Richard Ellis Talks

Real spiritual "heart change" begins with a kind of godly sorrow that leads us to repentance. But when we've repented of our sin, we should always follow it up with action steps. When we truly repent, we don't go back to doing the same thing over and over again -- we allow God to help us and strengthen us to make permanent changes in our lives.

Before Jesus came for us, people had to make constant sacrificial offerings as atonement for their sins. But even with those sacrifices, the guilt of their sin never went away. Jesus' death on the cross not only paid for our sins -- it removed them from us so that we could be cleared of guilt forever.

When Peter shared the Gospel with Cornelius -- a Gentile -- it served as an example that sometimes, God will push us outside our comfort zones and cause us to break traditions for the ultimate goal of reaching others. It's important to listen for the voice of God so that we're not venturing out and doing things on our own. The people He calls us to reach and the places He calls us to go might stretch us personally, but every person is in need of a Savior, and it's our responsibility to share the Good News.

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He showed the disciples that even death cannot stop Him. Yet when He Himself died and was placed in a tomb, they doubted what He'd promised! When we question whether God can do all things, including working miracles in our own lives, let's remember and trust that nothing is impossible for Him!

In order to "run the race" that Scripture talks about, we have to find our strength and source in Jesus. And before we can do that, we have to allow ourselves to receive God's free gift of grace. When we keep our eyes on Him and allow ourselves to be used for His glory, He equips us to run not just any race, but a winning race.

Men tend to find their value in their work -- and when they lose a job, they often lose their sense of value along with it. But when a man finds his identity in Christ, He can rest in the Lord's will for his life knowing God will take care of him no matter his work. Instead of trusting in earthly positions, let's put our trust in the Father who promises to sustain and carry us!

The Proverbs 31 woman is the kind of woman who works hard at the tasks God's given her -- but that can look like a lot of different things, depending on the season! When we become parents, it's important for us to learn to work around our kids, not make our kids work around our jobs. And if the Lord is laying on our hearts to stay home with our kids when they're little, it's equally important for us to obey His prompting because it's a season of life we'll never get back.

The workplace is a prime location for relationships to start innocently, only to ultimately lead down a path of ungodly behavior. And when we're married, it's not only to the detriment of ourselves, but also to our spouses. Instead of "playing with fire", we're called to live up to a standard of integrity with everyone we encounter -- including our colleagues.

God's placed us at our jobs for His purpose, not our own. And in those workplaces, we're to be reflections of Him to those with whom we work. Instead of gossiping about others, or chasing after our own gains, let's be diligent in our responsibilities and remember that ultimately, we're working for the Lord!

Scripture tells us how the Apostle Peter learned what it meant to love and accept all people -- even those society viewed as "unclean". In the same way, we have to learn to look at others through God's eyes. Sometimes it makes us uncomfortable, but we've got to be willing to say "yes" when He calls us to reach out to other people, because they might be depending on us to lead them to Christ.