Richard Ellis Talks

We're reminded every day when we look at God's creation of the beautiful and extravagant ways that He serves us and shows His love for us. But there's no greater example of His servant heart than the saving power of what Jesus did for us on the cross. When we've experienced the fullness of His love and His sacrifice, we'll follow Him in serving the people He places around us.

It's easy to fall into the trap of a lie that tells us God can't use our future because of our past. Yet time after time, God demonstrates through Scripture that He chooses to use people regardless of their mistakes. His grace, given to us by the power of the cross, is what equips us and enables us to accomplish His work no matter what we've done before.

The Bible tells us that when we choose to follow Jesus, that decision isn't meant to be kept private. Our first act of obedience as followers of Christ is to declare our faith through baptism, and our second step is to begin sharing the Gospel with the people around us through both our words and our actions. God's saving work in our lives isn't a secret to be withheld, but Good News to be proclaimed so other people may see and believe!

When you do something nice for another person, are you doing it to please God, or to prove something to the world? Our Father doesn't want our religious good deeds; He wants action that flows out of a heart that's in genuine relationship with Him. When we're walking in step with the Lord, it's evident in our relationships with the people He's placed around us and called us to serve.

Proverbs 27:17 tells us, "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." That kind of friendship is hard to find, but when we do, it can have a radically positive impact on every other area of our lives. And in order for us to foster that type of REALationship with another brother or sister in Christ, we first need a REALationship with God Himself.

We spend so much of this life trying to figure out who, what, and where we're supposed to be, that we often forget to rest in this important truth: God has a plan and a purpose for each of us. When we choose to follow Jesus, we're also choosing to align our will with us. How different might our lives look if we woke up every day looking for why He placed us where He did, and who He placed us there to reach with the saving truth of the Gospel?

One of the most powerful gifts Jesus gives to us as believers, along with our salvation, is the gift of the Holy Spirit. And when we step out of line and walk outside the path God has for us, He'll do whatever is needed to "prick" our hearts and get us back on track. The best support we can give to a brother or sister who's struggling in their relationship with the Lord is to encourage them to seek Him wholeheartedly.

It's easy to allow our mistakes to knock us out of the game of life. But when we bench ourselves out of discouragement or defeat, we miss out on important opportunities to serve God. Instead of beating ourselves up, we need to allow Him to set us back on our feet, walk in the freedom of His grace and forgiveness, and trust Him to give us the direction we need to succeed in what He's called us to do.

The devil's out to destroy physical life and spiritual life alike. Our job is to take a stand and fight to protect the lives that God's created. Just like a physical seed has to be planted in order for physical birth to happen, a spiritual seed has to be planted in order for us to be spiritually born again.

Gandhi once said, "I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." The problem with a lot of people who claim to follow Jesus is that they're mad as hell instead of being mad at hell and the consequences of sin. Jesus calls us to speak truth in love, not truth in hate, and when He lives inside us, we begin to speak like He does and learn to call out truth in a loving way.