Daily Bible Verses by Book

Heavenly father
give us grace to express our deep longing to be with you, even when we don’t know what that would look like

¹¹ But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping.
So as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, 
¹² and she saw two angels in white sitting,
one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 
¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She said to them, “Because they have…

When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).  

John 20:14–16

Have you ever completely missed what was right in front of you?

Mary Magdalene had. She was standing in a garden,…

Heavenly father
give us grace to hear your voice today and obey it

¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”
She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him,
“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him,
and I will take him away.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”
¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me…

Heavenly father give us grace to be at peace, even when circumstances could lead to fear.

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. ¹⁹ When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled,…

John 20:18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’

Richard Rohr explains how the resurrection offers us hope, especially in challenging times: 
I often wonder why so much of human life seems so futile, so tragic, so short, and so sad. If Christ is risen, why do people die before they begin to truly live? Why has there been nonstop war? Why are so many people imprisoned unjustly? Why are the poor oppressed? Why do we destroy so many of our relationships? If Christ is risen, why is there so much suffering? What is God up to? It really doesn’t make…

Resurrection: A Nonviolent Commission
Peace activist John Dear finds encouragement for living a nonviolent life in Jesus’s words to his disciples after his resurrection: 
When he rose from the dead and appeared to his awe-struck disciples on that Easter Sunday night, [Jesus] told them repeatedly, “Peace be with you.” He showed them his wounds, and repeated his greeting, “Peace be with you.” In that resurrection moment, he offered a peace that is not of this world. It is the peace that comes about through total surrender, nonviolence, non-retaliation, and…

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’  (John 20:19)

Richard Rohr says: “For the great mystics, God is always experienced as abiding in their own soul and, in seeming contradiction, as totally transcendent and mysterious at the same time! God is both intimate and ultimate, no longer “out there,” though not just “in here,” either. When we know that we are living tabernacles…

Heavenly father
give us the grace of your holy spirit today to face up to what causes pain (in people’s hands and sides) and to be a forgiving presence

²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. 
²¹ Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” 
²² When he had said this, he breathed on them…

Heavenly father
give us the grace, courage and honesty to face up to what we do and no not believe

²⁴ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn’t with them when Jesus came. 
²⁵ The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails,
put my finger into the print of the nails,
and put my hand into his side,
I will not believe.”

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 have any desire to believe. Some doubters are simply sceptics who seek to protect themselves from…