Daily Picture

Stephanie Hawkins
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On Monday through to Saturday, I link an image to a theme in the Bible, with a podcast lasting about 10 minutes, which I hope brings hope and strength to anyone listening.

  1. 1d ago

    lord, Lord, LORD

    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 power and majesty. 'Yahweh' or pronounced 'Jehovah' - LORD, self-existent, eternal covenant keeping God, sacred; 'Adonai' - Lord, master, owner, ruler. Also, there are many composite names for God, describing the many facets of God. Today I focus on Jehovah-Ra'ah which means LORD and Shepherd, and Jehovah-Jireh which means LORD and Provider. It struck me today that as God leads us always, is all-seeing and is with us constantly, that means His provision is with us every day. This is why we can say in The Lord's Prayer - (You do) "Give us this day our daily bread". If He wasn't around constantly we would more likely want to say, "Give us this day everything we need until your next appearance in our lives". In Apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians 4:19 we read, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus". If we think of God as good and constantly with us, it changes our perspective. Surely we would worry less?

  2. 2d ago

    God going ahead of us, Jesus with us and the Holy Spirit in us.

    Yesterday I had a 15 minute interview at an Immigration office in Northern Central Portugal. I had been waiting 18 months to be given this appointment and it took 6 hours by public transport, door to door, to get there. Waiting can sometimes seem to take so long as compared to the event waited for, but often character, trust and faith are being built up. After my short interview yesterday, I felt an overwhelming sense of the presence of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This has made me reflect on our triune God Who has promised to surround us with His protection and go ahead of us. King David acknowledges this, "You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me" (Psalm 139:5). It was prophesied by Isaiah (see Isaiah 7:14) and which Matthew repeated in his gospel, that, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call him Emmanuel" {which means, God with us}. (Matthew 1:23). Jesus was in physical form on earth for 33 years, but before He was crucified and raised from the dead, Jesus said, "And Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Finally, with Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, Apostle Paul exhorts us, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? ..."(1 Corinthians 6:19). I pray you know that you have God paving the way ahead of you, that you have Jesus as your perfect companion and that you know that the Holy Spirit wants to live, love and guide you within you.

  3. 3d ago

    Bride and Bridegroom

    Yesterday we looked at different nuances of words in the world and today I remind ourselves that as well as some cultural, historical and translation issues to consider in the Bible, there are also deeper mysteries. In the Bible, God is referred to as our husband, such as "Your maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name." (Isaiah 54:5). It is relating to an intimate covenant relationship as between a husband and a wife. John the Baptist refers to Jesus as our bridegroom when he is recorded as saying, "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom" (John 3:29) with Jesus Himself implying to His disciples that He, the bridegroom, is with them (see Matthew 9:15). When discussing marriage in Ephesians 5, Apostle Paul says that "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (verse 25) and then later in verse 32 he says, "This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church". The final book in the Bible, Revelation, which describes the culmination of all that is to come, describes, "The marriage of the Lamb has come and His Bride made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7), the Lamb being Christ who was our supreme sacrifice on the Cross, as shadowed previously with the Passover, when death passed over all the Israelites's households with lamb's blood on their door frames. Bride and Bridegroom in all these contexts is not to do with sexual orientation or physical sexual acts but to do with covenant love, belonging, intimacy, faithfulness and receiving Christ's unconditional love. All of us are invited into this relationship. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Let's not dismiss these mysteries as nonsense or not for us. Surely, as a bridegroom, Jesus wants to share with us?

  4. 4d ago

    Cachorro

    This morning whilst praying I thought of the Portuguese word 'cachorro' which in Portugal refers to a young dog/puppy but in Brazil, where they speak a form of Portuguese which has evolved differently over time from mainland Portugal, with differences in grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, they generally say 'cachorro' to refer to all dogs. In Portugal, the general term for dog is 'cão' sounding very similar to the English word, cow! All this serves to show that it is easy to misinterpret, misunderstand and actually, mishear another. When I was training to be an English as an Additional Language teacher, we were given the example of the word 'skinny' which could be complimentary to one and offensive to another. We need to be careful not to jump to conclusions too hastily about someone's meaning, heart and intention and, then, not to gossip. Also, in the same vein as Chinese whispers, our words when passed along, could falsely colour people's opinions of another. Proverb 12:28 tells us, "A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends"; Ephesians 4:29: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up" and finally, Proverbs 26:20 "Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down". Don't judge another's words and then gossip.

  5. 5d ago

    A lintel

    Today I saw the top left hand corner of a door frame so, basically, part of the horizontal top beam or lintel. In the Old Testament book of Exodus 12: 7 and 12, we read God's instruction to the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt at the time. The context is that, on God's instruction, guidance and power, Moses was bringing the Israelites out of Egypt but Egypt's Pharaoh kept on reneging on his promises to release them. Each time he went back on his word, God caused a horrific plague to befall the Egyptians. The final plague God threatened was the death of the first born of every human or animal family in Egypt. God instructed His people, the Israelites, to apply the blood of a lamb to their lintel and sides of their door frames. That way, death would not enter their homes. Can you see the connection with Jesus in the New Testament of whom John the Baptist said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) and who shed His blood for us on the cross so that we will have eternal life? Jesus said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved" (John 10:9). There is so much more I explain in the audio related to each daily script and I encourage you to do your own research and meditation on the verses I refer to.

  6. 6d ago

    An active sling shot

    On Saturday we reflected on "waiting on the Lord" which, in the original Hebrew, means to have forward leaning tension, eager anticipation and confident hope, which I likened to an elastic band ready for action. Well, today I extended that to the sling shot which the very young David, at the time, used to slay his huge, strong and heavily armed Philistine enemy of the Israelites, Goliath. No-one in the army of Israel had felt confident enough to meet the huge, terrifying man, but David was ready to do so, with no hesitation. The passive, but ready, state of David's sling, as well as calm David himself, are representative of us when we build ourselves up daily on God's Word. David's Psalms start off describing a faithful follower of God as one"...whose delight is in the Law of the Lord and who meditates on His law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of living water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither. Whatever they do prospers" (Psalm 1:1). With this preparation of meditating on God's Word which builds up our trust in God and brings us peace, we can face our opponents however fierce they are. David ran quickly towards the battle line (see 1 Samuel 17:48) because he was so ready to meet Goliath and kill him because he absolutely knew God was with him and that he would prosper.

  7. Aug 15

    To wait

    Today I pondered on the word 'wait', bringing me to the Isaiah 40:31 verse: "But they that WAIT on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint". We can think on the word 'wait' as a time of inactivity or as serving as a waiter would do. However, let's dig deeper. The original Hebrew meaning of that word, 'qavah', is to twist, bind or coil together, providing an imagery of action and combined strength. That word 'qavah' evolved to mean forward-leaning tension, eager anticipation and confident hope. Look back at Isaiah 40:32 quoted at the beginning. If our single strand of life with our limited human capabilities, is intertwined with God's infinite power and glory, wow we will indeed renew our strength, mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint!

  8. Aug 14

    Magnolia seeds

    Today, in my mind's eye, I saw a brown magnolia seed pod like an oyster shell, open up to reveal a single beautiful ruby red pearl-looking seed. In reality, the dry brown pods spontaneously crack open in the autumn, displaying a whole cluster of small bright shiny red seeds. This reminds me that we can look at other people and at situations, thinking that they are dry, boring and with no abundance of life, without us having any awareness of the treasure within, ready to be revealed and shared in due season. Interestingly, these magnolia pods crack open in the autumn, another reminder to trust in God's perfect timing which may not be the same as others with their colourful, vibrant springs and summers. Meanwhile, God is doing a beautiful work in you whilst you are waiting for your breakthrough - honing your character, deepening your faith in Him and polishing a Truth to help you and others. In Colossians 3:3-4 we read, "For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory". This is referring to dying to self. If you are struggling to follow Jesus, feeling you have a seemingly dry, difficult and hidden life - wait, with hope and excitement. As was quoted last Saturday, remember, "See, I am doing a new thing!" (Isaiah 43:19). Trust God

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About

On Monday through to Saturday, I link an image to a theme in the Bible, with a podcast lasting about 10 minutes, which I hope brings hope and strength to anyone listening.

Information

  • Creator
    Stephanie Hawkins
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.1K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Stephanie Hawkins
  • Show Website
    Daily Picture