Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Acts 20:28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
I suspect most people would not choose to be compared to sheep! It would hardly be seen as a flattering description. Sheep are rarely viewed as the brightest of animals and are generally understood to be easily led. However, God’s people are frequently described as sheep-like in both the Old and New Testaments. It therefore isn’t surprising that as Paul addresses the Ephesian elders in his final talk with them, he speaks of their responsibility to care for the flock.
Caring for the Church was such a great responsibility that the person had to be appointed by the Holy Spirit. That is still the case today. If an individual feels an inner conviction that this is something they should do, it should always be greatly welcomed, but it isn’t enough. That inner conviction needs to be carefully weighed and assessed by others who, listening to the Holy Spirit, will seek to discern whether this is God’s will.
There are many different aspects to a shepherd’s role, but they are summed up in the word love. We see that supremely in the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who gladly laid down His life for His sheep. We need to thank God that the Holy Spirit continues to appoint people to the awesome responsibility of church leadership.
Question
How do you understand the role of the shepherd in church life today?
Prayer
Thank you Lord for those whom You set apart for leadership in the Church in our day. May they be faithful in guarding, feeding and caring for their flock. Amen

Acts 20:24
[Paul said:] “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”
What’s the purpose of your life? We all have to agree that this is an excellent question, but most of the time we are far too busy to be able to ask it. We may be busy with our work, family, church, hobbies, sport and 1,000 other things, and asking the biggest question of all gets put off. We promise ourselves that we will ask it one day when we’ve got a bit more time! For the apostle Paul, the moment was now, because he recognised that his life was under threat and he might not have much time left.
Paul was clear that his life’s work was to communicate the good news about the wonderful grace of God revealed in Jesus. What an amazing ministry he had! His leadership, teaching and example were of incalculable importance, and we are still deeply conscious of our debt to him. In all honesty, our roles are unlikely to have the same world-shaking significance as his. However, each of our lives is important and we need to make sure that we use our time well. We all have unique gifts and opportunities, and God wants us to use them. This life isn’t a rehearsal for anything. It’s the real thing, and we need to ensure that we are giving our best.
Question
How would you describe the purpose of your life?
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for the gift of my life and for every opportunity that You give me to serve You. Amen

Acts 20:18-20
[Paul] said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears…You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.”
I want to tell you about something which regularly happens in our home. When my son leaves for work, I will naturally wish him well, and he always has exactly the same response: “I’ll do my best, Dad.” What is more, I know that he will. And that’s exactly what we’re reading in this passage today – Paul had done his best.
Paul had spent three years with the church in Ephesus, which was a very long ministry for him. He clearly loved the people passionately and was always keen to take every opportunity to encourage them. On this particular occasion, he was eager to get to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost, so he decided not to travel to Ephesus but invited their leaders to make the 30-mile journey to the coast to meet him at Miletus. He knew that this was the last time he would speak with them, and it is a moving speech revealing his deep love for the people.
Paul wasn’t perfect, and neither are we. But God looks to us, frail as we are, to do our best and, amazingly, our gracious and loving heavenly Father will take that and use it to His glory.
Question
Are you committed to doing your best for God today?
Prayer
Lord God, thank you that You are willing to take and use what I give to You today. Amen

Acts 19:11-12
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
I have no personal experience of my own handkerchiefs being a blessing to anyone else, and those close to me suggest they probably wouldn’t be! But that’s not the point. God will work in the way He chooses, and in this wonderful period of Paul’s ministry, that was exactly what He chose to do. The reference to the handkerchiefs here is probably to the sweat bands that Paul used in his daily tentmaking work.
When we hear about God working in miraculous ways, we are naturally keen to see Him do exactly the same things today. However, I believe our focus needs to be on the fact that God is always acting miraculously. It happens when people get better after a time of illness; when people recover after skilful surgery; when a child is born; when people find new hope; or when we look at the beautiful countryside or watch a majestic sunset. Every day we are being blessed by miracles, and that needs to encourage us to expect God to work in new and amazing ways. Looking at my handkerchiefs or my shadow, I don’t have any particular expectation that God is suddenly going to do amazing miracles with them, but looking at the miraculous God that I know, I find it very easy to believe that He might do so.
Question
In what ways have you seen God act miraculously in the past week?
Prayer
Loving God, open my eyes to see the amazing miracles that You are going to do today. Amen

Acts 18:9-10
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”
Throughout the Bible, we hear God telling people not to be afraid. When God made a covenant with Abram, the father of the nation of Israel, He spoke to him in a vision and told him not to be afraid. Later, we meet Joshua after the death of Moses, and God told him not to be afraid or discouraged “for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Much later, we hear the angel telling a young girl called Mary not to be afraid when she is told she will give birth to the Son of God.
The command not to be afraid reminds us how damaging fear can be. God knows that we cannot be effective in serving Him unless we overcome the problem of fear. Fear takes many forms, and it can creep up on us. It may be a fear of what other people think of us or a fear of failure, loss, ill health or death. Just because you are normally a confident person doesn’t mean that you are impervious to fear. We need to look to God and hand over our fears to Him, reminding ourselves that He is with us and will never leave us.
Question
What are you most fearful of at the moment? What are you doing with that fear?
Prayer
Loving Father, thank you for understanding me so well and giving me the strength to face up to my fears. Amen