Richard Ellis Talks

God doesn’t choose the people who would seem logical in the eyes of the world to be part of His Kingdom. It's simply those who believe in Him and obey His Word who become part of His family.

We can have plenty of relationships in our lives, and we may feel love from them at certain points, but the deepest and truest love that we could ever receive is from God! The Bible's filled with verses that describe God’s love for us that goes so deep that He gave His own Son just so we could be in relationship with Him.

The story of the birth of Jesus is filled with wise people, not just the Wise Men who responded to God and His leading in their lives! When we follow God, we gain true wisdom, thereby boasting only in God (and not in ourselves) and the wisdom He gives us.

When we focus on growing our relationship with God, we give Him room to compel us to do things and live a certain way that may seem crazy to the world, but makes sense to Him! Let's make sure that our motivation for everything we do comes from God, serving His purpose, and to bring Him glory.

The tragic reality is, abortion has become just another form of birth control, but the Bible's very clear on its stance about life and innocent blood. However, no matter what past sins we've committed - even taking the life of an unborn child - God offers us abundant life in Him, and we can accept His forgiveness, mercy and grace. The first step of course, is to accept the truth of our sin, go to God for forgiveness, and receive His gift of mercy.

When we decide to follow Christ, and God begins transforming our hearts, He compels us to love deeply, to have mercy and compassion on others, and to be moved to the point of action. An important part of our growth and maturity in God, is learning to submit to His prompts to convey compassion and mercy toward others, showing them that there's truly something different about us!

God promises His children that He'll always take care of us, so there's nothing in this world that we should ever fear. Even in earthly death, there's no reason to fear: "To live is Christ, to die is gain"! Rather than allowing the enemy to lock us down in fearful dread, let's instead allow God’s love to unlock us from that bondage, once and for all!

Being "head-smart" about the Bible just means that someone's read God's Word. Being "heart-smart" about it means actually applying what we read to our lives! It's what transforms a reader of the Word to a DOER of the Word. Let's be sure to approach our Bible study time prayerfully, asking God to show us how we can apply what we're reading in a way that leads us to live lives pleasing and acceptable to Him!

We've heard the phrase, "We can't see the forest through the trees!" That simply means, that when we're too close to a situation, we might not see even the most obvious outcome (or sins) that others can easily see from an outside viewpoint. Same goes for keeping our lives (and sin) in check. Sometimes it takes others' viewpoints to see our shortcomings (or sins), in order to "call us out in love".

We've all heard a portion of Scripture being "forced" out of context to make it say something that may sound good, but when that piece is taken in full context, it may mean something entirely different. In order to really understand what the Bible says and apply it to our lives, let's be sure to read it in its entirety, keeping the verses, chapters, and books within the context they were written.

In order to make a difference in the people around us for God’s glory, it starts with investing in our relationship with Him, to be sure that He's first at work in us. God wants to use us to be transformers in the world, so let's first invite Him to transform us - from the inside out - so that He gets all the glory from the change that takes place in and around us!

The term "standing in the gap" is a word picture of how a Christ follower can spiritually be a bridge of prayer and proclaiming God scriptural promises for another person. God may use us to intercede on someone else’s behalf and help draw them to spiritual safety. But ultimately, the first gap that must be crossed is the one between ourselves and God, and that's only done through the cross of Jesus Christ!

Sometimes it slips our mind that we're in a two-way relationship with God. So just as we need to tell our spouse or close friend that we love and appreciate them (in both words and actions), let's remember to tell God we love Him, and thank Him for all He’s done for us, rather than just asking Him for stuff. It’s in remembering to praise Him, even in small ways, that we can truly minister to and bless His heart!

There's a HUGE difference between sympathy (thinking about someone's situation) and compassion (actually taking action that'll help both their current and eternal well being). Jesus was our perfect example of how to reach out in compassion, by following through with our actions, rather than just in words or sympathetic thoughts.

Since the believer's purpose in life is to glorify God, He'll use situations (to break us if necessary!) so that His glory is made known. Rather than having to face consequences from our own choices, let's live our lives in obedience to Him, and allow His glory to shine in and through us!