Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to care for people, particularly those who don’t deserve our care.7 But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered.
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8 When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head,
so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and…https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2024-11-1-of-good-courage-r3
1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh,[a] Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, …
more7“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever…
more7 Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you…
more9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’
As Baptised Christian Disciples we resolve, by God’s grace this year:
* to die to the sins that separate us from the love of God our Father
* to live as those who are forgiven & as those who forgive, because Jesus is our Saviour
* to be immersed in the Holy Spirit so that we live generously, because Jesus is our Lord
* to live prayerfully, bearing witness to others, frequently reading the bibleJoshua 24:15 Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served, or the gods of those in…
moreThe LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: “When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands – If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the Lord a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. … If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, when they realise their guilt and the sin they committed becomes known, the assembly must bring a young bull as a…
moreHe is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness. (LEVITICUS 16:21–22)
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This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a…The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.
Leviticus tends to have a bad press, because of its many laws and harsh sentences. Yet one of its best-known passages is the exact opposite: the Jubilee chapter, which proclaims that every fiftieth year is a year of freedom and release, when the slate is wiped clean and everyone can get a new…
moreThe 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 (Deuteronomy 24:14). This fundamental regard for the resident alien, and call to solidarity with the “…
moreBut the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’
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‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’
The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be…Some of the things we do are mundane and unseen. and get little monetary reward or recognition
Am I being a good Christian if I am not seen doing it? Am I really fulfilling my God-given potential?What does it look like to be a faithful disciple of Jesus whilst focused entirely on caring for others?
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Luke 1:38, ‘Behold, the handmaid of the Lord’ (KJV). In other translations, it’s ‘Behold, the servant of the Lord’. .
Hanging out the washing: behold, the handmaid of the Lord.…He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:53)
https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2024-12-20-magnificat-r3
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’
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Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,…And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’
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LUKE 2:8–12
When…When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all…
more21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized, and was praying. The sky was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”
John Dear writes:
Peacemakers throughout history testify to the need for quiet meditation if we are…
more1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days,…
moreJesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (Luke 4v1)
https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-03-5-the-spirit-during-lent-part-1-turning-on-the-power-r25
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 4:1–4Following the spiritual ‘high’ of his baptism, the Spirit leads Jesus into the ‘low’ of the…
moreJesus, 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 to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)…
morehttps://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2024-10-11-family-tp-r3
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
…
more‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
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because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
…17 One day while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem were sitting nearby, and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but, finding no way to bring him in because of…
moreBlessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh. (Luke 6:21)Richard Rohr describes the path of tears as one that leads to sympathy with suffering and communion with reality.
Are we the only animal that cries and sheds tears as an emotional response? It seems so, but what function do they serve for us? Jesus says we should be happy if we can weep (Luke 6:21), but why? Tears seem to appear in…
more27 ‘But to you who are listening I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you. (Luke 6)
Franciscan peacemakers Rosemary Lynch and Alain Richard have identified ten “commandments” for those seeking to live a spiritual life of nonviolence.…
more“Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50)
Richard Rohr offers one way we might understand the exorcisms Jesus performed:
When a person has a constantly changing reference point, they have a very insecure life. They will take on any persona, negative or positive, and become incapable of much personal integrity. This is the celebrity-obsessed world in which we are living today. The biblical tradition uses the language of “having a demon” to describe such negative identity. We post-enlightenment, educated people don’t like this language very much, but…
more1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal those who were ill. 3 He told them: ‘Take nothing for the journey – no staff, no…
moreThen he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
On August 20 2020, Alexei Navalny was poisoned on the orders of Vladimir Putin. That’s where his recently published autobiography begins.
The poisoning was no surprise.…
moreAt that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. (Luke 10:21)
As its Greek root form mu (closed eyes or lips) implies, mysticism is pointing to something that is somehow hidden and cannot be easily seen or talked about
As children of God, we are called to live as those who life in the hidden Kingdom of God and, therefore…
moreThe parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)—perhaps Jesus’ most famous parable—offers us compelling signposts of compassion on the Jericho road of life. [1]
The first signpost of compassion along the Jericho road of life in the parable of the Good Samaritan is the sign of anonymity. Jesus has refused to disclose the identity of people in this parable…. The story of the fallen traveler and the compassionate Samaritan is a story of love that transcends identity…. It is a love that does not check references. It is love that does not demand a positive form of identification.…
moreHe asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ (Luke 10:29
My friend was walking into work when a builder crossed her path. As he did, his toolbox broke and there were screws, pliers, and raw plugs all over the pavement.
‘Should I walk on?’ – always a dilemma – but she stopped, helped gather the scattered tools, and after a short exchange felt prompted to ask, ‘Can I pray for you?’ She found a welcome response: ‘Thank you, it hasn’t been a good week.’ It’s 8am and this builder is already having an ‘exploding toolbox’ kind of day.
In Luke 10, Jesus is…
more38 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 came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?…
more- https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-03-14-behold-the-man-r25 1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ 2 He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: ‘“Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Suppose you have a… more
“If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light” (Luke 11:34).
We cannot attain the presence of God because we’re already in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness. Little do we realize that God’s love is maintaining us in existence with every breath we take. As we take another breath, it means that God is choosing us now and now and now and now. We have nothing to attain or even learn. We do, however, need to unlearn some things.
To become aware of God’s loving presence in our lives, we must accept that human culture is in a…
more22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 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! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
There appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. Luke 13:11–13
Nadia Bolz-Weber considers how healing can be a painful process:
I found myself wondering if it hurt … not just the pain of standing up straight for the first time in nearly two decades, but because…
more1 When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. 2 Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him. 3 Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it…
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Daily Bible Verses
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