Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Mark 8:33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” I have a soft spot for Peter. When Jesus informed his disciples that he was going to suffer at the hands of the Jewish authorities and then be killed, Peter did what any friend would do. He told Jesus off for saying such terrible things. He loved Jesus and hated the thought of him going through such suffering, but Jesus would have none of it. “Get away from me, Satan!” was as complete a reprimand as he could have uttered, and then he explained that Peter was just thinking things through from a human point of view. He needed to start thinking from God’s point of view. This is an important challenge for us all. It is easy for us to become so immersed in the busyness of daily life and the demands of our world that we struggle to think of anything from God’s point of view. Like Peter, it’s very easy for us to respond to situations in kind and thoughtful ways which totally miss the point. God is calling us to have a completely different worldview that is shaped by his agenda. The apostle Paul addressed precisely this issue when he wrote to the Corinthians. He reflected that they used to see one another and even Christ from a human point of view, but that had all come to an end. “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). If we are to be the people that God wants us to be, we must receive a complete overhaul of our ways of thinking. That’s where the revolution needs to begin. Only then will our actions reflect God’s generosity, wisdom and love to the world. Writing to the church in Rome, Paul got to the heart of the matter when he wrote: “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). Question In what ways has God transformed your thinking recently? Prayer Loving God, thank you that you love me so much that you want to transform my thinking. I invite your Holy Spirit to direct my thinking today. Amen

Mark 8:27,29 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi…He asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” As you look back through your life, you may be able to spot turning points. At the time, the day was just like any other, but with hindsight you realise that nothing was quite the same afterwards. Jesus’ visit to Caesarea Philippi with his disciples was undoubtedly a major turning point in his ministry. Up until this moment, Jesus had been preaching and healing with the rumble of threats from the teachers of the law in the background. From this point on, he was heading to the cross. These verses, in which Jesus asked his disciples about his identity, are followed by his first prediction of his death. From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, people had tried to work out who he was. They were amazed by his authoritative teaching and his powerful miracles. They also knew that he was from Nazareth, a town which had no reputation for producing influential people. As Jesus spent time alone with his disciples in the beautiful mountainous setting of Caesarea Philippi, this was an ideal moment for him to talk with them about his identity. At first, he asked a general question. He wanted to know what people were making of him. There were lots of theories. It isn’t surprising that some people imagined he was a revived John the Baptist. In Mark 6, King Herod had come up with the theory that John, who he had beheaded, had come back to life in the form of Jesus. Clearly, he was a man with a lively conscience. Others reflected on the possibility that Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets. Then Jesus turned the spotlight on the disciples themselves. They had spent about three years with Jesus and had enjoyed a close relationship with him. He wanted to know who they thought he was. Peter was first to reply. “You are the Messiah”, he declared. People today still have many different theories about Jesus, but the time comes when we all need to answer for ourselves. We can’t put it off any longer. Question Who do you say that Jesus is, and how does your answer shape your life? Prayer Lord Jesus, I thank you that you are the Messiah and that you are my Lord and my Saviour. Amen

Mark 7:14-15 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” The Pharisees had got really worked up by the disciples not washing their hands properly before eating. Elaborate rules had been developed over the years, and the Pharisees were meticulous in their adherence to them. They were sure that in order to be acceptable to God, they needed to keep these rules, but Jesus turned their thinking upside down. He pointed out that having really clean hands and following endless religious rules did nothing to change the person that you were. What mattered was what was in your heart. If you were seething with bitterness and anger, no amount of washing or other clever rituals could help. Jesus wanted to get to the heart of the matter. I honestly haven’t spent much of my life thinking about my heart. However, nine years ago, that all changed. I had cellulitis and when I was rushed into hospital, my heart was racing at 240 beats a minute. That wasn’t sustainable. I was swiftly treated with intravenous antibiotics, and within a day or so, I was much better, but that incident forced me to think more carefully about my heart. We would all do well to receive Jesus’ challenge and to look at our spiritual heart. If our hearts are full of pride and envy, there is no wonder we’ve got problems. We need to make sure that our hearts are full of the Holy Spirit, who is constantly producing his fruit within us. Singing hymns and songs, raising our hands in worship and praying will do nothing to bless us if our hearts are not sorted out. Question What is the condition of your spiritual heart? Prayer Lord God, I invite you to fill me with your Holy Spirit, so that my life will constantly produce good fruit. Amen

Mark 6:37 Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” The feeding of the 5,000 was a spectacular miracle, but Jesus didn’t rush into performing it. First of all, he challenged the disciples with a blunt command: “You feed them.” Just imagine how they would’ve felt! Suddenly, they had to come up with an answer. They started thinking through the implications and quickly worked out that they would need to work for a long time to earn enough to feed such a huge crowd. They were firmly convinced that Jesus’ challenge was completely impossible. The problem with the disciples was that they were thinking in purely human terms. Jesus was trying to help them think beyond the normal limitations of life. Their response was entirely reasonable, but the snag with it was that it didn’t take account of God. It left no room for miracles. As disciples of Jesus, they needed to stop thinking in purely practical terms and start seeing things from God’s perspective. The miraculous feeding of the 5,000 must have been a major moment in their development as disciples. They had to start thinking in completely new ways. I have spent a large slice of my life in church leadership meetings. In every single meeting, we have had to make decisions, and often we have had to face very challenging situations. I believe that God wants us to make good plans and think carefully through the implications of all our actions, but at the same time we always need to be listening for the voice of God, who will often call us to do things which don’t make any human sense. God is still the God of miracles, and he calls us to see things from his point of view and to never forget his amazing generosity and miraculous power. Question In what situations are you looking for God to do a miracle at the moment? Prayer Loving God, forgive me for those times when I only think in a human way. Help me to always remember that you are a God of miracles. Amen

Mark 6:31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. The disciples had just returned from their first mission trip, and they were full of it. They couldn’t wait to update Jesus and he, in turn, was keen to hear what had been going on. He invited them to head off with him to a quiet place where they could have quality time together and catch up on all the news. It was a great plan, but it failed spectacularly. As they headed off in their boat, the crowd spotted them and reached their destination before they did! I draw two conclusions from this fascinating account. Firstly, Jesus valued the opportunity for taking time out. He cared for his disciples and was aware of the pressure that they were under. Mark records that there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have enough time to eat. They desperately needed to get away from it all. We are just the same. We can’t keep going at full pace all the time. There are times when we need to have a deliberate plan to stop. However, the second conclusion I draw is that our plans don’t always work out! If Jesus’ plan for having some quiet time with his disciples failed, we shouldn’t be surprised when ours don’t work out. We ought to plan to have quiet times and breaks in our busy routines, but we always need to be light on our feet. Mark tells us that when Jesus stepped out of the boat, he had compassion on the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He wasn’t going to ignore their needs, so he scrapped the original plan and ministered to the crowds. I love the realism of this account and the fact that Jesus was so flexible. His intention was to serve God his Father and he was committed to doing so even when it mucked up his original plans. Question How good are you at being flexible when your plans suddenly change? Prayer Loving Father, help me to serve you effectively, even when things don’t work out in the way that I had planned. Amen

Mark 6:3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. This was an agonising moment. Jesus was rudely dismissed by the people of Nazareth. They couldn’t work out how someone they’d known for nearly 30 years had such an amazing ministry. Some of the people may have gone to school with Jesus and others would probably have known him and Joseph through their business. Through the centuries, it has been believed that Joseph, and presumably Jesus, were carpenters, although we can’t sure. The word in Greek describes people who worked with stone and metal as well as wood. However, whatever their precise line of work, they would have had customers. Jesus was being rejected by people who knew him well, and their rejection was brutal – they wanted nothing to do with him. The problem that the people of Nazareth had was that they could only see Jesus in human terms. They knew his family and everything about him. They couldn’t bring themselves to believe that a local boy could be anything special, and that continues to be the challenge with Jesus. People are happy to see him as a remarkable human being. They warm to his teaching; they love how he reached out to every kind of person; they are amazed by his miracles and impressed by his consistent love for people. However, they want to leave him there. They are resistant to the idea of him being the Son of God, but Mark’s Gospel is good news only because Jesus was both human and divine at the same time. Only in that way was he able to bring salvation to the world and so, however dismissive people might be, we need to be absolutely clear that Jesus was both God and man. Question Why do you think the people of Nazareth were so reluctant to accept that Jesus was the Son of God? Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, I worship you and praise you for entering into the life of our world so fully. Amen

Mark 5:18-19 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” This healing took place on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. It was a very different area from the other side of the lake, where Jesus spent most of his time living and ministering. Most of the people on the east side were Gentiles. Jesus was confronted with a man who lived in the burial caves and who couldn’t be restrained. He was known as Legion because there were so many evil spirits in him. No doubt the local population lived in great fear of him. Whenever he was put in chains and shackles, he just snapped the chains with his wrists and smashed the shackles. Jesus healed the man and ordered the evil spirits to enter a local herd of pigs. Two thousand of them hurtled down the hillside and drowned in the lake. Inevitably, the owners of the pigs were outraged by this, and the local population begged Jesus to leave the area. It was clear that Jesus’ ministry in this area had come to an end, so although he was keen to stay with Jesus, Legion had a job to do. The people’s hostility meant Jesus couldn’t remain there, so Legion needed to be the messenger. Jesus ordered him to go to his family and tell them what had happened, and he was clearly very effective in this. We learn that he travelled throughout the region telling people the amazing things that Jesus had done. There are many occasions when, like Legion, we might choose to keep things the way they are, but God wants us to move on. He wants us to go for the harder option of speaking to other people about him and helping them to understand how great he is. Question Are there times in your life when you should have been going out and speaking about your faith, but you chose the easier option of meeting up with other Christians? Prayer Loving Father, thank you for the amazing things that you have done in my life. Help me to always be ready to share them with others. Amen

Mark 4:38-39 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. The account of Jesus stilling the storm is well known, but only Mark records the rather rude question of the disciples. To imply that Jesus didn’t care that they were about to drown suggests that they didn’t know him very well. They were still trying to work out who he was, and when he had brought calm to the situation, the disciples were absolutely terrified, asking with shock and surprise: “Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (v41). When things go wrong, it is easy to lash out at God. In the heat of the moment, it is easy to suggest that God doesn’t care when we face rejection, or an illness, failure or accident, but it’s a question that we never need to ask. God always cares for us, whatever the circumstances. We will often face difficulties and challenges, but they are a consequence of sin and the brokenness of our ungodly world. They should never lead us to doubt the unchanging nature of God and of his love for us. The psalmists had many moments when they accused God of being absent, but it is never true. God is always present. Psalm 103:8 reads: “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.” The Hebrew word translated as ‘unfailing love’ is hesed. The word is often used in the Old Testament and it speaks of the fact that God is a covenant-keeping God. He will never stop loving us because he has promised to be faithful, and he will keep his word whatever the circumstances. I totally understand you may sometimes feel that God is far away and doesn’t care, but you need to know that you are wrong. He will never stop loving you. Question In what way is your life blessed by knowing that God’s love is unfailing? Prayer Lord God, forgive me for those moments when I have doubted your love for me. Thank you that you will never leave me or forsake me. Amen

Mark 4:26-27 Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens.” This wonderful little parable tells us why it is so exciting to work for God. As I sit down at my laptop to write these reflections, I haven’t any idea how God will use them. I have no way of knowing who you are or what your needs are at the moment, but God knows and uses what I am putting in his hands. When we care for another person, offer a word of encouragement or write a thoughtful email, people will be blessed by God, but in a way that is totally beyond our knowledge. It’s just the same for the farmer who may not have any understanding of botany but who simply knows that once he has put seeds in the ground, growth takes place, and it happens whether he’s working hard or sleeping in his bed. Let this be an encouragement to you: nothing that you ever do for God is a waste of time. I am more than aware that it can feel like it at times. Working hard in a youth club where there is only ever rudeness and cynicism, working in a church where the numbers are declining and the people are reluctant to change, sharing your faith when people don’t seem to take you seriously, caring for people who are demanding and unappreciative – there are lots of situations in which it can be really tough to serve God. However, be sure of this: if you are doing God’s work, blessing will flow in miraculous ways from what you do. Don’t ask me how God does it or how he makes things grow. I don’t know, and I don’t need to know. Whatever you are doing today, commit it to God and you can be sure that, miraculously, it will help to make his kingdom grow, even though we haven’t a clue how he does it. Question In what ways does this little parable encourage you? Prayer Lord God, thank you that your kingdom is constantly growing. Help me to work enthusiastically for you today. Amen

Mark 4:21 Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine.” Jesus often spoke using parables. On the surface, they were just simple stories, but they all had a very deep spiritual meaning. Like me, you may well have been listening to the parables since you were young, and I’m sure you’d agree that they keep challenging and encouraging us in new ways. We are not always in a position to understand what God is saying to us, but he is always in the business of shining his light on our lives. He wants us to understand what his will is, and the Bible is one of the main ways in which he chooses to speak with us. So the question we all need to ask is this: “How are we going to make sure that God’s light shines in our lives?” First of all, we need to set aside time to receive God’s truth. However busy your life is, you need to make sure you have time to reflect on what God is saying to you. These brief devotionals may well be helpful to you, but you also need to stand back and consider what these words mean for you personally. That cannot be done in a hurry. You may be able to go for a walk or sit quietly in a room, and as you do so, you need to invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you and to apply God’s word to your life. From time to time, it is good to set aside a longer period of time to listen to God. Perhaps you can go on a personal retreat where for a day or a number of days you can spend time reflecting on what he is saying to you. There are scores of wonderful retreat houses throughout the United Kingdom where you would receive a warm welcome and where you can allow God’s light to shine. Putting the lamp of God’s truth under the basket of our busy lives just doesn’t make sense. Question What do you find the most helpful way of listening to God? Prayer Lord God, I thank you that you are constantly seeking to speak with me. Help me to carve out time to listen carefully to your word. Amen

Mark 3:34-35 [Jesus] looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” The Gospels tell us remarkably little about Jesus’ family. We would so love to know about all his family members and his relationships with them, but the Gospels are largely silent. However, we meet them on this occasion because they had clearly got the impression that Jesus wasn’t looking after himself. Earlier in this chapter, we are informed that Jesus and his disciples were so busy that they couldn’t even find time to eat. Mark records that they had formed the view that Jesus was out of his mind. When Jesus was told that his mother and brothers had come to see him, his response was to identify who his true family was: people who did God’s will. I don’t believe for a moment that Jesus was abandoning his birth family or seeking to insult them. He always sought to uphold the law, which affirmed the God-given responsibility for caring for one’s parents. However, he wanted to make it plain that the most important relationships were with his spiritual family. The whole Bible is very clear in its teaching about family relationships. The apostle Paul was particularly strong in his language when he addressed his young friend, Timothy. He wrote: “Those who won’t look after their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers” (1 Timothy 5:8). We need to care for our families but never lose sight of the fact that our forever family is our Christian family, made up of those who obey God. Question How important is your birth family to you? Prayer Lord God, thank you for the blessing of both my birth family and my forever family. Amen

Mark 3:13 Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. The calling of the twelve disciples is a fascinating moment in Jesus’ ministry. It’s greatly significant that he chose to work with a group of people and not operate alone. In this, he affirmed the importance of fellowship. However gifted we may be, we need one another and our very different outlooks and abilities. Going it alone is never Jesus’ way. I remember as a teenager meeting a very enthusiastic Christian who was determined that my home town should all follow Jesus. It was a wonderful vision to have, but he was quite clear that he was going to do this by himself. He had a large leather bag full of Christian tracts and he was confident that he would be able to get the job done. His enthusiasm was commendable, but his method was sadly wrong. We are never called to go off on heroic solo adventures but to work closely with our Christian brothers and sisters. Jesus’ disciples were a fascinatingly mixed group. Matthew was a tax collector, working for the Romans. Tax collectors were regarded as traitors because of their close relationship with the occupying forces and were particularly despised because they often became very rich in the process. Another disciple was Simon the Zealot, and he likely belonged to a group that was seeking to kick the Romans out of the land, by force if necessary. Just imagine having Matthew and Simon in the same group! They probably had some heated conversations during the time they worked with Jesus, but what united them all was their commitment to him. I also find it interesting that so many of the disciples are either largely or completely unknown to us. When we think of the disciples we immediately think of Peter, James and John, but there were twelve of them and each one was crucial to Jesus’ mission, even those whose words were never recorded. Whoever we are, however small our role and few our words, we all have a vital role to play in Jesus’ mission. Question Why is it so important to spend time worshipping and working with other Christians? Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for calling me to follow you. Help me to work well with my Christian brothers and sisters. Amen

Mark 2:27-28 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” Some years ago, I spent a couple of months living in Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, which is home to a very large number of ultra-orthodox Jews. I very soon learned, to my surprise, that the Sabbath begins late afternoon on Friday, when the first star is seen in the sky. From that moment, the shops shut and people go home to begin their rituals to mark the start of the Sabbath. There is something incredibly special about setting aside one day in seven as a day of rest. This was the example that God set when he created the world, and the law of Moses protected the day with a penalty of death for anyone who worked on the Sabbath. Over the centuries, the laws of the Sabbath were developed extensively, and by the time of Jesus, there were scores of laws regulating people’s activities on the day. There were, essentially, 39 forms of work which ranged from burning, writing and erasing to washing, sewing and cooking. The Pharisees were strict observers of the Sabbath and, in their eagerness to trip him up, they carefully watched Jesus and his disciples on the Sabbath. When they spotted the disciples walking through a field and breaking off the heads of grain to eat, they had their moment. The disciples were caught red-handed, guilty of a number of Sabbath violations, including walking and reaping. Jesus’ response to the Pharisees was to indicate that they had completely missed the point. God had given the gift of the Sabbath in order to be a blessing to people, not to tie them up in legal tangles. In a society that is busy seven days a week, we have a real challenge to keep Sunday special, but in doing so we will receive many blessings. We need to work hard to ensure it doesn’t get squeezed into the mould of the other six days. Question What more could you do to make your Sunday special? Prayer Lord God, I thank you for the gift of Sunday. Help me to use it in order to get to know you better. Amen

Mark 2:22 [Jesus said:] “No one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” We all know what happens to leather after a few years: it becomes hard and brittle. Just imagine what happens when you put wine into an old leather wineskin – the wine inevitably leaks away. In Jesus’ day, wine was largely stored in wineskins, so everyone got the point. If you want to keep your wine, you need to make sure that you only put it into new wineskins. Jesus’ teaching was radical and new. He was telling people about the new wine of the kingdom of God. This wonderful new wine was so precious that there was no point in trying to put it into the old wineskins of Judaism. There needed to be a complete revolution. It was vital for them to be born again. A new life needed to begin. Many people hear the teaching of Jesus and conclude that they need to turn over a new leaf. They need to start being more loving, and stop being so selfish. However, if we are just making a few amendments to life, it isn’t going to work. We will soon fail in the attempt. What we need is a completely new start in which we hand over our lives to God and allow him to lead us by his Holy Spirit. This is the key to all of Jesus’ teaching. As we allow the Spirit to lead us, we will naturally produce the fruit of the Spirit. We won’t need to go on training courses to learn about how to love more or be more peaceful or find more joy in life. These things will inevitably flow as we allow the Holy Spirit to take control. Miraculously, we will find that he gives us gifts to enable us to be more effective for him. Often, they will be gifts related to skills and abilities that we already have, but sometimes they will be totally new gifts which the Spirit gives us for a new situation. Receiving the new wine that Jesus wants to give us will transform every part of life, so we wouldn’t want any of it to leak. Question In what ways have you seen the new wine of the kingdom? Prayer Lord Jesus, I invite you to take charge of my life and to fill me with the new wine of your Holy Spirit. Amen

Mark 2:17 [Jesus] told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Jesus’ way of life was a shock to the respectable religious leaders of his day. So far as they were concerned, the priority was to ensure they were ritually pure so they could participate in the temple worship. Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan powerfully describes the situation. The first two people who walked past the wounded man were a priest and a Levite. Jesus wasn’t suggesting that they didn’t care – their priority was to remain ritually clean so they could perform their duties. Jesus, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be bothered about staying ritually clean according to the Jewish law. He gladly associated with dodgy people, even though he must have known that this would offend the religious leaders. Here, Jesus explained the reason why he did this: he had come for the sake of people who knew that they were sick, and not for people who were spiritually perfect. Of course, Jesus knew that everyone needed forgiveness, but he also knew he couldn’t help people who thought they were perfect. One of the persistent problems doctors face is that people often don’t take action when they have a medical need. A lump grows or another bodily change takes place and they shrug it off, assuming it will resolve itself. Until a person takes action and visits the doctor, there is not a thing that the doctor can do. It is very much the same with God. He would love to forgive us, but first we must recognise that we have a problem. Question How would you describe your own spiritual health? Prayer Lord God, forgive me for trying to pretend that I was spiritually fit when I needed to come and seek your healing. Amen

Mark 2:5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralysed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” I love this story. Four men had decided that, however difficult it might be, they were going to get their paralysed friend to Jesus. They knew it would be a challenge because Jesus was already very popular and large crowds were following him. On this particular day, Jesus was preaching in a house in Capernaum where he had been staying. The house was already crammed with people, so there was no possibility of the men getting their friend to Jesus through the door. They needed to use their initiative, and for them the obvious answer was to break through the roof. The owner of the house probably wasn’t quite so thrilled with their conclusion but it was, nonetheless, effective, and the paralysed man was brought to the feet of Jesus. Everybody could see what the need was. The man was paralysed and needed healing, so surely Jesus, who had already acquired a reputation as a miraculous healer, would reach out his hand and heal his paralysis. However, Jesus’ first response was not to heal the man but to pronounce forgiveness. This really wound up the religious teachers, who knew that only God could forgive sin. They were still a long way from recognising Jesus’ true identity. When we look at other people, it is often very easy to spot their immediate problem. They may be ill, poor or anxious. Understandably, we are eager to fix their problem as quickly and effectively as possible, but everybody’s first need is forgiveness. Only when we have a restored relationship with God can we move forward into the new life that he wants for us. Until we have received God’s forgiveness, we will continue to lug around sin, guilt and failures from the past. God’s miraculous forgiveness is on offer to anyone who will own up to their sin and receive his gift for themselves. Question How has God’s gift of forgiveness affected your life? Prayer Loving God, I have let you down in my thoughts, words and actions and through those good things that I have left undone. Please forgive my sin and set me free to live for you. Amen

Mark 1:35 Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Although Jesus’ ministry had only recently begun, he was already very busy. His authoritative preaching and miraculous healings were attracting great interest and he had little time to himself, but he knew that his authority came from God his Father, so he needed to keep in close contact with him. He had to work hard to find a special time and place to pray. He knew that his ministry relied upon it. As we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we need to work just as hard to find our special times and places to pray. One thing is certain: personal prayer won’t happen without discipline and determination. We will always be able to fill our time with other activities. The key thing is for us to become convinced that prayer is our priority and that other activities, however worthy and enjoyable, are of lesser importance. That’s often hard to accept because we tend to judge ourselves, and others tend to measure us, by our activities. For the person who doesn’t understand how God works, prayer could easily look like a complete waste of time. The place where we pray is often very important. You may have a special place in your home where you can sit and pray. In a busy household, this might be hard to achieve. I once heard someone claim that the only quiet place they could ever find in their home was their loo! Maybe you have a park where you can walk. Wherever your special place is, you need to cherish the opportunity to meet with God in quietness. William Wilberforce, famous for his involvement in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, once wrote: “Of all things, guard against neglecting God in the secret place of prayer.” Whoever we are, and whatever our life looks like, we all need to listen to those words and make prayer a priority, just like Jesus did. Question What is your special time and place of prayer? Prayer Loving Father, thank you for the privilege of being able to pray to you. Help me to always make it a priority. Amen

Mark 1:16-18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. I will never forget the first time I saw the Sea of Galilee. I was with a friend and we had been travelling for a couple of hours up the Jordan valley. It was incredibly hot and our little car didn’t have the blessing of air conditioning. We greeted our first glimpse of the lake with great excitement and, as we saw it, it was so easy to imagine Jesus walking along beside it, coming to a couple of fishermen and inviting them to follow him. The truly incredible thing is that nothing has changed. Two thousand years ago, Jesus invited people to follow him, and he still does! It's the personal nature of Christianity that makes it so different from other religions and philosophies. Religions normally have a set of beliefs and rules that you have to subscribe to, and then you’re a member, but for Christians, it’s all about a person, and living a life that follows and pleases him. Life is instantly redefined when you follow Jesus. Nothing looks the same. Someone once described the difference as being like seeing life in colour after only seeing it in black and white. I find it fascinating that as soon as Jesus invited the fishermen to follow him, he gave them a job. You might have thought that Jesus would have given them a while to get to know him and understand his teaching first, but no – following Jesus always involves finding others to follow him. And that’s the way Jesus’ earthly ministry concluded as well. When Jesus ascended to his Father in heaven he commanded his followers to make disciples of all nations. Whatever you are doing today Jesus says two things to you. He invites you to follow him and asks you to recruit other followers as well. Question Who might you be able to encourage to follow Jesus today? Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for inviting me to follow you. Help me to follow you more closely each day and to encourage others to do the same. Amen

Mark 1:14-15 Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” We all know what we need to do when we are driving in the wrong direction: turn around. These days, I rely on satnav for most of my journeys, but every now and again, I trust my memory. Most of time that works brilliantly, but I have had a number of embarrassing experiences when I got things wrong. I remember one time when I was driving home at the end of the day. I wasn’t far from home, but I suddenly realised that I was driving north when I needed to drive south. All I could do was swallow my pride and turn around! That’s repentance – turning from the wrong direction to the right one. Just like John the Baptist, Jesus preached a message of repentance because he knew that it was the only way for people to discover the good news of God’s forgiveness. Repentance is much more than merely regret or remorse. It’s being sorry enough to stop and walk in a new direction. On the day of Pentecost, the punchline of Peter’s sermon was that the people needed to repent. That day saw the birth of the Church as people turned to God in repentance and were baptised. As they did so, Peter told them they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. When we turn our backs on the way we have been living, we need enormous encouragement and strength to head in a new direction. It’s not something we can possibly do by ourselves. No amount of human effort will be enough. We are completely reliant upon God’s Holy Spirit to fill us each day and to help us to walk in a new way. Question What has repentance meant for you personally? Prayer Lord God, I repent of the fact that I have so often gone my own selfish way. I ask you to forgive my sins and for the power of your Holy Spirit to help me live a new life in your strength. Amen

Mark 1:12-13 The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him. We’d probably all like to think that if our lives were totally led by the Spirit like Jesus’ was, we would be able to avoid all challenges and difficulties. Life would be one long succession of blessings and smiling people. The experience of Jesus shows us that this isn’t how the Spirit works. Led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus faced temptations, injustice, opposition and violence, but as he did so, he was given the wisdom and strength to face every challenge. The New Testament is incredibly candid about the challenges which face those who follow Jesus, and he himself was very clear about this. He saw it as an inevitable consequence of living in a broken and sinful world. In Jesus’ teaching to his disciples before his death, he said: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). If you look back through the past couple of years, you can likely identify many temptations, challenges and difficulties that you have had to face. That’s life! The same will be true in the months and years ahead, but we need not be afraid because as the Holy Spirit leads us through these experiences, he will also give us the wisdom and strength to cope with them. When Jesus sent his disciples out on their first mission, he assured them that it would be tough. He said he was sending them out like sheep among wolves. He told them they would be handed over to the courts and flogged with whips in the synagogues. On the face of it, everything would go wrong, but Jesus told them not to be fearful because God would perfectly equip them. He told them not to worry about what they would say when they were arrested because the Spirit would give them the right words. I totally understand why we all shrink from the idea of temptations, problems and opposition, but with the Holy Spirit, we have nothing at all to fear. As we trust him, we will have all the wisdom, strength and words we need. Question How does this teaching help you as you look to your own future? Prayer Loving God, I invite your Holy Spirit to fill me, and to guide me every step of my life. Amen