Richard Ellis Talks

Hindsight gives us the ability to look back on our circumstances and know how they turned out in the end. Faith gives us the ability to have hindsight even as we're going through those circumstances -- because whatever we're facing, we can trust God that it will work for His glory. When we put our focus on Him regardless of what we're experiencing, He gives us the strength to endure any obstacle or trial.

There's a saying that the BIBLE is "Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth"! Scripture is filled with advice on how we can live our lives without wishing we "coulda-shoulda-woulda" done it differently. When we spend time in God's Word and heed His instruction, we're able to stand firm when it comes to choosing between right and wrong.

If you don't eat food, you're going to get hungry. And if you don't nourish your soul spiritually, that's going to starve, too! In order to feed our spiritual selves, we've got to learn not only how to read the Bible, but how to digest it. We need people in our lives to disciple us and show us what it means to chew on Scripture so that it can satisfy us -- and then we can turn around and do the same for others.

Have you ever faced what felt like an impossible situation? Sometimes, God allows tough circumstances in our lives because they cause us to run to Him. And when we do, He might choose to make a miracle happen so that He will be glorified, but no matter the outcome, His ultimate purpose is to build our trust in Him.

 

From the moment we choose to follow Jesus, we'll always be tempted to sell out our faith for the empty promises of the enemy. But there is no better deal that the devil can offer us than the one Jesus guarantees: eternal life with Him. The lure of a reputation, job, relationship, or other earthly temptations will never compare to the priceless value of our hope in Christ!

We love to talk about "cancel culture" these days. But when it comes to our spiritual fate, we were born into sin and there's nothing that can cancel our debt to God -- except for Jesus Christ. He died on our behalf and offers to trade our one-way ticket to hell in for a one-way ticket to heaven, but it's up to us to believe and accept His gift of redemption.

One day, we'll stand before God and give an account for our actions on this earth -- both good and bad. On that day, we'll either be judged by God according to what we deserve, or we'll be forgiven through the power of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. God's grace is extended to us when we accept Christ as our Savior, because our sins are covered by His blood. Will we choose justice, or will we choose Him?

The phrase "faith over fear" is so much more than just a cliché! God promises to protect us and give us power over the devil. As Christians, the Holy Spirit lives in us, and because of that, we have no reason to fear -- because He has given us access to everything we need when trials come our way.

Have you ever stopped to consider that God could have sent Jesus to earth as an already-grown man? But instead, He chose to enter this world in the form of a baby -- a baby who would experience infancy and childhood and the teenage years and young adulthood, only to die a human death. Jesus used "the matrix" of Mary's womb to come into the world, all so that we could use Him to enter eternity in Heaven someday.

Here's the thing about a white toilet: you can't hide any filth in it, because white reveals dirt. In the same way, when we live in the light like God calls us to, we can no longer hide the filth of our sin. And just like the solution to keeping our "white toilets" white is to clean them daily, the way to keep our hearts clean is to live in obedience to God each and every day.