Richard Ellis Talks

Just as there is purpose for the fruit that grows on trees, there is purpose for the fruit of the Spirit that grows in us. God wants to use us to reach the world, but we are only able to be used by Him and grow fruit when we remain connected to Him in every area of our lives.

The Bible tells us that if we remain connected to God that He will work in our lives, sometimes in painful ways, to prune away the areas that are not productive. As Christians, we are to bear much fruit from His Spirit, and when others see that fruit they glorify Him.

Since Adam screwed everything up by bringing sin into the world, Jesus came and paid the price to offer us a second birth so that we may become eternally alive spiritually. When the Holy Spirit speaks to us to take Him up on this offer, we must respond and receive this gift.

God’s Spirit lives inside of us when we become Christians, and it is through the power of His Spirit that we are prompted to speak to others about the Gospel. We need to have His power turned on in our lives so that we can respond to those prompts and fulfill His purpose in and through us.

The Bible is very clear that not only did Jesus come to earth in a real body taking on real flesh, but it was also His real flesh that was resurrected from the dead. Through His victory, He offers us a new life where He can live in and through us and change the world.

Life is like the TiVo function on a TV in that God is outside of time and knows all that will happen because He’s already designed it and seen it happen. The Bible tells us about what the end times will be like and it is necessary that we heed to warnings given and share them with others.

Just like God had perfectly orchestrated the details in Esther’s life to get her in a position to save her people, God has worked in our lives to put us exactly where we are for His purpose. We must step out in obedience and share the Gospel with those around us so that we can fulfill our purpose on earth and grow His Kingdom by reaching others for His sake.

It’s easy to get busy and distracted by doing a bunch of good things, but none of it can take away from the importance of being still and sitting with Jesus. Our relationship with Him is grown when we spend time with Him and it is out of that relationship that we should serve, not the other way around.

People have struggled with doubting God since the beginning of time, even in the first sin. The goal is not to get rid of all our doubts, but rather to choose to believe despite our doubts and see God reveal Himself to us along the way, whatever our path may hold.

The story of Gideon in the Bible shows us a picture of God’s great power as He stripped away time and again what would be attributed to men’s power and made it clear that it was God’s power that led Gideon to victory. As Christians, we have no reason to fear anything we face because God’s same power that was in Gideon resides in us through the Holy Spirit.