Richard Ellis Talks

The gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is offered to everyone, but we must choose to receive it. If we accept this gift, we get to spend the rest of our lives unwrapping all we are given in Him.

The Bible teaches us the importance of fasting and praying and the difference that can make in our lives. When we are faced with a situation, whether it be a sin struggle in our own lives or in another person’s life, we need to be willing to give up something our bodies need so as to pray more fervently.

In order for gold to be refined to purity, it must go through many instances of being in a burning fire until all the dross and other impurities have been removed. This is the way that God refines us to be more like His Son, Jesus. Once we have accepted His free gift of salvation, we have Jesus inside of us and must encounter times of “heat” in our lives until Jesus is clearly seen.

We may often find ourselves comparing our sin with others in order to try and look better than we really are. The truth is that we all fall short of God’s standard and we need to humbly accept our status as a “sinner” and allow God to come into our lives to change us. When we are repentant and let Him work in us, all of our goodness can point directly back to Him and bring Him glory.

If we are not faithful to give when we have very little, we will not be faithful when we have a lot. God wants to help us live a life that is pleasing to Him which in turn brings us joy and satisfaction, but we have to let go of our possessions to let Him take and give as He pleases.

The guilt and shame of all our sin is nailed to the cross with Christ when we repent. He washes us clean through the blood of Jesus, and we must not give into the accuser who keeps trying to pull out our past sins and hold us back from living in freedom. We have to forgive ourselves and leave our sin in the past, looking ahead with clear eyes and a clean conscience to live in the freedom that Christ bought for us.

Oftentimes we can find ourselves angry at God when bad things happen, but we must realize that He has not sinned against us but instead is present with us through our trials. He is gracious and merciful, forgiving our sins and offering us a way of life. We can trust that He is good, repent of our sins and move forward in the way He directs us towards deeper relationship with Him.

When we become Christians, we are part of the Body of Christ and together we all make up His bride. Jesus gives us a new life and we must submit our lives to Him as He continually works in us to clean us up to be presented to Him in the end.

There are times when it is necessary for marriages to have separation during difficulties, but in those times we need to make sure that we are listening to God’s voice and obeying Him. We will all suffer in life, but rather than giving up we need to work through that suffering and forgive each other when necessary.

The Church is full of people with different thoughts and beliefs on a variety of things from politics to economics, from legalistic rules to Biblical interpretations. The fact of the matter is that Christ’s blood covers us all and we must live unified, agreeing to disagree on some things, and love one another as He has loved us.