Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

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December 3rd - Revelation 2:8-9
Revelation 2:8-9 This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive: “I know about your suffering and your poverty – but you are rich!” These words introduce the letter to the church in Smyrna. There was no surprise that the first letter went to Ephesus – it was viewed as the most influential of the cities. However, Smyrna was a close rival. It was a busy commercial centre with its own well-protected port. It had been founded long ago as a Greek colony, but in about 600BC it was largely destroyed by an invading army. Hundreds of years later, it was reconstructed, and it became a finely planned city with broad straight avenues and pavements. It was truly a city that had come back to life, so it was more than appropriate that they received a message from the Lord who had passed from death to life. The Lord’s message was that he totally understood where they were coming from. He knew just how much they had suffered and how grindingly poor they were. The word used for suffering describes someone who is crushed under a heavy weight. The word used here to describe their poverty does not refer to having nothing extra, but having nothing at all. They were in a bad way, but the risen Lord assured them that he knew all about it, and he also knew that they were rich. They might not have had riches in worldly terms, but they had real wealth: the Holy Spirit and the blessing of faith. We are continually bombarded with images of human riches. Advertisers have a very clear idea of what it means to be rich, and it has to do with the latest technology, fast cars, grand property, expensive holidays and the like. None of these things are necessarily bad, but they have nothing to do with real wealth. The treasures that last are the ones which only the Lord can give to us, and the Christians of Smyrna needed to look beyond their suffering and poverty to see and enjoy their real wealth. Question In what ways do you consider yourself to be rich? Prayer Loving God, thank you that you know my situation completely and that you show me how to be really rich. Amen
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3:31
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3:31
December 2nd - Revelation 2:7
Revelation 2:7 [The risen Lord says:] “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” All seven of the letters to the churches end with these words. They make it clear that the letters have been written not merely to them specifically but to anyone with the ability to listen. They are the words of the Spirit, words of life for anyone who will hear them. Tuning our ears into the voice of the Spirit is vital for all of us. The Holy Spirit is the source of life and wisdom, and without him we will never be able to discern God’s will. However, his voice is only one of the innumerable voices with which we are continually bombarded. Listening to the Spirit is an activity which will only take place when we deliberately give him our attention. Most people don’t listen with the intention of understanding, but of replying. We are all looking for the opportunity to share what matters to us and often have no real interest in what the other person has to say. True listening is when we give our full attention to the speaker with the intention of receiving openly and humbly whatever they have to say. The Holy Spirit’s words will always be full of truth. Listening to them will often be challenging and sometimes painful, but they will always bring us life. He does want to hear from us as well, and in our prayers we should certainly bring our concerns to him, but we also need to ensure that we are good at not speaking. He wants us to be quiet in his presence, and that’s where we so often fall down. Our prayers are so full of noise that there is no space for him to share his wisdom and truth. Mother Teresa once said: “God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” The advice that many of us may need to receive in prayer is to speak less and listen more so that we can truly hear what the Spirit is trying to say. Question How good are you at listening to the voice of the Spirit, and what could you do that would help you to listen more carefully? Prayer Holy Spirit, thank you for loving me so much that you want to speak with me. Help me to listen carefully to your voice today. Amen
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3:25
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3:25
December 1st - Revelation 2:4
Revelation 2:4 [The risen Lord said:] “I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” Many of us will be more familiar with an earlier translation of these words: “you have lost your first love”. The Christians in Ephesus had done so well. They had been strong in the face of opposition but, in the process, they had lost their early passionate love for the Lord and for one another. We don’t know what had caused them to lose their first love, but we all know how easily it happens. The normal cause is simply distraction. Life gets busy, and even the most important things can be crowded out. In Ephesus, the Christians had had to work really hard to survive amid all the opposition. They had been infiltrated by false teachers, but they had tested them and found them out. The Lord commended them for standing up so strongly for their faith and particularly for the way they had resisted a group called the Nicolaitans. All of that was excellent, but along the way they had lost sight of love. Paul emphasised the priority of love in his first letter to the church in Corinth. Once again, it was a church where there was much to commend. The church had received some amazing spiritual gifts, but Paul assured them that however great their gifts, they were all a complete waste of time without love. Even if they could speak like angels, understand every mystery and have the faith to shunt mountains around, they were missing the point if they didn’t have love (1 Corinthians 13). Love is so important that we all need to keep on our toes. We need to watch out for those things that can push it away so easily. Love is the key, and without it we cannot do God’s work. Question What can we do to keep our love for the Lord and one another alive? Prayer Loving God, thank you that you love me perfectly. Help me to keep on loving you and those around me, however busy I become and whatever the pressures. Amen
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3:15
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3:15
November 30th - Revelation 2:2
Revelation 2:2 [The risen Lord said,] “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people.” These words come from the first of the seven letters to the churches, and they were addressed to the church in Ephesus. Pergamum was the capital city of the province of Asia, but Ephesus was in every way the greatest city. It had the largest port in the area and many major roads converged on it. It was particularly famous for its religious significance. The city was home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – the Temple of Artemis. It was a vast structure measuring 130 by 60 metres, and with 120 columns. Ephesus was also a notorious centre for pagan superstition. In short, it wasn’t the easiest place to establish a church, and the Christians were commended for their hard work and endurance. They could so easily have buckled in the face of the challenges, but they hadn’t. The word from the risen Lord to the Ephesian church was that he knew exactly what they had been through. He knew how tough it had been and commended them for how they had endured. Much of the Christian life is about ‘hanging in there’. This might not sound exciting or like the way we would want it to be, but the Lord calls us to be faithful. I have so often seen people faithfully serving God in small struggling churches, in villages, on housing estates and in city centres, and where it has been incredibly hard work just to keep the doors of the church open. I have seen people working in children’s and youth work with no thanks, and often much discouragement, but they have hung in there through good times and bad. We have all seen people caring for others in really tough circumstances, maintaining their loving care through the years with grace and incredible patience. Maybe that has been you. You’ve hung in there, and the risen Lord wants you to know that he has seen exactly what you have been doing and he wants to commend you. Question Think about your own church. In what way do you think that the Lord would commend it? Prayer Lord Jesus, help me to stand strongly for you, whatever the challenges and pressures and however great the temptation to give up. Amen
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3:33
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3:33
November 29th - Revelation 1:12-14
Revelation 1:12-14 John wrote: “When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow.” In order to understand these amazing verses, we need to appreciate that the Church at the time was very small and facing the brutal and powerful opposition of the Roman Empire. This must have been incredibly scary. It looked as if they were going to be crushed. So, it was vital for them to understand exactly who Jesus was and the reasons why they could be confident in him. This whole book told them that Jesus had won the final victory, so, even though there might be tough times ahead, they could be confident in him. The picture of Jesus that John gives us here sounds very strange to our modern ears, but what he was doing was bringing together lots of language from the Old Testament which showed that Jesus, the Son of Man, was nothing less than God himself. He wore a long robe like a priest, although no priest was important enough to wear a gold sash, and he had hair that was as white as wool, which reminds us of the picture of the Ancient of Days, God himself, as he was described in Daniel 7:9. The seven gold lampstands stood for the churches to which John was writing, and he wanted them to know that right in the middle of them stood Jesus himself. They might have felt scared and even overwhelmed at times, but they were not alone. Jesus was always with them and always would be. Our circumstances are different from the 1st century, but we still need to hear the same message. As we face the particular challenges and threats of our day, we need to remind ourselves constantly that we are not alone, and that Christ stands with us. Question You might not want to describe Jesus as looking like someone with a long robe, a gold sash and white hair. How would you describe him? Prayer Lord Jesus, thank you that you stand in the midst of your Church. Thank you that you promise never to leave us. Amen
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3:26
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3:26