Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Exodus 20:6-7
[God said:] “I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.”
The word commandment sounds demanding and perhaps even harsh, so we need to be clear that God’s motivation was lavish unfailing love. When I think back to my childhood, I recall that my father had some very clear principles. The most major among them was showing respect to my mother, and if I said or did anything that suggested less, I would know about it quickly! There is absolutely no question that his reaction was based upon love for my mother and also for me, although it could seem and feel quite harsh at the time. In a similar way, God insists that His name must be given absolute respect, and the penalties for showing disrespect would be very severe.
Some devout Jews have taken this commandment to mean that we shouldn’t use the word God at all, but I don’t agree with that. What matters is that we use the name of God with ultimate respect. This is difficult in a society which constantly makes jokes about God and frequently uses His name as an expletive. We won’t achieve anything helpful by lecturing the people around us and telling them how offensive we find their language. I believe our best approach is to ensure that we always use the name of God with care and respect. I like to take every opportunity to say to people: “God bless you” in the hope that they might see how much God means to me. However brief the encounter, I have found that it is normally possible to use the greeting, even in a shop or at a petrol station check out!
Question
In what ways might you be able to help the people around you to see how much God means to you?
Prayer
Lord God, help me always to speak Your name with love and respect, and to encourage others to do the same. Amen

Exodus 20:2-4
“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.”
The ten commandments are remarkable in many ways, but possibly most amazing is how short they are. Since they were delivered to Moses, governments have laid down tens of millions of laws, but these ten offer us the solid foundation for any society which wants to build its life in a godly and sustainable way.
Whichever way you say the word, commandments don’t sound jolly! They sound severe and restrictive, so we need to remind ourselves of those words with which they begin. God reminds His people that He is their saviour and that He led them miraculously out of Egypt. It was because of His love for them that He gave them these laws, which would ensure they would continue to be blessed. Any loving parent will put in place very clear rules and boundaries for their children in order to ensure that they thrive and live safely. God is no different and has given us these foundational rules so that we can enjoy life to the full.
The first two commandments demanded that the people should only worship the one true God. There were plenty of other gods on offer in Moses’ time, and the people knew it. The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 400 years and would have been familiar with the many gods that were worshipped in that land. The Pharaohs were believed to be the sons of the sun god Rah. Indeed, every part of life was dominated by different gods. They worshipped the River Nile and honoured Apis, the chief god of Memphis, in the form of a sacred bull. They also worshipped Serapis, who defended the land against locusts. On all sides, they were offered gods they could follow, but God demanded exclusive worship.
Our society is also full of gods. There are not only innumerable other religions and philosophies but our material possessions, ambitions, careers, hobbies or sports can be just as demanding in calling for our commitment and devotion. However, God alone deserves our worship. We need to build our homes, communities and nations on this foundation principle. If we are to build our lives on the ten commandments, this is where we have to begin.
Question
In what ways do these first two commandments shape your life?
Prayer
Lord God, help me to give You the first place in my life. Amen

Exodus 19:5-6
[The Lord said:] “Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.”
When God spoke these words to Moses it was exactly two months since the people had left Egypt. They were getting used to their new life in the desert and God wanted to establish the basis of their relationship with him. He took Moses up Mount Sinai to give him the foundation principles upon which their new life should be lived, and at the heart of it was the word ‘covenant’. God would care and provide for His people but, at the same time, they needed to understand their own responsibilities before God. These would be expressed not only in the ten commandments, which God would soon give to Moses, but also in a large number of other regulations.
The whole Bible is based on the principle of covenant, and that is the invitation which God gives to us today. He promises us His salvation, His guidance and His protection, but He looks to us to be obedient to him. At the heart of this are commands which are the same in the Old and New Testaments. Jesus summed them up in this way: “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).
A one-way relationship simply doesn’t work. It’s not a relationship in any meaningful sense. Our relationship with our spouse, children, society or any organisation needs to be two-way, so we shouldn’t be surprised that when God makes generous promises to us, He looks to us to take responsibility and to live by His rules. Let’s step into today thanking God for His love for us and making sure we live in a way that passes on His love.
Question
What will it mean for you to pass on God’s love today?
Prayer
Lord God, I thank You for Your perfect love for me. Give me your strength and guidance as I seek to share love with those around me today. Amen

Exodus 19:4
[The Lord said:] “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”
The eagle is a huge bird with a wingspan of more than two metres. It was an impressive sight for the Israelites as they walked through the desert. It is easy to understand how it was often seen as a symbol of God’s loving provision. In Moses’ final speech before the people entered the Promised Land, he described God in this beautifully tender way: “He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; he guarded them as he would guard his own eyes. Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spread his wings to take them up and carried them safely on his pinions” (Deuteronomy 32:10-11). God perfectly understood and provided for the needs of His people.
We all know times when we are totally out of our depth. We can’t cope and we need God’s peace and strength. When an eaglet is learning to fly, the mother eagle flies under them with her wings spread out to catch them. She doesn’t actually carry them because they would then never learn to fly, but she gives them total security by being there underneath them. Isn’t that a wonderful picture of how God cares for us? He wants us to grow in strength and to be able to serve Him effectively, but He also knows that we need the security of His continual presence.
I wonder what challenges you are facing at the moment. God wants you to give Him the best of your intellect, determination, gifts and strength but, as you do so, you need to keep reminding yourself that you are not alone. His wings will always be beneath you, able to catch you when you fall, giving you continual security.
Question
In what way does the security that God gives you affect your daily life?
Prayer
Loving Father, thank You for the complete security that You give me as I live for You today. Amen

Isaiah 53:5-6
He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.
Isaiah was ministering among a people in exile. They were living in Babylon (modern Iraq) far from home and everything seemed hopeless. They longed to be allowed to return to Jerusalem, but as the years passed, that seemed increasingly unlikely. In this bleak situation, Isaiah boldly proclaims that God has not forgotten them and that He will send a servant who will bring them salvation. As we read these words, we see them as a staggeringly powerful prophecy about Jesus, the Messiah.
We need to continually gasp with amazement that God was willing to send His own son into our broken world. No other person could have done what Jesus did. He alone could take upon himself the sins of the world. Only because He was the perfect Son of God could He bear the full weight of the brokenness and rebellion of humankind and bring salvation.
The miracle of Easter is that it is through the appalling suffering and death of Jesus that we are made whole. God never wanted humankind’s life to be spoilt by sin, but that was our choice. God’s intention was always that we should enjoy our lives to the full and live in close partnership with Him, but sin entered the world. Whatever sin touches, it damages and disfigures, and only by facing up to its full, awful reality could we ever be set free. That is precisely what Jesus did when He died on the cross. He took the full weight of your sin and mine and opened up a new way into the presence of God. As we reflect on Jesus’ death on the cross, let’s do so with a new sense of amazement, gratitude and worship.
Question
How do you respond to the fact that Jesus was willing to be killed to make you whole?
Prayer
Loving Father, thank You that You sent Jesus into the world and that He was willing to die the most terrible death out of love for me. Amen