Mary Ellen McNeill

That joy comes from our love for Christ, our belief in Him, and our souls being saved. When we are emotionally happy or excited, this joy is intensified, spilling out of us in songs of praise and prayers of thanksgiving. When we are emotionally sad or hurt, this joy is our comfort and peace, a spiritual reminder of the true focus of our lives. It is a deep joy - not deep as in "so far down I can't find it" - but deep as in "foundational". All other parts of our lives are undergirded by this God-given joy.

Genuine, tested faith brings glory to Jesus Christ by revelation and relationship. REVELATION: More of who Christ is and what He does is revealed through us when our faith is tested. The proclamation of this truth in our lives brings glory to Christ on its own. But others as well will praise God when they see Him at work in us. RELATIONSHIP: Our level of trust and belief deepens as our faith is tested, "proving" Christ to be just who He says He is. This spiritual intimacy glorifies Christ, lifting Him up to His rightful position in our hearts. The hard part for us is trusting in the midst of the test - for it may look and feel that God has "forsaken" us, or that, perhaps, He cannot be trusted. However, it is in those moments that He must be trusted, and indeed He is nearer to us than ever before. If we will walk through that valley with Him, our faith will be more refined (like gold) and Christ will be glorified. Sometimes these experiences have come to me as "big decisions" - like moving or illness - but often they come in the day-to-day small trials that have the potential to either harden my heart or draw me close to the Lord.

God's part is everything! He provides the perfect sacrifice, who He then raises from the dead so that there is hope. He calls us, empowers us, keeps and shields us. He created us to be in relationship with Him, gave us ears to hear and minds to comprehend. And yet, we must have faith! In His perfect wisdom, He desires a response from us, an opening of the door. Somehow our trust and belief play a role. What percentage of the whole is our part? I'm not sure.

Forgiveness and obedience are tied together in the nature of God and the work of Christ. It was Christ's own obedience that gives us our forgiveness. It is only through this gift of forgiveness that we can be empowered to obey. We are deceived in trying to seperate the two (forgiveness and obedience), but we often think this way because the fruit ripens at different times in our lives. Perhaps we understand Christ's forgiveness first, then a long time passes before we come to an understanding of obedience. But I have often seen it in reverse: the person who is trying so hard to be obedient, hoping to "earn" Christ's forgiveness! We are truly saved by grace - no amount of obedience could save us, and even the power to obey is a gift of grace.

Until we begin to grasp that this present world is not our home, we will be controlled by it. It will drown out the Spirit's voice. It will fill us with fear or greed or envy and the peace that Christ offers will not be able to take root in our lives. For me, so much of this has to do with focus - what I am focusing on in any given moment or day. There is so much in this present world that clamors for our attention. Of course the ultimate goal would be to focus fully on Christ in every moment. But, as we are still imperfect, it becomes a matter of returning to Christ every time we realize our focus is elsewhere, praying that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes so that we would be aware of a shifting focus, spending time in worship and Bible study to remind me of my true home.

Hello! My name is Mary Ellen and I'm a homeschooling mother of two children. My husband is a youth minister pursuing ordination in the United Methodist Church and we live in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This is my first online Bible study ever. (The Women's Bible Study Group at my church is taking the winter off, so I was looking for another in-depth study.) I'm a little unsure of my way around forums and postings, so please be patient.