Richard Ellis Talks

In the grand scheme of eternity we are here on earth for only a brief time, just as a vapor appears and disappears so quickly. Rather than wasting that precious time by following the ways of the world, we need to follow God’s call on our lives to honor Him in all that we do, remembering that not only do we represent Him to the world but we also carry Him around in us by His Spirit.

Too many Christians follow religious rules and feel good about themselves while looking down on others who are struggling. God wants a relationship with us that makes the change in our lives that He brings real to the core of our being.

Just like Jesus struck up conversation with the woman at the well, knowing her secrets and bringing her into knowing Him as Messiah anyway, we need to be looking for conversations to have with others. God already knows all of our junk that we keep hidden, but He loves and saves us anyway, desiring for us to take His love and salvation to the rest of the world.

When it comes to living God’s way, He calls us to die to ourselves and take up our cross, which is a symbol of suffering and death. The truth is that there will always be suffering and we will all die physical deaths, but we can choose to stand before God at the end and say we did it our own way or we can hear Him say if we chose His way, “Well done.”

We so often get caught up with recognition from other people and winning trophies for earthly accomplishments. Those things are not bad to have, but we should be doing everything to bring God glory, knowing that the crown He places on our head in Heaven is worth far more than anything we could obtain on earth.

God doesn’t want us to come up with extravagant words and phrases when we speak to Him. He wants us to simply come to Him in prayer as His kids. When we talk about God to other people, we should do it in a way that is easy to understand, presenting the Gospel clearly and how it’s made a difference in us.

Too often we wait for other people in the Church, especially those in authority, to step up and reach those that are lost. God has given us each specific skills, all that ultimately bring Him glory by ministering to others. Instead of waiting on someone else to do it, we need to take initiative and minister in the ways that God leads us.

Anger is a common struggle, and there are some people that seem to walk around just looking for things to get mad about. This hot headedness is not how God wants us to live. When we let His Spirit take over in our lives, His fruit of peace, joy, love, and so on are what come flooding out so that we can help others grow the same fruit in their lives.

The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity of God that is mentioned throughout Scripture. As believers, He dwells in us and by His power can do amazing things for the Kingdom of God through us.

Jesus left His disciples with the command to spread the Gospel and make disciples of all nations, ultimately reaching everyone in the world with the Good News. This command is passed to us and seems impossible, but with God backing us up it is not impossible. We just have to focus on Him and obey what He calls us to do and He will fulfill His plans through us.