Richard Ellis Talks

Just as the shepherds and wisemen chose to worship Jesus when He was born on earth, we are given the opportunity to lay our lives down in worship to Him. Whether we choose to worship Him or not, in the end we won’t have a choice. It’s better that we choose now to worship Him so that we can spend eternity singing His praises.

God is so powerful that all He had to do was speak and the whole universe was created as vast and as detailed as it is. Within that creation, He ordained that a star would be near enough to the earth to proclaim the birth of His Son who was sent to save the world.

Every detail about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection was fulfilling of every prophecy ever made about this Messiah. At some point, we have to come to a place of choosing to believe in Him or not because we will all face His throne one day and answer for the choice we make.

We didn’t get to be there when Jesus walked the earth, but we have God’s truth in Scripture to believe that He came. Another evidence of Jesus is the change that takes place when we believe in Him. We may not see Him face to face until we die or He comes back, but we can see His work in others and believe.

The same Jesus who was miraculously born of a virgin comes to live in us when we surrender our lives to Him, and He works in us in seemingly impossible ways to make us more like Him so that we can’t help but to speak His name to others around us. Rather than looking at what is humanly possible when God is involved, we should give ourselves to Him, trusting that He can do whatever He pleases.

The gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is offered to everyone, but we must choose to receive it. If we accept this gift, we get to spend the rest of our lives unwrapping all we are given in Him.

The Bible teaches us the importance of fasting and praying and the difference that can make in our lives. When we are faced with a situation, whether it be a sin struggle in our own lives or in another person’s life, we need to be willing to give up something our bodies need so as to pray more fervently.

In order for gold to be refined to purity, it must go through many instances of being in a burning fire until all the dross and other impurities have been removed. This is the way that God refines us to be more like His Son, Jesus. Once we have accepted His free gift of salvation, we have Jesus inside of us and must encounter times of “heat” in our lives until Jesus is clearly seen.

We may often find ourselves comparing our sin with others in order to try and look better than we really are. The truth is that we all fall short of God’s standard and we need to humbly accept our status as a “sinner” and allow God to come into our lives to change us. When we are repentant and let Him work in us, all of our goodness can point directly back to Him and bring Him glory.

If we are not faithful to give when we have very little, we will not be faithful when we have a lot. God wants to help us live a life that is pleasing to Him which in turn brings us joy and satisfaction, but we have to let go of our possessions to let Him take and give as He pleases.

The guilt and shame of all our sin is nailed to the cross with Christ when we repent. He washes us clean through the blood of Jesus, and we must not give into the accuser who keeps trying to pull out our past sins and hold us back from living in freedom. We have to forgive ourselves and leave our sin in the past, looking ahead with clear eyes and a clean conscience to live in the freedom that Christ bought for us.

Oftentimes we can find ourselves angry at God when bad things happen, but we must realize that He has not sinned against us but instead is present with us through our trials. He is gracious and merciful, forgiving our sins and offering us a way of life. We can trust that He is good, repent of our sins and move forward in the way He directs us towards deeper relationship with Him.

When we become Christians, we are part of the Body of Christ and together we all make up His bride. Jesus gives us a new life and we must submit our lives to Him as He continually works in us to clean us up to be presented to Him in the end.

There are times when it is necessary for marriages to have separation during difficulties, but in those times we need to make sure that we are listening to God’s voice and obeying Him. We will all suffer in life, but rather than giving up we need to work through that suffering and forgive each other when necessary.

The Church is full of people with different thoughts and beliefs on a variety of things from politics to economics, from legalistic rules to Biblical interpretations. The fact of the matter is that Christ’s blood covers us all and we must live unified, agreeing to disagree on some things, and love one another as He has loved us.

No matter how hopeless we think someone is, when God prompts us to speak to them about the Gospel we need to obey and watch His power work to make a spiritually dead person alive in Him. It is in those moments that God gets the most glory because He made possible what seemed to be impossible.

God has offered us forgiveness that covers over all of our sin, but often times we are reminded of our mistakes and we continue to live in bondage. In order to truly move on from the past, we must forgive ourselves and others who have hurt us so that we can live in freedom.

God allows different trials and suffering in our lives so that He can work on our character, build our hope in Him, and exercise our endurance. Waiting on God involves keeping our faith in Him, even when we don’t feel like it, and it helps us avoid the consequences of when we try things our own way.

When we are lit about Jesus and what He’s done in our lives, others see the change in us and want the same for themselves. Once we get lit by first becoming a Christian, we can stay lit by remaining in His Word and following Him.

When we become Christians, Jesus lives inside of us and all of His power is, therefore, in us. God may call us out to do simple acts of obedience, but when we live in disobedience we are not only effecting ourselves but others around us as well. We need to live in obedience to God so that He can use us as a lifeboat for others.