Bring some Spirit-filled peace into your hectic schedule every weekday morning with this new Daily Devotional.
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Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion
Episodes
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October 10th - James 5:16b
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October 10th - James 5:16b
James 5:16b The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Some years ago I contracted whooping cough. To be honest, I thought it was only something children got and was amazed when my GP told me I had caught it. From time to time over a number of weeks I struggled to breathe. The worst episodes were in the middle of the night, and I will never forget those desperate attempts to breathe which ended in the ‘whoop’ as air finally, slowly and painfully returned to my lungs. Breathing …
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October 9th - James 5:16a
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October 9th - James 5:16a
James 5:16a Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. How are you? I wonder how you normally respond to that question. Probably, like most of us, you smile sweetly and summarise your life with one word: “Fine”. It’s a good word and if it’s true, that’s wonderful, and one can only hope that it will continue to be the case. But, if we’re honest, it is sometimes the word we use to push people away. What we’re actually saying is: “It’s none of your business. …
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October 8th - James 5:14-15
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October 8th - James 5:14-15
James 5:14-15 Is anyone among you ill? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Jesus was both a healer and a teacher. You cannot divide up His ministry. He ministered to the whole range of people’s needs – body, mind and spirit. When Jesus left this earth, He commissioned the Church to carry on …
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October 7th - James 5:13
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October 7th - James 5:13
James 5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. I once heard a well-known preacher tell the story of a young woman who said she often didn’t feel like praying. His response was that prayer is not a glandular condition! Prayer is something we need to do whatever our feelings. That’s precisely the point that James is making here. In short, it’s always the right time to pray – whether you are going through a good or a bad time. God doesn’t …
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October 6th - James 5:12
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October 6th - James 5:12
James 5:12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear – not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No”. Otherwise you will be condemned. James isn’t talking here about bad language but about the very common practice at the time of trying to strengthen a statement by taking an oath. Jews made a distinction between oaths made in the name of God, which could never be broken, and other oaths that didn’t mention God, which could be broken. James …
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October 5th - James 5:11
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October 5th - James 5:11
James 5:11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. We don’t know exactly what James’ readers were facing, but clearly it was tough for them to live as Christians. They needed to persevere. Amid all the temptations, distractions and persecution that they were facing, they needed to hang in there for God. This is precisely what Job had done when he …
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October 4th - James 5:9
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October 4th - James 5:9
James 5:9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! The Bible introduces us to lots of grumbling people. Most famously we hear the people of Israel having a whinge after God had miraculously led them out of slavery in Egypt. They had been there for 400 years and, at last, had been set free by the mighty hand of God. The yoke of oppression had been broken and they were now able to enjoy the sweet taste of freedom. But almost …
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October 3rd - James 5:7-8
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October 3rd - James 5:7-8
James 5:7-8 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Waiting sounds easy until you have to do it! As we all know, waiting can be incredibly difficult and demanding, especially if you don’t know how long you are going to have to wait for. Waiting for medical test results, or for a member …
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October 2nd - James 5:1-2
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October 2nd - James 5:1-2
James 5:1-2 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. You can almost see the steam coming out of James’ ears, can’t you? He is furious at the way in which the rich people are abusing their position. His very specific gripe is that they have failed to pay their workmen for mowing their fields. For James, this isn’t a little economic problem. This is an evil that has reached the ears of God …
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October 1st - James 4:13-14
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October 1st - James 4:13-14
James 4:13-14 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. We are constantly encouraged to plan for the future. Whether we are looking at our family, our housing, our holidays or our pensions, we are under continual pressure to make good plans. I don’t think James is telling …
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September 30th - James 4:7-8
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September 30th - James 4:7-8
James 4:7-8 Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Life can often feel like a battleground. There is great evil in the world, and any newspaper will illustrate that in agonising detail. But there is also immense kindness and goodness all around if we have the eyes to see it. Daily life can often feel like a pitched battle between good and evil. James is concerned that his …
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September 29th - James 4:6-7
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September 29th - James 4:6-7
James 4:6-7 Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Did you know that God is capable of hatred? Perhaps you think God is so nice that He couldn’t bring Himself to hate anything. However, the Bible is quite clear that God seethes with hatred at times. In Proverbs 6:16, we learn that God hates seven things, and top of the list is pride. God’s problem with pride is that it is a complete rejection of Him. The proud person doesn’t have …
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September 28th - James 4:2-3
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September 28th - James 4:2-3
James 4:2-3 You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Dream for a moment. If you could have anything in the world, what would you choose? A beautiful large home; a yacht; a luxurious holiday; perfect health; world peace? Read on its own, James 4:2 suggests that we just need to ask God and we will get it, but verse 3 makes it clear that we need to ask with the right motive. …
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September 27th - James 3:17-18
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September 27th - James 3:17-18
James 3:17-18 The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Many churches observe that they have very few people in their 20s and 30s. Whenever I’ve asked people in that age group what they are looking for, one theme dominates: authenticity. They are looking for Christians and churches which ring true because they practise what …
