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Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion
Hosted by Premier · EN
Bring some Spirit-filled peace into your hectic schedule every weekday morning with this new Daily Devotional.
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August 18th - Acts 13:2-3
Today00:02:51Tap to summarizeActs 13:2-3 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. This book of the Bible is often referred to as the Acts of the Apostles. A much better title for it would be the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Important as the apostles undoubtedly were, they were powerless without the Spirit. Nothing got going until the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, and as history unfolded, the power, wisdom and guidance of the Spirit shaped every step of the journey. Here in chapter 13, we come to a decisive moment as the Spirit tells the Church to set Barnabas and Saul apart for a new ministry. Nothing has changed. The Church today still completely relies upon the Spirit, but His guidance isn’t forced on anyone. It is perfectly possible for a church to be driven by tradition, human plans and budgets. It is only as a church intentionally and deliberately seeks the guidance of the Spirit that He leads His people. The church in Antioch was absolutely determined to hear what the Spirit was saying to them, and they showed their commitment by spending time in worshipping and fasting. It was in that context that the Spirit spoke to them. They showed that they were completely open to His guidance. Question In what ways have you seen the Holy Spirit lead your church? Have you found fasting helpful? Prayer Lord God, thank you for the gift of your Spirit to the Church today. Help me to listen with care to everything He has to say to me. Amen
Transcribe →August 17th - Acts 12:14-15
Yesterday00:02:41Tap to summarizeActs 12:14-15 When she recognised Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” What do you expect to happen when you pray? Does it occur to you that God might dramatically and immediately answer your prayer? Clearly, that thought hadn’t occurred to this fervent group of pray-ers! Peter, the leader of the Church, had been imprisoned by King Herod, and the Church was understandably scared. They knew how weak and vulnerable they were in the face of the authority’s power. So when Peter turned up at their door, they couldn’t imagine that it was really him. When Rhoda, the servant girl, ran to the door, she was convinced it was Peter but was so excited that she forgot to open the door! When she insisted that Peter was there, they refused to believe it. How foolish they must have felt when Peter finally stood in front of them. When we pray, we are opening our lives to God, and we need to be ready for any response that He chooses to make. He always hears our prayers, and that should give us confidence as we ask Him to do things. As we pray, we are showing God our willingness to co-operate with whatever He chooses to do, however amazing and miraculous. Question How confident are you that God will answer your prayers? Prayer Loving God, help my confidence in You to grow as I pray. Amen
Transcribe →August 16th - Acts 12:11
2d ago00:02:49Tap to summarizeActs 12:11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” At this time, the early Church was growing fast, and this was making King Herod increasingly nervous. He was determined to tighten the screws, so he arranged for the killing of James, the brother of John. This went down very well with the Jews, so he decided to arrest Peter, the leader of the Church, and kept him under the closest possible surveillance. He was guarded by four squads of four soldiers each, and at night he was chained as he slept between two of the guards. King Herod must have assumed that nothing could possibly go wrong, but he hadn’t taken God into account! That night, an angel woke Peter up and led him out of the prison. I love the next bit. Having been miraculously set free, Peter suddenly realised that it was all true. Not unreasonably, he had assumed that it was a wonderful and totally unrealistic dream, but now he had to reckon with the fact that the impossible had happened. He really had been set free! One of the biggest challenges of living the Christian life is that you have to get used to the fact that God is in the business of doing miracles. He is doing them all the time. So, rather than assuming that everything is likely to stay more or less the same as it has always been, we need to have open arms to God’s daily miracles. Question What miracle are you praying for today? Prayer Lord God, I worship You for Your miraculous power and Your endless love. Amen
Transcribe →August 15th - Acts 11:25-26
3d ago00:02:59Tap to summarizeActs 11:25-26 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch…The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Barnabas’ famous gift of encouragement was not only expressed in words. He also took action. He could see that the church in Antioch desperately needed a good leader, and he was convinced that he knew the right man. Antioch, in Syria, was a busy commercial centre and it had a very mixed population. There were many Jews in the city and an increasing number of people from a non-Jewish background who were following Christ. It was crucial that a good appointment was made, and Barnabas was sure that Saul had exactly the right qualifications. Having tracked down Saul, Barnabas took him back to Antioch. There, they spent a year working alongside one another in the church, which was to be the springboard for the mission to the Gentile world. It was in cosmopolitan Antioch that the followers of Christ were first called Christians. It is so significant that the title ‘Christian’ is totally focused on a person. We are members of the Church, but it would be horribly misleading if we were known as churchites or churchians. Christian faith is rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself. The Church is a large and complex organisation made up of human beings who regularly get a great deal wrong. The Church is often deeply disappointing and embarrassing, and we frequently wince at its many failures and shortcomings. But Jesus never lets us down, and we can be proud to bear His name. Question What does the word Christian mean to you? Prayer Dear Father, thank you for Your son Jesus Christ and for the privilege of being His follower. Amen
Transcribe →August 14th - Acts 11:22-23
4d ago00:02:47Tap to summarizeActs 11:22-23 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. When the church leaders in Jerusalem heard about the rapid growth of the church in Antioch, they had lots of questions. Because the church in Jerusalem was strongly Jewish in character, there were some who were deeply suspicious of what was going on in Antioch. Their concern was that the followers of Jesus should follow the Old Testament law. They needed to send someone who would be able to understand the non-Jewish background of most of the new converts in Antioch and who could give them plenty of encouragement. They made a very good choice when they selected Barnabas. Barnabas was well known for his gift of encouragement. When we first meet Barnabas in Acts 4:36-37, Luke notes that his name means “son of encouragement”. That particular gift was crucial at this moment. If one of the other leaders from Jerusalem had visited Antioch and demanded that they should all follow the Jewish law, it could have been incredibly destructive. When Barnabas got to Antioch, all he could do was rejoice! In his joy, he encouraged the church to keep it up and to stay true to the Lord. Making good appointments was crucial in the early Church, and it still is today. We need to pray that God will raise up an army of wise and godly encouragers. Question Who has been the greatest encourager in your Christian life? Prayer Loving God, thank you for all those to whom You have given the special gift of encouragement. Amen
Transcribe →August 13th - Acts 11:2-3
5d ago00:02:54Tap to summarizeActs 11:2-3 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticised him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” Criticism always stings. It must have been so hard for Peter to face a barrage of criticism when he returned home to Jerusalem. God had given him a vision and opened his eyes to a new world in which He wanted to welcome everyone to Himself, whether or not they were Jews. How discouraging it must have been to face up to his critics, but we can learn a lot from the way that he did so. Peter would have fully understood where his critics were coming from because, before his recent revelation, he would have been saying exactly the same things himself. So he patiently went through his testimony. Peter’s hearers in Jerusalem were silenced by his story and offered no further objections. Instead, they praised God and acknowledged that he was now willing to accept even the Gentiles. It's never pleasant being criticised, but the best response is to do exactly what Peter did. He gave a calm and thoughtful account of his experiences, explaining how he had come to his conclusion. His moving testimony soon won over his critics. It is always a bad response to be defensive and, worst of all, to be rude. We all need to pray for the wisdom, strength and grace to handle all criticisms, however sharp they may be. In that way, God is honoured and people are built up. Question What have you learned from this story about how you could handle criticism in the future? Prayer Lord, please give me Your wisdom so that I may always respond to criticism with love, thoughtfulness and grace. Amen
Transcribe →August 12th - Acts 10:44-45
6d ago00:02:47Tap to summarizeActs 10:44-45 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. This has often been described as the Gentile Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in Jerusalem, it was on the occasion of a major Jewish festival. But Jesus made it clear that the good news belonged to the whole world, so it was necessary for it to be firmly established that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon non-Jews. That’s exactly what happened here, to the great astonishment of the Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter. Peter had already learned that God has no favourites and that the doors had been flung open to non-Jews. However, there were many Jews who still struggled to believe that God would do such a thing. The book of Acts tells us how the good news of Jesus moved from its Jewish beginnings in Jerusalem all the way to Rome at the heart of the mighty Roman empire. It wasn’t a simple or straightforward journey, but ultimately nothing could stop the progress of the gospel because it belonged to the whole world. As we meet people today, we need to remind ourselves that the good news is God’s message of love to everyone. His desire is to pour out His Holy Spirit on everyone. Question What would it look like if God poured out His Spirit on the people you meet today? Prayer Lord God, I open my heart to Your Holy Spirit. Give me your wisdom and strength as I live for You today. Amen
Transcribe →August 11th - Acts 10:34-36
1w ago00:02:52Tap to summarizeActs 10:34-36 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” This might not sound revolutionary, but we need to understand that Peter’s world had just been turned upside down. He had been brought up with the Old Testament idea that it was only the people of Israel whom God had chosen to be a special people. The Jews had been given very clear rules about what they should and shouldn’t eat. However, Peter had just had a vision in which he had been told to do the unthinkable. He’d seen a large sheet containing all kinds of four-footed animals, reptiles and birds and had been told to eat any of them. His response was exactly the right one for any Jew: he said no. But then the voice said to him, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times, and then the penny dropped. God was telling him that the good of news of Jesus was no longer limited to the Jews. The doors had been flung open to the world. The Christian Church must always have its doors open to everyone. That’s what Jesus came to do. The moment we confine it to a narrow group of people, we have fundamentally missed the point. Question Is your church welcoming to every kind of person? If not, what could you do to make it so? Prayer Lord Jesus, thank you that Your arms are always open to everyone. Amen
Transcribe →August 10th - Acts 10:1-2
1w ago00:02:48Tap to summarizeActs 10:1-2 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. Cornelius is a fascinating character. He wasn’t a Jew and neither was he a follower of Jesus. He was a God-fearer, and the most positive things are said about him. He was generous, prayerful and willing that God should use him on this crucial mission to meet up with Peter (v5). Peter was a faithful Jew and struggled to imagine that God could work outside the Jewish nation. Cornelius was going to be the means of helping Peter to see God’s greater plans. It’s interesting that centurions occur on a number of occasions during Jesus’ ministry. It was the centurion on duty for Jesus’ crucifixion who concluded: “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54). When I was young, I got the impression that there were two kinds of people: people who loved God and others who hated Him. But it’s not as simple as that. The Bible introduces us to many people who were not signed-up believers, yet in whose lives God was powerfully at work. Let’s give thanks that God is at work in the lives of many people who know nothing of the Bible or Jesus. We will definitely want to share with them the good news of Jesus, but we shouldn’t be surprised when we find that God is already working in their lives. Question Can you think of anyone you know who is not yet a Christian, but in whose life God is clearly at work? Prayer Dear Lord, thank you that You are at work in so many people’s lives. Amen
Transcribe →August 9th - Psalm 127:1
1w ago00:02:52Tap to summarizePsalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labour in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. The psalmist isn’t merely talking about house building in this famous psalm. He is talking about everything we build – a life, relationship, family, organisation, city or society. There is no point in building anything without God, because it is bound to fail. Throughout the Bible we are introduced to people who tried to go it alone. Adam and Eve are the supreme examples, but they were in fact merely setting the pace for a succession of people who felt they knew better than God and who tried to build their lives without Him. Jesus’ teaching about the vine is very similar to this verse. He concludes “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We simply weren’t created by God to act independently of Him. It doesn’t work. This psalm is entitled a psalm of Solomon, and he was supremely a builder. He had the privilege of building the awesome temple in Jerusalem and, at first, things went well. However, he didn’t remain faithful to God and was particularly disobedient in his sex life. God had warned him that he shouldn’t marry foreign wives because they might turn his heart away from God, and that’s exactly what happened, with disastrous consequences for him and the kingdom. The point is clear. We need to make sure we invite God to be the builder of our lives from day one, and then make sure that we keep close to Him as we continue to build. Question What does Solomon’s life teach you? Prayer Loving Father, thank you that You love me so much that You want to bless every part of my life. Amen
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