Mary Ellen McNeill

Blaming God for evil is an immature way of understanding God's omnipotence and sovereignty - with God in total control of us, His puppets. But that view denies our role in accepting or rejecting Him and His will. It is our rejection and rebellion that allows evil to flourish in our lives and in the world. And God allows us to go through that as consequence for our actions and choices. But in His mercy and grace, He also provides a way out of every temptation... and forgiveness when we do give in to temptation. May His Name be praised!

I must honestly admit that often I am caught off guard by trials. Perhaps I am still too naive or immature, but they catch me by surprise and send me into a spiritual/emotional tailspin. The idea that God uses a trial to produce godliness in me is something I see after the fact (sometimes WAY after the fact!) My prayer is that I could begin to consider these trials "pure joy," even as I am going through them, and to know in my heart that God is working through them to strengthen my faith... spiritual weightlifting!

Christians and non-Christians alike do many things with the rationale that "no one will ever know." I know - I've done it! Often we think of "giving an account" as a bad thing, a punishment. And, depending on what we have to say, it may well be. But it also tells us something else: everything we do matters to God - nothing is insignificant. Knowing this will not only change our behavior, it will change our attitudes. Everything we do - even and especially those things that no one else knows about - everything is noticed by God. This is sobering but also encouraging.

Fear, jealousy, conviction, ignorance, greed, the influence of the devil... these are all reasons why un-believers work so hard to convince us to sin with them. We are tempted to do so for a equally long list of reasons. Perhaps it's easier to just give in. Maybe we are afraid to stand up for Christ. Often we are engaged in a spiritual battle unaware - unless we go through life preparing for battle, by drawing close to our Lord, we will be blindsided every time. Ultimately, our strength must come from God. We must practice turning to Him, everywhere and in every way. If we wait until we are tempted, it is often too late.

Been there, done that. I've been steeped in sin and I've suffered for it. Christ was steeped in MY sin and suffered for it. But He has overcome. He has broken the power of sin and death and risen from the dead! It is finished - once and for all. So, why would I want to go back and do any of it again? After all I have been through, and all that Christ has been through for me, why would I choose to return to a life of sin? I will use what Christ has done for me as a sword to fight off evil desires and the temptations of sin, and I will live my life for God. I may still suffer, but it will be a partaking of Christ's suffering - a suffering for what is right.

Yes I have pledged my faith to Christ and promised to serve Him as a disciple. I view my baptism as a wedding ceremony. I pledged myself to Christ and realized that He had pledged Himself to me (before the foundations of the world!) Since that time, there have been mountains and valleys, times of intimacy and times of me turning away, but I can always come back to that point in time when I was baptized. And I have often "renewed my vows" - our particular denomination has a "Remember you Baptism" service.

I have been reconciled with God! Jesus has brought me into His presence! He doesn't just clean me up, forgive me, and then leave me to myself. It's not just about getting things right. God desires a personal, intimate, face-to-face relationship with me and Christ is the One who presents me. HALLELUJAH!

Persecution and other tough circumstances can bring out the worst in us. Often in moments like this, we fall back on our "old ways" or our sinful nature and emotion runs so high that we don't hear the Spirit redirecting us. Personally, Peter's reminder to reply with gentleness is the hardest for me. My sinful self is very confrontational and often, even when I want and mean to be helpful, my tone conveys just the opposite. I need God's help even to open my mouth!

Compassion and sympathy would be the strong points of our fellowship. Where we struggle most are being grudge-free and full of blessing. It is quite a lot of work, emotionally and spiritually, to not get sucked into petty greviances, taking sides in old debates, and repaying evil with evil. In the past, many groups/individuals have turned bitter or simply withdrawn from the fellowship in order to stay out of the "us versus them" mentality. But Peter calls us to humble service! This involves crossing those imaginary lines that exist between people/groups within the church, finding ways to bless and build them up, and looking for opportunities to serve. All of this is built on a foundation of prayer and the Spirit at work in our hearts and minds.

Peter is continuing to talk about the inner life. Prayer is a part of that inner life; so is the way we treat others. Both of these things grow in the same garden, our hearts. We can't spend all day "fertilizing" our hearts with selfish amibition, the desire to control others, and just flat-out sin against our spouse and then expect to have healthy, friuitful prayer lives. As much as we human beings have tried, it is impossible to section off our lives into the parts that God gets and the parts that we get to keep for ourselves.

When we speak about domination, we are back onto that subject of submission and why human beings don't like to submit. We sinfully want to be in control of our lives, and if all else fails "at least I can be in control of my spouse." But when we see another person as something to be controlled and manipulated, we aren't seeing them as God meant them to be: co-heirs of the Kingdom! We aren't to subjugate our spouses; we are to submit ourselves one to another.

I think "cultivate" is the perfect word - like growing a garden. The inner life must be tended, watered, fed, weeded. You can't ignore your inner life and then expect fruit - more than likely you'll just get a bunch of weeds! Bible study, prayer, meditating on God's Word, worship, and averting your eyes, ears, and thoughts from temptation all help to grow this inner garden of character. Then, this inner life must be put into practice in the outer life, our interactions with people around us. True character does not fade or pass away. By cultivating this character in our hearts, we are presenting them as precious offerings to the Lord. In a sense we are saying, "Thank you, God for giving my life to me and for redeeming my life from death. Now I give it back to you like a golden crown, covered with jewels." (Remember the parable of the talents?) This same overflow from the heart will be evident to those around us - friends, family, spouses - and helps to shine the light of God into their hearts as well.

I believe that in each generation it gets harder and harder for women in America not to submit themselves to society's standards of beauty. That being said, it was still obviously a struggle in Peter's day as well. (There is nothing new under the sun...) Peter entreats us to focus on the inner life, the matters of the heart, and our relationship with God. If all (or even most) of our attention is given to our physical body, we quickly become shallow, vain, and competitive. But if our attention is given to Christ, our relationship with Him, and other matters of the heart, then all other things quickly come into balance. We will not forsake our appearance, for we will know that we are truly loved and accepted by grace... we are someone worthy of care. But we also will not make our appearance of chief importance, for we will understand the truth of God and the lies of this world.

Sorry to have missed the past week - glad to be back! Part of our sinful nature is wanting to be number one and in charge. Submission involves a giving up of that control and a giving over to someone else. But submission in and of itself is not necessarily good. If we are not submitting to God's authority, we might be submitting ourselves to the schemes of the devil, or to the opinions of others. God asks us to be in submission to Him first and then to others (spouses, leaders, etc.) as love demands. Sometimes in that submission God will tell us to speak out or act. Other times He may tell us to wait. Part of submitting to God is trusting in Him to guide us, trusting in His goodness.

Whatever we are doing, we are to do it "as unto the Lord, not to men." Even though our boss asks us to do a project, the quality of our work should be as if God Himself has requested our labor. When we don't give our best effort, we are giving our second-best to God... but He wants our first fruits!