Monthly Archives: May 2015

“I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but the very thing I hate.” Romans 7:15

Sometimes I’m very tired of me. I commit the same sins, have the same defects of character, and get myself into the same kind of trouble I’ve had for years. There is nothing new under the sun.

I’m not being pessimistic, and I don’t want you to feel sorry for me. I also don’t need those of you who know me to agree too enthusiastically. I’m just being honest. In my journey upward I fall and fail quite often. I know what God wants me to be and do. I know it in the original Greek. But I fall short so often, and sometimes I can’t even understand why.

That’s what Paul was getting at in Romans 7. “I do not understand my own actions.” Sounds like Paul could understand any struggling alcoholic or addict, or any honest and reflective person who struggles with unhealthy attachments and making the same mistake over and over.

But there is a way forward, and that reminds me of a poem by Portia Nelson entitled "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters.”

Chapter I:
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost … I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter II:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place,
but it isn't my fault.

Chapter III:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am. It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter IV:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter V:
I walk down another street.

I’ve fallen down several holes so often I’m surprised God still has anything to do with me. But that is the nature of grace. God is trying to help me take another street, and eventually I do. He never gives up on me.

As much as I am to rely on God, however, I do have a responsibility to stop going down the same street when someone has given me a better set of directions. Yes, God never tires of giving me the same directions. Life sure is easier the sooner I learn to listen.

To change the metaphor just a bit, I have fallen down and gotten back up too many times to count. God keeps working with me, loving me, forgiving me, and ensuring that when I breathe my last the ledger will read that I got up one more time than I fell down.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
May 31, 2015

“The memory of the righteous is a blessing.” Proverbs 10:7

The Memorial Day weekend has prompted me to consider the importance of remembering, and the grace God gives us to remember. Remembering is a minor feature of our early years when we see the future spread out before us and imagine all the awaiting possibilities. As we grow older the focus shifts to the past by a few percentage points each year. This is not a bad thing at all, for as we gather experiences, as families grow, and as friends sift in and out of our lives we simply have more to look back on.

The problem is that we don’t look back as much as we should. The counter-balance to the grace of remembering is the fear of the future. If we are not careful we invest far too much of ourselves in imagining the very worst circumstance and then living within the numbing shell of that fear.

The antidote is remembering, and specifically remembering all the people God has used to bless, guide, and encourage you. In the Proverb for this week’s GraceWaves, Solomon reminds us that righteous people provide us a stock of memories to sustain and cheer us. This is the way God usually works. He seldom does anything “in person” that He can do through someone else. God communicates His presence and imparts His grace to you though the people in your life. Your task is to be very intentional in taking time to remember all your saints..

I was reminded in a very special way of the importance of this grace to remember by a friend, Lamon Brown. In short, he spoke of two very difficult periods in his life, the fear and depression that resulted from them, and the way God led and is leading him through.

The first challenge was a time when his wife’s health was in doubt, and she flew back to the states from their missionary home in India. During the eight-week separation, Lamon said he faced the darkest time of his life, and fear became his reality. He maintained his morning devotion and in reading Philippians was reminded of a very special passage that had impressed him as a teenager. Paul wrote we can bring all of our concerns to God with thanksgiving and the incomprehensible peace of God will guard our hearts (4:6-7).

Lamon decided to take God at His word. He began thanking God for his wife, instead of only begging for her health. He thanked God for his children, for his calling as a missionary. In that litany of thanksgiving, Lamon discovered that exactly what Paul had promised happened. The peace of God filled his heart. The fear evaporated because of the grace to remember.

The second challenge is more recent and ongoing. A visit to the doctor for a supposed pinched nerve led to an eventual diagnosis of ALS. In his reading, Lamon learned that 3-5 years is the typical prognosis for this terminal disease. In the first few months after this staggering revelation he again felt the stab of fear and depression.

The solution, once again, was thankfulness and the means was remembering. He began a list of all the experiences for which he was thankful going back to childhood. The list numbered over 300, and the numbing fear and depression dissipated. The last time I spoke to him, the dreaded diagnosis was changed to something survivable, but his experience through the darkest valleys confirmed the incredible spiritual value of gratitude.

While some of those experiences, no doubt, had to do with places and adventures, they all are somehow related to persons. It is impossible for a Christian to be thankful without Someone to thank, and equally impossible to feel wonder and awe without having Someone to worship. There are no inanimate blessings and no inanimate experiences. Christians know what unbelievers miss, that God is in all things. He whispers in nature and smiles through the people we love. The memory of the righteous is a blessing.

So this Memorial Day weekend, certainly take time to remember the original purpose of this holiday. Your freedom as a citizen of our country was purchased and is guarded by the blood of fellow citizens, past and present, who stand the post and guard the wall. Be thankful for our military personnel, pray for them, and honor them.

But in an even larger sense collect “memories of the righteous.” God has placed in your life people to love and encourage you. Remember them. Start your own list. The old hymn “Count Your Many Blessings” is not obsolete. It is a vital way God reminds you of His grace and assures you that the way He acted in the past is a promise for the way He will act in the future. Those blessings are almost always through people, though sometimes very privately and personally through God.

Either way, “the memory of the righteous” will always be a blessing to you.

Grace,

Terry Ellis
May 24, 2015

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

The Lord’s Prayer should be a part of your morning devotion. This prayer is Jesus’ gift to us, His answer to our request “teach us to pray.” Therefore, part of what we should pray every day is “give us this day our daily bread.”

The key to understanding this initial request in The Prayer is the word “daily” a surprisingly obscure word in the NT (found only here and in the parallel in Luke). Outside of the NT we find only one example, in a shopping list or list of expenses. This scant evidence proves a real challenge to interpreters and translators. What does the word mean?

Well, “daily” is very probable, but the phrase goes beyond a request for enough food to survive. In a broader sense, when you pray for daily bread, you are asking God to provide everything necessary for today. That includes not only the food you eat, but every need. God is faithful to provide precisely what you need for today.

This request for daily sustenance (physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.) draws on the imagery of manna. Recall that God provided manna to sustain the hungry, wandering people of Israel. Every morning they could count on God’s provision. He never failed to provide.

Additionally, remember that the people could not store up enough for extra days. The manna would spoil after one day (except on the day prior to the Sabbath when they could collect enough for two days). They could only receive from God precisely what they needed for that day. In other words, they could not hedge against the future. They were forced to trust that God would provide for the next day.

Now what is the application for you? First, when you pray this part of The Prayer you are expressing your trust that God has provided for you today. Nothing will surprise Him. You will not be left in a situation that has taken you beyond His providence. Whatever your need, God has already provided for you. Praying to God opens both your heart and your hands to His blessing.

Second, you must pray daily in order to experience the fullness of God’s provision. Please read carefully! I don’t believe God ever withholds a blessing from us, but we certainly limit our ability to receive His gift if we neglect to remain vitally and spiritually connected to Him. This means that you cannot store up for the future either. You must walk with Him in prayer, and thus trust Him not only for today but for all your tomorrows. You will know that each day as you open your heart to Him, He will give you precisely what is necessary for that day.

For most people, I believe, the future looms with a dreadful uncertainty. We have plenty of evidence that some tomorrows will be very hard. But a Christian never needs to dread the future. Wouldn’t it be easier if we could hold in our hands all the manna for the remainder of our days? No. We are not to trust in the manna, but in the Father who provides it. Also, God never relieves us of the need to trust Him, because we are meant to live by faith, daily.

Just live one day at a time. Receive God’s gift today. He has it ready for you. And trust Him with tomorrow. He knows what's coming. The good and the bad. You can trust Him. “Tis grace hath brought you safe thus far, and grace will lead you home.” Daily.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
May 16, 2015

“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 that includes reflection, contrition, repentance, and apology. Soon, however, we must fold up the past and move forward. We cannot spend our lives in an endless, mental court of appeals, reviewing past events and actions (now some people may want you to, but that’s not your responsibility!).

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
May 10, 2015

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” John 14:6

When traveling the common conversation starter is “what kind of work are you in?’ My reply, “I am a Baptist minister” elicits either slightly nervous silence the rest of the trip or opens the door to some interesting discussion. I had the latter experience last week on a trip.

My companion said, “I am struggling with faith. I was raised a Christian, but I wonder about all the other people of different faiths. What happens to them?” It’s an uncomfortable but familiar question. Here’s the answer I gave him that seemed to help.

First, we cannot honestly deny, nor should we, the exclusive claims of the gospel. Jesus said, “I am the way” not “a way.” In Acts, Peter said there is no other name by which we can be saved. Paul wrote of a time when at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. Etc. The witness of the New Testament is clear and unequivocal about the exclusive sufficiency of Jesus as the way to God. It’s not intellectually honest to claim otherwise.

In the multi-cultural world we live in our typical response to this claim is one of either quiet embarrassment or a chest-thumping “we win!” Complicating the matter is the typical response of other people that such exclusivity is poisonous, as in “ISIS believes it’s the only way!!!” I do think it’s important to point out that while ISIS beheads its neighbors, Jesus taught us to love our neighbors. That’s a pretty significant difference. The challenge is to combine conviction and mercy. And that leads to the next point in my mini-sermon.

Second, it’s important for us to be good Christians, and by this I mean that we need to believe deeply. A lukewarm faith helps no one. It does not sustain you, nor does it give a genuine seeker a place to begin asking about what it means to be a Christian. Be firm in your faith! Know the central tenets of Christianity and live the good life of the gospel. That provides a place for us to begin honest dialogue about various beliefs.

I would add here that I believe it’s equally important for people of other faiths to be strong in their convictions. Be good Jews. Be good Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. I want to know what you believe. I recently spoke with a Hindu lady and enjoyed our talk. I learned more about her faith, and she hopefully saw the effects of Christ in me. I shared my conviction, and am glad to let the Holy Spirit use me any way He pleases.

I suppose the key here is that Christians should have strong convictions without being angry or insecure about it. We never argue anyone into the Kingdom, nor should we try. Gentleness and reverence should mark our words.

Third and finally, my faith does not require me to go around rebuking or marginalizing people of other faiths. In fact I am explicitly prohibited from that kind of censorious attitude. My neighbor is increasingly likely to be someone who is quite different from me in many ways. Jesus teaches me to love my neighbors not change them. Only God can do that, and how and when and if He does is simply none of my business. I am to be a witness, not a prosecutor.

I often hear the idea that “all roads lead to the same place” or “all spokes lead to the hub.” I’m not a fan of that kind of thinking. Some roads really do lead nowhere. I simply choose not to spend time evaluating everyone else’s road or spoke.

I need to be comfortable with the road I have found in Jesus Christ. I am sure it leads me to God, and I am eternally thankful for the peace and joy I find in Christ each day. And I’m glad to talk to anyone about that with gentleness and reverence.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
May 3, 2015