Daily Picture

Today, in my mind's eye, I saw a snapshot of a meadow teeming with life, with purple heather, a sprightly rabbit and a fluttering butterfly. Life. Over 700 years before Jesus came to earth, God told us through His prophet Isaiah that He would transform death to life, such as deserts and the wilderness bursting into bloom with great joy, the blind, deaf and lame being restored and a highway called...

Today I was reminded of the Portuguese word caro" meaning expensive. The gospels of Luke (7:37ff) and John 12 (1ff) give us an account of a sinful woman washing Jesus's feet with her tears and her long hair; then she lavishes expensive perfume on His feet. It was the custom in those days to wash a guest's sandy sandalled feet. This woman recognised Jesus as her saviour and showed her love for Him...

Today I saw doors opening into light, one from a dark corridor into a bright room and the other one from a dark room out to a beautiful setting. With God in us, wherever we go, He sheds His light. "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted a...

Today I have been contemplating the evolution of word in communication. Apostle John refers to Jesus as The Word Who was there at the beginning, as God and Creator. (John 1:1-3). Both Jews and the gentiles would have had some conception of word being personified as the agent between creator and created. We are reminded even now that positive thought can be transferred into positive words and into...

Today whilst praying I thought about the privilege and importance of prayer. Positive thinking can cause positive actions but it is not as powerful as praying to our mighty and awesome God. The Bible gives us many reminders to pray to our God for others; He listens and loves all of us. "I urge then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people" (1 Tim...

Today I was reminded of my now 36 year old eldest son playing with little cars when he was a preschooler; he loved it when I cut out little gingerbread shaped men to place in the driver's seat. I loved playing with all 5 of my children. I was 30 years old when my eldest was born and he was the same age when his wife gave birth to their first son. He now loves to play with his 3 little ones too. Wh...

Today I was reminded of my biology lesson with a seed and cotyledon, the first embryonic leaf. This further brings to mind the spiritual life which is also available to us and can develop in us, in addition to our earthly body. Jesus came back for 40 days after His death on the cross, with convincing proofs that He was alive, speaking about the Kingdom of God. (see Acts 1:4). He had a physical bod...

Today I saw, in my mind's eye, a pair of half finger knitted gloves. This drew me to thinking on God's completely open hand towards us. His is often referred to in the Bible as the hand that created us, and as such He wants to fully protect us and provide for us. Prophet Isaiah (64:8) declares, "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Yo...

Today I have been reflecting on the times we choose to close our eyes to God's spiritual truths. For instance we are told to "Rejoice in the Lord always .."(Philippians 4:4) but we can completely and actively turn away from that truth and retort that what we are going through wholly justifies our complaining. I can sometimes recognise blindness in others but do I realise that I choose to be blind...

Today I have been reminded of a song which used to irritate me when I heard it sung by an adult years ago. I searched for it just now and heard the original version which was sweetly sung by two young children in the early 50s, long before I was born. This has caused me to reflect on how our attitudes can change based on our experiences and context etc. Grace is a wonderful gift extended to anothe...

Today I saw, in my mind's eye, Jesus breaking bread. Each time He did, He gave thanks before He broke the bread - when He fed the 5000 with 5 loaves of bread, at the Last Supper and when he had supper 3 days after his death, with 2 men on the way to Emmaus who only recognised Him when they saw Him breaking bread (Luke 24). Bread is significant as is the breaking of it, with it being shared with ma...

Today I saw a picture of a cornerstone of a building which is often, as its name suggests, at the base of the corner where two walls meet. Wherever it is ceremonially placed, it visibly indicates the significance and importance of the building and the occasion. Ephesians 2:19-23 tells us, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also memb...

Today I am doing the same as I did yesterday, and linking a picture to a bible verse rather than vice versa. I was drawn to Genesis 2:12 which describes the gold and onyx on the earth after God had created the heavens and the earth. In the natural it takes billions of years for gold and onyx to be formed. Fast forwarding to Jesus's first miracle on earth - it takes more than a few minutes for wine...

Today's devotional is more a series of thoughts than a picture. I think on Jesus at the Last Supper, before He was crucified, telling his disciples that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood as represented by the bread and wine He offered them. (See Matthew 26:26-28). This is not cannabalism but of spiritual significance. As we looked at last Saturday, Mary conceived of Jesus through the pow...

Today I was reminded of the word "sementes" which means "seeds" in Portuguese, from a Latin root and from which comes the word "semen". This reminds me that though Jesus had the earthly father Joseph, significantly descended from Abraham and King David (see Matthew 1:1-16), Mary did not conceive through sex with Joseph. Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26) told Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and th...

I was very late in recording today's Devotional as I had been distracted by doing housework which I suddenly felt like doing. How many times do we ignore God and get on with our own thing, however good it might be? He wants us to put Him first in our day and in our activities. By having God behind our day and activities we will be blessed. The devotional yesterday reminded us of David first acknow...

Today, in my mind's eye, I saw a picture of a slingshot which I immediately connect to the bible account (1 Samuel 17) of the then young shepherd boy David who slew the Philistine giant Goliath who King Saul and his entire army had been terrified of. Goliath had been challenging them every morning and evening for 40 days, waiting for one person to face him. David looked at God and said he had been...

Today, in my mind's eye, I saw a muddy puddle and I was half expecting to see a beautiful reflection in it but no, it was just a muddy puddle. This made me think of depression which doesn't seem to have anything good in it or around it. One is just consumed by depression. Usually depression is caused by our overall perspective - of fear or a sense of failure or a consuming fatigue - often because...

Today I saw a bicycle, reminding me of the process of learning to ride a bike, which I can then equate to the process of becoming increasingly moulded into God's ways and thinking. Yesterday, we pondered on our need in being a receptive new vessel in Christ in order to receive His teachings. Our changing into Christ's image is a process as it would be especially daunting if all that we need to cha...

Today I was reminded of Jesus's parable of new wine being poured into brittle old wineskins which perish and both the wine and the wineskins are lost. (Matthew 9:19; Luke 5:37-39). Likewise, Jesus's new ways and teachings at the time of this parable, were being wasted on rigid minds. They still are. The only way we can be open to Jesus's ways and teachings is to let Him change us into receptive ve...

Today, in my spiritual imagination, I saw the goal posts on a rugby pitch, which I casually call an H bar. With the rugby ball over the line called "a try" and then a kick of the ball over the goal post bar called "a conversion", I see a correlation with Christianity. When we start off trying to investigate Christianity through meeting Christians, reading the Word and calling out to Jesus, there t...

Today I saw in my imagination a strong stable bridge spanning a large deep valley between 2 tall mountains. This is a good reminder that, when in a covenant relationship with God, we have access to a constant free flow exchange. It is up to us as to whether we use the bridge of communication or not. God, as our loving creator, can create positively in our lives, whether it be by change or somethin...

Today I saw a garden sieve. I remember my sister painstakingly removing the oversized stones and debris from a new plot of earth she had bought, using a large sieve, and subsequently sowing seeds and developing a beautiful garden. She has worked diligently all her life with great kindness. However, even her impressive life cannot give her eternal life. We need to choose to be part of God's new cov...

Today I saw a large wok such as I used to see in roadside food outlets in Malaysia, being used to cook and serve delicious Char Kway Teoh, a stir fry flat noodle dish crammed full of delicious flavours and goodness. It was very inexpensive and we were very grateful for it. What about the free gift of eternal life that is available to us? Do we believe Jesus's claims? Do we want it? Do we value tha...

Today I saw a picture of a pair of flip flops promoting a sense of being very casual. I believe that the message today is about how we approach God and our attitude about Him. Even if we believe He exists, do we show Him respect, do we value His unconditional love towards us and do we realise how fundamental He is in our lives? Or are we very casual towards God, not considering Him of much importa...