Monthly Archives: June 2014

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27-28a

John 13-17 are five chapters of sayings and events in Jesus’ last few hours before His arrest. These chapters are a fascinating study. In a sense they are Jesus’ “last words.” We may suppose they are the most important things He was trying to get across to a bewildered, disappointed, and frightened group of disciples. If you are bewildered, disappointed, and frightened, these words are for you.

A theme in these chapters is peace, and the scripture for this week’s GraceWaves is a good example. In it, Jesus highlighted our greatest need and where that need can be met.

Suppose Jesus was sitting across from you right now. What do you most need to hear from Him? What single word could He speak that most centrally addresses your deepest need? Wouldn’t that word be “peace?” Imagine your relief if Jesus appeared to you and said, “peace.” That’s what you need. Peace.

We are all trying to create a spiritual equilibrium which will still the multiple disturbances around and in us. We want an answer to the deep questions of purpose that keep us awake at night. We long for hope that quiets our fears.

Jesus knows precisely what we need, and that is why He said, “Peace I give to you.”

I’ve tried to give myself peace. It doesn’t work. My peace begins in my mind, an undisciplined and dangerous neighborhood in which to reside. In it, I can multiply fear and misery. In it, I can focus on the one driver that cut me off in traffic and forget about the three that let me into traffic. I can magnify misery and omit gratitude. I am not good at giving myself peace.

I doubt I’m alone in this, but let me be confessional and invite you to come along. My mind can tell me some crazy things. Problems come in all sizes. Some are big, others small. I have found that most people handle the big problems better than the little ones. Personally, the tigers and bears are not as much trouble to me as the gnats. The daily gnats steal my peace more than the occasional big beast of a problem. I cannot give myself peace.

Neither can the world. I won’t dispute for a moment that I can derive some peace from the world around me. The beauty of nature, the joy of family and friends, the satisfaction of good run to the Final Four for my Wildcats all give me pleasure. There is nothing wrong with that. But this is not peace in the biblical sense. It is more akin to happiness which is connected entirely to events and circumstances. When events and circumstances align with my expectations I am happy. Nothing wrong with that.

The problem comes when the events do not line up to please me. What do I do then? Typically I focus on changing the event, or the person, to align with my expectations. That is a recipe for disaster! It is an illusion and even idolatry. I’m not here to change anyone. I’m here to serve.

That brings us back to Jesus words. I can’t give myself peace and neither can the world. Jesus can, but only when I stop trying so hard to get it on my own. The fact is, my “self” gets in the way of Jesus’ peace consistently. That’s why denial of self is the first step in following Jesus and enjoying the abundant life He wants us to have.

The most concrete way we can move self out of the way is to look for ways to help someone else. Think of the difference between two simple prayers: “God help me” and “God give me someone to help.” The second prayer is the pathway to peace.

God has given you a choice today. You can seek peace wherever and however you wish. You can strive and struggle for it. Or you can turn to Jesus, move in the simple rhythms of His grace, help someone else, and find in Him the peace you really wanted.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

June 29, 2014

“Cast all your anxieties upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

Let me begin by saying that if none of the following grammar lesson connects with you, then you are perfectly fine, a good Christian, and 1 Peter 5:7 will be eternally accessible and meaningful. The verse stands nicely on its own. When you are anxious, God assures you that He will take to Himself your fears because of His great love for you. You can stop right here and be encouraged!

However, I have been thinking for a few days about the significance of the verb translated as “cast upon.” It means simply to throw, and has a preposition as a prefix which tends to intensify the action in Greek. The meaning of the word directs us to aggressively throw away our cares to God, implying that we are really not sufficient to take care of them on our own

Now comes the challenging part. The verb tense is aorist (pronounced erist). The word aorist means without limit or undefined. If you look carefully at the word you see the alpha privative (a – meaning without) and the root (oris) from which we get the English word horizon. Literally the word describes a kind of action that is without a horizon, therefore, without limit or undefined. This is a very difficult syntactical point to understand, but the aorist tense does not have a time relationship (except in the indicative . . . don’t worry about it). It means an action simply occurs.

How does this grammar apply to this beautiful verse? Casting your cares upon God, is not simply an action that you perform each day. Casting your cares upon God is an expression of your union with God through Christ. Because of God’s closeness and deep love, He shares with you the cares of your world. He knows and takes upon Himself those cares as you let go of them to Him.

What practical use is this brief grammatical lesson? First, we must accept the fact that we are not sufficient to take care of our trouble, and God does not expect us to. We are not meant to live alone, and we are certainly not meant to live in our own strength. God wants to indwell us. Our problems are not impediments, they are simply opportunities for God to show His strength through our weakness.

Second, a prayer for God to give us strength to handle any problems we face must be a regular part of our communion with Him. He is not bothered by our pleas, in fact He delights in our dependence on Him. And God’s help in our lives becomes a testimony to others of His power and love. Trying to handle your own problems is simply a dangerous exercise in pride.

So let God swirl and intermingle in your life, helping you to handle the good and the bad. He authors our joys and shares in our sufferings. As for the cares, leave them with God, and consciously refuse to pick them up again. This is a hard discipline, but one we can develop with practice. Christ shares in our suffering just as we share in His. So casting your cares upon Him is more than just a part of your morning prayers. It is a part of the deeply mysterious and moving relationship you have with God who cares for you.

Grace,
Dr. Terry Ellis
June 22, 2014

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” Matthew 10:29

This familiar verse has a familiar meaning. Jesus taught that because God cares for sparrows, then certainly He will care for you. Specifically, the verse appears to teach us that a sparrow does not die (fall to the ground) without God’s knowledge.

Only recently did I let that verse rattle around in my mind for a while. Frankly, something bothered me about it. The nub of the problem for me is that while it is somewhat comforting to know that God knows about the death of a sparrow, it is a little curious to think that He only takes notice when they fall to the ground. What about their lives?

Let’s look closely at the words Jesus used. The New Testament was written in Greek. While Jesus probably spoke and understood Greek, as well as Hebrew and probably Latin, the language of every day life in the first century was Aramaic. Jesus almost certainly spoke Aramaic when He said the words of the verse above.

The Greek word for “fall” literally means to fall, and can imply a death, as in fall to the ground. The underlying Aramaic word, however, might be better translated here as “to light” as in “to light upon the ground.” The meaning then would be that God notices not just the death of a sparrow, but its everyday life. He watches as it lights upon the ground to eat or gathers twigs for its nest. I think God is interested in those kinds of activities too.

Jesus emphatically and repeatedly tried to impress on us God’s interest in all aspects of our lives. This interest is not an overbearing vigilance, but a gracious offer to be involved in your life, throughout the day, every day. In His infinite wisdom, joy, and love God can watch a sparrow go about its daily task and take delight in that feathery blessing. Even more importantly, and this is Jesus’ point, He watches you and gently guides, blesses, and takes delight in your life.

The filaments of God’s grace work deeply into every moment of the day, so that every moment is divine. God lovingly watches and cares for you. You are not overlooked, forgotten, or neglected. Your life is important to Him. “Your smiles, your frowns, your ups, your downs” are all familiar to Him. You have a joyous, loving, heavenly Father who enjoys you, loves to be a part of your life, and can bless each moment.

So don’t leave Him out of this moment or the next. Work and pray to become more deeply familiar with Him. Invite Him into each moment. He is there already!

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
June 15, 2014

“So Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me, I pray you.’ . . . And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them, and after that his brothers talked with him.” Genesis 45:4, 15

These words come from one of the most moving scenes in all of scripture. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. He had endured terrifying threats but had ascended to the right hand of Pharaoh. All the while his brothers thought him gone forever and probably dead. During a famine in Canaan, the brothers journeyed to Egypt for grain and probably were baffled by having to meet with such a high official. After concealing his identity, Joseph revealed himself in a scene of tender forgiveness and reconciliation.

We can learn many lessons from Joseph’s story.

First, much of the pain in your life will come from the people closest to you. Family and friends are on your inner circle, and you have to be close in order to reach out and strike someone else. You can forget about a rude stranger, but you will bear the scars of a harsh family member for a lifetime. Your heart will ache when you recall a friend that is no longer a friend. Close relationships offer great blessings, but also the potential for great pain. Vulnerability is a function of proximity.

Second, your healing often comes through relationships. I walk very carefully through this minefield and ask that you pay close attention. Some people have suffered tremendous damage at the hands of a parent or sibling, and as much as we might want it to be so, you cannot always repair a relationship. However, much of the time God will work on your heart and the heart of the estranged family member or friend, and provide an opportunity for reconciliation. God did that for Joseph and his brothers, and Joseph likely would never have been whole without the story in Genesis 45. The same relationship that caused the damage is often the same relationship that provides the restoration.

Third, because of the potential for reconciliation, cultivate a forgiving spirit. Joseph probably was not always open to this possibility, but God worked with him. Whether or not you ever get a chance for reconciliation, you still do not want to carry with you a burden of bitter disappointment and anger. Forgive, pray a blessing, and move forward, always open to the opportunity God may provide. As Paul wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18).

Do not close any door. And do not be concerned to keep pounding on it. God will provide for your healing, and if the person who hurt you chooses to be part of that graces solution then the blessing will be for him or her also. You may occasionally knock, perhaps through a card or brief phone call, but do not make your peace contingent upon a person who historically demonstrates unreliability.

Grace is so infinitely pervasive, so wonderful ubiquitous that you never know where it might come from or from whom. Do not set your hopes on the estranged family member turning around and embracing you and asking for forgiveness. But do not be surprised if some day, many years in the future, that does occur. Just do not mandate that as the only way God can give you grace for your healing.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

June 8, 2014

“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

Can you forget the past? Clearly that is what God said through Isaiah. We are not to “remember the former things or consider the things of old.” This sounds plainly impossible because we have become so grindingly accustomed to remembering the former things and considering the things of old. We can’t imagine a different way of thinking about sins, hurts, resentments, failures, etc.

Forgetting the past sounds attractive. We all have things we would rather forget. In Greek mythology one of the five rivers running through Hades was Lethe. One drink from Lethe erased all bad memories. Is that what you want? Is that what God really wants?

Of course not. So what does God want you to do with a bad past?

While we may not be humanly capable of erasing failures from memory, we certainly must accept that God does not judge us based on our failures. In a sense, He does forget them. Your failures have no bearing on God’s regard for you. That’s grace.

Thinking of God’s view of our past opens up a new way for us to regard a checkered past. I honestly cannot forget my failures, but I can choose to regard them as valuable memories. Remembering how I failed can be an important way to avoid similar failures in the future. I’ve learned from my own bad mistakes, and it’s good for me to remember those lessons.

More importantly I must live forgiven. Some days I need to claim that grace more than others. The past rises up and dark thoughts cloud my mind and obscure God’s presence. Living forgiven is an important part of abundant life. It means that I accept my past and trust God with it. My past informs who I am, but it does not completely define me. God does that, and having truly forgiven me He is free to make me anything He wants in the present.

We are fond of saying we are the present result of our past decisions and actions. While true to an extent, that does not factor in God’s energetic grace. He redeems us. He frees us from our past in some very important ways. According to Isaiah, God is doing a new thing. God is. Not me. God’s creativity and newness is far beyond my imagination. I can give Him the rubble of my past and trust Him to build a promising future.

For my part, I simply must stop allowing the past to steal the present. Wishing for a different past does not alter my present in any beneficial way. In fact, my present will get a whole lot easier when I stop wishing for a different past.

I live only in the present, and God is mainly a God of the present moment. That is where He encounters you right now. This very moment God is with you, in you, around you. Right now. The Bible repeatedly teaches us not to worry about the past or the future. The present is where you meet God.

So don’t let a bad past have any bearing on today. You are a son or daughter of God, and you will meet this day as befits one of His children! Walk with confidence and trust. God will make a way for you through the wilderness today.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

June 1, 2014