Good Thursday Morning Team!

So, I have a sweet ‘truth’ to tell: I went to send all my 1 Peter pieces to the AMAZING woman in Calgary who does all my website ‘stuff’ the other day  (thank-you Keeley CANNINGS!!!) only to realise?? That I had somehow MISSED reading Chapter 4!  I know – me??!!  The lover of all ‘good things gospel’? WHOA! It was so NOT intentional but still, had somehow happened….. And I thought: “That is so weird.”…But what is even MORE weird, is when I went to (oh-so-super excitedly!!) read it today, is that – BOOM! It is sooo beyond perfect for 

‘what’ and ‘who’ I have been chatting with. And of course best of all: FOR MY SOUL.

And soooooo — let’s go and dig in and get out all the good stuff GOD ‘stuffed’ in there, but brought thru PETER to you and me today!

And to begin?? Bring on the key concept!!!! And for those of you who choose to read the chapter, maybe you’re like me and feel like you’ve almost read something like it before.  Because Peter is bringing up ‘stuff’ we have already been hearing all over the New Testament:  

How to ‘SUFFER’ …..and ‘SUFFER WELL’.

Say what??!!

Say yeah.  Seems GOD is once again taking international time to tell us, “Hey, wake up women! Your life here on Earth? Your life here as a Christain? Well, IF you are doing this thing ‘right’, you are rightly going to be, on some level, “SUFFERING”.

ACK and YUCK! And WHY the heck would anyone sign up for that!??!!

Well before we get to the answer, let’s take some time to DEFINE that WORD. Because with most (all????) words, we need to stop, think and DEFINE what they really mean….. And no, not according to you CAROL ;), but according to YOUR KING. 

And so let’s look at the word of the day (week?? YEAR??…): SUFFER.

Seems to me there are two kinds we read about today (and ps: I just love how GOD is so clear with HIS concepts! How HE usually keeps it to 2, maaaaybe three, on a good day for me :).

But the first type of ‘suffering’ we see is, well ,SELF-INITIATED. 

Gulp! Ohh..and OUCH. But hey, it’s true. Check out vs 3where it states how we all used to be full of  some pretty ‘stinky-stuff’ and well, I can only ‘imagine’  all the sin one must get in because you know, I have never been in that state before, right???…

Ohh, that is a HARD “WRONG” – Iol 🙂

I sure know the “sin-cycle”: the sins I have been ‘BLIND’ to……andddddd then the ones I have intentionally jumped IN to…(gulp) BUT sin is sin and GOD is oh-so-clear: “Carol,  it’s gotta get out of here.”

Because when when I ‘suffered’ for my intentional sins —- or wasn’t taking time to find the ones I was ‘blindly’ stuck in, well then:

To “SUFFER” for SIN definitely  = suffer with SHAME (vs 16)

Yeah I had no one to blame but myself (though I sure as heck looked everywhere else)…

Oh yes, I can so relate to that ‘shameful sin season’….can anyone else out there ‘see’ they have been there with me??…

But, on the OPPOSITE end of Spiritual GROWTH,  there is a second sort of ‘SUFFERING’. And it’s one that is DUE TO the CHOICE NOT TO sin (vs 13/14) but to CHOOSE TO do GOD’S right ….And well, that one feels a whoooooole heck of a lot different  to me —- and farrrrrr more different to GOD. 

AND, even better, can really ‘affect’ other people! Like when we read today how once we turn away from our old ways well, the people around us are full on “surprised” (vs 4) by what they see with their eyes …Oh la la – can you say: POINT OF IMPACT!!?? 😉

Oh yes, there is deep value to looking at what we choose to or choose NOT to DO with our lives. Becasse the POWER of IMPACT is in how much we can ‘SURPRISE’ others by those GODLY actions and REACTIONS…

Yes — we can turn heads when we DO things GOD’S way: some people will be into it, will like it and will follow it (does that sound a little too ‘Facebook-y’ to anyone but me?? ;)…But it is also pretty clear, some people are NOT gonna like it (vs.4)  and well, we gotta be prepared in our heart and head FOR that (vs 12) …

But even though that has happened  to me before (and don’t kid yourself Carol it will continue to come), it does not change the fact that I will still continue to CHOOSE or ‘suffer’ for GOD’s right — and really?? This kind of “SUFFERING”  doesn’t even feel really bad to ME…And why??

Well, as vs 19 states,  when my GOAL is beyond myself and begins to be ABOUT GOD’S WILL,….and when I am choosing to live right by HIM …..and choosing to listen to ONLY HiM….and if I am choosing to keep HIS command and values: well, then I KNOW IN MY SOUL I am doing MY BEST to reach HIS  BEST!

 Soooo,  when I ‘SUFFER’ in that way, there is NO Shame (vs 16).

And that sweet ladies is a clue for YOU, that you are on God’s GROWTH TRACK too 😉

Because what this book seems to boil down to? Is two kinds of suffering: Bitter and sweet.  Option 1) is SUFFERING from sin and smoothers you in SHAME  (and ps: if you find yourself here – do not panic or fear or shy away, give me a call today  and we can work on working it out! LOVE OVER ALL, check out vs 8!)…ORRRRRR  Option 2) Suffering that it’s ‘sweet’, because it comes from the heart that beats to GOD’s  will, want and ways — way beyond their own. No sin, no shame — only aiming to brings glory to HIS NAME (vs 14).

Good ol’ 1 Peter  Chapter 4, I am so glad I didn’t read you before because I sure really needed to read you today….Thanks for joining me fro a bit of SOUL-GROWTH journey….love ya ladies…Carol 😉

Change-CHOICE -TRUTH