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