Daily Picture

I read today that a very successful businessman predominantly attributed his success to the enthusiasm he has for his business. The word "enthusiasm" has the root in meaning of "God within" and signifies intense, eager enjoyment and interest in something. It used to have negative connotations of over zealous and excessive religiousness. God doesn't want these negative atttributes when in a relatio...

Jesus wants a relationship with us. We all know the word "relationship" which, in loose terms, refers to a connection between a thing or a person and more specifically has evolved to sometimes mean a sexual and/or intimate bond. The original Latin means to bring back and to restore. We are born to earthly parents but God is offering us spiritual parenthood too, to restore the bond that He original...

I saw a barbed wire fence which at first looked ominous until I was reminded of a story my father had made up when I was a little girl. I used to sit on his lap and I loved to listen to his deep, resonant voice recounting his stories. in this particular one, a little blue woollen man had got stuck on a barbed wire fence but of course he got saved in my loving father's story! This makes me further...

Jesus is the Word. We, as the Church, as His body, should aspire to use words that represent Him. In his letterJames (who Christian tradition holds as being Jesus's earthly brother) says, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be....

I saw an image of me being surrounded by a ring of tall fire from which I could not physically escape. However, God reminded me not to fear as he could easily pluck me out. This brings to mind the 3 young men from Judah, taken captive in Babylon, who refused to worship any other than their own God. In his anger King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ordered his soldiers to bind and throw these 3 young men...

Seeing a wrinkle in some material has brought to mind the verses the apostle Paul has given the Christian Church to say that we are the Body of Jesus Christ, with Him as the head (Ephesians 1:22-23) and, as such, He wants to "present us to Himself without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish ..." (Ephesians 5:25). He makes an analogy with husbands and their wives. "He who loves his wife loves him...

A dear friend and regular listener to the Daily Picture pointed out to me that "We are only poor when we have nothing left to give". Think on the truth of that! God loves to give to us so if we learn to receive from Him and to recognise all He gives to us, our perspective will assuredly not be one of poverty. From the blessings we receive we can further bless others in our giving. Luke 21 tells us...

Today I was reminded of a picture I had when I first realised how much God loves me, in which I was a lone yellow flower (my favourite colour)in a field feeling very much loved and nurtured by God. Months later as I was maturing in my Christian walk I was aware of me being represented by a yellow flower again, but this time with a throng of other similar yellow flowers and we were closely surround...

Sorry as I somehow didn't convert this from being in draft form to being published yesterday. I cannot imagine anyone liking a black rat, displaying its sharp teeth ready for attack. We can liken this image to thoughts and situations which fill us with dread. However, let's take a step further and remember that God's Name is above all names however scary and negative. We can extend this imagery to...

The use of words is not necessarily the only way we can express gratitude and, indeed, what is spoken is not always sincere anyway. Are there other ways we can express our gratitude to God other than with sincere words? When we praise Him we are communicating a form of thanks. Also, if we recognise that our life, our blessings and our gifts are from Him, we can thank God with on-giving. Recently w...

Today I saw a vision of a bucket collecting water outside, giving an indication of the intensity of the rain, as with a meteorological rain gauge. It is only an indication though as rainfall can vary even within a small location. "Indication" is the key word in today's message I believe. Before He died Jesus said that He would return at a time that only God knows and that everyone will see Him sim...

Today I saw a whale with a reminder of the Great American classic of Moby Dick. The author of this great book died without knowing that it would one day be a classic. At the time of his death it had received mixed reviews and was even out of print. Jesus has received mixed reviews following His death on the cross and is slowly being understood and received as mankind's awesome saviour. God is "pat...

I saw a dark tunnel and heard the prophetic words "Don't despair". An inspirational Christian writer wisely counsels that we would not discard our train ticket and jump off the train if we were in a tunnel but, instead, we would trust the engineer. Similarly, we can trust God with the full extent of our lives, not just the parts that we can explain. "We are hard-pressed but not crushed; we are per...

About a hundred years ago rock hard slabs of toffee used to be sold with a small hammer so the toffee could be smashed into smaller more manageable pieces for sucking. (This is now more of a novelty feature). Old Testament prophet Jeremiah declares God's Word to us: "Is not my Word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer which shatters a rock?". God's Word can come straight to the point an...

I had an image of a boomerang today. If thrown correctly it will return to its origin. Similarly our destination is our origin! God created us, as King David succinctly declares, "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them".(Psalm 139:16). God wants us back with Him for all eternity but, i...

I "saw" clouds again in my mind's eye, with a sense of expectation of Jesus returning on a cloud, as the Bible tells us. It is no coincidence that a cloud hid Jesus when He went up to heaven after His death on the cross and 40 days of visiting His disciples with many convincing proofs that He was alive. We then read that He will also return to us on a cloud, at a time that only God knows. (Acts 1:...

I saw a big white square of God nearly obliterating a black shape representing our worries. The little bit of visible black is the bit of worry that we often hang on to. Jesus tells us repeatedly to "Let not our heart be troubled ..." (John 14:27). To "Let" go completely requires effort. We were recently reminded of Jesus's greatest commandment that we are to love God fully and to love others as o...

On seeing a picture of Nomads travelling in the desert, I think of Abram. In the first book in the bible we are told how God had instructed Abram to leave his home and travel like a nomad to a land He had in store for him.(Genesis 12). We now know that the Hebrew lineage started with Abram. Abram trusted and obeyed God. God did not let him down on any of His promises, one of which was a son. He an...

Today I saw some cotton wool buds being stuck on a child's art work to depict clouds. That reminds me that actually even our real earth's clouds are in a temporary state and that the Bible tells us that we will be passing on to a beautiful permanent place. For instance, when God gave instructions to Moses to build the Tabernacle, the place of worship for people of Israel when wandering across the...

Today I saw a picture of an animal's pointed ear, intentionally listening. There is a difference between choosing to/wanting to listen, as opposed to not being able to avoid hearing a sound. Interestingly, the word Obedience has the Latin root of "oboedire" to listen intently. Over time obedience has become an unpopular word as it suggests someone overpowering us. God wants us to obey Him in the s...

Today I was reminded of the talking donkey in the Old Testament which God used to stop his master from going to curse the people of Israel. (Numbers 22:28-34). God can use anybody or anything to fulfill His purposes. A prophet speaks God's Word and to this day God still uses His people to share His word. A prophet told me many years back that God would use me despite me. Well, that certainly is a...

"There's no change without change." I have heard those words repeatedly recently and saw them on a T.shirt yesterday. They came to my mind again this morning during prayer. Some self- leadership courses advise us to be the change. I believe that the Daily Picture message today is to reiterate that we do indeed need to have a change in our circumstances if we want to achieve different results in ou...

I woke up very early this morning and envisaged me throwing a fishing line into some water with nothing on the end, but then on hooking up a worm. I felt the sense that we have to be careful as to what bait we hook on to. We all have our own risky bait that if we start being hooked up to it, could draw us deeper into something that isn't good for us and also may extend badly in the way we treat ot...

I must be following a sand theme as today I "saw" a desert fort, following yesterday's sandcastle. This brings to mind two of King David's psalms where he declares God as always being his fortress in whatever difficult situations he is in - Psalm 18:2 and Psalm 91. In Psalm 91 David also invites us to personally declare God as our refuge and fortress. Finally David speaks prophetically from God to...

Today I "saw" an ancient pyramid withstanding the test of time and a simple sandcastle disappearing with a rising tide. This serves as a good reminder of Jesus's words encouraging us to build our lives on the foundation of His words, analogous to a house built on rocks. In comparison a house built on shifting sands will easily be washed away. (Matthew 7:24-27). The preceding verses in Matthew 7 as...