Richard Ellis Talks

The Bible warns us that the devil is constantly attacking us with the intention of devouring us. We must be in prayer for ourselves and others while also delving into Scripture and putting on the full armor of God for protection.

The Bible talks about the importance of giving money to the poor and caring for the widows and orphans. While it is not impossible for a rich person to serve God, when a poor person gives of their finances it is a big sacrifice and puts them into a position of trusting God’s provision.

Following God is not something that is supposed to be burning us out. While God works in and through us, He also gives us spiritual rest and carries our burdens. We need to stop trying to carry them all ourselves and work ourselves crazy, but instead step back and find the complete spiritual rest that God offers to us.

The devil is crafty in using demonic forces to be disguised as ghosts of people from our past, or lying about seeing into the future. The Bible teaches us to stay away from anyone who dabbles in these spiritual realms because the only Spirit we should be listening to is the Holy Spirit who will lead us in truth.

The devil is crafty in using demonic forces to be disguised as ghosts of people from our past, or lying about seeing into the future. The Bible teaches us to stay away from anyone who dabbles in these spiritual realms because the only Spirit we should be listening to is the Holy Spirit who will lead us in truth.

In a marriage, it is important to continue the pursuit of one another and remain faithful during the less exciting times. In the same way, our relationship with God may not always feel thrilling, but we need to continue pursuing Him and see the change that He does in our lives over time.

The Bible lays out clear instruction for us to say no to the devil and all the things he tempts us with. Instead of falling into harm’s way on his behalf, we are to be staying in step with the Holy Spirit who will lead us into harm’s way, but under His protection for the sake of fighting for others.

Too often our passion for Christ turns down when we face trials or are tempted again and again by old sins. No matter how long it’s been since we felt that passion for Him, we can start by talking with Him, praising Him, reading His Word and thanking Him for all that He has done for us. The more we stir our passion by doing those things the more the feelings of love for Him will return.

We are all born losers without the ability to get into Heaven or live a victorious life on earth. Jesus is our only hope who can turn us from losers into victors, and He reaches out to us and offers this transformation for free, we just have to believe Him and accept it.

The greatest way that we can honor God is by laying down our life for Him, allowing Him to come live in us and through us. As we grow in relationship with God, our desire should be to honor Him with all of our possessions, actions and heart. When we honor God in all things, He turns around and honors us.

Many people feel as though they would be crashing a party if they went to a church without an invitation. Jesus’ invitation is for all and so as His Church we need to intentionally extend the invitation to everyone. When we accept the invitation God gives us to be part of His family and to eventually be at His party for all eternity, He responds by saying, “You’re welcome.”

Suffering can either build us up in character or take us down by driving us to revert back to old sin. God will give us the strength to endure through the suffering and we are called to soldier on and keep our hope in Him.

The Bible tells us that Jesus will come back to get all of His followers, and we must be ready for His return. While we wait, we should wake up every day and get ready spiritually just as we get ready physically. God places people in our paths that He wants us to reach for His purposes. We need to be ready, willing and able to share His Word with them when that takes place.

No matter what struggles or trials we encounter here on earth, we have a Savior who has gone ahead of us to prepare our eternal home. Since we are not there yet, He has instructed us to use this time to spread the Gospel and disciple other followers to go and do the same.

Our lives are sometimes filled with stress, even to the extent that we may feel crushed. God has promised us that with His power in us we can bear all things, but we cannot do it without Him.

God’s Spirit in us is what will attract other people to God when we let His light shine through us in every day situations. Trading ourselves for God to fill us with His life is the best trade we can ever make, and when He’s living in us then His Spirit will prompt us to share the message of the Gospel with others.

When it comes to being a true Christian, the standards set for us are literally unattainable. The Bible lists rules to live by such as loving our enemies, caring for widows and orphans, submitting to authority, and the list goes on. It is impossible to live this way unless Jesus Christ lives in us and He bears fruit in our lives.

The devil can make plenty of promises for quick satisfactions, but the sin that is involved to get those is not worth the losses we take when we choose to follow him. Following Jesus, on the other end, involves promised suffering, but the growth and maturity that comes along the way builds up eternal rewards that is worth far more than we can imagine.

The Bible is clear that there are certain people bound for hell who will not ever repent and turn to God. We must be listening to God to know when to stop reaching for these people. As for believers who stubbornly choose to remain in sin, the Bible instructs us to leave them to their sin and let God take care of them.

Sometimes we feel like God is not hearing our prayers, but often times that can be because we have sin in our lives that’s keeping us from hearing from God. We need to repent of our sins and live in the peace that God offers us, allowing for open communication on both ends.

The story of Esther shows us how she took the chance that God gave her to obey Him and ultimately save her people. Our purpose in life is not to be happy and live nonchalantly but rather to seek out the people God has placed in our lives so that we can take the chance when it comes to share the Gospel with them.

Before time began it was the plan for Jesus to leave His throne and come to earth, serving the lowest people and giving His life for us all. God calls us to live in the same way, walking out in our identity as a servant of the Most High God, reaching the world with His Gospel.

While we can take on many good things, they may not all be things that God is calling us to do. We need to listen to God when He gives us a task, and while we are accomplishing it we should feel rested instead of exhausted because He’ll give us all we need to accomplish His work.

We face a real spiritual enemy, the devil and his demons, whose whole purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. Being aware of that enemy, our job is to look out for people who are broken down and help them get to God who is capable of fixing their brokenness.

Just as we can check the quality and level of oil in a car by pulling out the dipstick, God can check the health of a church or individual Christian whenever He pleases. We must live according to His Word, spreading the Gospel and expanding His Kingdom by building relationships with others through reaching out and listening.

The Bible teaches us that everything we have is given to us by God, and our job is to be a good steward of what He’s given us. We are to hold these possessions loosely if He decides He wants to use us to give it away. He has promised to always provide food and clothing, and with that we can learn to be content in any and all circumstances.

When we harbor sin in our life, we tend to hide from God and from others. In order to experience the true freedom and healing that God offers through His forgiveness and mercy, we need to confess our sins to Him and to another believer who will hold us accountable.

The Bible tells us that God’s angels are all around us, yet we cannot see them. He has more power for us, in and through us, than any kind of demonic power that could ever come against us. We must ask God to show us those who are not saved so that we can share the Good News of salvation with them and one day see them in Heaven.

We can easily find ourselves bound to certain sins until God breaks us of it, causing us to repent and change our ways. God can give us the power to overcome sin, but we have to first be broken so the He can change us and help us move forward.

Just like showing up at a gym doesn’t make any difference in our physical health, attending a church doesn’t change our lives. It’s when we engage with other believers who are bold enough to ask us the difficult questions and gracious enough to help us work through our sin that change happens. We need to be willing to do the work to make a difference in our lives.

Just as God welcomes everyone that will turn to Him for grace and mercy, we must not cast out anyone seeking a Savior in this lost world. People can have wicked pasts, but God can miraculously change their lives and use them for His good.

If Jesus showed up with a van ready to take us all home to Heaven, how many of us would run to the van and how many would hesitate or not go at all? The best thing we can do while here on earth is get right with God through salvation that comes through Jesus Christ, and then be right with others and do the work of spreading the Gospel truth that God has left us here to do.

The Christian life is meant to be raw, living fresh and exposed so that we have people in our lives to help move us into growth. We too often hide our sin behind doing all the right things, but it doesn’t make a difference in our hearts when we live that way. Jesus was exposed on the cross so that we could live under His righteousness.

We can look around at the world we live in and see that everything points as evidence to the living God. When we align our lives to stand in His truth from His Word, agreeing that we are sinners in need of His saving through the death of His Son, we are choosing to walk in wisdom revealed to us since before the world was ever made.

We are all born into sin and we will all die a physical death, however those who do not accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior during their life on earth will also die a spiritual death. We who are saved must share the message of the Gospel to everyone around us in hopes to help save some who are headed for certain death.

As Christians, we need to look out for one another and help those that are wounded. When we help the wounded, they become well and can then help others. When a body of believers is filled with well and healthy people there is nothing that can stop them from reaching the world around them.

When we live in faith and immediate obedience to God we experience His peace. Living in sin without confessing immediately leads to more and more sin until we find ourselves in a mess of our lives. All we have to do is stop putting it off and turn to God right away and move forward with Him.

The devil threatens us with all sorts of temptations in this world. The only way we can overcome those threats is by putting our faith in Jesus, the only Way, Truth and Life.

There are moments in our lives that have affected us deeply, either moments when people have hurt us or when we have hurt others. We tend to carry the weight of those moments around with us for a long time, and for many it can be for the rest of their life. God delights in turning those times into beautiful tools to be used by Him to make a difference in others, but we have to forgive first so that we can move on.

People often treat churches like gyms where they may have a membership and they might even go sometimes, but they don’t really use it for the purpose that it’s intended. We need to not only attend church but be an active member in it, working out ourselves to become trainers so that we can help others become trainers as well.