se family

From Yesterday — Alistair Begg’s message . . . .

We are to copy Him . . . . ‘I walk the way He walks; I talk the way He talks; I’m starting to see my father in me’ . . . . We are to “live differently, because you are different. . . . Therefore be imitators of God . . . . These family characteristics will provide evidence of your sonship . . . .

Now I suppose in earthly terms, it is possible to adopt a child and for that adoption to go through in all of its technicality and in all of its legality and yet not yield within that relationship the kind of love one might have anticipated or hoped for . . . . . . unlikely but possible.

This relationship with God is neither simply legal or technical, but is distinctly wonderful and emotional — you are God’s beloved children . His beloved children. . . .  God loves His children. . . . When He looks upon us He does not cause us needless tears . . . .

• He knows my name.
• He knows my every thought.
• He sees each tear that falls.
• And He hears me when I call. (quoting “He Knows My Name,” by D. C. Talk)

He doesn’t need a “baby monitor” — from one side of the house to the other.  We are His beloved children.

Now you see how vitality important it is that we allow that to settle that in our minds – because He’s now going to work out for us something of what will mean to be an imitator of God. ”

 

Yesterday we aimed to highlight a simple and quick way to capture a biblical concept in a way that helps it stick.  We highlighted the last sentence in the portion we cited and the words “love” / “beloved.”  The simple and quick allusion is designed to compare a mother’s / parent’s love for their child and thereby their monitoring of their child even in the home’s nursery.  The allusion to a baby monitor reflects that concern, and contrast God who needs no such device.

Today, I would like to point to a simple use of words which caught my ears as I was listening. . . .

My Note: By the way – various rhetorical techniques are typically identifiable in the parts of a speech or message which catch your ears MIDST THE GENERAL FLOW OF THE CONTENT.  As the general flow of the message moves forward, something will grab your attention — “That was good / said differently / caught my thinking / insightfully made / etc…….”  When that happens, we can think about WHY!  What was done that made it do that!  Can I quantify that and duplicate the technique?

So as I was listening to Alistair Begg, I heard him say . . .

. . . .for that adoption to go through in all of its technicality and in all of its legality and yet not yield within that relationship the kind of love one might have anticipated. . .

and I was expecting another “ality” word after he said, “and yet not yield within that relationship . . . .” 

I say to myself,  How could he have made those words stick better?

Okay . . . . Here goes – Let’s give it a try.

“. . . . for that adoption to go through in all of its technicality and in all of its legality and yet not yield within that relationship the kind of love one might have anticipated” . . . . . . . .  technically and legally adopted, but NOT happily / love-nly / needfully / actually

or

. . . . . adopted in all of its technicality and in all of its legality, but NOT in all of its totality / or practicality

 

or (drop out “not” )

. . . .  technically and legally adopted, but unhappily / casually / with apathy

 

 

(And maybe finish it this way (“al” or “il”- is harder to rhyme)

“This relationship with God is neither simply legal or technical (nor artificial) but is distinctly “REGAL.”

 

To do this one should grab a hold of a good rhyming dictionary.  It is just the book you need at times which give you the ability to see all kinds of words that end with “ality” / “lly” / “al” “il” / or mimic the ending sounds.

I have several rhyming dictionaries on my IPad and other grammatical tools for doing just that since we live in the world of words!

Check some of them out.  They are typically inexpensive and very useful when looking for a way to finish a thought.  For those given to alliteration (I’m not – sorry) they are also useful for that purpose.