Richard Ellis Talks

Sitting in stress is kind of like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do -- but it never goes anywhere! Our lives are sometimes so stress-filled that it's impossible to see beyond our circumstances, and it robs us of the joy the Lord offers us. God promises that with His power we can bear all things, but we have to be willing to surrender control and trade our worry for His peace.

"Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created." That's a quote you might have seen on stickers, coffee mugs, or home decor -- but did you know that it comes from the book of Esther in the Bible? Her story illustrates for us what it means to use the opportunities God gives us to obey Him. Our purpose isn't to seek out our own happiness -- our purpose is to seek out the people God's placed in our lives and seize the chances He gives us to share His message of hope and salvation with them.

Insider trading might be illegal on the stock market, but it's the best type of "spiritual trading" we can ever do! When we trade our lives in to God and ask Him to fill us with His life instead, He gives us His Spirit to lead us each and every day. And when we let His light shine through us, it attracts other people to the saving power of the Gospel, too.

No matter what struggles and trials we face during our life on earth, we can take hope in knowing that we have a Savior who's gone before us to prepare our eternal home. But until He calls us to join Him there, He's told us how we're to spend our days in the meantime: spreading the Gospel, and discipling other believers to go and do the same.

We can't live the Christian life without Christ. That's because the bar that’s been set for us by God – to live up to His perfect and holy standard – is literally unattainable. We don't have to go far in Scripture to realize that the only way for the "impossible" commands in Scripture to become possible is through Jesus Christ living in us.

Sin has a way of making us withdraw from those we need the most -- including God and other believers. It's important that we not only confess our sin to God, but also to a brother or sister in Christ who will hold us accountable. When we do that, we'll experience the true freedom and healing that God offers us through His forgiveness and mercy.

Scripture tells us that God's angels at work all around us -- even when we can't see them. The Lord has more power for us, in us, and through us than any kind of demonic force that could ever come against us. And it's that same power that, if we allow it to, will help us share the Good News of the Gospel with others so that we may see them in Heaven one day.

If you have beef with God, you're probably following the devil. If you have beef with the devil, the devil's probably following you! The enemy makes plenty of promises for quick satisfaction, but the sin that's involved isn't worth the consequences we suffer when we choose to follow him. Jesus, on the other hand, promises we'll have suffering if we follow Him, but the eternal rewards we accumulate along the journey are more than worth the cost.

Raise your hand if you've ever convinced yourself that God didn't hear your prayer! We tend to assume that if we don't get an obvious answer, God must not be listening to us. In reality, our sin often interferes with our reception and causes a "dropped call" that keeps us from hearing from God. When we come before the Lord in prayer, we need to first make sure we've repented of our sins so that we have an open line of communication.

Of all the blessings God's given us, one of the greatest is the chance to repent. We'll be forever bound to our sin until God breaks us of it -- but we have to allow ourselves to be broken. When we accept His forgiveness and His gift of salvation, He can transform our lives and replace the ugliness of our sin with the beauty of His grace.