Richard Ellis Talks

If you're a parent, you know how good it feels to hear your child show appreciation for something you've done for them. Have you ever considered that it's the same for God? It's a no-brainer for us to go to Him when we're in trouble or in need, but how often do we go back and thank Him for coming through for us? The greatest show of gratitude we could demonstrate is to come before Him in praise and worship for all He's done for us.

How we act is what we become. When we walk around acting like we're losers to sin, we put ourselves in a position to keep on losing. But when we live knowing Jesus has already won the battle over sin on our behalf, we can walk with heads held high and the boldness of those whose victory has been secured.

We're all born sinners who are working for hell, and our paycheck is eternal death. But the good news is this: God offers us the opportunity to quit our jobs and work for Him instead. All we have to do to change "employers" is accept the free gift of salvation Jesus secured for us through His death and resurrection -- and when we do so, we receive His payment of eternal life.

Sin doesn't occur in a vacuum -- and neither does pain. Sometimes we experience pain through no fault of our own, and other times we inflict it on ourselves through our sin. But during our greatest trials, God offers us the "spiritual anesthesia" of grace, and invites us to find relief and comfort through His peace.

Being a "do dad" means you don't just say great things -- you follow through and do great things, too! The best kind of dad is one that sets a good example for his children by modeling his actions after his Heavenly Father. When we continually point our kids to the Lord through our behavior, we demonstrate for them what it means to be consistent in word and deed.

Some of us had dads who seemed like superheroes in our eyes. Some of us never even had a father figure to call our own. But the good news is this: when it comes to God's love for us, we're all on level ground once we've been born again. We all have a spiritual Father who cares for us, leads us, and provides for our every need. God is a Father to the fatherless -- and as Christians, our job is to model and extend His fatherly love toward others.

The world claims to offers us a lot of different kinds of love, but only through being born again can we experience the divine, unconditional love that God has in store for us. And when we've received that gift from our Father, we're able to give it back to Him as well as share it with those around us.

Grace isn't fair -- and that's a good thing. If grace was given based on whether or not we deserved it, none of us would receive it! The very gift that we see as "unfair", God offers in love, giving all the opportunity to come to Him even at the very last moment.

Jesus is clear that we can only serve one master. When we let go of our compulsion to serve other masters like money and material wealth, we learn the secret to genuine contentment. By choosing to trust the Master who will meet our every need, we experience the freedom that comes from faith in a loving Father who cares for us in ways big and small!

The devil never has downtime. He doesn't take breaks or have an off-season; he's constantly attacking us with the intention of devouring us. We're in a 24/7 spiritual battle, and we have to put on the full armor of God for protection so we can fight and win.