Richard Ellis Talks

There's a classic church hymn that goes, "I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together!" As believers, God wants us to live in community, loving and caring for each other in a way that reflects His work in us. But because we're inherently selfish beings, it's impossible for us to truly love each other without God at the center. When we let go of individualistic mindsets, we open the door for God to love others through us.

God's shown us in Scripture time and time again that He can use anyone for His glory, no matter the mistakes or messes they've made! But when we feel like we're stepping out in obedience, we've sometimes got to wrestle with God to get His confirmation in what we're doing. And that means holding on for as long as it takes until He gives us His blessing to move forward.

Do you work to live, or do you live to work? It's easy to spend too much time working to maintain a certain lifestyle that we don't really need. Money in itself isn't a bad thing, but if we spend all our time working for it instead of investing in our relationships with God and with loved ones, then we risk missing the point and wasting our lives.

There's no better place to be than where God's called us to go! Our whole purpose is to follow and glorify Him.

When Jesus gave the command for us to "go and make disciples of all nations", He meant it. We're called to go wherever He leads -- not only to make disciples, but to teach them to do the same.

Have you ever found yourself "stuck" on something that holds you back from accomplishing what you know God intended for you to do? Instead of just staying stuck in those moments, we have an all-powerful God who can help us move forward if we simply ask! But sometimes, that means we need to change in the process.

No one learns what it really means to swim by staying in the shallow end of the pool. In the same way, we can't expect to understand the fullness of what it means to be a Christian by staying in the shallow end of our faith indefinitely. We move into the "deep end" by listening to God's Word, applying His truth, and being bold in spreading the Gospel to make more disciples.

 

Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24)." When we choose not to deny ourselves like Jesus tells us to, we're choosing to deny Him by following our own will over His. If we want to experience the fullness of life that God offers us, we've got to let go of our own selfishness and learn the true meaning of submission.

Are we living our lives with purpose and reason, or are we wasting our time with sin? We're only on this earth for a short time, so let's make the most of it! The more we seek God through Scripture and prayer, the more He gives us His wisdom and reveals to us our purpose. And when we're living out our God-given purpose, it means we're reaching others for the Kingdom.

It's been said that "every person that comes into our lives comes for a reason. Some come to learn and others come to teach." The Bible tells us to learn from one another, but the only way we'll learn is if we humble ourselves and become teachable, allowing for other godly men and women to pour into us. And while we're busy learning from those further ahead of us, we can also help teach those who follow behind us!

 

The term "lush" often gets used negatively to describe a lifestyle that sounds fun on the surface, but ultimately brings destruction. But God always meant for us to live a much different kind of "lush" life -- one filled with a rich abundance of His blessings! When we realize that we're being tempted toward the wrong kind of lush, and choose to be vulnerable about our struggles by turning to our brothers and sisters in Christ, they're able to help us through the temptation so we can experience the true lushness of life that God has in store for us!