Richard Ellis Talks

God doesn't use people who are perfect (there's no such thing!) -- He uses people who are willing. Once we accept His forgiveness in our lives, we can offer ourselves to Him in every way, to be used as He pleases. And when we live in that mindset of sacrificial obedience to Him, He uses us to change the world.

God promises to forget our sin when we confess it to Him and receive the forgiveness offered through Christ's death and resurrection. So if He's faithful to not hold it against us...why do we always seem to hold it against ourselves? We're not meant to wear the guilt of our past once He's set us free. Instead, we're called to shed it, move forward, and not allow it to define us anymore.

In the Christian life, we tend to look for "mountaintop" experiences during Sunday morning worship or in other church settings. But in reality, we've all had a "mountaintop" experience if we've met Jesus on the cross. When we get high the world's way, we'll always come down, but with Jesus, we can ride that spiritual high indefinitely as long as we stay connected to Him.

When we're standing in front of a mountain of a challenge, it's hard to see anything but the uphill climb. But when we take a step back and look at our problems in relation to the Creator of the universe, it gives us perspective and reminds us that God is powerful over any and all of our circumstances -- and that our lives are about so much more than just the here and now.

 

Ask yourself this: Are you willing to lay everything down at the feet of Jesus? God's got a purpose for our lives, and it ultimately leads to the greatest treasure imaginable, that was made possible for us by the gift of salvation through Christ. But to find that treasure, we have to be ready and willing to seek Him first -- to surrender our will to His and step out in obedience.

It's easier to be served than it is to serve. But God's called us all to be servants, not only to Him, but to each other. Having faith in Jesus should lead to an attitude of obedience and a heart of service. We were put here not only to be His hands and His feet, but to be His eyes and His ears -- to see people for who they really are, and to listen to their stories.

Have you ever found yourself saying that something will happen "when pigs fly"? The thing about God is this: if He says He's going to do something, He's faithful to follow through. And if God promises to equip us with all that we need, we can trust Him to supply whatever provisions it takes -- even if that means making pigs fly!

The Bible tells us we're all "losers" -- yet God loves us so much that He pursues us and offers us the gift of eternal life. When we live in response to His love, not looking out for ourselves or building up our own pride, the world will see us as "losers" in a different way as we glorify Him in all that we do.

God's poured out His blessings on us -- His children. But He's also given us the incredible opportunity to bless the people He's placed all around us! In our families, our churches, our work and our communities, we should be freely giving what He first gave to us instead of withholding blessing from others.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they introduced evil into the makeup of all mankind. God desires for us to live in the way He intended, but we can only do that by repenting of our own sinfulness and living in obedience to Him. The only good that can be found in us is through Jesus Christ.