Be Still And Know

Acts 2:5-7 The arrival of the Holy Spirit caused a stir in Jerusalem. The city was packed with Jewish pilgrims who were eager to find out what was going on. When they heard God’s name being praised in their own languages, they were amazed. Dr Luke provides us with a fascinating list of where the pilgrims had come from. To use their modern names, there were visitors from, among other places, Rome, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and other parts of North Africa. What a perfect moment for the Holy Spirit to be given. By the end of the day thousands of people had heard the good news of Jesus in their own language for the first time. They were able to take the message back home and start building Christian communities. This was truly a kairos moment. The Greek word kairos is very special. It is one of two words which translates the English word ‘time’. The other Greek word is chronos, from which we derive words like ‘chronology’. It’s the time that we measure with our clocks and calendars. Kairos is bett

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 probably gathered in the upper room where they had been in the habit of meeting. One can imagine them meeting quietly and prayerfully as they had done since the time of Jesus’ ascension. But suddenly, everything changed as they were overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit. A completely new era had just begun. A violent wind filled the whole house, symbolising the breath of life that the Holy Spirit brings. No one could miss the fact that something dramatic was taking place, and the tongues of fire that rested on each of them spoke of the cleansing and refining work of the Spirit. As the Holy Spirit came upon them, they spoke in othe

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 committed the decision to God in prayer, they then cast lots. This certainly isn’t a method that I have ever employed but it was their way of leaving the decision up to God. They played their part in choosing two people who they believed to appropriately qualified, but then they let God decide. We don’t hear of anyone else casting lots in this way in the New Testament and so many people have assumed that the practice belonged firmly to the period before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Once the Spirit had been given, the Church could look to him to guide them in their decision-making. That isn’t to say that decision-making has no

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 disciples were joined by Jesus’ mother and his brothers. While we know little about his brothers, John records that, prior to his death, they did not believe in him (John 7:5). What an amazing time of prayer it must have been! Jesus had told them that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on them but hadn’t informed them when this might happen. They simply had to wait in expectation, with the confidence of knowing that God had a perfect plan. In one sense prayer is always like this. Although we live in the privileged days of the Spirit, whenever we pray there is much that we do not know. We only partly know God’s plans for ou

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 should be our confident expectation. It should be constantly in our minds as the most wonderful promise. When I was a small boy, I must confess that I thought of it entirely as a threat. Whenever I couldn’t find my mother in the house, I assumed that Jesus had returned and I’d been left behind. But the fact that Jesus will return is presented to us in the New Testament as a cause for encouragement. It is a reminder that history is in God’s hands and, at the time that he chooses, the curtain will be brought down. The knowledge that Jesus will return one day should spur us on to ensure that we keep our minds focused on servi

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 challenge. Where on earth would they start? Jesus wanted his disciples to know that they were all witnesses. They had seen and heard things that needed to be shared. We don’t all have an evangelistic gift, something which is often said to have been given to about ten per cent of Christians. But we are all witnesses. Our means of communication have changed completely since the first century, but our fundamental responsibility is still to bear our personal witness of what we have seen and heard of Jesus. Jesus first asked his disciples to witness in Jerusalem. They needed to start where they were. This is often the greatest

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’ resurrection. He knew that everything hinged on this, so he made a record of the fact that Jesus met with his disciples on a number of occasions and even shared meals with them. It was clearly a tumultuous time for the disciples. They had experienced the trauma of Jesus’ appalling death, the exuberant joy of his resurrection and were now contemplating what life would be like after Jesus had left them. Jesus fully realised this and wanted his disciples to know that he had made perfect provision for their needs. All they had to do was wait and, within a few days, they would be baptised with the Holy Spirit. As mysterious as God’s plans were f

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 influence. He is talking about what the New Testament describes as the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Bible never suggests that it is wrong to have wealth or power. If either of them have come your way, give thanks to God! What matters is that we keep them in their proper place. They are nowhere near as important as living for God with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that he gives to all those who walk in his ways. Money and power come and go. But the fruit of the Spirit is of a completely different nature, being as eternal and indestructible as Go

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 begins on a similar note: “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers” (Psalm 1:1). So, who are the wise people that we need to walk with? The writer of Proverbs has a very clear answer to this; those who centre their lives on God. They may lead lives that are very different from ours, but by spending time with them we can learn so much. They have learned the wisdom of following God in their home life, workplace and leisure activities. They organise their finances in a way that is pleasing to God, and their relationships are peaceful and loving

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 or an alluring advert drew us in. We may well have had some reservations, but we made the purchase and then regretted it. Or perhaps we got involved in a relationship too quickly and we had to pay the consequences. We are told to: “Look before you leap”, but the question is: How do we slow down our decision making so that we have time to reflect and assess the options? We don’t want to be hesitating constantly about everything. The first step is to recognise that God cares about our decision making, because every decision matters. Often small decisions are like hinges on which many other things turn. So, we would do well to

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 laziness that are to be avoided at all costs. It is interesting that the writer of Proverbs refers to get-rich-quick schemes. This all sounds very modern, but throughout history, people have looked for short cuts to wealth. There’s nothing new about laziness! God wants us to work hard because it not only provides for our needs, but also enables us to bless other people with the gifts that God has given us. The apostle Paul wrote: “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9). Over the years, I have been particularly blessed by the way I

Isaiah 58:6-7 It is incredibly sad that Isaiah’s call to action, written more than 2,500 years ago, still applies today. There continue to be people who are wrongly imprisoned, hungry and homeless. God’s word to us today is, therefore, unchanged from Isaiah’s day. He declares that the reality of our worship will be revealed by our willingness to care for those who are denied justice and as we reach out to feed the hungry and give shelter to the homeless. I am thrilled that Christians are busily engaged in fighting for justice and providing practical relief for the hungry and homeless. The need is still enormous. There are more than 300,000 people in the UK who are either homeless or living in temporary accommodation. I have been struck by the terrible ease with which people can slip into homelessness. An ugly row with parents or a partner; the loss of a job; a time of depression or simply the inability to find affordable housing in a new town. People experiencing homelessness are just like us, apart f

Isaiah 58:4 Nothing is more unattractive than hypocrisy. When I have talked to people who don’t go to church, time and again they have pointed out the gap between churchgoers’ faith and actions. This was precisely the situation that Isaiah was addressing. The people were regular in their attendance at the Temple and said all the right things. They seemed to take their faith seriously but, in fact, it was all an act. Even when they fasted it was just play acting because they kept on fighting and quarrelling with one another. And the ultimate proof of their hypocrisy was that they treated their employees badly. Jesus spent a lot of time pointing out people’s hypocrisy. In his day the most educated and committed Jews were the Pharisees. No one could doubt that they took their faith seriously. They were meticulous in the way in which they worshipped and tithed, but Jesus repeatedly told them that they were missing the point. Through making an elaborate public performance of their giving and praying they w

Isaiah 57:20-21 It was Augustine of Hippo (354–430) in his famous Confessions who observed: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you.” There is no doubt that Augustine was reflecting on his own experience. He had lived a promiscuous life before he became a Christian at the age of 31 and had lurched from one philosophy to another. He knew how tempestuous and unsatisfying life was when lived his own way. It was clearly a matter of joy and relief when, through the friendship of Bishop Ambrose, he found personal faith in Christ. I wonder if, like me, you enjoy watching waves crashing onto the beach. The power of the water is a wonderful sight; Isaiah uses this as a picture of those who rebel against God. They have chosen a life of restlessness. Sadly, they know no lasting peace. We are surrounded by advertisements which suggest the route to peace, and there are endless philosophies and religions that hold out the offer of harmony and contentment. But

Isaiah 56:9-11 As a church leader I find these words both incredibly challenging and agonisingly sad. I am sure that we have all known church leaders who have worked extremely hard and rightfully earned people’s love and respect. But there are lazy leaders as well. Here Isaiah depicts the way in which spiritual leaders in his own day totally missed the point. They were the opposite of shepherds. They didn’t care for the sheep at all. Their only concern was to have a good time. Isaiah goes on to describe how they loved to party and get drunk, and then to plan even bigger parties (v12). None of us should think that we are incapable of laziness or distraction. Those of us who are leaders need to keep our eyes focused on our incredible God-given responsibility to care for the flock, working hard to nourish and strengthen people in their spiritual lives. We should always be aiming to give the very best of ourselves to the Lord’s work, knowing that what we do has eternal importance. If you are not a chu

Isaiah 56:6 In the Old Testament, God’s people were often told to be welcoming to foreigners. God’s love was not confined to the Jews and they were reminded that, as a nation, they used to be foreigners in Egypt so it was only right that they should be generous and loving towards foreigners. The people of Israel had spent 400 years in Egypt so there was nothing that they didn’t know about the vulnerabilities and insecurities of being foreigners. The celebration of the Passover was a continual reminder of that time. We live in a wonderfully diverse country which, over the centuries, has welcomed people from many nations. This continues to be the case. Some come to us as refugees and asylum seekers because of the dangers in their own homeland. It is vital that we welcome all foreigners and that the Church is a place where they can find security, compassion, understanding and love. I have been to many churches that have the flags of all the nations represented in the congregation. This is a wonderful way

Isaiah 56:1-2 Justice is a major theme throughout the book of Isaiah. From the first chapter, God declares his hatred of every form of injustice and his unwillingness to receive the worship of people who refuse to act justly. God is incredibly blunt. He declares that he has had more than enough of the people’s sacrifices and is burdened by their religious festivals. It’s vital that we realise that fighting for justice is not an optional extra for Christians. It is integral to our worship. Or to use the straightforward language of Isaiah 1:15-17, if we don’t live justly then God won’t listen to our prayers. I wonder how well you know the community where you live and whether you can identify where injustice is taking place. I say that because most forms of injustice are hidden. They can happen in busy cities and quiet villages. The only way to know what is going on is to get to know people well and to hear their stories. In Isaiah’s world, the people who were most vulnerable and who suffered the greates

Isaiah 55:10-11 There is something about me that you need to know, and that is that I am incredibly excited writing these daily devotionals. Believe me, that’s got nothing to do with my abilities as a writer but everything to do with the fact that God’s word is powerful. So being asked to encourage people to read, enjoy and live by God’s word is as exciting as life can get. Every day, thousands of people read and listen to these words and I have very little idea of what the impact will be. However, what is certain is that God’s word is challenging, changing and encouraging people in their lives. How exciting is that! We are completely dependent on water. There can be no life without it. Therefore, when it rains we can be absolutely certain that the result will be life and fruitfulness. It is just the same as we read the Bible and allow God to speak to us. In many ways, it is even more exciting, because we cannot be sure how God will bless us. We know that he will make us fruitful, but that fruit could

Isaiah 55:8-9 Life is full of mysteries. Every day, tragedies occur and people scream out to God that life is not fair. As we reach out to others in their times of deepest need we would love to be able to offer an explanation, but we cannot. The problem of suffering has challenged humankind since the dawn of time and will continue to do so. But the mysteries of life are not only at that end of the spectrum, because the beauties and wonders of life are just as mysterious. How can you explain the beauty of a flower, the wonder of a sunset or the majesty of the night sky? All these things are beyond our ability to understand or explain. However, we worship a God whose understanding is infinite and whose love knows no limits. How should we respond to the knowledge that God is infinitely greater and wiser than we are? It would be easy to be overwhelmed by this. But a far better response would be to turn to God in worship and adoration with the knowledge that, in this life, we will never have the abilit

Isaiah 55:1-2 Much of Isaiah’s prophecy is dominated by the theme of judgement. The people had wandered away from God and lived lives that were a complete disappointment to him. They had worshipped other gods and had neglected to care for the poor and needy. But, through it all, God’s deep desire was to bring the people back to himself, and so he promised to send his servant to bring them salvation. In today’s reading God’s incredible offer is spelled out. He alone was able to satisfy their deepest need and he was willing to give them everything they needed freely. The offer today is just the same. God sent his servant to us in the person of Jesus Christ and he offers his gifts of forgiveness and new life to all those who will accept him into their lives. He only looks for us to be willing to give up our own self-centred life to live the new life that he gives us in the power of his Spirit. It is all for free. Sadly, in our cynical society, everyone gets deeply suspicious when they hear that something