Richard Ellis Talks

We struggle time and again with the desires of our flesh -- but that's why Jesus took on flesh Himself. He came to this world in a real body to experience real human struggles so that He could die a real death for our sins and have a real resurrection from the grave. Because of His victory, we no longer have to be slaves to our own bodies, because He offers us a new life in Him.

Maybe you've heard the phrase "born for such a time as this" used to describe Esther. God perfectly orchestrated the details of her life in order to position her to save her people. But what we often don't realize is that God does the same thing with us as He did with Esther -- He works to put us exactly where we are for His plan and His purpose. Our job is to step out in obedience to fulfill His calling, and in doing so, grow His Kingdom for His glory.

We can't genuinely follow Jesus and have the Holy Spirit living in us and not produce spiritual fruit in response -- but if we claim to, God may choose to use certain tough situations to "fertilize" us so that we can bear fruit for His glory. But as bad as not producing spiritual fruit is, being a spiritual vegetable and doing nothing for the Lord is just as bad. When we abide in Him, we continually mature in our relationship with Him and our lives bear crops that others can see.

The story of Gideon shows us a picture of God's power as time and again He stripped away anything that could be attributed to man, all to make it clear that it was God's power that led Gideon to victory. The God of the Bible is the same God of today, and we have the same power of God living inside of us as Gideon had. As Christians, we don't need to be afraid of the battles we may face, because a power greater than us resides in us through the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes, talking about the hurt and suffering we've been through feels like opening up a can of worms. But even though we might rather keep those experiences hidden away, Jesus wants to use those "worms" to go "fishing" for other hurting people. And when we allow God to use our pain to reach others, His purpose is fulfilled in our lives.

We primarily build our relationship with Jesus not by doing works, but by spending time at His feet. It's not wrong to want to do good things in His name, but none of it takes precedence over the importance of being still and sitting with Him. Our relationship with the Lord deepens and grows when we spend time with Him -- and it's out of that relationship that we're compelled by the Holy Spirit to serve.

If we're not continually seeking God's truth in Scripture, we wind up experiencing a spiritual deficit that makes us vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. But when we find ourselves "in the red" spiritually, the solution is in what is read in the red letters of God's Word.

Did you know the Bible teaches us to greet one another with a "holy kiss"?! In today's culture that sounds not only a little weird, but also a lot intimidating. Yet God challenges us to let go of the walls we've hidden behind in order to experience holy intimacy with one another -- and the beautiful thing about holy intimacy is that it has no place for hatred or animosity towards others.

It can feel like our lives are filled with so much suffering that we don't think we can bear any more. Yet the Lord is gracious to cover us in His love and sustain us for another day. When God provides for us, He doesn't fill our cups half-empty, or even to the brim. Instead, He overflows them with His goodness and mercy -- and we're able to take what spills out of the overflow and pour it out on others.

God doesn't have a voicemail. That's because He always answers us when we cry out to Him -- we don't have to leave a message and hope that He'll get back to us eventually. Sometimes, it feels like He isn't responding because His answer doesn't look the way we'd like. But when we're in constant communication with Him, we begin to pray according to His will instead of according to our own desires, and our prayers begin to align with His plans for our lives.