Monthly Archives: February 2011

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat come, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

The book of Jeremiah is not easy reading. His words are harsh, but the times were harsh. Generations of unfaithfulness had rendered the people spiritually weak and insensitive. Jeremiah’s task was to shake them up. Typical of all prophets, however, Jeremiah interspersed hope among the dire predictions. The passage of this week’s GraceWaves is a good example of bright hope against a dark background.

This passage also has an autobiographical quality to it. Of all the prophets Jeremiah appears to have had the most difficult calling. He was reviled, beaten, thrown into a muddy pit, and imprisoned. His long ministry was often a burden to him. Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet,” and we have derived the words jeremiad from his name. It means a long lamentation or mournful complaint.

Jeremiah probably spoke these words as much to bolster his own faith as to encourage faith in others. This passage needs to be highlighted in every Bible. It teaches us great lessons about the jeremiads of life.

First, heat and drought are a part of life. Even the most well-cared for tree is going to face times of stress. You cannot possibly be surprised when tests come. As long as you are breathing you will face tests. You will pass one and another will come soon after. They are simply a part of life, and at some point you simply must come to peace with questions of why? The world is broken, and sometimes a jagged edge will cut you.

Second, your only inexhaustible resource is your relationship with God. Life will wear you out. You will face tests beyond your capacity to pass or solve. By remaining close to God will you receive the strength to endure, but you must choose this daily. That is why neglecting worship, daily prayer, and regular Bible study is hazardous to your spiritual health. Neglect these and you will be much more spiritually vulnerable. Your trust, your confidence, must be the Lord. Send out roots deeply into Him.

Third, even during the most extreme tests God will enable you to learn and grow. Notice in the text that in the heat, the leaves remain green. In the drought, the tree still bears fruit. Tests do not silence your witness or prevent your growth. In fact, handled properly, a test demonstrates and enhances your faith. Any tree can be green and fruitful when the climate is favorable. But a green, fruit-bearing tree in a dry and barren landscape stands out. Something is different. The life is clear and obvious. In the same way, your faith becomes a witness when you are facing heat and drought. People will notice and be inspired to trust God.

This truth about your witness during difficult times is particularly important today. So many people place a high value on material wealth as a sign of God’s spiritual blessing. This glittery, bling-filled, testimony relies on good times and good health. The main message of the scripture, however, is precisely the opposite. God’s grace is sufficient, and His power is made perfect in weakness not strength, power, or a pleasant arrangement of circumstances.

You can learn and live through difficult times, perhaps especially during difficult times, as the following poem relates:

I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When sorrow walked with me.

The challenge you face does not silence or invalidate your witness. In fact, a difficult time can magnify your witness. You have an opportunity to lead others to glorify God by the way you face the heat and drought.

So how will you handle the present test? Will you wither? Or will your faith be a witness to those around you?

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

February 27, 2011

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19

This beautiful text comes from “The Book of Comfort” in Isaiah (chs. 40-66), a theme of which is seeing God’s will and learning to discern His ways. In these chapters we often find the question, “do you not see?” or “do you not perceive?” The text for this week’s GraceWaves reminds us of four important truths.

First, stop reliving the past. Yes, we do need a time of reflection, contrition, repentance; and the approaching season of Lent certainly reminds us of that need. Soon, however, you must fold up the past and move forward. You cannot spend your life in an endless, mental court of appeals, reviewing past events and actions. You cannot receive God’s grace for today if your mind is full of guilt, bitterness, regret, etc. Accept as fact even the most painful chapters in your life, but then stop considering them. They do not determine your future.

Second, trust that God is doing a new thing in your life. It is in the process of springing forth even now! A Christian should live with a powerful and transforming hope for the present and future. God’s grace is limitless and so is His creativity. He simply will not leave you forlorn. In some way, today, God is doing a new thing in your life. It may be a new insight He will give you, or a reminder of a truth you have forgotten. He may bring someone into your life to help and encourage you. He may have a task for you that will be that new thing. You can live with a joyous anticipation of God’s new grace in your life today.

Third, you must exercise faith to perceive what God is doing. The fulcrum of this text is the question God asks: “do you not perceive it?” Sometimes my answer to this question is, “No. I really don’t.” But the question is a challenge for me to use faith to look behind and beyond the surface events and perceive what God is doing. Life is not a cheap novel with obvious plot lines. God works deeply around the obvious events to infuse His grace more completely into your life. Think of faith as a kind of eye enabling you to see God’s eternal principles and providence. By faith you will begin to perceive the “new thing.”

Finally, remember that the wilderness and desert are not the end points of your journey. They are the harsh realities we all face, but God will provide a way through your present wilderness. He will provide rivers in your desert times from which you can drink the water of life. God does not remove the wilderness and desert, but He does provide a way through them. An even deeper truth is that the wilderness and desert are fruitful places for real spiritual growth.

This passage should be one of your favorites because it reminds you that you do not have to keep dredging up the causes for your present desert or wilderness. It also reminds you that while grace is a multifaceted gift from God, He expects you to use that gift to learn more about the way He works. And He is working today in your life. Do you see?

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

February 21, 2011

For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. Mark 8:35

Self-sacrifice is central to the gospel but consistently misunderstood. In a world possessed with self-evaluation, self-promotion, and self-help, we need to hear Jesus’ teaching on what it means to deny self.

The common misconception is that self-sacrifice involves one or both of the following: complete abandonment of a present lifestyle and moving to a distant land to be a missionary, and/or to desire nothing good for ourselves and to forsake every form of enjoyment. Let’s dispense with the latter quickly. Jesus did not promise abundant life in order to form dour Christians who are chronically suspicious of anything appearing to be fun. I am quite sure Jesus smiled and laughed, and so should we. All of the vices listed in the New Testament deal with behaviors that harm oneself or others physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Anything that falls short of love should be denied, but to limit denial to a simple avoidance of things that are plainly bad trivializes Jesus’ teaching on denial of self.

Now the first misconception proves to be more difficult, for it appears to be the apex of self-denial and completely beyond the “average Christian?” Ask typical Christians what they have denied in order to follow Christ, and you are likely to be met with a blank stare. Most all of you reading this article have a home, car(s), and perhaps even a big-screen tv. Should you feel guilty about having such things? Selling all, giving away the proceeds, and wearing sackcloth is probably not what Jesus had in mind. So what did He mean?

Let me suggest a very common form of self-denial that will probably present itself today, and that is empathy combined with action. Empathy literally means to enter into someone’s suffering. The action means that you do something to mitigate the suffering. Now before we get too theoretical let’s see this empathy in action.

At a recent White House dinner, one of the lady guests was seated at a table and noticed what she thought was a waiter walk behind her. Being seated she noted only the striped pants typical of wait staff. Quite naturally she requested from this man a glass of wine which he promptly went and obtained for her.

This man, however, was Four-star General Peter Chiarelli, the number 2 ranking general in the U.S Army. I assume the general is accustomed to giving orders and being served by others. When asked to perform this minor service by a slightly mistaken lady he could have corrected or rebuked her, and we would not begrudge him a slight frown for her lack of awareness. Instead he chose not only to not take offense, but quickly imagined the embarrassment the lady would feel upon discovering her mistake. He defused the situation by graciously fetching a glass of wine. Everyone had a good laugh, and the general appears magnanimous and decent.

What enabled his quick thinking? Self-sacrifice. He assessed the situation, empathized with her potential awkwardness, and found a way to bring a bit of grace to the situation. He did not take umbrage or try to protect his image as a highly decorated and important man. He sacrificed that shallow notion of life and, in Jesus’ words, saved his life. He also became an even bigger man in our eyes.

You will be presented today with probably a dozen opportunities to help someone along in minor degrees to see God’s grace more clearly. The mother who fixes lunch for her children, the husband who brings home a card and a few flowers, the friend who visits and encourages a neighbor mourning a loss have all combined empathy with action. The examples are countless, and they are all a form of self-sacrifice. Jesus honored and elevated the small acts of kindness, and we must see them for what they are, the sacrificing of self for the aid of someone else.

So think of others. Enter into their struggle. Seek to share or lighten their burden. Sacrifice yourself.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

February 13, 2011

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Two of God’s truths have particularly impressed me in the last five or so years. The first abiding interest is grace, which has given rise to GraceWaves. The second is faith. I suppose the two are closely linked in that they are very easily understood at an initial level, and then plunge to limitless depths that are both wondrous and perplexing. Like God Himself, grace and faith are simple enough for a child to understand, yet complex enough so that you never come close to understanding them fully. They are part of God’s mystery, but the mystery is light not darkness.

The passage for this week’s GraceWaves illustrates this simply complexity and captures perfectly both the confidence and occasional uncertainty in faith. Think about it. In this verse we have “assurance” along with “hope” for things unrealized. We also have “conviction” coupled with “things not seen.” God wants us very much to have certainty, but we live within the constraints of brokenness. We see through a glass darkly.

I occasionally hear or read people on the topic of faith who appear to have all the questions answered and have not the slightest cloud on the horizon. They speak of faith as if it were a motivational tool, the louder the better. I wonder if they are simply in denial or merely foolish. Either way they sound like Peter right before his denials, boastfully claiming of his unwavering commitment and thus rendering himself spiritually vulnerable.

Faith is simply not that easy. It is sometimes hard to believe, and if you do not realize that then you risk making faith, not simple, but so simplistic that you rob it of all its depth. We live in a kind of spiritual bipolar existence where we sometimes enjoy assurance and conviction, but other times struggle with hope and the things not seen.

In this way we are like every other traveler. Abraham had years between reassurances of the first promise, and decades to wait for its fulfillment. Jeremiah angrily cried out to God from the pit. Paul despaired of life itself. These occasional stumblings are nothing more than part of being human. Believing is sometimes hard. We are all occasionally with the father who said, “I believe! Help my unbelief.”

The very good news is that God never leaves us without a clue. He weaves hints of His Presence into the very fabric of the world, and whispers promises to us that are just strong enough to keep you moving forward.

Elizabeth Oakes wrote that faith is the subtle chain that binds us to the eternal. I like the honest combination of “subtle” and “chain.” Faith is sometimes elusive, like a beautiful dream you try hard to remember. But it is also a chain that God holds in His hand to keep us bound to Him. Your best hope, the only way forward is to take hold of that chain and hang on even when other people or forces say that it doesn’t even exist. You believe even in the face of overwhelming pressure not to believe. Take hold of the chain.

Isak Dinesan wrote a story about a man who became a rich author early in life. “Like most people to whom wealth and fame happen unexpectedly, the young man developed significant adjustment problems. He had written out of poverty about poverty, but now he was rich and felt isolated from the condition and the people who had given him his first book. He was estranged from his wife, from God and even from himself. He wandered all night in the streets of Amsterdam, trying to sort things out. He decided that he would never write again and gave away the manuscript of a new book he was writing.

“About at the end of his rope, he was considering suicide when suddenly, he felt overcome with the presence of God. God seemed to speak to him directly that he should write again, ‘not for the public this time, or for the critics, but for me.’ ‘Can I be certain of that?’ he asked. ‘Not always’ said the Lord. ‘You will not be certain of it all the time. But I tell you now that it is so. You will have to hold on to that.’”

My prayer is this week’s GraceWaves will be one of God’s whispers this week, a reminder of what He has told you. Hold on to His promises. Recall the truth you learned in brighter days. The darkness may obscure the truth, but it can never obliterate it. God is real. Love wins. Grace is the theme. Take hold of the chain of faith that binds you to God.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

February 6, 2011