Be Still And Know

Jeremiah 8:21 'I hurt with the hurt of my people. I mourn and am overcome with grief.' The power of Jeremiah’s prophecy lies in the fact that he didn’t stand at a distance from the people. He completely identified himself with them. Their hurts were his hurts; he described himself as being heartbroken and having grief beyond healing. (Jeremiah 8:18). But Jeremiah knew that the Israelites were suffering in such a dreadful way because they had abandoned God’s way and followed other gods. As a result, they were about to be defeated by an enemy who would come from the north and overwhelm them. Jeremiah was in such a state of distress that he cried out: “If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered.” (Jeremiah 9:1). The leaders of God’s people should never stand at a distance from those they are serving. If they are to be faithful to their calling, they will share the joys and the sorrows of the people among whom th

Jeremiah 7:5-6 I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Most of the time we probably think of justice as being something which is in the hands of other people. We look to the police and the law courts to handle issues of justice, and we wish them well as they do so. But these verses make it clear that justice is something which involves us all. We all need to think and to act justly, and that is a challenge every day of our lives. Continually, we have to make judgments about what is just, whether it’s in our family, business, school, college, church or sports club. And God was clear that he would only be merciful to his people if they were willing to take their responsibility for justice seriously. The fact is, we live in a deeply unfair world and, although massive strides have been mad

Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.” To be honest, I struggle to remember the days before I used satellite navigation. However, I drove for many years before the luxury of these amazing devices, and I would often come to a crossroads and wonder which way I needed to go next. I ministered in Devon for a number of years and very frequently found myself travelling down beautiful country lanes and getting completely lost. Then I would come to a crossroads with helpful signs and have to make a decision. God spoke to his people and told them to do just that. They needed to stop and reflect on which way they needed to go next. They had the power to go whichever way they chose but he advised them to choose the old, godly way; that is to say, the way that God had shown them through Moses. From time to time, we all face decisive moments. We can’t dither any longer. We hav

Jeremiah 3:22 “My wayward children,” says the Lord, “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.” Jeremiah went to great lengths to show just how far people had wandered away from God. He used incredibly strong language which might make us blush at times. He talked about them acting like a prostitute running after many lovers, and pictured them sitting by the road waiting for customers (Jeremiah 3:2). Israel had totally abandoned the one true God and had explored every other god on offer. But, amazingly, God hadn’t given up on them. He still reached out his hands of love and offered to welcome them home and to heal their wayward hearts. The lavish generosity of God’s forgiveness is a prominent theme throughout the Bible. Although humankind has repeatedly rebelled against him, he has always been ready to offer his welcome to all who will turn to him. The parable of the Prodigal Son is the most beautiful expression of God’s fatherly love. The son acted in a completely irresponsible way. It was bad

Jeremiah 2:13 The Lord says “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!” In a country like Palestine, cisterns are a wonderful way of storing water for the long, hot, dry summers. The porous limestone rock needs to be lined with plaster in order to make the cistern watertight. A cistern with a cracked lining is completely useless and Jeremiah used this powerful image to tell the people that the gods they were worshipping were a complete waste of time. Unlike the fountain of living water that God offered to provide for them, their false gods could never satisfy their needs. This reminds us of Jesus’ encounter with the woman of Samaria. He offered this needy woman living water which could completely satisfy her deepest needs. She never needed to be thirsty again. Our society is full of cracked cisterns. It offers the lure of possessions, philosophies and entertainments which h

Jeremiah 1:9-10 Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth! Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.” Being a prophet was a tough job and Jeremiah was just about to learn how demanding it was going to be. We all love sharing good news and saying nice things about people, but much of Jeremiah’s job was almost the complete opposite. He had to declare words of judgment to a nation that had abandoned God’s way. It was going to be a hard road for him and so he needed to be absolutely clear that what he was passing on was from God himself. In a moment which reminds us of the call of Isaiah, the Lord reached out and touched his mouth as he gave him his marching orders. God’s words are always full of love, but they are often tough both to share and to hear. It is always tempting for a preacher or prophet to say what people want to hear. People a

Jeremiah 1:6-7 “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you.” Excuses, excuses! Jeremiah followed in the well-worn tradition of trying to avoid doing what God was calling him to do. His words remind us of Moses who responded to God’s call from the burning bush with a long list of reasons why he was a most unsuitable candidate to lead God’s people. Now Jeremiah tries the same approach. He felt that his age was the decisive issue. Even if everything else about him was suitable, his age, he felt sure, was the reason why God would need to look for someone else. His words were, of course, absurd because he was addressing them to the creator of the world! God had formed Jeremiah in his mother’s womb and, even before he was born, had set him apart to be a prophet. Times haven’t changed that much, and people are still offering God reasons why he has chosen the wrong person. When va

1 John 5:21 'Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.' Every day we are all being bombarded with influences. Family, friends, television, internet, advertising, books, social media and radio are all trying to claim our attention and suggest different ways in which we should be thinking. Much of the time we don’t even notice it’s happening, but the truth is that we cannot stop the process. Most of those influences are not inherently bad, but they all have the potential to distract us from serving God. Idols come in many shapes and sizes. They will never announce themselves as such, but they are anything that takes God’s place in our hearts, as this verse so clearly states. Anything at all. It could be your family, your hobby, your football team, your garden or your job. Anything which takes first place in our lives pushes God into second place at best. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. Our families, our hobbies, our sporting interests, our gardens and our work

1 John 5:14-15 'We are confident that God hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.' Prayer is of absolutely crucial importance to our lives. It has been wisely said that you and I are as strong as our prayer lives and no stronger. Every part of our lives depends upon prayer, so it is really important that we are clear about the Bible’s teaching on this subject. One of the most important things to recognise is that prayer is never a matter of simply saying certain words to God. Bishop Ryle said: “We have learned a great lesson when we have learned that ‘saying prayers’ is not praying.” Prayer is all about a relationship with God in which we talk to him and open our hearts so that he can work in our lives. The Old Testament prophets often observed that people said prayers that were completely unacceptable to God because their lives showed that they had no interest in serving God. God sp

1 John 5:11-12 'This is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.' Sooner or later, everyone is bound to ask what life is all about. Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, one of the most successful rock groups of all time, asked the question in one of his last songs: “Does anyone know what we are living for?” It was a genuine cry from the heart. In human terms he had everything. He had money and fame on a colossal scale but, shortly before his death in 1991, he admitted that he was desperately lonely. He said: “You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man, and that is the most bitter type of loneliness. Success has brought me world idolisation and millions of pounds, but it’s prevented me from having the one thing we all need – a loving, ongoing relationship.” John would have totally agreed with Mercury. A “loving, ongoing relationship” is what we all need

1 John 5:4-5 'For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.' We need to be clear that whenever John talks about the world in this passage, he is talking about the world without God. When humankind rejects God, the world is a terrible place, full of sin, death and destruction. We are all called to live in such a world, but John wanted to make it clear that we don’t need to be scared of it – because, in Christ, we have the victory. We are Easter people. On Good Friday, Jesus died as the evil world unleashed its worst. But that wasn’t the end. On Sunday morning, Jesus rose from death and proved that he had the victory. This has very practical implications for us. It affects our daily lives in a very profound way. Day by day, we head into a world where God is not respected by most people. The news is full of accounts of abuse, violence, brokenness and disorder. On

1 John 4:11-12 'Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.' You cannot see the wind, but you can easily see the effects that it has. Equally, you cannot see electricity but we have no doubt that it exists because of all that it does. No one has ever seen God, but we know that he exists because we see his love reflected in the people around us. And so the more we love people, the more they will have the opportunity to see the living God. Tertullian, one of the Early Church Fathers, wrote of the way in which the pagan Romans were struck by way of life of Christians: “See how they love one another,” was their response. I would love to think that would be the response to each of our churches, and I believe it often is. People see churches setting up food banks, debt advice services, parent and toddler groups, listening services and many other activities.

1 John 4:10 'This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.' Most of the love that we experience in our lives is reciprocal. We love other people and they love us. Sometimes we have taken the initiative and, on other occasions, they do so. But with God it is very different. There is nothing that we could ever do to win his love. However hard we might try, we could never force God to love us. So the fact that he has chosen to love us is entirely down to his own initiative. This is an incredibly important truth because the whole of our Christian life needs to flow from it. In his letters, Paul often used the word ‘grace’ to describe God’s relationship with us. That is to say, forgiveness and salvation are a matter of sheer gift. There is nothing we could ever do to contribute towards them. When we take the step of faith and accept Jesus into our life, we are simply responding to his incredible generosity to us. In writing to the Ephesians,

1 John 4:1 'Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.' There have always been false teachers, but they must have been particularly difficult to identify in the early Church. Many of the Christians would have come from completely different religious and philosophical backgrounds, and few church leaders would have had much education. It would have been extremely easy for articulate people to creep in and lead people astray. Anyone can claim to speak by the Spirit, and it is not surprising that many young impressionable Christians simply accepted what they were saying. In these verses, John was encouraging every Christian to test what they were hearing. Jesus himself was well aware of the challenge from false teachers. In the sermon on the mount he said: “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify the

1 John 3:16 'We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.' Probably the most famous verse in the whole bible is John 3.16: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” It’s a wonderful verse and takes us to heart of the good news. But we need to read it alongside today’s verse, 1 John 3:16, its natural twin. This verse reminds us that it is not only about God loving us and sending Jesus for our salvation, but also about us, in turn, offering up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. I thank God for the amazing Christians that I have known over the years who have poured out their lives for others. I think of children’s and youth workers, deacons and elders, ministers and carers who, because of their love for God, have gladly given everything to support other people. They have thought little of their personal sa

1 John 3:1 'See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!' My wife and I have had the privilege of being foster parents for the past six years. Those years have helped me to understand in a way that I never knew before how important our relationship is with our parents. To be honest, I think I took for granted the love, security, affirmation and warmth of my own parents. But those amazing gifts should be treasured. Here, John reflects on the even more important relationship that we can have with our father God. He burst out in wonder as he reflected on the fact that God loves us so much that he chose to call us his children. And he did so not as a mere formality but because we really are his children. Just as the relationship between children and their parents will have life-long implications so, too, should our relationship with God our Father colour and shape our lives. We have the privilege of being able to walk into every new day with the certain kno

1 John 2:26-27 'I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie.' Our world today is very different from the one that John knew, but I suspect that if he was addressing us, he wouldn’t have changed his message at all. The Christians he was speaking to were under constant attack from false teachers and he was eager that they should be strong in their faith and able to stand up to every challenge. These days, anyone with access to the internet can have instant connection to an unlimited number of religions and philosophies. It could all be very bewildering and confusing. John would want to offer us the same encouragement that he brought 1,900 years ago. The Holy Spirit is still our completely reliable teacher. He teaches us everything that we need to know. Towards

1 John 2:15 'Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.' John’s concern here was very similar to that of Jesus when, in the sermon on the mount, he said that it was impossible to serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). As believers, we have a choice to make: do we allow our energy to be expended on worldly interests or on God’s kingdom. We cannot possibly do both. So John encourages us to focus our attention on loving God and not on the temporary pleasures of the world. Does that mean we should all leave our jobs and homes and sit on a park bench reading the Bible? No, far from it! We are called to enjoy God’s world, to serve him in our jobs and homes and to live alongside those who know nothing of him but, as we do so, we need to keep our focus on the things that last. Pleasures, possessions and achievements have a very short shelf life. John writes in sharp language to encourage us to sort out our priorities. When our

1 John 2:9-10 If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. The letters in the New Testament give us a great insight into the life of the early Church. These were exciting years, but it is clear that enormous struggles were going on. There were people teaching heresy and making great claims about themselves, yet their lives showed that they were a sham. There were the Gnostics, who claimed to have discovered deep mysteries and to have encountered the light. But their lives told a completely different story. So John set out some very clear guidelines to help the believers understand who was truly living for God, and who wasn’t. The key test was love. If someone showed true love for their fellow believers, you could be sure that they were living in the light. But those who were showing hatred towards others were walking in the darkness. Let’s be

1 John 1:8-9 'If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to God, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.' John couldn’t have been more blunt. If we claim to be sinless then we’re lying. Presumably there were people in John’s day who were saying precisely that and he knew it was such a dangerous point of view that he had to be decisive in his language. We can’t be exactly sure who these people were but, in every age, there have been people who have claimed to be perfect. We certainly know that there were gnostic groups around in John’s time who believed that they had special knowledge and were not touched by sin. The fact is, we are all sinners, and we all need to own this fact. We might like to blame our parents, our upbringing, our education, the government or the weather but, at the end of the day, we must take responsibility and acknowledge that we have sinned. We have deliberately gon