Daily Picture

Today I was really struck by two key words, emphasised by Jesus, as recordrd in Matthew 18:3, that we need to *change* and become like little *children* in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Have we really reflected on what that really means? These words were said by Jesus to His followers when they were querying who is considered the greatest in His Kingdom. What changes do we need to make? Ar...

Today I saw a simple red button. Buttons have been around for centuries for decorative purposes, evolving into more often being used as fasteners. Completely contrary to this, Eternity is timeless so can't be comprehended in terms of evolving. Eternity is what God offers us through His Son Jesus Christ Who wants to live in us, deeply connecting our spirit with His Holy Spirit. "But we have this tr...

Today I felt the awesome wonder of every single second of Jesus's life on earth from conception in Mother Mary's womb to His death on the cross, having been devoted to humankind, to give us eternal life. Our physical body perishes but our soul, comprising our mind emotions and will, is what decides to receive Jesus or not. When we do, our deep inner spirit connects to God's Holy Spirit for eternit...

I saw an evergreen Christmas tree gradually declining and losing its needles. The link between the word Christmas and Christ is overlooked by many these days. An evegreen will inevitably die. In comparison, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, do you believe that He came to deliver us from our sins and inevitable death so that we can live on into eternity? Do you believe that He came just to giv...

Today I saw the upturned front of a snow ski. The design of skis, such as of the side cut and camber, has a significant impact on the safety and potential speed of a pair of skis. We can trust in the design of a pair of skis through personal experience in their use, and in their reputation, without needing an understanding of engineering, science and terminology behind its design. Similarly, we do...

Today I saw a curtain rail with strategically and correctly placed hooks which the curtain also has to be carefully hooked on to, to get the right pleated effect. This is representative of certain things in life which have to start off right to get the required result. First of all we need to see God as our loving father, rather than as a distant, nebulous being of the universe or as a harsh punis...

As with many of the Daily Picture devotionals, I often get sequels to messages. Yesterday I heard an ardent young follower of Christ affirming what I said about the need to wholly bring ourselves to God Who sees and hears all we do and say anyway. On many occasions in the bible we are told that there is going to be an ultimate judgement seat (see, for instance, 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelations 20:1...

Today I saw a face mask starting to melt, like it was made of wax. Any one of us can be guilty of metaphorically putting on a mask to disguise our true selves from others or to avoid admitting the truth to ourselves. Jesus wants us to get rid of this "mask" and be who we are in front of Him. God cannot change us unless we admit that we need changing and want to change. 2 Corinthians 3:16-17 tells...

Today I heard the words that being humble does not mean we need to stoop. Yes, we can bow to God as Jesus exemplified in his praying to his Father but that does not mean stooping in a dejected and debased way. We bow because we acknowledge the supremacy of the person we are bowing to. Even in our humility we can stand erect to our full height, acknowledging both our limitations and our strengths,...

Today I saw a picture of straw, that is the dry hollow stalks of cereal plants after harvesting, not to be confused with hay which still has seeds and leaves. I also saw a poppy growing up through the straw, bringing to mind poppy straw from which opium can be derived as an emotional and physical pain killer for a limited time. This can be an addictive and abused narcotic. The empty straw and the...

We were reminded on Saturday that to do the works of God we are to believe in Jesus. (John 6:28-29). We are not saved from our sins because of what we do but when we have faith in Jesus it impacts what we do and becomes evident to others. We show Jesus praise and gratitude as well as want to draw others to Him. If there aren't these changes in our life, we should question whether we really believe...

Today I saw Love encapsulated in a white heart-shaped image of Joseph, Mary and little boy Jesus. They were a family devoted to God, with Mary having immediately agreed to follow God's will of bearing and raising littleJesus. Joseph, similarly was perfectly willing to obey God's Will and marry Mary who would be pregnant with the Holy Spirit's baby. Meanwhile, Jesus temporarily relinquished his div...

Today I saw a clean looking, translucent scar, which I believe is an important reminder that when God heals us, whether it be physical or emotional, He does not leave us with negative impacts. We have the scars of reminders of what we have been through but, above all, we have the reminder of God's loving and complete healing. "But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds', declares the LO...

Today I saw the tail of an animal, being the last of its passing form. I believe that this is a sombre reminder that during our time on earth we have the opportunity to use our soul (mind, emotion and will) to choose to connect to God forever. Let's not let this opportunity of securing eternal life pass us by, especially as none of us knows when our time on earth is up. "You search the Scriptures...

Today I saw a picture of a rooster crowing, reminding me of Peter assuring Jesus that he would always be by his side supporting Him. Jesus warned him that he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed that very night/dawn. This is, significantly, mentioned in all 4 gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. After Jesus's arrest, out of fear, Peter did indeed deny knowing Jesus, for which h...

Today I feel it is a sequel to Saturday's message of our physical brain being separate from our soul (representing our mind, emotions and will) and our spirit (which we can choose with our soul to be directly connected to God into eternity.) Our soul thirsts to drink the living waters that Jesus said only He can provide (see John 4) and King David described this so eloquently in Psalm 42:1 "As the...

Today I saw an image of a brain, prompting me to reflect on the division of our body, soul and spirit. Sometimes the words "spirit", "soul" (and "heart ") are used interchangeably but, essentially, our spirit is what connects to God's Holy Spirit in purity and goes on into eternity even when our time on earth is over. Our soul is our Mind, Emotions and Will which we can align with God or not. I ha...

Today is an extension to yesterday's message of waiting on, and obeying the Lord's Will to satisfy us and give us pleasure, rather than us focussing on instant gratification regardless of God. I heard a punchline in a movie last night of "Forever is composed of nows". In a way, that tallies with that same message of remaining constantly in God's Will, second by second, now by now so to speak; in G...

I saw an advertisement along the lines of "If you want it now you can have it now!" This is the psychology of the present time to expect to receive what we want immediately. In my childhood days we would often have to wait a week before we could see the sequel to an exciting show we were watching. Nowadays, we have the other extreme of being able to binge watch. This desire to be instantly gratifi...

Today I am reminded of the verse in the Old Testament's Song of Soloman 2:15 "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom". This is warning us that what is precious in our lives can be slowly and subtly destroyed by seemingly insignificant, but consistently effective, destroyers of what we are developing such as of relationships, a job, a pro...

In the last 24 hours I "happened" to have heard the Gospel (that is, good news) a couple of times, reminding me as to how amazingly wonderful the news is. Contrary to other religious beliefs in which we aspire to get to God by improving ourselves, Christians rejoice in God coming down to all humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the w...

Yesterday and today I have been meditating on the words describing God in Acts 17:27b-28a "He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being ...". God is near us in the beautiful nature around us and in those times of love we experience because God is love, as disciple John reminds us in his gospel chapter 4 verse 8 and in his letter chapter 4 verse 16. John was able...

Today I saw 4 upright table legs but no table top. This has caused me to reflect on us feeling prepared for a purpose but not feeling fulfilled. If we know God, we can ask Him what He has yet for us to do. However, if we do not know God, then we are at a loss as to how to fill that empty space and yearning in our heart. If only we could all realise that being prepared for a purpose, such as with 4...

Today's is an extension to yesterday's message whereby we know that spending time with God who is Love, translates into us becoming increasingly loving (1 John 4:8). 1 John 4 continues in verse 9 to say, "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him". This reminds us that Jesus in perfect unity with God gave us the perfect exa...

I have been reminded today that it is sometimes easier and seems justifiable to lovingly put other people first, before spending time with God. Concisely put, I could say we are doing for God before being with Him. However, actually, Jesus is recounted as telling His disciples that our first commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. The second commandment is to love our neighbo...