Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Paul was absolutely sure that the cross of Jesus stood right at the heart of his life and ministry. Nothing was more important than the fact that God showed His perfect love for us by sending Jesus to die the most excruciatingly painful death for us. It was, if you like, the lens through which Paul saw everything. So Paul was determined to take every opportunity to speak about the cross.
But Paul was more than aware that the message of the cross sounded like nonsense to many people. The Greeks were looking for wisdom. They were very happy to listen to carefully reasoned arguments and to enter into learned debate. But the idea of a man dying at the hands of the Romans, showing that He was totally powerless and completely beaten by His enemies, didn’t sound at all wise. It sounded like foolishness. And to the Jews, Jesus’ own people, there was a fundamental problem. In Deuteronomy it was specifically stated that anyone who hung on a tree was cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23). The cross was, therefore, a total stumbling-block for Jews. It made belief almost impossible.
Paul was well aware of how foolish and problematic his message appeared. But he didn’t try to change it to make it sound acceptable to his hearers. He simply declared that if you want to know the power and wisdom of God there is only one place to look – to the cross of Jesus.
Question
What does the cross mean to you personally?
Prayer – Thank You Lord that when you went to the cross you showed us the full extent of Your love. Amen

1 Corinthians 1:4-5
I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge.
If you know anything at all about the church in Corinth, you will know that it was a disaster area. Everything seemed to be going wrong, but look how Paul starts this letter. He gives thanks for them and for the way in which God has blessed them, and rejoices in the ways that, through Jesus, God has enriched them. I love this! He could have kicked off the letter with a long list of moans, but he doesn’t. He begins with encouragement.
My junior school was very small, so I found my huge secondary school a very bewildering place. I had never been a part of anything like it before. I struggled with the work and didn’t do very well at first. I will never forget the piece of work that I did for a Geography teacher when I was twelve, which he marked as “excellent”. Nobody had ever told me I’d done anything excellent before, and his words changed everything. I saw myself in a new light.
Words of encouragement don’t normally need to be long. They may be communicated in a quick text or on a card or in a brief email. But they can be of amazing importance. They can turn people’s lives around. I wonder what you might be able to say today which will give solid encouragement to someone else.
Question
What was the most significant encouragement that you have ever received, and what did you learn from the experience?
Prayer
Lord, help me to become more encouraging day by day. Amen

Psalm 123:3-4
Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us, for we have endured no end of contempt. We have endured no end of ridicule from the arrogant, of contempt from the proud.
To be treated with contempt is a horrible experience. To be written off as worthless is agonising, and the Bible tells us about many people who knew just how painful it is. Nehemiah certainly had this experience when he worked to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Many scholars think this might be the background to this particular psalm. Nehemiah was convinced that God Himself had commissioned him to undertake the rebuilding of the city, but that cut no ice with Sanballat and Tobiah, who did everything they could think of to ridicule his efforts.
If you have ever been treated with contempt, you will know what a depressing and discouraging experience it is. Very easily it can dominate all of our thinking and make life a complete misery. It can happen to any one of us, so it is good to see what the psalmist did: turn his attention to the Lord. The psalm begins with these words: “I lift my eyes to you, O God, to you who sits enthroned in heaven.”
The psalmist chose to focus his attention on the Lord, and we need to do the same. He alone, the God of mercy, can set us free from our destructive reactions to life and enable us to face our critics with grace and love.
Question
How have you responded to those who have treated you badly?
Prayer
Loving Father, I realise that I need Your loving care every moment of my life. Please grant me Your strength, grace and wisdom today. Amen

Psalm 122:1
I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
This verse has a very special place in British history. It has been used upon the entrance of the monarch at every coronation since that of King Charles 1. Since 1902, Hubert Parry’s magnificent choral setting of the psalm has been sung. It captures beautifully the joy and celebration of this special occasion. The roots of this psalm go back thousands of years, to the time when pilgrims would use these words as they climbed up the hill to Jerusalem and anticipated the incredible joy of worshipping God in the temple. You can sense their excitement as they got closer and closer to the holy city.
There is no building in Christianity which is the equivalent of the temple in Jerusalem. With the coming of Christ, a new covenant was established in which God sought to build a new temple, not with stones or bricks and mortar but in the lives of those who worshipped Him. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
(1 Corinthians 3:16).
Our circumstances are very different from those of the psalmist, but we can still experience the same joy of meeting together with God’s people for worship. We can still look forward to the experience with gladness and anticipation because, as we meet together, God will be there with us.
Question
What are the things that make you glad to worship with other Christians?
Prayer
Loving God, I thank You for the blessing and encouragement of worship. Help me never to take this privilege for granted. Amen

Psalm 121:1-2
I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
This is one of the best-known and best-loved of all the psalms. The answer to the psalmist’s question is a resounding: “No!” The mountains might look strong and confident, but our help certainly doesn’t come from them – it comes from the Lord. It’s impossible to know what exactly was in the mind of the psalmist when he referred to the mountains. He might simply have been reflecting on their impressive grandeur and strength. But it is quite likely that he was thinking of the fact that people often went to high places like mountains to worship false gods such as Baal. The psalmist wanted to make it absolutely clear that only God Himself is able to meet our needs.
Our God is always on the job. He never slumbers or sleeps. He is continually watching over us. Our family and friends may well be wonderfully supportive and caring. They would do anything for us, but sooner or later they get tired and need to get some sleep. Their support is great, but it’s well short of 100%. God is different. He can be relied upon to be there to support us night and day.
The psalm challenges us all to look hard at our lives and to ensure that we are looking in the right direction for the help that really matters. We need to look to the Lord Himself who made heaven and earth.
Question
Where do you get your help from?
Prayer
Loving God, I thank You for being my constant help and strength. Help me to lean on You today. Amen