Daily Picture

Today I saw a picture of a lit candle on a tall candlestand on the ground. Jesus is the Light and when He ignites us we are one of His rays of light, reflecting His love, grace and truth so dispelling darkness and sharing the hope that Jesus provides. The Gospel of Matthew 5:14-16 recounts Jesus as saying "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people l...

I saw an olympic diving board, with me bouncing gently on the highest board until I swooped down into a dive. What freedom there is in doing that but to get that point of decision to dive, there is a need to walk up the steps and choose to go higher, then testing for bounce and movement. This could be likened to our walk towards Jesus - a decision to learn more about Him, test Him a little and the...

Today I sensed the words, "Beautiful cross". How can it be considered beautiful when it was an appallingly cruel instrument of torture used by the Romans over two thousand years ago? However, Jesus's excruciating suffering during the lead up to the Cross and on the cross, was the outpouring of His perfect love for mankind. His love is pure beauty. Jesus looked down on those who so cruelly crucifie...

Today I thought I would be concentrating on why it was not the sin of anger that Jesus had displayed in all 4 gospels when He had overturned the merchants' tables in the Temple courts. (As indicated in the Gospel of Mark 11:11,15, Jesus had already seen all the tables the night before and the following day He justifiably, and not in an angry reactionary way, had turfed the buyers and sellers out o...

Today I feel a continuation of yesterday's message on gluttony. As well as various verses directing us from gluttony it is listed amongst the 7 deadly sins, as identified by the early Church, which are all indicated in Scripture: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. We all know that these dispositions can lead to sinful actions but what is the root cause of them all? It is the lack...

Today I saw a picture of a large white, very sugary, round chocolate. That doesn't appeal to me as too much sugar makes me feel faint with a rapid drop in my blood sugar level. It is not a question of me honouring God by not eating it. However, for another person it could be a question of honouring God by not eating it as they know they have no will power in stopping and thus moving into gluttony....

Today is a continuation of yesterday's message, reminding us that God is our provider and how wonderful to give back to him in a spirit of excellence and gratitude. We cannot outgive Him and He will always look after us. 1 Corinthians 9:6: "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously". Some people view those who rely on God as weak and in n...

I have experienced God's excellence in provision and blessings, having had a seamless trip back to the UK for a long weekend, with a wonderful time meeting up with family and friends. God gives excellently. Do we give excellently to Him? I have been reminded of Adam and Eve's two sons, Cain and Abel as described in Genesis 4. Abel gave to God the best of his flock without hesitation. In contrast,...

Today I saw the simplicity of a young child's flower with the central yellow circle, a halo of petals surrounding it and a straight green stem with 2 leaves. A young child's ignorance (in the sense of lack of knowledge) of the intracacies and vastness of botany does not belittle the child; at least s/he recognises the existence of flowers. Similarly, think of the cross standing tall in the ground...

I feel that this is a sequel to yesterday's message of a white feather often being associated to God and His angels. Today I saw an image of the lead dancer in Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, dancing with beauty and grace. Indeed, there are things we see and hear which cause us to think on God and His goodness even though they are not specifically mentioned in the bible as being associated to Him....

Today I saw a small white feather which I know many people see as a good sign from God that His angels are at work. I don't think there is a bible verse which specifically tells us that, let alone tell us that angels have white wings. In whatever way we may tangibly see God at work in our lives, even if fanciful, the truth is that God is indeed wanting to guide and protect us constantly. Whether w...

Today I saw a paddle board causing me to reflect on the necessity of experience and strength in negotiating choppy waters and high winds. We can maybe look at the weather ahead with a degree of accuracy and prepare accordingly. However, we cannot do that with our lives, which can take sudden and unexpected turns. We need to be humble enough to recognise that we can't guarantee what our future hold...

Today I saw a picture of a compound enclosed by barbed wire and I also saw a door monitored by a security code, both representing a protection from outsiders. I believe that this represents us when we purposefully exclude Jesus from our life and, even as Christians, exclude Him from aspects of our life. Hebrews 3:7-8 "So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your h...

I had taken an Uber taxi yesterday and when he stopped to let me out, the driver behind displayed anger with the honking of his car horn and a tirade of angry words. I went over to him to say that I had had no say in where I had been dropped off. His response was that he was not shouting at me but at the Uber driver. As I pointed out to him, my Uber driver had already driven off! So the driver's r...

Today I have felt to focus on God's provision for us, stemming from the Latin 'pro' (forward) and 'videre' (to see). So, initially, to provide meant to have foresight and preparation in advance, though now it is not necessarily in the context of knowing in advance but more the act of supplying towards needs. We also have the related word of providence which refers to God's direction, guidance and...

Today I felt the caution that every time we judge another we put pressure on ourselves. Jesus made this very clear to His disciples, as recorded in Matthew 7. Many of us are familiar with the verses 3-4 telling us to first take the plank out of our eye before judging another for the speck of sawdust in their eye. However, let us not forget the preceding verses 1 and 2: "Do not judge, or you too wi...

Today I saw a nest, reminding me of Jesus's parables in the Gospel of Matthew 13 in which He draws analogies between flourishing seeds and the Kingdom of God. In Verses 31-32 we read, "He told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants a...

Today I saw the water pipes under a kitchen sink. I don't think I would be good at plumbing and it has never interested me as a career but clearly it appeals to some people. I love teaching but it certainly wouldn't suit everyone. Recent devotionals have highlighted the vast arrays and variety in God's Kingdom with the connections and complementary aspects of everything and everyone. In acknowledg...

Today I saw a bee flying around whilst resting occasionally on a selection of beautiful colourful flowers, reminding me of the quaint English reference to the "birds and the bees" as a way of introducing reproduction to a youngster. I then pause to think on Aposte Paul's reminder to us that we are all equally part of the church of Jesus Christ, otherwise known as the Body of Christ, with "those pa...

Today I saw an image in my mind's eye of a very unusual shaped leaf which I had seen yesterday whilst out walking. This has caused me to reflect on the vast array of green leaves of different sizes and shapes, green trees, green grasses and shades of green. How awesome that we don't just simply have one species of tree and grass, all of the same green, as a young child might draw. I reflect furthe...

Today I saw an image of a baby board picture book. This has made me reflect on the fact that whilst it is wonderful to introduce infants to books and writing, as they get older they do need to progress to more advanced reading matter. Similarly, we need to progress from the wonders of receiving Jesus as our Lord and Saviour to a maturing relationship with Him. We read along these lines in Hebrews...

Today I saw a picture of fluffy white sheep lying down together relaxing, directing me to Isaiah's prophecy of Jesus coming to save us through His human life when He would be born in Bethlehem with the Spirit of God upon Him. This did not occur for about another 700 years. In Chapter 11 Isaiah refers to Jesus coming back to earth to reign in justice and peace, with even the animal kingdom at peace...

Today I saw a (non Bluetooth) tape recorder, or suchlike, with the buttons for play, rewind etc. Of course, in order to function, it needs to have an electricity source in existence, to which we need to choose to plug our device into and switched on before even the play button is pressed. Similarly, none of what Christians say they do in the name and power of Jesus can be attributed to Jesus unles...

Today I saw a low railing surrounding a little playground and then the exit from this playground led onto a huge green pasture. In my imagery, my first thought was to run and skip, with freedom, in the meadow. I cannot think of a bible verse relating to this other than Psalm 23:1-3a "The Lord's my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in pastures green, he leads me beside quiet waters,...

Today I saw some cricket stumps so I decided to look in a search engine as to their significance and possible connection to a bible verse. Well, there were a lot of cricket terms which made me feel ignorant but actually, it is simply because I have not been exposed to cricket. We can so easily fall into the trap of undermining ourselves because we aren't as knowledgeable or we don't sound as knowl...