Be Still and Know

Proverbs 29:1-2 NLT   'Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery. When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.'   The word ‘justice’ is often quoted...

2 Chronicles 9:7-8 NLT   'How happy your people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom! Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you...'   The search for happiness has been important for th...

John 14:6-7 NLT   Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”   We are all self...

John 15:7-8 NLT    'But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.'    What do you think is...

John 15:6 NLT    'Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.'   When we arrived at the Oratory, we knew little to nothing about gardening, so we set about le...

John 15:5 NLT    'Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.'    Standing along a stretch of dual carriageway near to us are a series of apple trees....

John 15:3-4 NLT    'You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in m...

John 15:1-2 NLT    'I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.'   Last year I decided to train for...

Psalm 25:10 NLT  'The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.' I find ‘unfailing’ a difficult word to comprehend. Living in Britain, I have grown up confident that the weather that greets me in...

Psalm 25:7 NLT  'Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord.' Despite not having a particularly colourful past, I often realise I’m mulling over past events. An insis...

Psalm 25:6 NLT  'Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past.' We live in a fast-moving and often brutal world, often forced to live at a pace that leaves us breathless. We easily tire under the weig...

Psalm 25:4 NLT 'Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.' I’ve wondered many times what it is I’m here on this earth to do. When younger, I was anxious to realise my potential, assuming there was a particular path I must p...

Psalm 25:1-2 NLT  'O Lord, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.'  Like all idioms, the phrase “to give one’s life to” carries a meaning far deeper than the phrase initially...

Ruth 1:16 NLT  But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” I have ditched God occasionally, drawn by some distrac...

Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT  'Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.' I quote this verse far too often, to myself, but also to family and friends. Quoting...