Too much to ask? - 3 days to go.

Ruth and I did some photography for Nicola, a friend of ours, the other week. Her little baby, Sam, is growing up fast and so she naturally wanted some portraits taken of him before her baby became a little boy. He is very cute and so I hope that Nic won’t mind me posting one of Sam’s pictures here :o)



When we showed up for the photo session Nic made us a cup of tea first and so Ruth thought she’d say ‘hi’ to Sam. Instead of smiling in response to her greeting though, Sam very deliberately looked away from her. For a second Ruth couldn’t believe that this cute little baby had blanked her. She must have imagined it. But, saying hello for a second time Sam did it again; deliberately looking away from Ruth when she spoke to him.
He didn’t do it to me though hehehe :o)

Paul [the Apostle] wrote in one of his letters to Timothy, who he was mentoring, that all Scripture [everything in the Bible] is ‘God breathed’ – inspired – so that through it God will teach us; you and me.
Realising that challenges me because it means if I choose (and everything I do is really a decision one way or another) to ignore or neglect God’s Word and what he is teaching me through it I am guilty of blanking God!

I don’t want to blank my creator and saviour but sometimes what I read seems impossibly tough.

“Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted.
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behaviour from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”
Eph 4:29-5:2 (The Message)

At first you might think ‘No problem, I’m a well mannered guy “bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behaviour” (v31 NLT) all gone!’
Dim problemo!
But alas God doesn’t stop at the easy part; “be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (v32 NLT) It’s not enough that we avoid all of the negatives that crop up in relationships, God wants us to actively pursue the positive characteristics! Now come on, surely that is too much. Is God being unreasonable or does He actually know what’s best for us?

“Watch what God does, and then you do it.” (v1 Msg) God was not just tenderhearted to those who loved him. John 3:16 reminds us that God loved the world! THE WORLD! Christ was filled with a compassion for those who mocked him, who betrayed him, who tortured him, who nailed him to the cross, who watched him die without a second thought as well as those who loved him and followed him. Are we going to watch was God does and rejoice in it by the way we live? It’s a tough command, but no one said that this life was going to be easy (but it will be exciting and rewarding and fulfilling and so much more).

So, what am I going to do today? What are you going to do?
That’s our daily choice, our daily decision.
Blank God or embrace him with every fibre of our lives?
Do we want fusion or fizzle?

“… do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” (v30 NLT)