Daily Bible Verses

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He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    …

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-05-5-listening-r25 

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
…

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-04-30-up-the-lane-r25

14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.…

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

If the Sun is the source of flow in the economy of nature, what is the “Sun” of a human gift economy, the source that constantly replenishes the flow of gifts? Maybe it is love.

Reflecting on the abundant Juneberries she has been gifted from a nearby tree, Potawatomi botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer considers the gift economy of natural processes: 

This pail of…

Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!   Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. …

No one who hopes in you    will ever be put to shame (Psalm 25:3)

Death is not only physical dying. Death also means going to the full depths of things, hitting the bottom, going beyond where we’re in control. When we go into the full depths and death of anything , even the depths of our own sin, we can come out the…

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14…

In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. —Mark 1:35 

If the desert is a place of renewal, transformation, and freedom, and if the heat and isolation served as a nurturing incubator …, one wonders if a desert experience is necessary to reclaim this legacy.  

One need not wonder long when there are so many deserts within reach. Today’s wilderness can be found in bustling suburban…

5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 ‘As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.’

…

Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-04-2-the-bible-and-violence-pa…

‘I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.’ 1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2
 
I pray for those in government, royalty, and all in authority in my workplace. Please give them wisdom and strength for their roles.

‘Prayer isn’t just one thing…

‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’ GENESIS 50:20
 
Lord, thank you that you know the end from the beginning. Help us to seek your perspective.

Being thankful in all circumstances is not the same as being thankful for every situation in which we find…

‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’ JOHN 16:33
 
‘Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!’ (Revelation 7:12)

The act of rejoicing is something quite different from naïve optimism. It is not subject to the ups and…

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” Romans 12:21

That is the heart of the challenge—what do we believe? What is our ground? What narratives have shaped us and are shaping us? We must have the clarity to name evil for what it is, yet without losing ourselves in othering, understanding that in some way or form, we are part of what we are naming. We must engage not just with what’s out there but with what’s within us as well. History is filled with…

Not Following the crowd 

A preacher gets up, quotes scripture, and reminds the gathered congregation that God loves the outcast—those in fear for their lives—the poor, prisoners, the disabled, and the oppressed. 

In response, an outraged mob tries to kill the preacher…. 

Jesus spoke directly to the congregation saying that God loved widows and those stricken with leprosy—implying that his neighbors had not treated widows and lepers justly. They…

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

God’s calling to ‘carry each other’s burdens’ begins with individuals, but it can also inspire whole communities to collectively reflect Christ’s love by supporting and serving others. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), violence had divided one village in the Ituri province for years. But through Tearfund’s peacebuilding workshops, local churches held…

‘Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.’  PHILIPPIANS 4:8
 
Holy Spirit, please make me aware when I am feeding my mind with anything unhelpful. I choose to focus on what is noble, right, pure, and lovely.

We have choices…

‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.’   EXODUS 20:17
 
Holy Spirit, please may I be mindful of any tendency to compare myself to others. Forgive any attitude of entitlement or envy.

Research has shown that the practice of gratitude as a discipline…

‘Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits –
 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion.’ PSALM 103:1-4

…

‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.’  JOHN 15:11
 
Lord, thank you that your joy is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). I celebrate your great love for me.

Joy is essential to our spiritual lives. Jesus reveals to us the Father’s love so that his joy may become ours and that our joy may become complete. Joy is the experience of knowing that we are…

‘And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.’  EPHESIANS 6:18
 

Jesus, I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ – especially those who are being persecuted.

Another way that Christians have sought to pray continually is to practise the presence of God throughout their day.…

42 Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 …

‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!’  PHILIPPIANS 4:4
 
Holy Spirit, remind me in every circumstance today, whether difficult or pleasant, to rejoice in the Lord.

Rejoice in the Lord! In Paul’s world and culture, rejoicing would have meant public celebration. The people of Ephesus, Philippi, and Corinth used to organise great festivals and games to celebrate their gods…

‘You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.’  DEUTERONOMY 8:17-18 

Give Thanks in All Circumstances
Lord, I thank you for all your provision and the work you give me to do.…

‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who hum ble themselves will be exalted.’  LUKE 18:13-14

‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ (Repeat this…

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.…

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ 41…

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28 ‘The elder brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. …

‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24

Richard Rohr challenges the ways we allow personal possessions and national boundaries to define us: 

Jesus primarily talked about the kingdom of God as his defining worldview. Yet, the vast majority of Christians in history have identified with their own…

‘But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’   MATTHEW 6:6

Father God, you invite me to spend time with you. I accept!

‘The Christian spiritual journey is responding to God’s invitation to personal encounter in love. Prayer is our response. Prayer is the place of encounter. Growth…

The land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. Leviticus 25:23

Biblical scholar Ched Myers writes of the prominence of immigrants in the Scriptures. 

Torah and the Prophets warned Israel not to discriminate against economic or political refugees, since in YHWH’s eyes even the chosen people were “but aliens and tenants” (Leviticus 25:23). Instead, they were to treat the “sojourners in your midst” with dignity and justice (…

But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)

Journalist Krista Tippett describes an embodied form of grace—the surprising grace of aging. As our minds and bodies slow down, we make space for simple contentment:  

To inhabit my body in all its grace and its flaws appears as a gift for the new/mundane bodily territory I’m on in midlife. Aging is the ultimate slow motion loss, inevitable for us all, and yet somehow for me and everyone I know,…

Rejoice Always  1 Thessalonians 5:16
‘Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.’ PSALMS 100:1-2
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

The injunction to rejoice cannot be interpreted as a general exhortation to Christians to ‘be happy at…

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.  The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’
Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone.”’  LUKE 4:1–4

…

Do not press me to leave you 
or to turn back from following you! 
Where you go, I will go; 
where you lodge, I will lodge; 
your people shall be my people, 
and your God my God.  
Where you die, I will die— 
there will I be buried.
(Ruth 1:16–17) 

Theologian Julia Lambert Fogg presents a biblical story of intergenerational immigration: 

Ruth is the story of a mother and a daughter-in-law who cross…

‘Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.
I will praise God’s name in song
    and glorify him with thanksgiving.’ PSALM 69:1, 30
 

Lord, help me to be realistic about the difficulties I face and be determined to focus on your love, power, and faithfulness.

Sometimes we have to push through to joy in the Lord. We often see this…

He prayed to the Lord, ‘Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. (Jonah 4:2)

There are many things which are true: I could have been more patient, spent more time with my…

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She…

‘About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.’ ACTS 16:25–26
 

Pray: Father, I don’t claim to understand the link between worship and freedom, but I thank you for Paul’s prison doors opening…

‘Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.’  PSALM 100:4 
 
Lord, I have so much to be grateful for… (list at least ten!)

Joy and gratitude are linked. Researcher Brené Brown found, without exception, that every person she interviewed who described living a joyful life…

Deep within them I will plant my law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).

Richard Rohr presents the journey of the prophets as one that ends in trusting God’s unconditional love and grace. He uses the prophet Jeremiah as an example: 

The first covenant between YHWH and Israel appeared to be bilateral: “If you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own” (…

“From God’s fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” John 1:16 

Richard Rohr insists that grace is the essence of who God is.  

The goodness of God fills all the gaps of the universe, without discrimination or preference. God is the gratuity of absolutely everything. The space in between everything is not space at all but Spirit. God is the “goodness glue” that holds the dark and light of things together, the free energy that carries all death…

 ‘Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
 to loose the chains of injustice
 and untie the cords of the yoke,
 to set the oppressed free
 and break every yoke?
 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
 and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and…

‘You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.’   JOHN 15:14–15
 

Lord, I long for true friendship with you. Help me to hear your voice and obey your commands.

Pray Continually:…

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1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2…

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-03-21-hungry-r25 

19 ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 …

‘For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him’ (Colossians 1:16).

Sam Brown, London Institute of Contemporary Christianity writes ….

When I was 17, I heard something on a podcast I’m still thinking about today.  

How do you account for the essential meaninglessness…

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (Luke 4:1)
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life…

‘… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ MATTHEW 28:20
 

Lord Jesus, thank you that you are with me always. May I become more conscious of your presence.

Think how different our lives would be if we were constantly aware of God’s presence with us – his loving, welcoming presence. If we allowed his life to flow…