Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

2 Corinthians 8:9
You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
The Christian life is, before anything else, characterised by giving, and the reason for this is that it’s how Jesus lived. As we follow in his footsteps, our lives need to be shaped by giving generously. His generosity was so complete that he gave everything and became totally poor in order to make other people rich. This is a huge challenge to all of us in a society that is deeply acquisitive. The assumption is that life is found in acquiring more and more, but Jesus turns that thinking completely on its head.
There is an old proverb which runs: “He who takes but never gives, may last for years but never lives.” That’s a scary thought and should redouble our determination to work out how we should go about our giving. We need to find a deeper understanding of where our money and resources come from. When we realise that it’s all from God’s hands, it becomes obvious that our relationship with our money is that of steward. We brought nothing into this world and we will take nothing out. Our role is to be God’s stewards, so we need to look after our resources in a way that will please him.
In the 15th century, Thomas a Kempis wrote [itals]The Imitation of Christ[end itals] in Latin. It has been in print ever since and reminds us of the fundamental responsibility that we all have to use the life of Christ as a pattern for our lives. No one has ever been more fully alive than Jesus, and as we learn how to give generously, we will discover more and more of what it means to be truly alive.
Question
Jesus is the ultimate example of generous giving, but think of someone in whose life you have seen enormous generosity. What have you learned from them?
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, help me to walk in your footsteps today and to become increasingly generous to others. Amen

2 Corinthians 8:7
Since you excel in so many ways – in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us – I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.
This is a remarkable verse. The two letters that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth lift the lid on a community which was very divided and disorganised in its worship, and in which there were serious disciplinary issues that hadn’t been addressed. However, Paul was able to come up with a long list of their good qualities! I love how encouraging he was to them. It’s easy for any of us to become overwhelmed by the failures of people and churches. It would be a good exercise to think about the most annoying person that you know and write down a list of their positive characteristics. If we concentrate too much on people’s shortcomings, the danger is that we will miss their finer qualities, and our relationship with them will never stand a chance. In just the same way, if we only look at a church’s weaknesses, we may totally overlook the ways in which God has blessed it.
Paul drew attention to the Corinthian church’s great qualities because he wanted to encourage them to be great at giving as well. He was eager for them to make a significant contribution to the collection that he was taking up for the Christians in Judea, who had suffered a major famine. He pointed to the example of the believers in Macedonia who, even though they were very poor, had been incredibly generous. He didn’t want the Corinthians to miss out on the blessing of being generous as well. Because of his love for them, he didn’t want them merely to be good at giving – he wanted them to excel.
If we love people, we are not going to be content with them merely doing well. We will want them to be and to do the best. Let’s keep that thought alive in our minds today as we meet people.
Question
What do you learn from the way in which Paul encouraged the Corinthians to give?
Prayer
Lord God, I thank you that you love me so much that you want me to be the best for you today. Amen

Proverbs 4:18-19
The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over.
I have spent most of my life in towns or cities, which means I have had very little experience of darkness. However, when I lived in a village in India, I found out exactly what it was like. I can recall occasions when I would walk around on our compound without a single clue as to what was in front of me. I would reach out my hands in the hope that I would feel a building or tree before I collided with it. Such complete darkness is very threatening, and it isn’t surprising that the Bible often uses it as a picture of living without God. With none of his light to shine on life’s path, it is certain that a person will spend their life stumbling about, lurching from one danger to the next.
The contrast couldn’t be sharper for the person who walks in God’s way. The righteous person, who deliberately seeks to live their life in step with God, lives in the light. When a person sets off on a life with God, the first gleam of dawn shines on them, and as they walk with God, the brightness continually grows until they are walking in the full light of day. In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul tells his readers that they are people of the light (Ephesians 5:8). In that passage, he quotes what many scholars think was an early church hymn which might have been sung at a service of baptism: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Because the early Christians lived as a tiny minority amid a sea of immorality and godlessness, they needed to be clear where their light came from. They would face many struggles and difficulties and darkness was never far away, but amid it all, Christ’s light shone on them.
Question
In what specific ways have you experienced God’s light shining on you?
Prayer
Lord God, we worship you because you are the source of light. I invite you to shine your light on my life today. Amen

Proverbs 3:13-14
Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold.
The writer of Proverbs spends a lot of time reflecting on wealth, and the question is: where can you find it? It is fascinating that the writer often speaks of the preciousness of silver and gold. Some things don’t change. Over the last few years of intense instability on the world’s financial markets, the price of silver and gold have shot up. After thousands of years, even though the world has changed out of all recognition, people are still trying to find safety in the same things.
However, true wealth lies elsewhere. The writer of Proverbs is convinced that what really matters is wisdom, which needs to be treasured far more than any possessions, beautiful and impressive as they might seem to be. Possessions try to persuade us that they can give us everything we need to live fulfilled lives, but the writer is clear that wisdom alone unlocks the door to life, and that it can only be found through an intimate and growing relationship with God. Without it, we stumble around, lacking any sense of direction or purpose.
Wisdom in the book of Proverbs is always intensely practical. Wisdom opens the door to a life of peace, love and joy, and it does so by enabling us to make good decisions whatever our circumstances. It allows us to live at peace with those around us, and to use our own gifts and opportunities effectively. Wisdom enables us to live justly and responsibly in society and prevents us from falling for the temptations which continually try to lure us away from God’s path. Wisdom never calls us to a life of dull bookishness but rather to a life that is full of vitality and hope. However, none of that happens without a determination to share every aspect of life with our loving God, who is the source of all wisdom.
Question
In what way do you need God’s wisdom today?
Prayer
Father God, you are the source of all wisdom. Give me a growing longing to be wise and a desire to let you shape all my thinking and actions day by day. Amen

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honour the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.
There are many different ways of giving. Some people give in order to impress. Jesus once spotted rich people placing their gifts in the temple treasury, no doubt giving a significant amount of money which would be a great help to the temple. Then, Jesus noticed a poor widow, who put two very small copper coins into the treasury. Her gift was tiny and unlikely to be much help to the temple’s accounts. However, it was her gift which really impressed Jesus. He commented: “For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has” (Luke 21:4). The writer of Proverbs encourages us to give God our best.

It was King David who pointed out that when we give to God, all we are doing is giving what he first gave to us. We will never be able to outgive God. It has been wisely said that you make a life out of what you give, not out of what you get. In our deeply acquisitive society, that is a very important insight. Learning how to give is vital if we are to know the blessings that God wants us to experience.

I love the straightforwardness of Proverbs. The writer has a no-nonsense approach to serving God. He tells us how to live our lives to the full but also tells us the outcome. He has learned that if you give generously and put God first in your life, there will be a wonderful result. It will work differently for us all, but we can be confident that if we get our giving right, God will bless us. You will never become poor by giving generously.
Question
How generous are you in your giving?
Prayer
Lord God our Father, you have always been generous to me. Help me to learn how to be generous in every aspect of my life. Amen