Richard Ellis Talks

The more we cling to the sin in our lives, the more dirtied our hearts become. God is willing and ready to walk us through fiery circumstances in order to refine us and clean the dirt from our lives -- but He never expects us to walk alone. When He searches our hearts and reveals our sin, it's up to us to repent, turn away, and follow Him out of the flames to safety.

Scripture assures us that our sins are not greater than God's merciful nature, and that as far as the east is from the west, He's removed our transgressions from us. All He asks is that we humble ourselves before Him and ask for the mercy He offers us freely. When we accept this gift we don't deserve, we're called to turn around and extend the same to others.

Our sinful nature dictates that we see ourselves as the rulers of our own lives. But when it comes to submitting ourselves to Jesus, it's time for us to get off the throne and yield the crown to the only King who's worthy of reigning over us! Instead of picking and choosing the areas of life where we're willing to relinquish control, we need to surrender fully and give God every piece of it.

We have a limited amount of time on this earth -- and as Christians, we're to steward that time wisely. God's called us to run the race of life to the best of our ability. That means we need to invest all of our effort and make the most of every moment in order to grow His Kingdom before our time runs out.

There is no way to live a godly life and not face persecution as a result. In some cases, God saves us from being persecuted in the first place, and in other instances, He delivers us out of the persecution we're already experiencing. Christians and non-Christians alike will all endure suffering in this life -- the difference is that we have the power of God in us, and His presence with us, no matter what struggles we face.

The words that come out of our mouths are a direct reflection of what's in our hearts. That's why Scripture warns us numerous times about the importance of watching what we say. If we find the words we speak aren't pleasing to the Lord and don't reflect Christ's love to those around us, we need to take inventory of our own hearts and then get right with God.

God designed physical intimacy between a man and a woman to result in physical reproduction. In the same way, spiritual intimacy between us and God is meant to cause spiritual reproduction of more disciples of Christ. As we grow in relationship with the Lord, we mature in ways that allow us to seek out new Christians and help them in their own growing process.

In the grand scheme of the evangelism "supply chain", WE are the pipeline God uses to reach other people! Everything we have is a gift from God, and sometimes He calls us to give our inventory away to someone else. When we trust Him to supply our needs, He continues to provide not only resources for us, but resources we need to serve and witness to others, too.

Have you ever met someone who finds fault in everything? We don't often realize that we do the same thing when it comes to criticizing the Church. As believers, God's called us to serve and do our part as members of the Body of Christ. When our focus shifts to obeying Him and serving one another, the problems we saw in the first place tend to disappear and we find a lot less to complain about!

For every sin we've ever committed and every sin we'll commit in the future, Jesus has already paid the price. Too many people believe that good deeds can somehow balance out the bad things we've done. But when we stand before God one day and He looks in His ledger, the only way we'll be forgiven is if we've accepted Christ's blood sacrifice on our behalf that marks our account "paid in full".