Richard Ellis Talks

The devil's only purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. And what better way to do all three than to use our own sin against us to sabotage our lives? When we stray from God and find ourselves off-course from His purpose for us, the potential for damage is great -- and sometimes, there's no coming back from it in this life.

Jesus' death gave us 24/7, universal access to God. No longer are we separated from the Father by temples and curtains and high priests, because Jesus' perfect sacrifice broke the barrier between us and Him. We're not called to approach Him in fear or timidity, but with confidence and boldness knowing we're children of the most high God!

If God says He will, then why do we think He won't? Instead of being surprised when God shows up like He tells us He will, what if we looked at His track record and realized He's always been faithful? The more we seek the Lord and know Him, the more we can have faith in His promises and rest in the assurance that He'll do what He says.

As Christians, we're priority targets on Satan's hit list. It's easy for him to lure people off the path of following Jesus by showing what the world has to offer instead. That's why our pursuit of Christ has to be wholehearted and "all in" -- the way He was for us, even to the point of death -- so that nothing the enemy offers us could be better than the deal we get from being God's children.

When we're "lukewarm" Christians who say one thing and do another, it doesn't just impact our own relationship with God. It also leaves a bad taste of Christianity in the mouths of those who are watching us to see how our lives look different from those of non-believers. The way that we live has an influence on the world around us, whether good or bad, and the only way we'll reach other people is if God is working through us in such a way that people can see the transformation in our lives.

What are you doing today -- not tomorrow, not next week, not next year, but TODAY -- to live a life that matters and is pleasing to God? We have a choice to make regarding the time we've been given on this earth. We can either take the easy way out and have ours be among the countless lives that were lived without making any eternal impact, or we can run the race He's set before us and give our all to make it count for God's glory.

There's a difference between being a COCKY Christian and a CONFIDENT Christian. The former sees salvation as a ticket to heaven, while the latter realizes the need to let Him take charge of our lives completely. When we acknowledge Him as our Lord and not just as our Savior, we're willing to humble ourselves and invite Him to live in us and through us.

Sin will always lead us to a place of testing the rules -- and ultimately, breaking them. The law we read in Scripture was put in place to reveal the depth of our sin to us, but Jesus died so that we would no longer have to live under the weight of legality and instead could live in the fullness of His grace. When we allow Him to transform our lives, we no longer need to check off a list of "do's" and "don'ts" because He's already paid the price for our freedom.

Did you know that when the Holy Spirit dwells inside us, we have supernatural power? It's the power to live a life that's pleasing to God -- a life that we could never live on our own apart from Him. When we stop living for ourselves and start living for Him, we experience life's true source of pleasure that surpasses anything we could find in this world.

We may or may not have reason to complain about the difficulties we encounter in this life. But regardless of our circumstances, we always have a choice to trust God with the outcome. When we choose thanksgiving over complaining about our own situation, we reflect to others that our ultimate joy comes from the Lord and not from this world.