Richard Ellis Talks

The single most powerful way we reflect God's love to the world is shown in how we love other people! By choosing to follow Jesus, we're choosing to love those whom He loves -- each and every person -- no matter what our differences might be. When those outside the Church look at us, do they see us, or do they see God in us?

A child born to unmarried parents is often called a "love child" -- but no matter the circumstance, the child is never a mistake. The baby who was born to Mary, a virgin, was given to her by God outside of marriage, and He became the Savior of the world. In more than one sense, Jesus was the greatest "love child" the world's ever seen -- the perfect sacrifice whose love made a way for us to become children of God!

Seeds have to be planted before physical birth can happen. In the same way, spiritual seeds are planted in us before we can be born again. When we're reborn spiritually, we experience the abundant life God offers. Not only that, He uses us to plant seeds in the lives of others so they can be born again, too!  

God doesn't want our religious rituals -- He wants our repentant hearts! When we have a genuine relationship with the Lord, it goes with us throughout our daily life, not just on Sunday mornings. When we act in ways that we say honor Him, are we doing it out of religious obligation, or are we doing it as a reflection of our authentic relationship with Christ?

Have you ever thought about the cross as a symbol of relationship? The vertical piece represents our relationship with God, and the horizontal piece represents the example Jesus set for us in coming to the world in human form to live in relationship among others. Christ taught us how to have real, healthy, authentic relationships with people -- but before we can do that well, we've first got to be real, healthy, and authentic in our own relationship with God.

God offers us complete peace! Peace in our lives, peace in our relationship with Him, and peace in our relationships with others. Why settle for just having less anxiety when we can have none instead? Jesus made it possible for us to "rest in peace" through Him!

We've all heard the saying, "God helps those who help themselves." But what about those situations where there's absolutely nothing we can do to help? There'll be moments in life when we simply won't make it if God doesn't come through for us -- and it's in those moments that His grace and mercy will deliver us, as long as we wait on Him.  

When it comes to serving God and following His will, it's easy to allow our mistakes to get us down and keep us from trying again. But instead of beating ourselves up, let's accept His forgiveness, trust Him to give us the support we need, and then keep moving forward in doing what He's called us to do!

The world wants us to believe that if a door isn't opening on something we've been asking for, it's because there's a window opening somewhere else. But Jesus stands at the door of each of our hearts knocking for as long as it takes us to invite Him in, and in the same way, God wants us to ask Him for things according to His will -- and then to persevere and keep knocking, no matter how long it takes!

Poet Oscar Wilde once said, "I can resist everything except temptation!" Most of us can probably relate! We try to wait on God to come through for us, but sometimes we get impatient and fall into sin that brings us temporary satisfaction -- and long-lasting heartache. Our God is merciful and He forgives us when we repent, but the consequences are often hard and could've been avoided. But when we live in obedience to God and walk in His presence, our hearts can’t help but worship and dance as He fills us with true joy!

Our purpose in this world is to glorify God, but not even our best "religious" actions can glorify Him. In order for real change to happen around us, it's first got to happen within us. When we come before Him with a repentant and genuine heart, He changes us from the inside out -- and then uses us to change the world for His glory.

God's instructed us to take the first fruits of our labor, the first portion of our income, and give it back to Him. Scripture also tells us that the Lord loves a cheerful giver, not a reluctant one! We don't tithe our money to God and His church because He needs our finances to make His will happen -- He can do that without our help! We give our finances as an act of surrender, and a demonstration of our trust in Him to take care of us and meet all our needs.

Ever heard of a luxury car called the Bugatti Chiron? If you want to reach max speeds while driving it, you've got to insert a second, special key just to activate "Top Speed" mode! In the same way, each of us as believers has been given the key to living the fullest life that God intended for us -- but we've got to choose to activate it. Denying ourselves, turning from our sins, and obeying Him with everything we have opens up a whole new world of possibilities -- not just for how we live, but for how God can live in us and through us.

You've probably heard the phrase, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." But what about when you're just plain tired? It's easy to come to a point when we tire of the world's brokenness, our own personal hardships, and even the effort of developing and maintaining a spiritual relationship with God. But when we reach those breaking points, it's more important than ever to go back to the reasons we surrendered our hearts to Jesus in the first place -- and to remember the redemptive grace by which He's transformed our lives here and for all eternity.

When it comes to "fishing" for others -- spreading the Gospel and sharing Christ's love -- have you ever considered that you're the bait God uses to lead the lost to Him? When people see the change Jesus has made in us, they want to know the cause. Our lives are a reflection of our Lord, and when we allow God's love to shine through us and show others something they want, we're the best bait in the world to "hook" and lead them to Him!