Be Still And Know

Matthew 1:16-17 Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah. All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah. Matthew shows here how the Old Testament has prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. He points out that there were 14 generations from the time of Abraham, the father of the nation, up to the reign of King David. This was undoubtedly the high-water mark in the Old Testament. David established Jerusalem as the city of God and prepared the way for the building of the magnificent temple. After that, everything went catastrophically downhill, with the next 14 generations ending with the Jewish people being taken into exile in Babylon. The following 14 generations were ones in which the prophetic voice was almost entirely silent. There is a 400-year gap between the final book of the Old Testament and the coming of Christ. However, throughout those dark years, ther

Matthew 1:1-16 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham…Joseph was the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah. If you were writing a biography of a famous person, I strongly suspect you wouldn’t start like this. But Matthew was writing his Gospel for people from a Jewish background and so it was important that he started with an account of Jesus’ ancestors. They needed to understand where Jesus fitted in the history of the people of Israel. In his genealogy, Matthew details three groups of 14 generations. The first ran from Abraham to David; the second went up to the exile in Babylon, and the third concluded with the arrival of Jesus, whose legal father was Joseph. This placed Jesus firmly in the family line of David, and so he could be properly called the Son of David. The list names in this chapter doesn’t make great reading, but if you look at the individuals mentioned, it is absolutely gripping. The most startling

Romans 11:33-36 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. Paul has spent the last three chapters agonising over the issue of his people, the Jews. He is desperately keen that they should follow Christ and receive the gift of salvation, but he also acknowledges that most of them have rejected the offer of new life in Jesus. I love the way that Paul ends this part of the letter. He does so in worship, celebrating the greatness of God’s riches, wisdom and knowledge. In the previous chapters he has given the best of his mind to setting out the dilemmas and his thinking about the situation. But, at the end of the day, he knows the limits of his understanding are very real,

Romans 9:2-3 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. The apostle Paul was proud of his Jewish heritage and was passionate that his Jewish brothers and sisters should share in the wonder of knowing Christ as their personal Lord and saviour. But look at the language he used! He was willing to be cursed forever if it meant that the Jews would find salvation. This is incredibly strong language and shows very clearly that it meant everything to him. Paul knew that the Jewish people were in a very privileged position. They had been chosen to be God’s adopted children. God had revealed his glory to them, made covenants with them and given them the law. They had Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their ancestors and Christ himself was a Jew. They had every advantage - and Paul couldn’t cope with the pain of seeing them reject Jesus. I want to turn Paul’s words into a qu

Romans 8.38-39 I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. When I lived in India, I got to know an elderly missionary who had lived in the area for a very long time. She had asthma and found that the tropical climate was very helpful for her condition so, when she retired, she stayed in India and continued to have a powerful ministry there. Whenever I said goodbye to her, she would always come out onto her veranda, wave and say the same words: “No separation.” It was an unusual farewell, but she was celebrating that, when we become Christians, nothing can separate us from God’s love. Even if we travel away from our Christian brothers and si

Romans 7:24-25 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. It isn’t easy to talk about the battles that go on in our lives but here, Paul lets it all pour out! Here is a mature Christian leader and brilliant teacher admitting that, although he wants to do what’s right, he often found himself doing the exact opposite. Paul recognised that there was a power inside him that encouraged him to be a slave to sin. It was an agonising dilemma that left him feeling miserable. But Paul also celebrated the fact that sin didn’t have to have the last word. The answer was – and is! - Jesus. By looking to Jesus and placing his trust in him, Paul found the liberty he craved. And so can we. The problem with sin is that it keeps knocking at the door of our lives. However mature we are in our Christian faith, it keeps trying to find a foothold in our thoughts, words and actions. Paul’s astonishingly blunt words

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Everyone agrees that it is desirable to find inner peace. Go into any book shop and you will find dozens of books that offer you quick routes to inner tranquillity. These will give you a wide range of suggestions - from those that encourage you to change your diet, minimise your exposure to conflict or start meditating. None of those things are necessarily wrong, but they won’t get to the heart of the problem which is that, as human beings, we fundamentally lack peace because our lives are not right with God. It is only when that relationship is sorted out that we can begin to experience God’s gift of peace. In today’s verse, Paul celebrates the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross gave us that gift. When we are at peace with God, Paul declares that the door is flung open to all of God’s other blessings. The person who finds peace is introduced to a ne

Romans 4:20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. Paul is clear that faith is all important for those who want to be put right with God. Here, he uses Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, as the supreme example of this. He trusted God completely even when life was tough and there was little encouragement. It all began when God called Abraham to leave his home, together with his family, and set off on a journey into the unknown. When God later promised him, as an old man, that he and his aged wife would have a son, he trusted God once more - even though all the evidence pointed in the opposite direction. I love verse 18 of this same chapter, which reads: “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations.” That’s faith! Abraham showed total confidence in God. Now let’s bring this up to date. Today, God is calling you and me to be people of faith amid

Romans 3:29-30 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. The apostle Paul was Jewish and very proud of the fact. In this letter he goes to great lengths to show that Jews have a very important place in the plans of God, but he wants his Roman readers to understand that God’s love wasn’t in any sense confined to Jewish people alone. Indeed, God sent Jesus into the world for non-Jews (who he calls Gentiles) as well the Jews, because we all have an equal need for forgiveness. Jesus’ death on the cross was for every kind of person because we all fall short of God’s standards. Earlier in this chapter, Paul asks whether Jews were in some sense better than other people, before flatly rejecting the idea. Just like every Gentile, they too are sinners in need of God’s grace. It’s very important that we never gain a sense of arrogance about oursel

Romans 1:20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. People often ask how God will judge those who have never responded to him, and especially those who have never heard about Jesus. Here Paul makes it clear that everyone has had an opportunity to respond to God, because he has made it so clear in creation. People have no excuse, but the tragedy is that we have often ended up worshipping what God has created rather than the Creator himself. Our mission, like Paul’s, is to present the good news. We want to help people understand why Jesus came into the world - and we can all play our part in that. We are not all evangelists but everyone who follows Jesus is a witness. We have a story to tell from our own personal experience, and our stuttering words are often far more persuasive than any silver-tongued evangelist. Sadl

Romans 1:17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. I once heard about a group of rowdy young people who had too much time on their hands and decided that it would be great fun to push a piano down the stairs in the building where they were meeting and see what happened. The result was inevitable. The piano was wrecked. Hearing what had happened, an elderly man decided to take the battered and damaged piano on as a project. He spent the following year restoring it to its former glory. Don’t you love stories like that? We all love hearing about bad situations that have been turned to good. But when we look at the world today the problems are so overwhelming – and, at their heart, is the fact that humankind is out of step with God. Here in Paul’s letter to the Romans, he begins to set out, with meticulous care, how we can be put right with God. Nothing could possibly be more important than this. The key to receiving this transformati

Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes – the Jew first and also the Gentile. We are told that the apostle Paul had a particularly unimpressive appearance. According to tradition, he had heavy eyebrows, bandy legs, a bald head, a hooked nose, bad eyesight and no great gifts as a speaker. How could such a person have an impact on the city of Rome, which stood at the heart of a vast and confident empire? The fact that his ministry did have an enormous impact on that city - and far beyond - is because he was absolutely sure of what God had called him to do. He was bursting with pride about the good news. I love the expression that he was “not ashamed” of the good news. It almost sounds like a joke, because Paul was the complete opposite. He was willing to give every second of his time and every ounce of his energy to letting people know about Jesus and his gift of salvation. I wonder what you speak about with pride. Over the

Romans 1:9 God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son. Prayer is a blessing in every way. It is how we communicate with God and so it needs to be at the beating heart of a Christian’s life. Prayerlessness is the surest path to spiritual weakness and discouragement. By contrast, the person who takes prayer seriously will find every aspect of their life blessed. However, the blessings of prayer don’t end there. They also strengthen our relationships with our Christian brothers and sisters. One of the greatest privileges of my life is the knowledge that, every day, people pray for me. I couldn’t demand or deserve it, but I receive it with enormous gratitude. In today’s verses, we are given an insight into Paul’s life as we hear that he was persistent in his prayers for the Christians in Rome. He prayed for them night and day - which shows the intensity of his commitment to them. These w

Romans 1:7 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is sometimes described as the Gospel according to Paul. It’s not a bad description because in this letter he gives the fullest explanation of his understanding of the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul never met Jesus during his earthly ministry but his miraculous meeting with God on the road to Damascus turned his life upside down. From that moment on he lived for Jesus and sought to encourage others to do the same. Paul began his letter by explaining that he had been called by God and was a slave to Jesus. Paul had an incredibly tough ministry, but it was founded upon the complete security of his relationship with God. That’s what sustained him when he was imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, mocked, accused and betrayed. Having had the privilege of fostering, my wife and I often reflect on the importance of ‘attachment’ – the relationship that a child has with thei

Proverbs 20:29 The glory of the young is their strength; the grey hair of experience is the splendour of the old. Tension between the generations is not new. Aristotle, in the fourth century, commented: “When I look at the younger generation, I despair of the future of civilisation.” Long after Aristotle’s day, in 1237, a monk named Peter gave his reasons for despair when he looked at the youth of his day. He wrote: “The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they know everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness to them.” The truth is that in every age there is a huge gulf between the generations. Today’s proverb encourages us to look for the strengths of each age group. Everyone has something special to contribute. The young are unquestionably stronger than older people. But grey hair is a clear sign that the old have more experience of life. These are both wonderful gift

Proverbs 20:20 If you insult your father or mother, your light will be snuffed out in total darkness. Family relationships were of central concern to the writer of Proverbs. The incredibly harsh language that he uses in this particular proverb shows his complete contempt for those who insulted their parents. No punishment was too great for those who were able to sink to such depths. Later in Proverbs the writer speaks with even greater passion: “The eye that mocks a father and despises a mother’s instructions will be plucked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by vultures” Proverbs 30:17. The whole Bible speaks with one voice on this subject and it is not surprising that honouring parents was one of the Ten Commandments, standing alongside the commands not to murder, commit adultery or steal. All family relationships will be strained at times, but nothing can change our fundamental responsibility to our parents. The commandment is followed by the promise that if you honour your father and mother “then

Proverbs 19:28 A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice; the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil. Justice is a persistent theme throughout the Bible, because it is one of the characteristics of God. He loves justice. This is beautifully described in Deuteronomy 32:4: “He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!” It is because of God’s love of justice that he gave his people a very clear framework of rules. The first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, gave the Israelites the law that would guide every aspect of their lives. There were rules about the way in which they worshipped but also about their relationships with one another and rules of hygiene. God is interested in every part of life and so the rules were comprehensive. The Bible is clear that justice is fragile and needs to be carefully looked after. It can easily be perverted. The prophets showed particular concern about the evil of mark

Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives. The word ‘discipline’ has a harsh ring to it, but the writer of the Proverbs is clear that it is absolutely essential for every parent to know how to do it. He saw discipline as the way that parents show love to their children. In Proverbs 22:6 he wrote: “Direct your children on to the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” His many references to use of “the rod” suggest that, while methods of discipline have changed considerably, the principle holds good. Every child needs to have the security of knowing what the rules are, and someone who will ensure that they are followed. I remember talking with a friend about his teenage years. His parents allowed him to do whatever he wanted and, at the time, he thought this was great. It stood in marked contrast to those around him who had to follow some very clear rules. My friend was allowed to come back home at any time at night and to drink

Proverbs 18:4 Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook. If you look at the history of many communities, you will find that settlements originally grew up in close proximity to a river, brook or spring. The water source gave them life and here, Proverbs says that it is just the same with wisdom. Wisdom brings life wherever it goes, and so wise people will centre their lives on it. I love the straightforwardness of the writer who sees a sharp distinction between wisdom and foolishness, life and death. Fools live a life that is firmly built on laziness and selfishness, and everything they do ends in disaster. But wise people, whose life is built on a reverence for God, will live a life that is characterised by love, understanding and generosity. Who then are the people whose wisdom will invigorate and strengthen us as we live for God? We all need to seek them out! They are not necessarily people with great knowledge, but they are people who know God well. They may not

Proverbs 17:5 Those who mock the poor insult their Maker; those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be punished. Every society has poor people and Jesus affirmed that that would always be the case. But that doesn’t mean that we should be unconcerned for the poor. The Bible encourages us to take their needs seriously and do everything we can to support them. Leviticus gave some very practical advice: “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:9-10). Today’s verse is particularly concerned about those who look down on the poor and who even mock them. This isn’t merely rude but an insult to God, who will ensure that those who rejoice at the misfortune of o