Be Still and Know

Proverbs 3:13-14 Everyone wants joy. Of course we do. Talk to any parent and almost everyone will say that they want their children to be happy. They don’t mind what career they follow, where they live or who they marry but they want them to be h...

Proverbs 3:9-10 Abba’s famous song ‘Money, money, money’ sums up a lot of our modern world’s thinking about wealth. The lyrics say: “In my dreams I have a plan / If I got me a wealthy man / I wouldn’t have to work at all, I’d fool around and have...

Proverbs 3:5-6 One of the greatest privileges of my life is to spend time talking with people about guidance. I don’t do this because I am an expert at advising people which way to go, but because I know the Guide who wants to lead them. It has h...

Proverbs 2:3-4 I have never had a metal detector, but I have a number of friends who rave about their hobby. They head out into muddy fields to eagerly search
for treasure and, most of the time, find nothing of interest. But the rare success stor...

John 17:20-21 This is an amazing prayer. Within moments Jesus would be betrayed by Judas and arrested by Roman soldiers and Temple guards. Jesus knew exactly what was going on but, in the middle of it all, he calmly prayed this prayer to his Heav...

John 17:3 You can sum up Christianity very easily with the expression: “It’s not what you know but who you know that counts.” Christian faith is all about a personal relationship with God the Father and his son, Jesus. Everything hinges on that....

John 15:18-19 Jesus faced opposition throughout his ministry. It was important that his disciples knew the same would be true for them. In these verses, Jesus gives the reason for this. Fundamentally, they no longer belonged to this world. Of cou...

John 15:16 If you are a follower of Jesus, you can probably remember the time when you chose to start following him. But one this is for sure: our step towards following Jesus came long after he took the first move towards us. What you and I did...

John 15:15 To be Jesus’ slave would be the greatest possible privilege. But Jesus wanted his disciples to know that he was looking for a much more intimate relationship than that. At the end of the day, a slave, however trusted and respected, had...

John 15:5 Jesus’ language in this verse is uncompromising. We live in days when such language is deeply unpopular. People want to hear that every way of life is equally valid; it is just a matter of your own personal opinion. But that is complete...

John 15:1-2 I often drive past a large vineyard. When the vines are not in leaf there are few sights more unattractive. Just lines of contorted branches looking completely dead and useless. But then, in the spring, they burst into life and gradua...

John 14:27 Peace is critically important for all of us. It has said that with peace of mind, a poor person is rich and, without it, a rich person is poor. The Bible tells us that Jesus was the Prince of Peace, and his intention was to offer his p...

John 14:26 How’s your memory? You will doubtless know the joke about the person who goes upstairs to get something only to totally forget why they went. They then return downstairs with something else simply to justify the journey. For me, that’s...

John 14:15-17 The word that is translated ‘advocate’ in today’s verses is hard to pin down. Some of us were brought up with the term ‘Counsellor’ which was the word used in the Authorised King James’ version of the Bible. The Greek word literally...

John 14:13-14 On the face of, it this sounds like Jesus is writing us a blank cheque. If you hadn’t read anything else from the Bible, this passage might give you the impression that we can come to God and ask for whatever we want. Request a jet...