Daily Bible Verses

‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep’ (Romans 12:15

Why we cry in the dark: Cinema offers a surprising way of learning to love our neighbours.
    

More than once over the past few weeks, someone’s delivered a line that tenses my chest, clenches my jaw, and brings prickly wetness to my eyes. For just a moment, I’ve escaped the anxieties of my own life, caught up in a greater story, gently moved by God’s Spirit.
…

3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them round your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.
5…

Matthew 10:31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2026-01-16-beating-burnout-part-3-s…

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  Revelation 21:3

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2026-01-21-the-love-of-god-r26

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, ‘Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young…

⁶ ‘Sarai ill-treated Hagar; so she fled from her. ….⁷ The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert ….¹⁰ The angel said, ‘I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.’    ….¹³ Hagar gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for…

1 The Lord had said to Abram, 
‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 ‘I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’  (Genesis 12:1-3)

According to the ancient stories of Genesis, God is up to something…

They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” —John 1:38–39
Richard Rohr considers the invitation to discipleship Jesus extends today:
When Jesus goes out to Galilee, his initial preaching is summed up in the verse, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15). “Repent” (or metanoia in Greek) means to turn around, to change. The first word that comes out of Jesus’s mouth is repent, change.…

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5v3)

Who precisely are the “poor in spirit” whom Jesus blesses? Again and again in the Psalms ‘poor’ and ‘pious’ are synonymous for those who out of their need cast themselves wholly on God for their salvation (see Psalms 9.18; 33.18; 40.18). They are the poor of Isaiah 61.1, who are “oppressed” and…

8 ‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord…

The question of why there is anything at all, why there is something and not nothing, finds an answer in the basic character of the Creator: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The living God is love, faithful, challenging, and compassionate love as the scriptures often declare…. This love is the wellspring of creation. There is no pressure on infinite holy mystery to create and continuously support a world. How could there be? It is done freely, as a flaming, generous act of love, the plentitude of…

18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4)

https://www.youtube.com/watch…

Then God looked at all God had made, and God saw that it was very good.
—Genesis 1:31

In the pronouncement that “it is good,” the Creator is making an accurate judgment about all that exists. By proclaiming that everything is good, right, in order, and as it should be, God sets the state of earthly normalcy. “Good” becomes the once-and-for-all standard of life on earth….
In the first account of creation, each action and each result of God’s action is differentiated. Not one…

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

The first and greatest surprise—a miracle, really—is this: that anything exists at all…. The first pages of the Bible and the best thinking of today’s scientists are in full agreement: it all began in the beginning, when space and time, energy and matter, gravity and light, burst or bloomed or banged into being. In light of the Genesis…

¹³ Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ ¹⁵ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’ (John 4v13-15)

If you don’t go to the well, you cannot draw water. You…

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.  …

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Events in Iran have dominated the headlines in the last week, although curiously the BBC was slower than other media outlets to report on them. It was a reminder that the ‘news’ we consume is shaped by what an individual or group considers news – what one person, organisation, or group sees as news,…

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2026-01-2-pilgrimage-part-1-r26

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
³ Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—
a…

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…

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.  Luke 14:34–35

As the salt of the earth, we are agents of human flourishing. Jesus is calling us to be fertilizer in his kingdom. We are the salt poured on that which is foul in order to foster fresh, new life. We are created to help others blossom and bud as they pursue the life God intends. Flourishing lives demonstrate evidence…

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-12-31-show-me-your-ways-r25 

7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting’. Anyone enquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside…

11 For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me…

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-12-26-children-r25

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’

2 He called a little child to him, and…

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behaviour in Christ may be put to shame.  1 Peter 3v14–16  

Have you ever had…

We human beings are forgetful. We need reminders of important things, including the gospel that feeds the soul and illuminates the divine loving self within. Mindful of the world’s beauty and violence, let’s steep for a moment in these encouraging and inspiring words:
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has become insipid, how will it be made salt again? It’s no longer good for anything then, except being thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city…