Daily Bible Verses

‘They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?”
 ‘He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25: 44-45)

Some...

‘Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.’
COLOSSIANS 4:6

Paul’s attempts at conversations about Jesus have landed him in chains. So you could be forgiven for wondering about his evangelistic approach, whether a combative attitude has led to his predicament. But as Paul concludes this letter from prison to the fledgling Colossian community, he appeals to them to combine a wise lifestyle with grace-laced...

Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and misfits?”  Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a...

Unless I see the mark of his nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and put my hand in his side, I will not believe. (John 20.25)

While there are many who believe whose life has not been complicated by unbelief, there are also many others whose path to faith has passed through a great furnace of doubts

The fact is that doubts can be overcome provided three factors are present. 

Doubt must be honest doubt

Not all doubters...

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35)

All of us must face and embrace the urgent need for deep social change - change that begins within, then spreads like ripples on a pond, and finally becomes a tsunami of love-inspired change.  All human beings, made in the image of God have the capacity to be good and to insist on good; to care for others and insist on being cared for; to stand up for the...

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

Relationships of mutual concern are rooted in both love and trust. These are people we know will hold our hearts with care. We’re prone to forgive them when they make mistakes, and we hope they’ll do the same for us. We feel accountable to one another. We want to share with them our important moments, both the hardships and the joys. We thrive when we’re together....

The foundation of Jesus’ social program is what I will call non-idolatry, or the withdrawing of our enthrallment from all kingdoms except the kingdom of God. This supports a much better agenda than feeling the need to attack things directly. Nonattachment (freedom from loyalties to human-made domination systems) is the best way I know of protecting people from religious zealotry or any kind of antagonistic thinking or behavior. ...

‘I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments.’   COLOSSIANS 2:4

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul expresses a deep pastoral concern: that believers should not be misled by teachings that sound great but are ultimately false. ‘I am saying this,’ he writes, ‘so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments’. It’s a timely warning. Then, as now, Christians face a barrage of persuasive voices – some subtle, some less so – that...

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.  (Matthew 9v10)

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-06-23-around-us-part-2-get-close-r25

The community of believers was of one mind and one heart. None of them claimed anything as their own; rather, everything was held in common. Acts 4:32

The book of Acts is all about the early community of Jesus’ followers that formed after Jesus’ ascension. Communities of followers of the Way—as they’re called—start to form and what we find in Acts 4 are descriptions of what started to happen in these communities. Another way to say it is that this is what it looked like when people...

The Joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8v10)

Joy deep in the heart of experience of God. 

Joy not related to, dependent upon, or derived from, any circumstances or conditions of life

Strange quality of awe in this joy, but a reflection of the deep calm water of the spirit out of which it comes. 

It is primarily a discovery of the soul, when God makes known God’s presence, where there are no words, no outward song, only the Divine...

13 ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 ‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and...

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

How do we foster embodied presence and joy? I believe we do it through practice and through meditation. Left to your own devices, the natural state of the human brain is a wandering and critical mind. Meditation helps bring that chaos into a more peaceful state. If it’s difficult, begin with sitting in silence....

your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-06-18-fully-real-r25

Joy as embodied presence is an abiding awareness of the gift given to each and every one of us, no matter our circumstances in life. I want to begin talking about joy embodied from scriptural sources. In John 15:11, Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.” In 1st Thessalonians 5:16–18, we read, “Let your joy be your continual feast. Make your life a prayer, and in the midst of everything, be...

The Joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8v10)

The spiritual journey is a constant interplay between moments of awe followed by a general process of surrender to that moment. We must first allow ourselves to be captured by the goodness, truth, or beauty of something beyond and outside ourselves. Then we universalize from that moment to the goodness, truth, and beauty of the rest of reality, until our realization eventually ricochets back to...

‘It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.’  COLOSSIANS 1:28

I’ve got a five-year-old who’s currently football mad. He’s making lists of the most important pieces of kit to buy, asking, ‘Is this good food for footballers?’ before every meal, reading football encyclopaedias (yes, they do exist!), and training every morning before school with his mates. He’s making sure that his time alone in...

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. (Matthew 9:9)

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-06-16-around-us-part-1-get-your-eyes-open-...

Isaiah 61:1–2
God has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, 
to bind up the broken hearted, 
to proclaim liberty to the captives, 
and release to the prisoners, 
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

Deep reading: Read slowly and pause on any word or phrase that especially speaks to you, touches you or awakens something in you.  
Deep meditation: Allow yourself time to reflect on whatever in the text calls to your attention and...

“Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1–2)

Have you ever wondered why Jesus sent out his disciples two by two? No phones, no maps, and no bags – just each other and their annoying habits.

Watching the fifth series of Race Across the World has caused me to rethink Jesus’ strategy of sending them this way. Pairs of disparate disciples are about to discover what it’s like to get up...

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-06-13-at-one-with-god-r25 

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
...

In the Solentiname Islands of Nicaragua, Ernesto Cardenal reflected on the Gospels each week with communities of campesinos  living in poverty. Commenting on the Beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Luke 6:20), Cardenal shares their conversation: 

ÓSCAR’S MOTHER: “It seems to me that the kingdom is love. Love in this life. And heaven is for those who love here, because God is love.”...

‘…so that he might come to have first place in everything.’  COLOSSIANS 1:18

Since NASA first began releasing them in 2022, the pictures coming back from the James Webb space telescope have been breathtaking, showing the sheer scale and beauty of our universe. To be useful, though, the images have to be razor-sharp. So, to ensure no opportunity is ever lost, there is a constant process of recalibration going on, involving tiny adjustments to the precision-engineered lenses and...

Jesus said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. (John 21:6) 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3v5,6) 

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-06-11-timing-...

Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’ (Matthew 4v4)

More than telling us exactly what to see in the Scriptures, Jesus taught us how to see, what to emphasize, and also what could be de-emphasized or ignored. Beyond fundamentalism or literalism, Jesus practiced a form of Jewish commentary called midrash, consistently using questions to keep spiritual meanings...