Richard Ellis Talks

There's nothing wrong with praying and asking God to fix a problem or change a difficult circumstance. But sometimes, His answer is "no" -- and we have to be okay with that too. He wants to use our weaknesses to glorify His strength, and in doing so, He uses us to reach others in their struggles, too.

"Treat others the way you want to be treated" seems easy enough, as long as those "others" are people we like/agree with/who share our views. But when we have different thoughts and opinions, we're quick to judge and get angry with one another and "cancel" those we don't get along with. God calls us to a standard of perfection, but He also teaches us how to show mercy to ourselves and to others when that standard isn't met. Jesus was the only "perfect dude" who ever lived, and He made a way for us to be perfect through His sacrifice for us.

Sin will always cause problems for us, whether those problems are immediately visible or don't reveal themselves until the long run. God uses the consequences of our actions to get our attention because He wants us to repent and draw close to Him. Instead of waiting for our problems to go away or get worse, let's not delay in running to Him and seeking His forgiveness.

If someone asked you the best thing they could do when they desperately needed God to work in their lives, would the idea of "fasting" even come to mind? Scripture teaches us that when it comes to seeking God, fasting goes hand-in-hand with prayer, but it's rarely a priority for most of us. When we're faced with a difficult situation, giving up our bodies so we can focus more deeply on the Lord isn't just a good exercise -- it's a sign of spiritual obedience.

In order for gold to be refined to its purest state, it has to repeatedly go through fire until all impurities have been removed. In the same way, God is continually refining us. He allows heat in our lives, whether through consequences for our sin or through tough times and hard circumstances, because He desires to remove OUR impurities and make us more like Christ.

The Church is a beautiful tapestry of God's creation -- but it's also messy behind the scenes because we all have different thoughts and opinions and beliefs. We might not all agree with each other on every issue, but Christ's blood covers us all the same. Instead of focusing on our differences and disagreements, let's remember Who unifies us and figure out how to love one another the way He loves us!

When we become Christians, we become part of the Body of Christ, and together, we all make up His bride. Jesus wants to present us as holy and blameless before God the Father, but to do so, we have to be made pure in His sight. When we submit ourselves to Him, He works to clean us up and sanctify our lives from the inside out.

Marriage is imperfect, because it's a union of two imperfect people. There will be tough times in any marriage, and in some cases, the circumstances might even warrant some separation in order to work through the issues. It's in those seasons that we need to be especially attuned to God's voice so that we're prepared to forgive each other when necessary and to work through our suffering with grace.

Sometimes, God brings us into situations where we feel hopeless, all so that He can demonstrate His power through our obedience to Him! And one of those situations occurs when we interact with people who WE would otherwise label as "hopeless". God prompts us to speak the Gospel and then allows us to watch His power work to make a spiritually dead person come alive in Him -- and it's in those moments that He is glorified, because He's made possible what seemed impossible to us!

God has offered us forgiveness that covers all of our sin, thanks to the redemptive gift of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. But often, we continue to live in bondage because we struggle to forgive ourselves, even though we've already been forgiven by our Father in heaven. In order for us to move into the future God's calling us to, we have to let go of our past and live in the freedom He's given us.