Daily Picture

Today seems to be a sequel to yesterday's audio Devotional in that a friend who had listened to it, told me of a poem called 'Leisure' by William Henry Davies. The first and last lines read, "What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?" The body of the poem provides awesome examples of nature which we would miss unless we are intentional about looking out for them. "to...

Today I saw a green V embedded in beautiful foliage, bringing to mind the ultimate victory we have in God through nature. The perfect natural beauty of the Garden of Eden was marred after Adam and Eve sinned but within all the death and decay springs hope with the new life, such as decomposed plants for fertiliser and reproduction springing from dried seeds. God wants us to look at His handiwork a...

Yesterday one of the gardeners, on the school farm, had been scattering clumps of dried sludge from a dredged lake nearby. The idea of sludge, and manure, may not seem all that appealing but they do supply nutrients for the earth, from which plants can grow. This provides a good example of beauty coming out of something seemingly unattractive. God loves to take the ugliness in our lives and turn i...

Today I saw a beautiful, smooth, white pebble that could be held comfortably in one's hand. Somehow this has brought to mind the tangible aspect of God's Kingdom. To some it may seem to be a fanciful, imaginary kingdom. There are many verses in the Bible which reveal a connection between God's spiritual kingdom and our lives here on earth. Indeed, His Holy Spirit lives in us, to guide us. After Je...

Today's message is on the fatherhood of God. Many of us are familiar with what is known as Jesus's Parable of the Prodigal Son, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke 15:11-31. This is a title given by man to help us identify the parable but actually it could be given any number of names and, for the purposes of this message today, I shall call it The Wonderful and Loving Father. The youngest son of tw...

Today I was reminded of invisible thread, encouraging me to reflect on God's unseen work in our lives, connecting all our circumstances and other people's lives with us. Apostle Paul reminds us to "...walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7) and there is the much quoted Old Testament verse, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). If...

Today I am thinking about thinking! Neuroscience tells us that our thoughts trigger off responses in our brain's neurons with electrical/chemical processes taking place. If the same thoughts (whether positive or negative) are repeated, a neural pathway is created so it becomes a viscious circle of being increasingly easy to repeat those same thoughts. We thus strengthen or weaken neural pathways b...

Today, whilst praying I saw both a flower iris and the iris of the eye. Both have many colours and patterns. In Greek mythology Iris was the personification and messenger of the rainbow, seen as the bridge between heaven and earth. The iris of our eye controls the size of our pupils to let in light. Jesus said, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will b...

Since yesterday's message on offering our lives as a beautiful sacrificial incense, I have been reflecting further on the following verse: "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver."(2 Corinthians 9:7). Acts 20:35 tells us that, "It is more blessed to give than to receive". God's Kingdom is full of givi...

Today I saw smoke signals which involve the use of damp grass or leaves covered and uncovered systematically to give short puffs or long columns of smoke. The signals need to be seen and interpreted before the smoke signals literally disappear into thin air. Smoke signals are still used by military forces with coloured smoke in rescue operations to indicate, 'Help', 'We are here', 'Everything is s...

Today a frog has come to my mind's eye and, in a funny sense, I have thought of the different sounds that different countries attribute to a frog. The English say "ribbit ribbit" and "croak". Meanwhile, I have read of many others, such as French coâ coâ , German quak quak, Japanese kero kero, Korean gaegul gaegul etc. As we get older we find ourselves unable to pronounce certain sounds made in oth...

Today I saw some white marble with swirling black veins running through it. These veins are impurities of clay, iron oxides, graphites or suchlike, and yet, many of us find this marble beautiful. Similarly, God looks at each of us, His unique creations, as beautiful, with all our impurities. "We are God's handiwork." (Ephesians 2:10). "Since you are precious and honoured in my sight and because I...

Yesterday, on the Departures Board at a Lisbon bus terminal, passengers which included me, were told that the bus to Fatima would depart on time. It was not in its allotted bay 5 minutes before departure time so that was going to be very unlikely. Then the Board even said we were embarking which was impossible with no bus there! However, our confidence that it would arrive and that we would be goi...

Today I saw a picture of a blanket being used for two purposes - to cover the ground for a picnic and as a cover when sleeping in a bed. This reminds me that God's Word both protects and comforts, amongst other benefits. The Bible is an amazing instruction manual to mankind from its creator. Often one simple verse, declaring God's Truth, encourages us, helps us make a decision, gives us strength a...

Today I had to go to the dentist for a constant niggling tooth pain. An xray revealed the need for root canal treatment and the dentist reckoned he could release some of the pain but that I would still need to see a specialist endodontist to complete the treatment. I sat in the dental chair and inwardly prayed, whilst sensing the prayer support of those I had asked to pray beforehand. To the denti...

Today I saw an image of a simple black dress with absolutely no frills or adornments. Then a lady put it on, exuding genuine love and smiles. Instantly, the image was transformed to one of beauty and it was nothing to do with the dress. In the New Testament we are counselled to concentrate on our inner character and related actions, rather than on our physical appearance but it doesn't mean it is...

I heard two little anecdotes yesteday, encouraging us to not limit God and to trust Him to equip us for whatever he asks of us. I will recount one here. Little Jack went to do an errand for his mother at the local village shop. The lady serving there told Little Jack that as he was such a good brave boy, helping his mother, he could take a handful of the caramel chocolates in the bowl in front of...

Today I saw a picture, in my mind's eye, of a white petrol/gasoline container. I felt that this was in direct contrast to the inflammation of gossip, as mentioned in last Saturday's devotional, which we are directed not to do. Instead we are to fan into flame our passion for the Holy Spirit and to use the giftings He gives us, for the benefit of others. It is misplaced humility to say we cannot us...

First thing this morning I read an inspiring imagery which I would love to share as today's Daily Picture. It was of two buckets, one filled with gasoline/petrol and the other with water. These represented the two choices we have when we hear gossip, whether true or not. If we really know how much God loves us, we will find it much easier to love others; in fact, we will also find ourselves wantin...

Today I saw a picture of millions of light rays extending down from God to everyone on earth - in the sense of over all time. Meanwhile our prayers are going up to Him as light. From my experience, non believers are often happy to accept the offer of prayer when they are in a seemingly negative situation out of their control but they are uncomfortable if I say I am praying for them in general. The...

Today I reflect on one of God's names - Jehovah Jireh, which means Provider. It derives from an original Hebrew word, 'to see, to look, to behold'. God sees in advance what we need and paves the way for our provision - bountifully, as we learnt yesterday. We do not need to scurry around looking for provision. Keep calm, trust God and let Him lead you, as your Shepherd, to the provision. Sometimes...

Today I saw a clean white dustbin suspended in heaven! It has made me think on the fact that nothing is wasted in God's Kingdom; everything is used for a good purpose. In the Gospel of John 6, we read of the feeding of the 5,000 people who came to listen to Jesus preach on the mountainside. He multiplied a meagre 5 small barley loaves and 3 small fish to feed everyone until they were full and, sti...

This might be difficult to write accurately and succinctly but here goes! I couldn't see what colour a flower was as it was rotating quickly, so appeared as white. This leads me to contemplate on the fact that when coloured lights are shone together they become increasingly white. This is additive mixing. However, when pigments (paints, inks etc) are all mixed together they become dark brown/black...

As a teacher, I have been required to return to school today to prepare for the children's start of term next week. I have had a full Summer break of beautiful weather and yesterday it started to break and today, back at school, we had rain all morning. I realise that this comparison really heightens the blessing of constant good weather we have had. This serves as such a good reminder of the nece...

In ancient times, the names used in the Bible were not only a form of singling out a person and identifying them; they also represented the character, nature, power and authority of the person concerned. Though we say 'Hallowed be thy name' in the Lord's Prayer, because of God's Majesty and Complexity, He was actually given 3 main names - 'Elohim' - lord, denoting creator, almighty one, of supreme...