Be Still And Know

James 4:13–14 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 that James was telling his readers not to do any planning, but he did want to prick the bubble of their arrogance. They thought that their life was their possession and that they could do what they liked with it. Not so, says James. The first consideration should be to discover God’s will. This means that, when we do our planning, we should do it on our knees in prayer. Our lives are a gift from God and our families, education, talents and possessions are all part of his gracious generosity to us. In prayer we need to seek his will for the future, holding our plans in humility before him. Seeking to know God’s will is our prime task in life. God loves us perfectly and knows us much better than we know ourselves so discovering his will is as good as life can get. In my late teens I remembe

James 4:7–8 Life can often feel like a battleground. There is great evil in the world – 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 readers should make good decisions as they live on this battleground and that they should give undivided loyalty to God. It is true that the devil is active and that his entire mission is to destroy. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for people to devour (1 Peter 5:8). But the good news is that God is stronger and so we don’t need to live in fear of the devil. If we resist him then he will flee from us. When Jesus died on the cross he won the ultimate victory over the power of evil, and so our task is simply to claim that victory. Clearly evil didn’t come to an end on the cross. The world is still full of evil. What happened on the cross was like D Day. Once that

James 4:6–7 Did you know that God is capable of hatred? Perhaps you think that God is so nice that he couldn’t bring himself to hate anything. The fact is that the Bible is quite clear that God seethes with hatred at times. In Proverbs 6:16–19 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 any need for him, but lives a life in defiance of God’s will. And so we read that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We therefore need to unpack carefully what this word ‘humble’ means because it is clearly the gateway to true blessing. Humility doesn’t sound too attractive. We have awful images of people putting on an act, claiming to be but a mere worm and totally unworthy. That’s false humility. True humility is the reverse of pride. The proud person has hands that are so full of their own excellence that they are unable to receive anything from God. The humble person comes t

James 4:2–3 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? Verse two seem to suggest that we just need to ask God and we will get whatever we want. But verse three makes it clear that we need to ask with the right motive. This means that God loves us so much that he doesn’t necessarily give us what we say we want. Imagine for a moment that we did get whatever our selfish desires demanded. We would be in control because everything would happen in exactly the way we wanted, and at precisely the time that we demanded it. That sounds like the perfect world. However, the Bible has a technical word to describe such a place –hell. It’s the place where God is not. Our selfish desires would have pushed him out. What James is telling us is that our gracious, loving Father has a better plan. God delights in giving good gifts to his children. Jesus observed that it was unthinkable that a father would give his s

James 3:17–18 Many churches these days 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 that ring true because they practise what they preach. James was on exactly the same page and was ruthless in addressing those who say the right words but live a phoney life. What he longed for was truly wise people. Living wisely is attractive in every way. The wisdom comes directly from God but it has very down-to-earth implications. James draws particular attention to the fact that wise people love peace and go out of their way to cultivate it. You will never find a wise person trumpeting their wisdom. They just get on with doing God’s work, and God is always in the business of drawing people into the fullest experience of his peace. The word for peace that James uses here is built on the Hebrew word ‘shalom’. Shalom means peace, but much more tha

James 3:3-5 The tongue is incredibly powerful, for good or ill. I recall the story of a young man who shared some gossip about the local clergyman. Having heard about the rumours, the clergyman, with great gentleness and wisdom, took the young man to the top of the church tower. Once there, he handed him a feather pillow and asked him to rip it open. The feathers floated all over the village. Some of them, lifted by the air currents, headed off into the far distance. The clergyman then invited the young man to put the feathers back into the pillow. The young man protested: it was impossible! The clergyman pointed out that it was exactly the same with the rumours he had been spreading. Once our words have been spoken, they take on a life of their own. They cannot be taken back. This places an enormous responsibility on all of us, and particularly on those of us who are teachers and preachers. This chapter begins by James asserting that not many should presume to be teachers, because we will

James 2:15-17 You’ve probably noticed that Christians use a lot of words! Preaching, singing, praying and fellowship all involve oceans of words. And that’s fine, as long as our words also translate into action. Otherwise, we should just be quiet! You can preach the finest sermon, sing the most beautiful song of worship, pray the most articulate prayer and enjoy the warmest fellowship but if godly actions don’t result, it is all a dangerous waste of time. James doesn’t know how to beat around the bush. He goes straight for the jugular every time! He wants to see every Christian busily involved in turning their fine words into action. He is appalled at the thought that someone who claims to love God could see a Christian brother or sister in need and do nothing about it. It should never happen. I wonder how that translates into our situation today. Many of the early Christians were poor. Many were probably slaves, and without a welfare state it was easy for them to fall on hard times. Life to

James 2:1 Do you have favourites? Or do you look at all other people in exactly the same way whatever their age, education, wealth, beauty, race or religion, and irrespective of whether you know them or not? We would all like to claim that we don’t have favourites, but James points out to his readers that favouritism very easily creeps into our thinking. James describes a situation that could happen in any local church. A wealthy person comes into a service and is welcomed generously and given a good seat. He is followed by a scruffy man, whose poverty is plain for all to see, who is rudely told to sit down or find a place on the floor. James proclaims boldly that this should not happen. Favouritism should not happen in us or our churches because God doesn’t do it. God welcomes everyone, whoever they are, and we are called to do the same. On the face of it, this sounds very reasonable and straightforward. But it is far harder to put into practice. We all have preferences and we all get on with

James 1:23-24 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. I love the way James writes, but I’m not too sure he would make easy company! He is so incredibly blunt. Here he makes the obvious but powerful point that there would be no use in looking in a mirror if it didn’t cause you to do something as a result. If you learn that your hair looks a complete mess, then action is required! If the Christian faith doesn’t get translated into daily action, James wants nothing to do with it. Reading the Bible is not like reading any other book. Other books might be entertaining, interesting or informative but they rarely change our lives. But the Bible is one of the principal ways in which God has chosen to speak to us. So whenever we read it, we need to ask: “Lord what are you saying to me?” If we merely read the Bible as a beautiful work of literature, we are missing the point. In Psalm 1, the writer s

James 1:5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. Life constantly throws challenges at us. How should I be spending my time and money? Should I move to a different job? How can I resolve the dispute with my next door neighbour? Should I let my colleague know that he’s annoying me? How should I tell my daughter that I think she’s seeing the wrong people? So many questions! The Bible focuses a lot of attention on the subject of wisdom, in both the Old and the New Testaments. Wisdom is very different from knowledge. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but it will do you no good at all if you are not wise. James points to God as the source of wisdom and encourages his readers to understand that God loves sharing his wisdom with us. In the Old Testament, we learn a lot about wisdom in the book of Proverbs. There we find down-to-earth, straightforward advice and guidance for life. It speaks so directly into our lives that, at times, i

James 1:2-3 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. Having problems, trials and difficulties hardly sounds like the best way to create joy. So what is James talking about in these verses? It may sound ridiculous, but he is taking his readers to the heart of the Christian faith, which turns everything upside down. James is not saying that when we face difficulties it will be a bundle of fun. He is speaking to people who knew what it was to suffer for their faith. He wants them to know that, when we place our difficulties in God’s hands, he produces something in us that lasts. Something that takes us closer to the heart of God, and that always produces joy. I have had a bad back for many years. At times, I’ve lived with pain night and day. It’s certainly not fun. But I thank God for the way in which he has used it to lead me closer to him. It has, unquest

Proverbs 11:25 The importance of generosity is a theme that spans the whole Bible. Everyone has moments of generosity. However, Biblical teaching encourages us to be generous as a way of life. It is no surprise that the writer of Proverbs returns to this theme frequently. He was clear that generosity not only blesses the person who receives the gift but the one who gives it, too. Generosity sprays out blessings in all directions! Premier is a case in point. Premier Media, which embraces both the magazines and radio stations, only exists because of the generosity of God’s people. The cost of radio licences and running radio stations is phenomenal. Without Christian people digging deep there is no way in which the ministry could continue to exist. But as people give generously, millions of people are blessed. Many of them may never give a penny to help Premier but they are able to receive a blessing because of other people’s generosity. This is a vital message in our acquisitive society. The

Proverbs 11:17 We tend to get a bit coy about the idea of getting rewards for living a godly life. This makes us very different from the writer of Proverbs! He was absolutely clear that living in line with God’s love and truth has rich rewards. It leads to a life bubbling over with joy, peace, love and healthy relationships. At the same time, he was clear that living contrary to God’s will leads to a life of misery and destruction. His view of life is refreshingly straightforward. ‘Kindness’ is a beautiful word that reflects the love and generosity of God. The Hebrew word is one we have met before. Hesed speaks of the faithfulness and love of our covenant-keeping God. This isn’t an occasional whim but an attitude of life. Isn’t it wonderful when you experience kindness? Perhaps someone went out of their way to help you, or sent you
a text, email or card to say they were thinking of you. They didn’t have to do it, and you probably weren’t expecting it but, out of sheer kindness, they took the t

Proverbs 11:14 What wise words these are! The world cries out for wise leaders. The Hebrew word used here literally means ‘seamanship’. That is to say: the ship of state needs to be in the hands of those who are wise enough to prevent the nation hitting the rocks. We see far too many countries in confusion and conflict because of the absence of wise leadership. It’s easy to become disillusioned and cynical when we see leaders acting unwisely, and even corruptly. However, we must remember that God is deeply concerned about national leaders. Ultimately, they derive their authority from him. We need to pray continually for those who take on such awesome responsibility. We mustn’t run away because politics is too mucky and confusing. Rather we must make it a matter of deep concern and loving prayer. The apostle Paul urged his young friend Timothy to pray “for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases Go

Proverbs 11:13 I suspect we have all had the experience of someone saying to us: “This is just between you and me. It must go no further. It has to be kept within these four walls.” Because we are human, we get excited. This person has trusted us with important information. But this is dangerous territory. It may well be that they are passing on information with such care because they have promised not to share it. They have proved that they cannot keep a confidence. You’d do well to remember that when speaking to them in future! Gossip is incredibly attractive. The writer of Proverbs refers to it as being “like dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart” (Proverbs 18:8). When we hear gossip, for a fleeting moment we feel flattered that the person was willing to share it with us. Then we realise the horrible destructiveness of what they have done. We can be quite sure that our secrets will never be secure with that person. We all need people with whom we can speak with complete confidence.

Luke 19:26 In the parable of the talents, Jesus speaks of three servants who were entrusted with some money. Two of them multiplied the original amount enormously and, when the king discovered this, he was thrilled. But the third servant played it safe, hiding the money to ensure he could return it in full. The king was furious. He ordered his safely preserved money to be given to the servant who had made the most money. Jesus’ message is clear. Don’t play it safe! If God has given you a gift, use it. If you have a gift of caring, studying, administrating, teaching, healing, praying or writing, whatever it may be, make sure that you are using it as productively as you can. One day the Lord will ask you what you have done with the gift – and you should expect a severe response if your answer is that you played it safe, and did nothing. It’s tempting to look at our gifts and think they don’t amount to much. We can all look at others and reflect that they are so much more gifted than we are. But that

Luke 19:5-7 I think everyone loves to be called by name. I certainly do. And it is particularly special if you didn’t realise that the person speaking to you knew your name. Clearly, Zacchaeus was not only surprised that Jesus knew his name but thrilled when he offered to visit his house. This changed everything for Zacchaeus, who realised that he had to turn his life around. The fact that Jesus came into the world to save sinners is wonderful, but it means little until you realise that this offer is extended to you personally. 
You matter to God. Incredibly, if you had been the only sinner who had ever lived, Jesus would have died for you. As a teenager, I really struggled to believe that I could be that important to God. It seemed so unlikely. But it’s precisely the good news that Jesus came to proclaim to the world. When you accept it for yourself, it cannot fail to turn your life upside down. The crowd in this story did not approve of Jesus’ choice. They couldn’t believe he would go to the ho

Luke 18:35; 40-43 Jesus knew that he was heading to Jerusalem to die. But, even so, as he was on his way there, he had time for people. When he heard a blind man call out to him, he stopped and gave the man his full attention. From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he had declared that he had come to bring sight to the blind, in fulfilment of Isaiah 61. But that didn’t mean he would impose his healing. He came to offer healing and that’s what he does when he meets the blind beggar in Jericho. Jesus never barges into our lives telling us what’s best and imposing his will on us. He simply offers himself. On the face of it, it seems strange that Jesus would ask a blind man what he wanted him to do because it seems so obvious. We know nothing of this man’s circumstances, but we might well presume that his blindness was connected to his begging. He lived a life of complete vulnerability and so he needed to receive his sight. Even so, Jesus respects him as an individual and lets him make the de

Luke 18:31-33 Jesus’ death on the cross was only a few days away. He took his disciples to one side and gave them a vivid description of what was going to happen. But, incredibly, they didn’t understand a word of it. It was all a complete mystery to them. The coming days were a total shock. They understood that Jesus was an amazing teacher and healer, but they had yet to grasp the true meaning of his life, and they didn’t want to think about his death. We live in a society that is equally unaware of the significance of Jesus’ death. This is a great tragedy. As we approach Easter, we need to reflect on the ways in which we can help people to grasp the importance of this time. I think we should be glad that Easter eggs are still a focus of huge attention. 80 million boxed eggs are sold every year in the UK – and more than 500 million cream eggs! I am not for a moment suggesting that this leads to deep spiritual enlightenment, but the symbol of an egg does convey a clear and powerful picture of n

Luke 18:16-17 Jesus continually surprised people, but his reaction to children would have been particularly astonishing to his hearers. In Jesus’ time, children had no status or protection in law. At best, they were regarded as potential adults who needed to be seen but certainly not heard. The disciples were keen to protect their rabbi, Jesus, from the children so that he could get on with the serious business of instructing the adults. But, as so often was the case, Jesus turned their thinking upside down. Not only did Jesus welcome the children but said that they provided the role model for his disciples to follow. What was Jesus getting at? He clearly wasn’t encouraging his followers to be childish. He was affirming that he wanted them to come to him with a spirit of openness and simplicity. The beauty of children is that they haven’t lived long enough to make life complicated. He wanted his followers to come to him with that simple trust. I feel sure that he also wanted to encourage a spi