Richard Ellis Talks

The Bible story of Ruth is so powerful! It shows us how God can be orchestrating a bigger picture than what we can even see. And we can rest in our faithfulness toward Him, to set forth His plans according to His will.

Part of knowing who we are, is knowing who we aren't. And when we become a Christ follower, we stop being a slave to our sinful nature and we become God's child! Responding to His calling is the first step to discovering who we are in Him.

God isn't trying to "ruin" our life when He asks us to wait. He just offers us these times as a test of obedience and our patient love for Him, expressing our faith that He knows what's best for us in EVERY situation, if we'd just take the time to wait on Him!

The bold truth of the Gospel requires a firm and public stand by someone who calls themself a Christ follower. The Word of God will not be silenced, and He needs us to proclaim His hope and love to a world who needs a Savior!

How can a Christ follower be tempted by something that we're dead to? Unless we don't really believe that we're dead to it... or even worse, that we don't want to be dead to it... Let's not isolate ourselves in our times of struggle, rather be around other believers to help us remember the power of being crucified with Christ!

The term "reap what we sow" goes both ways: when we do the right thing, and when we do, well, not the right thing. There are consequences to disobedience, but at the same time, obedience pays off in the end!

"You can't tell me what to do!" Well, if we're God's child, then, yes, He CAN tell us what to do - it's called obedience. And true obedience comes when we're asked to do (or not do) something that's difficult!

When a believer's adopted into God's family, we then adopt His command to love others as He loves them. In our own strength, that can't be done. But with God's help, and being mindful that He first loved us, we can authentically love others!

Just like Fred Flintstone would get in his car and use his "man-power" to make it go, we can sometimes rely on powering our spiritual lives with our own strength. Let's remember that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of every believer, and we can tap into that power, allowing Him to live through us!

He (we) sat on a wall, he (we) had a great fall, and all of his men (our own strength) couldn't put him (us) back together again. Oh, but God can! The restorative and redemptive power of our God, if we come to Him in humble repentance. Thank you Jesus!!!

To be content doesn't mean to be complacent. Those are two very different things! If we've truly decided to follow God, then He promises to meet our EVERY NEED, according to His will for our life. So we don't have to fret about that stuff, and just concentrate on serving Him!

When it comes to obedience, we don't have to "pray about it", we just OBEY. And when it comes to being obedient with our "stuff", we have to understand that it's all God's, so what we pray about, is how He can use it for His glory. Then, again, we just OBEY!

When God allows a believer to endure a trial, part of the reason is to show those around us how we'll turn to Him for our strength, peace, and hope in the midst of that trial. Let's trust God to keep us in His arms when life "socks us around", because people are watching how we'll respond!

Receiving eternal life through Christ is the ultimate WIN. However, there's a type of "winning by losing" during our time here on earth, that requires us to put God, then others, before ourselves. Losing everything for the sake of the Gospel is winning in God's eyes!

The Christian life isn't a sprint, it's an endurance race. It takes determination, patience, help from other runners (believers), and keeping our eyes on the prize! So we need to let go of the things that weigh us down, and hold tightly to the things that lift us up - daily Bible study, constant prayer, and community with other Christ followers.