Every Day New: A Devotional Celebrating God's Many Mercies

By Jenny Highsmith

This devotional featuring inspirational oil paintings by artist Jenny Highsmith invites readers to look up, breathe deep, and feel the peace and presence of God.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)  

In a world filled with trials and uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that God’s love and care for you is unchanging. Amid your darkest nights, there will always be a dawn. The sun will always rise, bringing with it new and tender mercies from your Heavenly Father.

Featuring stunning skyscapes from artist Jenny Highsmith’s New Mercies collection of original oil paintings, each devotion includes a key Scripture verse, spiritual insights, a heartfelt prayer, questions for further reflection, and a special note from Jenny.    

Every Day New will encourage you daily to set your eyes on Jesus amid life’s storms.     
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
• Release date: Dec 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9780736986373

Jenny Highsmith

Jenny Highsmith is an oil painter, hand lettering artist, and author of Hand Lettering God’s Word. She has a degree in visual communication and opened her own print shop in 2013. Jenny lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Drew and their three kids—Rowan, Conor, and Julianna.

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DAY ONE

God with Us in the Dark

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

MATTHEW 4:16 - 17 ESV

Sometimes I take a walk just before sunrise, when it’s still dark outside. It is difficult to see around me, and I stumble up the hill along the side of the house to the sidewalk, trying to find my way to the path I know. I reach the sidewalk, but the darkness is heavy all around and hinders my perception of reality.

As I walk past the dark trees and houses, the dawn begins to peek over the horizon like a beacon of hope. The glow of light shimmers around me, casting a sheen of gold over everything it touches. The ground becomes clear, and joy and peace emerge inside me as I see the sunrise. Hope is near. Joy is near. I am reassured that there is nothing to fear.

There are times in our lives when we feel we are in the dark. Maybe you’re feeling that way now—stuck, empty, lost, weary, tired, or hopeless. Whatever emotions you have, the overwhelming feeling is that you’re moving against an adverse wind and are just trying to endure the buffets. Like you’re traveling in the dark and are unable to see in front of your own feet. Unsure of your next step, or afraid you’ll stumble and fall, you may have even given up walking and instead sat down with your knees curled up to your chest in despair or fear.

ARTIST’S NOTE

Each painting is fashioned using a method that creates complex layers of oil paints.

Perhaps you feel right now that the weight of what you’re going through is too much, too dark. That the world is too heavy.

You might have felt God call you to move forward with something, but now you’re not sure He’s next to you anymore.

Or maybe adversity came against you when you were doing nothing wrong at all, and you’re experiencing trouble that was not of your own creation.

Or perhaps it was your doing, and you feel a weight of guilt and shame on your shoulders.

In the midst of any adversity, we usually put our head down and try to muscle through with our own strength. We just try to endure it like a storm we have to power through. And like we do in the darkness before sunrise, in the midst of adversity we lose sight of what’s around us. It’s hard to see Jesus when we’re struggling. It’s easy to lose sight of everything when you’re fighting against a harsh wind.

But then.

Christ shows up in radiant glory like a sunrise. He is the light that shines hope upon our steps. Like the golden light that shimmers on everything it touches, He covers everything with the peace of His presence. He is here.

Jesus shows up because while you were struggling through adversity, He was moving toward you. Contrary to our belief that we must have our act together for Him to want us, when you are vulnerable, God moves toward you and not away from you. He moves toward you when you are struggling, and He does not give up on you. In our world, this is sometimes the opposite of what happens. In our relationships, our struggles and vulnerabilities can be seen as weaknesses that might be exploited or used against us in some way. Or at the very least, we feel they drive others away from us.

But that is not Jesus. Not only does He come close to you, He wants to be invited into your adversity with you and help bring you out of it. So what is stopping us from letting Him in?

If it is a question of His ability to handle our struggle, well then, we have to ask ourselves, Did He not conquer sin and death? We know He is powerful enough to handle our adversity, and yet sometimes we still will not invite Him into it.

Maybe you feel as if you don’t have enough to offer Him in return. But Jesus does not come into your adversity because you have earned it. We have nothing to offer Him that would make Him love us more. And He does not come into our struggle to berate and shame us about why we do not have our act together or why we did not work harder. He has compassion on us and reassures us that He is there. Just as He did the disciples in Mark 6:50 (ESV), He says to us, Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.

I implore you to look up from the tunnel vision that struggle can create, look up and see Jesus coming toward you. He is knocking on your door. Invite Him into your mess. He can reach you when you’re in adversity, and He can find you when you’re struggling. He will take your not enough and do something with it. And He is inviting you—right now, in this very moment—to step from the murky darkness and to walk with Him on that light-filled path.

PRAYER

Lord, thank You for conquering sin and death so that there is no longer any condemnation for us in Jesus. Sometimes we feel like we have to earn Your love, like we have to prove we deserve Your presence. Lord, help us realize that You want to enter the dark places in our lives because You are good and You love us. Psalm 107:6 (ESV) says, Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. Help us cry out to You when we’re in distress instead of trying to muscle through it in our own strength. You want to be invited in. Help us welcome you in.

REFLECTION

1.Are there areas in your life where you’re experiencing trouble? Write those down.

2.Reflect on times when you have struggled to perceive God’s presence in the middle of an adverse circumstance.

3.God loves us so much that He sent Christ to die for us and He called us out of darkness and into light. He calls us to turn around and change directions. Are there areas of your life that you need to give over to God?

4.In what part of your life do you need to know that God can reach you and that He can use your meager resources and do something with them?

DAY TWO

Finding Our Value in God

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.

LAMENTATIONS 3:22-24 ESV

Sometimes in the midst of extremely difficult situations, we are given little reminders of God’s faithfulness. Little glimpses into His heart that remind us He is still there, even in the struggle. For me, sunrises and sunsets have been a constant reminder that God brings a new day each morning and that every hardship or blessing will have an ending.

But those hardships can be devastating. In chapter 3 of Lamentations, the author expresses his hope in the Lord after spending the first two and a half chapters detailing the havoc and destruction that sin and disobedience have caused for the people of Jerusalem. The pain, emptiness, and devastation are laid out in such a graphic way in those first two chapters that they leave the reader feeling the hopelessness and despair the people of Jerusalem must have felt as they faced the consequences of their sin.

These effects of sin are difficult to bear, and sometimes we might even try to lighten them with false truths. If Lamentations teaches us anything, it is that no matter how exhilarating or exciting sin may seem, it always results in loneliness, brokenness, emptiness, and pain. Sin’s pleasures are often shared, but its consequences must be endured alone. And sin always has consequences.

ARTIST’S NOTE

The gold foiling was added as a reminder that the foundations of our lives reflect God’s image.

The LORD has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of