Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Monday, 25 September 2017 "Perfection" by Ian Robinson - Genesis 1:26-31

Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Monday, 25 September 2017 "Perfection" by Ian Robinson - Genesis 1:26-31
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.”
27 So God created humankind in his own image;
in the image of God he created him:
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Here! Throughout the whole earth I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. 30 And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant.” And that is how it was. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.
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I recently found a photograph of my wife from our early days of dating that was very striking. She was gazing off into the distance; to me the image conveyed her great beauty and intelligence. Inspired, I made a pencil drawing of the photograph, eventually managing to capture those key elements, and the framed picture still has pride of place on my desk. Sadly I have been unable to repeat this accomplishment.
Picasso once claimed that his great rival Matisse would make a drawing, then copy it 10 times or more, convinced every time that the latest one was best. Picasso said, “In fact, most of the time, it was the first attempt.”*
God created humankind at the first attempt and He did not need a photograph from which to copy. He made us in His own image, from scratch, and when He had finished He was completely satisfied.
If the God of the universe is satisfied with His creation, who are we to argue? In His great wisdom, he made each of us exactly the way He wanted. We are perfect in his eyes!
* Gyula Brassaï, Picasso and Company (Garden City: Doubleday, 1966).

Hymn for Today:
"O to Be Like Thee" by Thomas O. Chisholm
1. O to be like Thee! blessed Redeemer;
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Refrain: O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
  Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
2. O to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinners to find.
Refrain: O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
  Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
3. O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer, others to save.
Refrain: O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
  Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
4. O to be like Thee! Lord, I am coming,
Now to receive th’ anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing;
Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine.
Refrain: O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
  Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
5. O to be like Thee! While I am pleading
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love.
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit for a life which Thou wouldst approve.
Refrain: O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
  Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Thought for Today:
because those whom he knew in advance, he also determined in advance would be conformed to the pattern of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers;(Romans 8:29}
Please pray:
for the development of Christian leaders in Guatemala.
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