comfort to anyone who is willing to bring their heavy burden to Him and leave it in His hands.

Question

When have you had the experience of mourning, and how did God comfort you?

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You that You meet us in our times of distress and give us the strength to carry on. Amen

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Today’s verse is the first of the so-called beatitudes. Before we launch into it, we need to be clear what Jesus meant by the kingdom of heaven, because it’s an expression He often used. To put it simply, the kingdom of heaven comes where God is allowed to be in control and, amazingly, that can happen in our lives today. That’s why Jesus encouraged us, in the Lord’s Prayer, to pray for His kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven. The kingdom of heaven gives us a preview of what heaven itself will be like, and it is, by definition, life at its very best.

Jesus declares that the people who possess this wonderful kingdom of heaven are those who are spiritually poor. The word used here for ‘poor’ in the original Greek language speaks of absolute poverty or destitution. Jesus is saying that the way into the kingdom of heaven is to understand that, spiritually, you’ve got nothing to offer apart from empty hands. We need to come to Jesus in absolute weakness knowing that we are totally dependent upon Him. It reminds us of the time when Jesus said that the only way to enter His kingdom is by becoming like a little child (Matthew 18:2-4). The moment arrogance and self-confidence creep in, we spoil everything. From first to last we are dependent on our loving and gracious heavenly Father. He can be depended upon to give us only the best.

Question

Where have you seen the kingdom of heaven come on earth?

Prayer

Lord God, help me depend totally upon You so that in my life Your kingdom will come here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen

Psalm 143:7-8

Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.

Depression is tragically common and is one of the world’s most pervasive health conditions. It is estimated that one in three women and one in five men have an episode of major depression by the age of 65. King David clearly had many times of depression and, in this psalm, he revealed the depth of his despair. He had been pursued by his enemy and been knocked to the ground. He described himself as losing all hope and being paralysed by fear.

Many famous people through history have suffered from depression. Twenty years before he became US President, Abraham Lincoln wrote: “I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better I cannot tell; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible.” It was said that “melancholy dripped from him as he walked”. But despite his depression, God was able to use Lincoln in amazing ways.

In his depression, David turned to God. Each morning he reminded himself of the unfailing love of the Lord. He was confident that God would save him and guide his steps. If you ever meet someone suffering from depression, there is nothing better that you can do than to encourage them to follow David’s example.

Question

How would you seek to help someone experiencing depression?

Prayer

Lord God, I pray for those who are depressed today. May they find Your peace. Amen

Psalm 142:1-2

I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.

This psalm was written by David as he reflected on the experience of hiding from his enemies in a cave. This happened on two occasions. Firstly in Adullam, and secondly in En-gedi. On both occasions he was being threatened by King Saul, who was eager to kill him. There’s no way of knowing which occasion he was thinking about when he wrote this psalm, but it doesn’t matter. What is clear is that he was under extreme pressure and needed help. In his despair he cried out to the Lord, knowing that He knew the whole story.

We are often inclined to bottle up our complaints. But it is good and right that we should pour out our concerns to the Lord, and God’s people have done so through the centuries. When St Francis of Assisi died on 3 October 1226, he had this particular psalm on his lips.

At times we might find it difficult to imagine that the God of the universe could possibly be concerned with our personal problems. But He is! The God of the Bible consistently reveals His intimate knowledge and complete love of us. If you have nothing to complain about, you must rejoice. But if you do complain, you can be sure that the Lord is ready to listen to you.

Questions

Have you ever complained to God? If you have, what did you say, and if you haven’t, why not?

Prayer

Loving God, thank You that You are always willing to listen to us, even when we have lots of problems and complaints. Amen