Daily Bible Verses

Jesus Wept John 11:35

Richard Rohr considers Jesus a model of prophetic tears.  

The realisation that all things have tears, and most things deserve tears, might even be defined as a form of salvation from ourselves and from our illusions. The prophets knew and taught and modelled that anger must first be recognised, allowed—even loved!—as an expression of the deep, normally inaccessible sadness that each of us carry. Even Jesus, our enlightened one, “sobbed” over the whole city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and at the death of his friend Lazarus (John…

Jesus wept

I keep being more and more convinced that tears are an appropriate response to reality. I think they always will be, yet I don’t equate that with modern depression or cynicism. It’s the acceptance of what we cannot change that normally makes people cry: He’s dead forever; I’m never getting well; the church I love has never been perfect. The part of us that can surrender to that reality is somehow bright. Remember, God is always present in reality as it is, not merely as it should be. When we meet people who can smile in the presence of sadness,…

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.…

‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ 
John 13:34-35

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Remain in me as I remain in you” (John 15:4) 

We go through our lives, our years on this Earth, thinking of ourselves as separate. That sense of separateness basically causes every stupid, sinful, silly thing we ever do. The little, separate self takes offense when people don’t show us proper respect. The separate self lies, steals, and does unkind things to other people. When we’re separate, everything becomes about protecting and defending ourselves. It can consume our lives. 

One word for overcoming that false sense of separateness, that illusory self, is heaven;…

Heavenly father
give us grace to “see” Jesus and understand Him, so that we may understand His name
and give us grace to ask for those things that are in His name

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip?
He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ 
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the…

Heavenly father
give us grace to obey your commandments (of love), and to be open to your Spirit of Truth 

15 If you love me, keep my commandments. 
16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor,  that he may be with you forever: 
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him.
You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you. 
18 I will not leave you orphans. I…

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot)…

Heavenly father
give us grace to live in Christ and for Christ to live in us, 
give us grace to keep your commands and love you

19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me.  (after the resurrection)
Because I live, you will live also. 
20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 
21 One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me.
One who loves me will be loved by my…

Heavenly father
pour out your Holy Spirit on us today so that we may be taught by you and have the grace to keep and obey your words 

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him,
“Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word.
My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. 
24 He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my…

Heavenly father
give us grace to remain untroubled and pure in the face of the prince of this world

27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you.
Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. 
28 You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’
If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’
for the Father is greater than I. 
29 Now I have told you before it happens so that when it…

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. ² Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

Heavenly father give us grace to remain in you and bear fruit today

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 
² Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away.
Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 
³ You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 
⁴ Remain in me, and I in you.
As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you…

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in them will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. —John 15:5  

Richard Rohr understands Jesus’ vine and branches metaphor as an illustration of mutual indwelling: Christ in us and us in Christ.  

The motivation, meaning, and inherent energy of any action comes from its ultimate source, which is the person’s foundational and core vantage point. What is their real and honest motivation? What does the seeing? Is it the cut-off branch, the egoic self, trying to work…

Heavenly father
give us grace to bear much fruit today, particularly in our love, obedience and joy

⁷ If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
⁸ “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 
⁹ Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 
¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love;…

⁹ Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ^14…

‘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 unconditionally loved and that nothing – sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even…

Heavenly father give us grace to love one another in such a way that is life giving to those we love

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. 
¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 
¹⁴ You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. 
¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does.
But I have called you friends…

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s own life for one’s friends” 

Love is a firm commitment to act for the well-being of someone other than yourself. It can be personal or political, individual or communal, intimate or public. Love will not be segregated to the private, personal precincts of life. Love, as I read it in the Bible, is ubiquitous. It affects all aspects of life.…  

An oft-quoted passage in the New Testament says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only son” [John 3:16]. The Greek word used by the New Testament…

‘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: One way to acknowledge God’s presence with us throughout the day is to talk with him, as with a…

Heavenly father
give us grace to be obedient to your command to love all others, particularly when there is pressure not to. 

¹⁷ “I command these things to you, that you may love one another. 
¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. 
¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own.
But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 

Heavenly father
give us grace to endure the pain of suffering when we have done what is right. 

²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 
²¹ But they will do all these things to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me. 
²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse…

Heavenly father
give us grace to receive your Spirit of truth today
give us discernment to know what truth needs speaking, whatever the consequences

^15:26 “When the Counsellor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. 
²⁷ You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

^16:1 “I have said these things to you so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble. …

Heavenly father
give us all grace to be open to the Holy Spirit, our Counsellor, so that we may have conviction about sin, righteous and judgement arising from our saviour Jesus. 

⁵ But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 
⁶ But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. 
⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It
is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counsellor won’t come to you.
But if I…

Heavenly father
give us grace to live in the truth today

¹² “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now.
¹³ However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth,
for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak.
He will declare to you things that are coming. 
¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. 
¹⁵ All things that the Father…

Heavenly father
give us grace in times of weeping and lamenting to experience the everlasting joy of the resurrection

¹⁷ Some of his disciples therefore said to one another,
“What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ 
and, ‘Because I go to the Father’?” 
¹⁸ They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what he is saying.”
¹⁹ Therefore Jesus perceived that they…

Heavenly father
give us grace so to understand the forgiving love of Jesus that we may know what to ask in this name so that our joy may be full

²³ “In that day you will ask me no questions.
Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 
²⁴ Until now, you have asked nothing in my name.
Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. 
²⁵ I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech.
But the time…

Heavenly father
give us grace in times of trouble to know the joy and peace from knowing that you are with us. 

²⁹ His disciples said to him, “Behold, now you are speaking plainly, and using no figures of speech. 
³⁰ Now we know that you know all things, and don’t need for anyone to question you.
By this we believe that you came from God.”
³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 
³² Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come,
that you will be scattered, everyone…

Heavenly father
give us grace to lift up our eyes to you today and know you

¹ Jesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, 
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you; 
² even as you gave him authority over all flesh,
so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 
³ This is eternal life, that they should know you,
the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. 

Heavenly father
give us grace to accomplish the work which you give us to do today, staying true to what you have revealed to us in the person of Jesus 

⁴ I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. 
⁵ Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed. 
⁶ I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world.
They were yours, and you have given them to…

Heavenly father
give us grace to live as those who belong to you, giving glory to you through the power of your name

⁹ I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world,
but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 
¹⁰ All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 
¹¹ I am no more in the world, but these are in the world,
and I am coming to you. Holy Father,
keep them through your name which you have given…

Heavenly father
give us grace to have your joy made full in us today, particularly in the face of temptation
and keep us safe from the evil one

¹² While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name.
I have kept those whom you have given me.
None of them is lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 
¹³ But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world,
that they may have my joy made full in themselves. 
¹⁴ I have given them your…

Heavenly father
give us grace to live truthfully today

¹⁶ They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. 
¹⁷ Sanctify them in your truth.
Your word is truth.
¹⁸ As you sent me into the world,
even so I have sent them into the world. 
¹⁹ For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 

Heavenly father
give us grace so to live in you that we may be one with our brothers and sisters in you. 

²⁰ Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, 
²¹ that they may all be one;
even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you,
that they also may be one in us;
that the world may believe that you sent me. 
²² The glory which you have given me, I have given to them;
that they may be one, even as we are one; 
²³ I in them…

Heavenly father
give us grace to see your glory of your love today and for your love to be in us. 

²⁴ Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am,
that they may see my glory, which you have given me,
for you loved me before the foundation of the world. 
²⁵ Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you,
but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me. 
²⁶ I made known to them your name, and will make it known;
that the …

Heavenly father
give us grace to be truthful and kind, particularly in the face of hatred and violence 

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron,
where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. 
² Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 
³ Judas then, having taken a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees,
came there with lanterns,…

Heavenly father
give us grace to avoid violence and deceit today, however much we are provoked 

¹⁰ Simon Peter therefore, having a sword, drew it,
struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 
¹¹ Jesus therefore said to Peter, “Put the sword into its sheath.
The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not surely drink it?”
¹² So the detachment, the commanding officer, and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus and bound him,…

Heavenly father
give us grace to avoid the temptations of hearing without understand, of abusing of power, of denying what we know to be true

¹⁹ The high priest therefore asked Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 
²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where the Jews always meet.
I said nothing in secret. 
²¹ Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them. Behold, they know the things…

Heavenly father
give us grace to seek your kingdom which is not of this world

²⁸ They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium.
It was early, and they themselves didn’t enter into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. 
²⁹ Pilate therefore went out to them, and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”
³⁰ They answered him, “If this man weren’t an evildoer, we wouldn’t have delivered him up to you.”
³¹ Pilate therefore said to them…