Daily Picture

Today I saw a picture of a bow such as created when a shoe lace has been tied. We know that pulling either of the loose ends will release the bow and, conversely, pulling either of the loops will tighten the bow. Are we tightening our hold on routine actions and procedures that are no longer relevant or necessary? Let's follow God's directives in our lives even though they may unsettle our predict...

Today I saw a picture of the weave of a basket, bringing to mind Moses being laid in a basket at the age of 3 months by his mother and sent to float down the River Nile to escape certain death or slavery. The Pharaoh of Egypt was oppressing the people of God as they were flourishing and he was fearful that they could overthrow him. So, it is amazing that the Pharaoh's daughter wanted to keep a Heb...

Today I saw a sprouting cauliflower, reminding me of the patterned detail I mentioned over a year ago that Italian mathematician Fibonacci observed consistently and abundantly in nature. There is precision in all that God does and He wants to bless us in the orchestration of events throughout our lives. Ecclesiastes 3:11 declares "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set etern...

Today I saw some overlapping roof tiles which have reminded me of the group of persistent friends, as recounted in the gospels of Luke (5:19) and Mark (2:4) who lowered their paralytic friend down through a roof, to place him in front of Jesus because they couldn't get through the throng of people surrounding Him. Jesus healed the man and said that his sins were forgiven. In earthly terms Jesus di...

Today, when praying for this devotional, I sensed Jesus reminding me that whilst He died on the Cross to take our sins and sicknesses, He did not die to ensure we have lots of money though that does not mean it won't be in His will for us. As a man on earth, many times Jesus warned of the dangers of focussing on money rather than on God, such as: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate...

Today I "saw" level ground having little "blips" causing me to reflect on the fact that though Jesus is our home and security, sometimes we feel unsettled and have little wobbles. I woke up with a wobble related to being unsure of my commitment to a new rental contract with the need to buy furniture in a foreign land whilst, meanwhile, my adult children and grandchildren are elsewhere. Actually, t...

Yesterday's devotional encourages us to look at the Light of God whilst reminding ourselves that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and our sicknesses, rather than us looking away from Him and at our sins and sicknesses instead. As it happened, after recording yesterday, I went into work and started feeling unusually ill. The morning message helped me to remember to look at Jesus and not at my i...

Today I saw the sun shining brightly through some large kitchen windows bathing me in light, reminding me to look in God's direction, rather than looking around at other parts of the home representing, in this analogy, our problems. Often we focus on our sins, our real and perceived sicknesses rather than on Jesus on the cross taking away our sins and sicknesses. If we look at God's light first an...

Today I saw a picture of a contrail, the white cloudlike trail left by a plane as it flies across the sky. This brings to mind the verse that says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"(Hebrews 12:1). The book of Hebrews lists...

Today I was reminded of an allegory of a fast train ride on a steep mountain. All the passengers were terrified that the train was going to fall off the side of the mountain, except for one little girl who was nonchalantly swinging her feet, with her little red shoes not even reaching the ground. When asked why she was so calm, she looked up and said that her father was the train driver so she kne...

Today I saw a picture, in my mind's eye, of an aeroplane landing on a runway at night with lights strategically placed to give perfect guidance to the pilot of the aircraft. This is a good reminder that as well as God's Word reminding us not to worry about our future, to fix our eyes on Jesus and not others to give us assurance about our future, we can also trust that God is giving us guiding ligh...

Today I saw one corner of a picture frame but the other three corners and the picture remained out of view. This reminds me that we don't know for sure what our future holds. God wants us to trust that our future is in His safe and loving hands. Yesterday we reflected on not fearing for our future and today we can reflect further on God not wanting us to go elsewhere for assurance of what is in ou...

We all need the reminder, from time to time, to not let our hearts be troubled nor to be afraid. In John 14 we read how Jesus emphasised the importance of this instruction at the beginning and the end of one of His discourses. In Matthew 6:34 we further read, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow...". This is easier said than done unless we truly believe, trust in, ask of, declare and thank our m...

I have still been reflecting on the words I used recently on God's spiritual DNA in us, changing us into His image. Taking this further, blood is our life source. We are related to God the Father and His Son Jesus whose blood was shed for us, representing the exchange of our imperfect lives for His perfect life. Whenever we take a sip of wine in a serious manner in remembrance of what Jesus has do...

Today someone sent me a beautiful description of the splendid giant Californian redwood trees (sequioas) which can reach majestic heights of 116m/380 ft and yet have roots of a relatively short depth of about 3.7m, 12 ft at most. How come? Because their roots intertwine and support each other horizontally. I reflect that this can be like us in that we are ultimately and individually responsible fo...

Today is an extension to Saturday's message on grace. When we declare God as our heavenly Father we become connected to His spiritual DNA. Not only does God's very essence extend undeserved goodness and kindness, He also has no sickness, no propensities to any particular addiction, no negative family history to impact us etc. How wonderful to be able to declare our inheritance in God, connected to...

Today I saw a simple cap and then a bucket hat which is a basic hat with a circle on the top, short sloping sides shaped around the head and a small flat brim around all the hat. This has caused me to reflect on Apostle Paul's directive for women to cover their heads, declaring that men have authority over women (1 Corinthians 11) and women should be silent in the churches (1 Corinthians 14)! In a...

Today I am focusing on the word Grace which, in a Christian context, means goodness and kindness to us when we haven't done anything to deserve it. God is constantly extending grace towards us whilst we might still be beating ourselves up, metaphorically, about some wrongdoing that God has already forgiven us for. He knows the full facts about us and understands us. Meanwhile, there are other peop...

This morning I paused to reflect on the expression to "Strike when the iron's hot" which means to not waste time in doing what needs to be done, that is, to not procrastinate. I currently live and work in Portugal. Whilst recently back in the UK for a month I received many blessings, many of which emanated from making an effort to travel around and see family and friends. If I hadn't seized certai...

Today I saw a small-bodied bird suddenly extend its two wings, displaying a much larger wing span than its body size. Birds' wing feathers have been intricately and wondrously created to overlap efficiently, with joint flexibility and muscle control for compact folding but also aerodynamic opening. Wings are associated in the bible with protection but also with strength and power. If you are feeli...

Last night I flew back into Lisbon with lights scattered in abundance down below. I noticed that some seemed to flicker in the distance but once the plane drew nearer they became steady. Apparently this is because when our eyes have limited vision at too long a distance for us the lights appear flickery and/or indistinct. This has caused me to reflect on our need to draw close to God in order to h...

Today I had a picture, in my mind's eye, of a big tick (a check). This has also brought to my mind the wonderfully encouraging verse of Philippians chapter 4:13: "I can do all this through Him who gives me strength". Within the context of following God's will and wisdom, in this chapter, verses 4-13, we are told that He totally equips, enables and provides for us. When we truly believe and trust i...

Today I saw a large gaping wound which clearly needed cleansing, being pulled together and stitched up. We are unlikely to be able to deal with that wound on our own. As Saturday's message reminded us, we need to help each other. Also, there are also many bible verses declaring God as healing our wounds, physical and emotional, such as: "Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their w...

Today I saw a piece of material which had been stitched along the edge with one single thread. This was being pulled to gather the material to make pleats to form a waist band for a skirt. This is a good reminder that when the Body, that is the Family, of Christ pulls together, with God at the centre, we encourage and help each other. Yes, we all have to have our own special individual relationshi...

Today I saw a car windscreen car shade. These are very useful to protect the steering wheel of a parked car from getting too hot on a very sunny day. They are not necessary when there is no intense sun and are, of course, totally unnecessary and in fact totally dangerous when driving! So, this one object can be vital, unnecessary or dangerous. With this analogy in mind, trust God on the timing of...