Gary L. Ellis

It’s perfectly accurate to say, “Apart of Christ, we are unworthy.”  It’s also true to say, “Without Him we are nothing.”

But here’s the thing…

• Because of the New Birth, you are NOT apart from Christ, therefore you ARE worthy.
• Because of the New Birth, you are no longer without Him.  Therefore, you clearly HAVE great worth.  You truly are something!
  
• It’s very important we get our value statements lined up with the reality of the Cross.

If we keep making statements that sound spiritual but actually aren’t, we can expect very little new life manifestation in our Christian experience.  Be humble…

Based on New Life Truth!

Gary

Sacrifice is normally thought of as something we do that amounts to self denial.  Even painful self denial.  But is that the true meaning of sacrifice from God’s point of view?

Not really.  Although “self denial” can be a part of sacrifice, the Old Testament root or “parent” word means…

“To draw near”

Unfortunately, our understandings, or misunderstandings – of even spiritual issues – are heavily laced with a “man centered” focus.  We think about sacrifice in terms of how much we are giving up, or how much we perform out of obedience no matter how we feel about it at the time.

Bringing sacrifices of praise has more to do with ways and methods of drawing near to God rather than self denial.  To look at it that way…the accurate way…is helpful to me as I grow in my personal relationship with the Lord.

Gary

Depression is no light matter.  However, whether it’s experienced occasionally or chronically, the emotional weight can be lifted.

Even though emotional bondages can be complex issues, there are a couple of practical tools I’d like to share with you that work!  How do I know?  I and many other people I know successfully “work” them.  Here they are:

• Don’t Think
• Thank

“What I still need and God has taken care of for me”

I heard Bill Johnson, the Senior Leader at Bethel Church, Redding, CA, first say several years ago, “I’m only about 10 minutes from depression any given day of my life.”  It was in context of Bill also saying, “I’ve discovered the key to never living life depressed.”

This was the key:  Only allow yourself to think on these two areas…

1. What God has done
2. What God is doing

Never allow your brain to walk the “what God has not yet done” path.

It’s an acquired mental taste.  It won’t come easily or naturally at first if you’re used to eating mental spoiled bologna.  However, just like taste buds literally change every 10 days, so can the flavor of one’s thoughts.

Here’s where the “Thank” part comes in.  It’s much easier to develop a new mental palette if you add the component of thanking God for what He has done and what He is doing.  Thanksgiving is like adding a super vitamin to your diet.

As I said earlier, I’ve “worked” it.  Others I know have done the same.  And…IT WORKS!  Up to you, but I highly recommend it!

Gary

The key to “doing the stuff” or truly re-presenting Jesus in our earth walk is courage or boldness.  

“Easy for you to say,” you respond.

“How’s that?”

“You’re extroverted…with a bold risk taking personality.”

That may be true…the personality part.  But, let me share a key to courage I bet you didn’t realize…

True courage or boldness comes in bite sized pieces of time.  It really doesn’t depend on personality type.  Courage comes when you realize it only has to be about 10 seconds long.

That’s right…10 seconds long.  Within that 10 seconds is the spontaneous decision to “take a leap” into the deep end without thinking about it.  Once the “leap of faith” has been initiated, it’s too late.  You can’t back out.  You’re now on the roll.  And, the good news…that’s where you discover the power of God backing up your “leap.”

Many people think that courage or being bold is the result of genetic wiring.  But, it’s really not.  It’s actually “flashes of unpondered risk.”  Boldness is a quickening of the Holy Spirit quickly acted upon.

Realize – today – that any old coward can ask the Holy Spirit for short moments of “quickening.”  Then respond without thinking.  Once the 10 seconds is over you can feel as timid as you like.  You only need 10 seconds of boldness.  After that you’ve already put yourself in the land of no return.  And, THAT…is where the cool Holy Spirit empowered stuff blossoms.

Gary

I believe most people can “feel in their bones” that something extraordinary is afoot for 2012.  Opinions abound on what that is.  However, it’s a gut sense of most that many realms of life from economics to the political and “religious” scenes are entering the “Y” in the road.

I’d like to share with you a spiritual prophetic forecast that a man named Bob Jones had in 2009.  Let me start by saying that if you are unfamiliar with Bob Jones, he’s been one of the more “right on accurate” Christ centered contemporary voices.  Here is Bob’s experience:

“In September 2009, Bob Jones had a revelatory encounter where he was sitting on a train. He asked the conductor, “What is this train?” The conductor said it was the “Glory Train” and he gave Bob a capsule that was shaped like an egg.

The egg had new life in it. It had the beginning and end of time in it. He asked the conductor, “When can I open this egg and when will this train arrive?” He said the time was within the egg and the egg will be opened in 2012! The time capsule had the wisdom of the ages in it; from the beginning to the new beginning.

Bob said that we’ve come to the end of the old and the birthing of the new in 2012, and the glory of God will fall upon the churches.”

I’ve personally had the inner anticipation that 2012 is going to be a pivotal year on a grand scale.  I don’t have any meaty words of wisdom to followup with.  It wasn’t my purpose for posting this article.  I think we need to be cautious about forming rigid opinions on how the specifics of change are going to play out. 

Spiritually speaking, I don’t believe it’s going to favor any denomination, doctrine, or mindset.  Instead, the reviving of righteousness, peace, joy, and power is going to be experienced by those whose hearts are looking to Jesus (not religious systems and opinions) the Author and Finisher of their faith.

Just a ponderable…

Gary

What do you expect to find when you look at that specific person? What does God see? What is your purpose in “helping” someone else? What is God’s purpose? Kind of a reality check eh?

According to I Corinthians 13, we can accomplish great ministry feats. We can be super-heros of the faith and super admired. Except…

If the motivation isn’t the God kind of love….it’s worthless. The good news is the fact that everything we accomplish, discipline for, and sacrifice over can very well be motivated by His love. How? Because…

Our spirits being one with His Spirit “easily” draws that out of us. That’s if we’ve practiced being conscious about it. Not as an “earning” from good works, but as a purposeful cooperation with the One who lives with and within us.

Any gold miner can find dirt and rocks in and on a mountain. But, a real gold miner isn’t looking for dirt and rocks. He/she is looking for GOLD in the mountain. Find gold land mining it. Drawing it out.

God is always seeking the gold in you. He’s always desiring the gold in others. Because of His love, that’s what He sees. That’s what He’s looking for. And that…

Is our worthy motivation!

Gary

I didn’t have to do any big performance to get forgiveness for my sins (what many people call getting saved).  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not minimizing the need for forgiveness of sins.  It’s vital and totally available through Christ Jesus.  However…

The truth of “getting saved” is so much more that forgiveness of sins to guarantee a great after life!  In fact forgiveness of sins is just the doorway to a great and glorious banquet room!

Most Christians realize that you can not perform your way into receiving forgiveness of sins.  The performance anxiety many of us face has never been about the “initial step” of salvation.

The anxiety I’m referring to is fueled my a misunderstanding of the maturity process.  It’s true that we are instructed to “work out” our own salvation with fear and trembling (probably also a misunderstanding of Philippians 2:12-13). 

You see we are not only initially brought into God’s family by His free gift of grace.  We are also kept, maintained, and watched over by grace though faith.

The flesh is bent on having to prove itself, it easily torments us with performance anxiety.  What do I have to do!  That’s one of the reasons that “self help” publications and conferences are so abundant – especially, it seems – “Christian” ones.

btw…as a side note…the Philippians verses say, “work out your OWN salvation, etc…”  We are not called to work out anyone elses salvation for them.  We are not called to even control others.  On our best days we have enough trouble controlling ourselves.

We so often see ourselves as servants, not sons (or daughters).  As paupers, not princes (or princesses).  As workers not yet worthy for rest in Him.

Do we do stuff?  Yes, as the grace of Jesus flows in our spiritual veins, we will be motivated to work His works.  But not as a performance lest He be unhappy.  Relax my brother or sister, you can’t gain one farthing of a miracle or anything else you need by the sweat of self performance. 

Growing in grace is rooted in grace!

Pillow your head on the promises of God!

btw…why do we try to let others (and ourselves) set a higher standard of performance than God, Himself?  Good question, eh?  Probably need to work out the answer on that one.

Here’s another one.  Why do we continue to be so driven by religious expectations of our past?  Even, when we see the error.

Gary

I’ve discovered a very helpful and practical “faith trinity” that supports my journey of walking by faith.  In a nutshell, the “trinity” contains these three elements:

1. Speech
2. Action
3. Thoughts

Speech:  There are many Biblical examples of how “saying” is an integral part of faith.  The Scriptures say in Hebrews 11:3, “We know that by faith the worlds were framed…”  Genesis 1 puts it this way, “And God said, Let there be…”

Now listen to the way The Living Bible puts Romans 4:17:  …“and speaks of future events with as much certainty as though they were already past.”

Action:  I can list several scriptural examples, but let’s just snatch a homey illustration from daily life:  Sitting on a chair.  You can have faith that chairs will hold you up, but you have to make a “sitting action” before the chair will actually do for you what it’s designed to do.

Thoughts:  It’s an established fact that a human being does nothing that he/she hasn’t thought about first.  Another way of putting it is that you “see” in your mind what you are going to do – regardless of how briefly – before you take or avoid action. The Apostle Paul exhorted the Romans, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  He told the Philippians, “Think on these things…”

It is extremely important where a person allows their minds to dwell.  What one thinks about governs the reality of what they experience in life.

So, there’s my Trinity of Faith.  It’s a simple way of thinking that’s helped me keep my life focused as I’m on the God given journey of walking by faith.

Gary

W.W.J.D “What Would Jesus Do” has become a slogan over the past decade that many Christians are familiar with.  But, is it possible there is even a better thought to focus our attitudes and actions?

I believe it’s found in 1 John 4:17, “As He is in this world, so are we.”  Quite a powerful verse, really.

What Would Jesus Do is not a wrong question to ask.  To me it’s like so many of the things we believe.  Not inaccurate, just incomplete.

Unfortunately, it’s the “incomplete beliefs” that divide us not inaccurate ones.

W.I.J.D.  What Is He Doing?  To answer the question, “What would Jesus Do” takes us to opinions that we base on His history.  And, that’s not a wrong thought or foundation.  But it’s also helpful to be more “present” focused. 

Ask, “Jesus what are you doing right now in this moment?  I know it won’t violate the character of your actions in the past, but how are You applying your life to this present situation?”  It’s those present and personal “discoveries” that help us walk His life.

1st John 4:17 says, “As He is, so are we in this world.”  The verbs is and are – those are very important verbs (actions) for living the Christ life with Him today.

Gary

To stress the devil or be stressed by him.  That’s the question.  Which is the child of God’s true, authentic destiny?

I believe the Kingdom answer to that question is…

Our redeemed privilege and position is to “stress the devil.” 

Now, let me take a second to clarify.  I don’t mean to put stress or emphasis on the demonic pressures being brought to bear on one’s life.  Lots of sincere Christians focus on what they believe to be demonic stressors. Truth be told, the demonic spiritual world does attempt to bring torment to the house of the believer. 

Unfortunately, too often we’ve played right into his wiles and schemes.  We’ve fallen prey to his tactics.  However…

I’m not talking about stressing – or putting focus on the junk he’s attempting to bring to bear in our lives.  I’m saying…

Our privilege and authority is to go on the offensive and take the stress to his house!

How do we do that?  Here’s just a couple of ways:

1. Choose to never be offended with God over the things we don’t understand.

One of the demonic world’s chief goals is to tempt God’s children to become offended with Him.  Jesus spoke of this when John the Baptist asked the question, “Are we to continue to follow Jesus or should be be looking for another?”  You see, it was promised that Jesus would open prison doors.  Yet, he was in prison and as it turns out would never be released.  It was in that context that Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended in me.”  Bill Johnson says, “We receive the peace that passes understanding when we give up our right to understand.”

B.  Take your eyes off of the devil and put them on your true Kingdom identity as a royal child of God.

The more you believe who you are and who the devil is not, the more you bring stress to the devil’s house because he can’t control the mind and emotions of a Kingdom Kid…and he knows it!

Seek first (make your highest priority) to be familiar and intimate with God’s Kingdom (your homeland).  

Being stressed by the devil’s antics is a sure sign that we have much more to learn about our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom.  The more we know and embrace Kingdom truth, the more we become like Jesus who was able to sleep in the back of a boat that was tumbling in the turmoil of a storm.  Abundant revival culture living is being able to walk in the privilege of righteousness, peace, and joy that is increasingly free of fear, stress, and turmoil. 

I’ve discovered that it boils down to a matter of choice.  Often times that choice is made in the face of natural contradiction and lack of understanding.  But the more I make those important choices of belief, and the more my faith becomes resilient, the larger my understanding of my Kingdom authority grows in my heart.  With that the smaller the devil becomes in my perceptions.

I hope this post will jog my readers to re-evaluate their spiritual focus.  I urge you to move the direction that brings stress to the devil’s house and neutralizes his unwarranted tension and torment in your lives.

Gary