Richard Ellis Talks

Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me." That's crystal clear. So when we're sharing His hope with others, are we at a point in our hearts, souls, and minds, that we believe that He's THE ONLY WAY? It's only then that He can truly use us!

Jesus has been King since before the beginning of time. When He was presented to mankind as a baby, He was already King! So when we receive the King into our lives, we're submitting to Him to lead us through every decision of life.

Jesus was fully human, and fully God. We're only human, until we invite God into our lives. Then, since He actually resides within us, He can do the impossible in us and through us!

Jesus was  raised in three different ways; the first by His parents, the second when the guards raised Him on the cross, and the third when God raised Him from the dead. How can we raise up His message of hope to those around us through our actions and words?

As believers, do our lives reveal the fact that God lives in us? When we accept Christ as Savior, we become born again and God lives inside of us, and hopefully everyone around us can see that!

Of all God's presents, the most cherished is His presence! He sent Jesus to be present on earth, to make His presence in our heart, and offer us presence with Him in Heaven forever!

Death. Just the word itself brings such opposing context. Dead to sin = Life in Christ! Dying to self = Living for Him! We live out our purpose in life - glorifying God - when He becomes more important to us than anything else.

How amazing it was that Jesus, the God of the universe, came so humbly to earth being born in a barn. His ministry showed Him reaching out to lost people normally seen as lower class. The need for Jesus in our lives equates us all, and we can all worship Him together.

When the virgin Mary became pregnant with Jesus, Emmanuel, she displayed what was to happen in every future Christ-follower! God says, "Rejoice, highly favored one! The Lord has decided to come and live in you and you will carry the Son of God."

It's amazing what we can find out about God when we take the time to read His "autobiography"! And when we come across things we don't understand, He promises to make the answers clear, when we seek Him with our whole heart.

Scripture says that obedience is even better than sacrifice. So even when it's difficult to wait until God says "go", we must stay in that obedience. Living outside of obedience to Him comes with great consequences, because we're then relying on our own limited strength, knowledge, and resources!

The Christmas season offers many opportunities to share the Gospel story with others, so may we embrace those moments with boldness, trusting God to give us the words and the courage when necessary.

Sin is sin, plain and simple. When we judge others for their sin, we're also sinning against God. Only when we allow Him to change our hearts (and therefore our actions) toward loving the lost, will they actually listen to our words!

Every Christ follower has a full time job as a minister of the Gospel. We might not work at a church, but wherever we "clock in", we're on the job being the Church - being God's messengers of the Good News!

Grace and truth. They're given from God to us in equal portions. So as He pairs them for us, let us pair them for others!