Richard Ellis Talks

The Old Testament spoke of multiple temples that were built over different time periods used to worship the Lord and hold His presence. Now that through Christ we are offered salvation and relationship with God, our bodies become the temple of God where His Spirit resides. We must now walk through this dark world to bring light and rescue the lost.

We tend to be excellent at things that will not last forever such as our jobs, our families, or even our sin. Some of those things are not bad things to be skilled at, but we need to make sure that we are putting in all that it takes to be excellent in our spiritual lives rather than settling for being so-so.

When we choose to follow Jesus, we begin to learn the sound of His voice so that we walk in obedience to what He calls us to do. Our relationship with Him grows the more that we stay in two-way communication with Him and not just hear what He says but actually do it.

As Christians, we may face push back from people anywhere but when we take a stand no matter what it may cost us, it brings glory to God and we fulfill our ultimate purpose. Just as David was able to defeat Goliath because He had God on His side, we have God in us to protect us and be with us no matter what we face.

God did not have to create things so intricately, so beautiful, or even pleasure-filled, yet every bit of His creation speaks of His love for us. All we have to do is look around at the ways that He has blessed us, even in such a small thing as popcorn that is a seemingly silly treat.

Too often, we hold onto the life we have, no matter how hard or consequential, because we’re more afraid of the unknown. God promises a future that is better than we could ever imagine, but the first step to getting there is letting go of all that we know to put it in His hands and see what He can do.

Instead of looking at people who are different as a barrier to connecting with them ourselves or for Jesus, we need to view people as equal in God’s eyes. He made us all in His image, and it is only because of sin in society that has created barriers between the beauty of His creation on display in humanity.

God has already done the work for so many people in the world and calls us to gather His harvest. Instead of hesitating because of our own insecurities, we need to listen to His leading, step out in obedience and gather His harvest.

While we all desire independence to avoid vulnerability, we can learn to trust God as our rock and strength when we finally come to a place of admitting that we need Him. Knowing that we are secure in Him brings us peace beyond understanding in the midst of all adversity.

Even after accepting salvation, we often remain in our cell of bondage. That bondage could be to a number of things such as sin, religion, guilt, etc. Until we come to a full realization of God’s love for us and His gift of freedom to us even in this world, we will remain in our cell. However, living in freedom does not mean that we should do whatever we want. God’s grace still covers us, but there are consequences. Rather than falling on either side of the spectrum, God teaches us to live in freedom, but in the kind of freedom that is beneficial.