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 crucified Him and asked His Father God to forgive them "as they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). He also died for us and all our sins. Old Testament prophet Isaiah over 700 years before Jesus was born prophesied accurately re Jesus's birth, ministry and death, part of which declared that his face was so disfigured that it was hardly recognisable as human (see Isaiah 52:14). We can hardly bear to describe in words and pictures the atrocities heaped on Jesus, to their full extent; it stretches us to conceive of His immense suffering. Similarly, do we know the full extent of the effect and benefit to mankind of Jesus's sacrifice? Do we fully appreciate Jesus's beautiful love for us as He hung on the cross? He gave fully of Himself for us, whilst knowing that we find it difficult to give of ourselves to Him. We don't even thank Him. What love!

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 of the temple.) John, who highlights Jesus's divinity, gives us his account of this incident very early on in his gospel, as of great significance: "...stop turning my Father's House into a market! ...Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days ..." (John 2:16,19). Jesus is identifying Himself as the "temple"i and we now know what he meant about being destroyed and then resurrected three days later. Jesus is now the temple where we meet and have a relationship with God. We need no longer offer sacrifices and meet God at the temple. Apostle Paul also further tells us that as believers in Christ, as the Body of Christ, His Church, we are the temple in which God dwells. 1 Corinthians 6:19 "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies". This takes me full circle to where I started today's devotional about anger. In honouring God with our bodies we are not to be angry or have any other sinful disposition. Thank God, Jesus's death on the cross saves us from the sins we have fallen into and he is our perfect role model as we aspire to honour Him more.

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 of acknowledgement and trust in God. Jesus came to earth as Emmanuel - God with us. There is no writing in Scripture that indicates Jesus as displaying any one of those sinful attitudes, leading to sinful actions. He was our perfect sacrifice.

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. Gluttony, as with other sins such as pride and envy, manifests itself differently in each of us. Also, we are at different stages of our walk with God and understanding of sin. With me, as a mature Christian, gluttony takes various forms and not just when I don't stop eating something I am enjoying when I have already had enough, but also when I forget to thank God for His provision, and when I comfort-eat instead of going to Jesus my comforter etc. In Romans 14 we are warned not to judge others on their different ways of honouring God in what they eat, in the days they perceive as holy etc. God looks at our heart and we cannot judge another's heart.

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 need of a crutch. They have missed the point completely. God wants to look after us, His creations, in the best way He can. How foolish to believe that God has nothing to do with your existence and that we can survive in our own strength, with God being at most a small unnecessary bystander. God speaks through Prophet Isaiah (45:9) warning "What sorrow awaits those who argue with their maker. Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it ..?" Even for those of us who already acknowledge God as our creator, we sometimes struggle with a matter and forget or consciously choose not to ask for His help. It delights God when we turn to Him. Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is with you ...He will take great delight in you ... will rejoice over you with singing". We will be fulfilled as will God be, together.

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, Cain gave 'something' from his crop 'in due course'. God corrected Cain along the lines that when not giving with an attitude of gratitude and acknowledgement that without God He has nothing, he is on the slippery slope of sin. Cain was angry with the correction and was jealous of God's acceptance of his brother Abel's gifts, so he murdered Abel. Let us look to God for His guidance which is always for our good. If circumstances are negative and/or we fail, God is always there to redirect the circumstances and redirect us, with unwavering love. Isn't God deserving of our excellent giving? We are giving from what we would not have if it weren't from Him in the first place.

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 with our Lord Almighty hanging there, the sudden 3 hours of deep darkness during the afternoon and then after Jesus gave His last breath, the thick heavy curtain to the Holy Temple's private chamber, which only the High Priest could enter to access communication with God, split in two. We may not understand what significance there is in what Jesus did for us but at least we can acknowledge that His salvation for us exists. However, aren't you glad you know that there is so much more to flowers than a simple child-like depiction? Well, may I encourage you to also look deeper into the Cross too. It is the 'crux' - the central significance of Christian faith. An offshoot of that word 'crux' is 'crucial' - vital, life giving. The Holy Spirit and those who learn from Him, can help you grasp the Truths and would love to do so.

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. Though our imagination makes these connections, I would suggest that it does not infer that God is in our imagination. God has created us with imagination and creativity. Often God's spirit simply connects to our spirit within and we just know we have touched heaven or, we can say, heaven has touched us. Matthew 3:16-17 describes God sending His Spirit down upon Jesus at His baptism, before He is goes into the wilderness for 40 days and then starts His ministry: "As soon as Jesus was baptised He came up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased". Heaven can connect to us with tangible moments.

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 we receive this truth or not is our choice. In Psalm 63:7, King David declares, "Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice".

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 holds or be so confident that we will be able to handle whatever life throws at us. Only God knows and can help us. The whole of Chapter 4 in the Book of James counsels us on this. Here are three of the verses: "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what willl happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's Will, we will live and do this or that'. " I say that the 'mist' of our lives, as depicted in the Book ofJames, is of eternal substance in God's hands.