Daily Bible Verses by Book

Heavenly father
give us grace to seek you today in our poverty of spirit and our mourning, and to be a blessing to others in their poverty of spirit and their mourning

¹ Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain.
When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 
² He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
  ...

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who do not possess adequate resources

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    ...

Heavenly father
give us grace to be merciful and pure in heart today.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they shall obtain mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Imagine living with one purpose: to have a heart centred on the will and love of God, so that this determines all our actions each day. 

Being committed to something keeps life expanding for us, even when we think that there’s nowhere else for it to go. Purpose gives us a sense of importance, of wanting to do even more, even...

Blessed are the peacemakers: They shall be recognized as children of God.  
—Matthew 5:9  

Richard Rohr considers what it means to be a peacemaker:  

This verse in Matthew’s Gospel is the only time the word peacemakers is ever used in the whole Bible. Peacemakers literally are the “ones who reconcile quarrels.” We can clearly see Jesus is not on the side of the violent but on the side of the nonviolent. Jesus is saying there must be a connection, a clear consistency, a constant unity between means and ends. There is no way to peace other than...

Heavenly father
give us grace to be peacemakers today, whatever the cost.

⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they shall be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹² Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven...

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

You don’t have to have anything to get started, really: just a will, which I believe is already within you, and a way. Do the work your way, with the intention of expanding the circle of human concern and creating radical belonging for others.…  

Get to work. Build. Bridge. Belong. This call for belonging is not about saving ourselves as individuals in terms of the resources that we have or the access we have been granted. Belonging is about saving our very humanity.  

If you are not...

Heavenly father
give us grace to be the salt of the earth today, and to do nothing that will cause us to loose our saltiness

(Salt  = knowing the blessing of being poor, in mourning, meek, seekers of righteousness, pure in heart, merciful, peacemakers and persecuted)

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted?
It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.

You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:13–16).

Brian McLaren ...

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....