Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: And you say, "God, it ends here. There is nothing beyond this. My sin has overwhelmed me. The weight of my life is too heavy. I can't see any way out. There's no being set free. There's none of that. I can't see it." Because me, by myself, I can't do it. And then God says, "Well, will you just trust me and watch what I can do? Enough already of what you can't do. See what I can do."

Guest (Male): Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. So many of you have shared how important this program is to you and how Richard's messages have impacted your life. We also know that there are many others who have positively influenced your life and how to be a better Christ-follower.

We are devoting this entire month to celebrate and give honor to those in our life who have made a great impact and how we want to do the same in the lives of others. So, we're introducing a new feature on our website to help you share that story. More on that later, but for now, with today's talk, here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is Heavy Duty. Turn to Exodus chapter 18, let's start with verse one. "And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, with her two sons of whom they named was Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a stranger in a foreign land,' and the name of the other was Eliezer, and he said, 'The God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.' And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mount of God."

Now, he had said to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her." So, Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, how are you doing kind of stuff, and they went into the tent. And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardships that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them, just normal conversation.

Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, "Blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, he was above them." Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.

And so it was on the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. So, they had issues and these issues would come, everything came to Moses. So, when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, "What are you doing? What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?"

And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another and I make known the statutes of God and his laws." So, Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good. This ain't working. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out, for this thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it by yourself."

Now, let's jump in here. Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed? I had a conversation today already with a woman who's got kids, another one on the way, and I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I don't know that I could go back to that. Little bitty kids, babies, diapers, those black diapers especially at the beginning, all that stuff's just like, what is this? It's just intense. And maybe you've got a husband, maybe you've got a wife, maybe you're a single mom, you've got a bunch of kids, a single dad, a bunch of kids.

Maybe you're single, no kids, just trying to figure out your life, what happened, I thought I'd be married. And just whatever it is, the weight of your job, the responsibilities, maybe you've got sick parents, maybe you're sick, a sick kid. Have I left anything out? Maybe you're about to file bankruptcy, maybe you hate your job, but whatever it is, it's just heavy duty. It's on you all the time, it seems.

And the indicator that you are about a two-year-old Christian, if you're a Christian, is you say things like, "I can do this by myself." That's a two-year-old Christian. "I can do this by myself." And so, everybody stands back and goes, okay, knock yourself out because you can't do it by yourself. You need help, you need support. And Moses was taking all this load on himself. His father-in-law is there just a matter of hours and goes, "You can't do this. You need help."

So, in this case, they mobilized, keep reading. "Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel and God will be with you. Stand before God for the people so that they may bring the difficulties to God, and you shall teach them the statutes and the laws and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers over thousands, over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So, it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure and all the people will also go to their place in peace."

So, Moses did it. Delegation, push it out. The whole point of discipleship. So, what do we do? I disciple people, those people disciple people, the elders disciple people, you disciple people, and pretty soon there's hundreds of people fighting over the new people because you're going to get equipped, you're going to be prepared. It's been delegated, you get it. And so now you're saying, okay God, I'm ready, I'm willing, I understand my responsibility, that this can't be done by one person or three people or a handful of people, it's going to take all of us. And so, you get equipped. You are someone as described here, you fear God, you hate covetousness, you're not there to use it to make money on somebody, you're there to really help people.

So, Moses gets some heat off of him. You think, well, he's figured this out. Go to Numbers chapter 11, a few pages to the right. Same guy, and you think, well, I've learned my lesson, I know what to do, I trust God, I'm never going to have to go through this again. It ain't over till it's over. No matter how much you trusted God five years ago or five days ago, you've got to go through this every day almost and make sure you're tuned in.

Numbers 11. He's led them out. Verse one. "Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, for the Lord heard it and his anger was aroused. So, the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. So, he called the name of the place Taberah because the fire of the Lord had burned among them."

Now, the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving, so the children of Israel also wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our whole being is dried up. There is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes." So, they had food, they just didn't have the old food.

And the sermon's not about this, but on your way to the promised land, God may teach you some things. You say, well, I'm not interested in the future and living by faith in the promised land, I'd rather go back to that and the life that was with that. Remember they were slaves, but they're not talking about that. You say, well, it's a lean time and I've given up that old life, those old friends, this process is too hard, God's doing something that's too tough for me, I want to go back. And then you go back and what have you got? It doesn't work.

So, they're out there screaming, crying, these strong cravings as it's described. "Now the manna was like coriander seed and its color like the color of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones and beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it, and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it."

Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent, and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused. Moses also was displeased. So, Moses said to the Lord, "Why have you afflicted your servant? What are you doing to me? And why have I not found favor in your sight that you have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them that you should say to me, carry them in your bosom as a guardian carries a nursing child to the land which I swore to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give all these people?"

They're complaining, they're tired of this manna, they want something to eat. And where am I supposed to get that out here in the middle of nowhere? For they weep all over me, I love the way it says that. They weep all over me, they're crying all over me. "Give us meat that we may eat. I am not able to bear all these people alone because the burden is too heavy for me. If you treat me like this, please kill me here and now if I have found favor in your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness."

So, the Lord said to Moses, "Gather to me 70 men of the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, bring them to the tabernacle of meeting that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there, I will take of the spirit that is upon you and will put the same spirit upon them and they shall bear the burden of the people with you that you may not bear it yourself alone."

I don't need 70 people, I need food up in here. What is this 70 people and going to the temple stuff? That's not answering my problem. "Then you shall say to the people, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord saying, who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt. Therefore, the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat. You shall eat not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor 10 days, nor 20 days, but for a whole month until it comes out your nose."

You want meat? I'll answer your prayer, I'll give you meat. It'll be coming out your nose and become loathsome to you because you have despised the Lord who is among you and have wept before him saying, why did we ever come up out of Egypt? Have you ever noticed in your Christian life that you get this way? You're like, well, it was better before. This being a Christian sucks. I had fun before. Back then we did this, we had that, there was excitement, pleasure, all these things. I'm going back, I want that back. And it's almost like God blesses you with the past.

And he says, "Okay, that's what you want, it'll be coming out your ears." And then you go back to that old way of living and he lets you. Have you ever noticed that, how God doesn't kill you, he lets you go back to the old way sometimes? And almost blesses you with your own past. You say, well, how could that be a blessing? Because you get so sick of it you want him again because it didn't work and it's not going to work, and you've got to get recalibrated sometimes.

And Moses said, "The people whom I am among are 600,000 men on foot, yet you have said, I will give them meat that they may eat for a whole month. Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them?" What, are we going to take all the fish out of the sea? You think there's no humor or sarcasm in the Bible? "To provide enough for them?"

And the Lord said to Moses, now listen to this, this is a conversation between a person and God, Moses and God, and you should be having these every day. God comes back, "Has the Lord's arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not." Never rule out the windows of heaven. You say, well, this is all I know, this is all I see, this is all I have, this is all I can imagine, this is all I can explain, this is all I've got. What you've got is never all you've got if you've got God.

And you say, well, does that mean I'm going to be rich and live in a big house? It's not about all that. What is your need? What is it that God is aware of that you need? He's trying to get you to trust him before it shows up. And you say, "God, it ends here. There is nothing beyond this. My sin has overwhelmed me. The past has gotten its clutches in me. The weight of my life, my old life, is too heavy. I can't see any way out. There is no deliverance. There's no being set free. There's none of that. I can't see it." Because me, by myself, I can't do it. And then God says, "Well, will you just trust me and watch what I can do? Enough already of what you can't do. See what I can do."

So, Moses went out, told the people the words of the Lord. He gathered the 70 men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took the spirit that was upon him and placed the same upon the 70 elders. And it happened when the spirit rested upon them that they prophesied, although they never did so again. Happened one time. But two men had remained in the camp, the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other was Medad, and the spirit rested upon them. Now, they were among those listed. They weren't out where they were supposed to be, but because their names were on the list, the spirit hit them too.

They were among those listed but who had not gone out to the tabernacle, yet they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses and he said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." So, Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them, forbid them." Then Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord's people were prophets and the Lord would put his spirit upon them." And by the way, that happens in the New Testament and that should be going on with you because he's not putting his spirit on you, he's putting his spirit in you.

Then look what happens. Now a wind went out from the Lord and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day's journey on this side and about a day's journey on the other side. So, as far as you could go for a day, one direction or the other, quail got knocked down all around the camp and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. So, they're stacked high, quail out of nowhere.

And the people stayed up all that day, all night, all the next day, and gathered the quail. He who had least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. There is consequence. Now, you say, was God going to send the quail anyway? I don't know, but a lot of times we are that close to the answer and we start bickering and complaining and yak, yak, yak to God about what's not working.

He goes, you know what? The quail were there all the time, but now there's a consequence to your meat problem. But God gets him some help, comes through on his behalf. There's a place I play golf with a couple of guys, and in between, in this public course, there is a railroad. And the other day, this happened to me twice recently, the other day I'm out there playing and on this railroad track, sometimes there's a train, sometimes there's not.

Between these two courses, there are little domed tunnels above ground, bridges over these tunnels that a cart can get through and you can walk through, maybe two carts side-by-side. And I'm standing on one of these greens, I finally got there. All of a sudden, this day, this train, you could hear the train coming. And there is something about a train. And these trains can be hundreds of cars, tonnage, tonnage, tonnage, loaded, coming down the tracks.

So, I'm watching this train come, feeling it come, hearing it come, horn sounding, boom, here's this massive train coming. And I got to watching these little tunnels where the train was going to go over. And it occurred to me that the little bridge over the little tunnel didn't have to support the whole train at one time. But that little bridge took the entire train on over a period of time, and a little bit would come over and it would pass, and a little bit would come over and it would pass. And yet it took on cumulatively the entire train.

Here's my problem. I stand back and I see the whole train somehow. I go, God, how am I going to ever take on this train? And he says, "I'm not asking you to take on the whole train. It's going to come by a little bit at a time and never more load than you can stand with my help." And you say, well, what's holding up the little tunnel? It's him. And so, I'm free to come and go and do my thing until I get paralyzed by fear that it's all going to collapse on me because the great weight of the life of my train. And I don't have to worry about that.

So, whatever it is that's your heavy duty in life, you say, well, my mom got sick and so she could live another 20, 30 years and I've got to take care of her. Okay, how are you going to do that? You may have 20 or 30 years of train still coming. What are you going to do about that? You're going to take it one car at a time. And really one set of wheels at a time. And what is fascinating about me standing there watching that train is that there were times that the bridge supported nothing. The train car was on top of it, but the wheels were on this piece of ground, that piece of ground, and the little tunnel was overwhelmed but was supporting nothing. You can have weight on you but not even feel it.

You say, well, will this load ever go away? The load may not ever go away, you just got to decide who's going to carry the load. Is it you or is it Jesus? Because when you take it back on, it is too much to bear. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter one, and Paul writing here a second time to this church in Corinth, says this in verse eight. Let's jump in at verse eight.

He says, "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, we want you to have information, to be aware of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us, in whom we trust that he will still deliver us. You also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many."

And you say, well, where's all this coming from? Where do you get all this? I'm getting a little nervous because I have these conversations and I think, oh, I've got all these things in my life. I got nothing in my life. What have you got in your life? A friend of mine the other day probably makes eight million bucks a year said to me, "If you've got a problem that money can solve, it's not a problem." Now, think about that. I've been chewing on that for about two months. If you have a problem that money can solve, it's not a problem.

People have got problems that money can't fix. Now they got a problem. Because if someone stands up and says, "Here's my problem," we go, okay, let's collect some money, boom, that problem's out of the way. They go, "You know what, money won't fix this." A girl today walked up to me, I haven't seen her in a long time. You know why? Because she checked herself into a facility trying to stay alive. And I know her mom and I know something about her fight.

And she is fighting for her life the way we should be fighting for other people's lives out there. She is desperate because if she does not stay clean, if she does not get sober, if she doesn't let go of that, she will die. And somehow God has given her a desire to live, really live, not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, everywhere. So, if you ever get healthy that way, then God goes, "You're alive. It worked. I delivered you, I set you free from the past. Let's move forward."

Then you start going, well God, if you can do this for me, you can help somebody else. A good indicator that you're still stuck on yourself is you don't care about anybody else, which means you're not healthy to begin with. Because when you praise him and you worship him and you see him for who he is and how big he is and what he can do and you let him do it in your life, you can't be quiet. Someone walks up to me, I pull my phone out, you know what's on the face of my phone? The best picture I got of me and my girls and my wife. And I'm popping that in your face telling you, oh, here are my girls right there's my family. Can you beat that, brother? There's my team.

See, whatever you get lit about, you talk about. People that get full leak, they start overflowing. You say, well, how does that happen? Something's got to be going on between you and God, something's got to be getting healthy internally. You get full of him and not so full of yourself and then it starts overflowing to somebody else and the world goes, "What have you got going on?" You say, well, it used to be that way when I became a Christian and then all that went away. And why is that? Who went away? He didn't go anywhere. He's still there.

Alright, read these verses in Matthew 11. Matthew 11, let's jump in at verse 25. "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him." And then he says this to them, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Now, he didn't say quit working, it's going to cease activity. And you'll see here what he keeps saying, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me." You say, well, I just want to sit on my butt and do nothing and rest. That's not life, that's not reality. You've got to keep going. But if you're a mom with little kids in your house all day and the husband comes home, well, I don't like things here, some guy comes in barking like, this shouldn't be done this way, you know what, you haven't been here all day messing with these kids.

So, that mom is trying to negotiate it and she wakes up and realizes these kids aren't going anywhere, it's not that you want them to, it's just this could be a long train, a long training. And you've got to pace yourself. Some women, some men, just walk out and leave, but you know you're not going to do that. So, how are you going to keep going and have rest while you're working? You're going to have to get hooked up in his yoke. So, how do you start your day? He says, "Hey, come to me. All you are burdened and heavy laden, whatever you got on you, you are pulling this thing by yourself, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I'll show you how to do it the wise way, the most efficient way. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy," and by the way, that word means better, easy, good, gracious, kind, "my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Does that describe your burden, your load, easy, light? No. Now, where does this all fall apart? You will never be able to deal with your heavy duties in life until you come to him.

You say what? We're back to the two-year-olds now, "I can do it by myself." And how is that working out for you? Now, the good news, at least the way that works for me, is he will allow me to drive it into the ground and wear my little self out. And then you know what you start doing? You start coming to him. You say, well, I'm just not there yet. I can make it on one time a week checking in with him. Really? And how's that working out for you? That girl who came up to me today, she's desperate because she knows there's a real enemy and steal, kill, and destroy is not just a bunch of words. It's what hell is about and somebody is after her to do just that.

Guest (Male): Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to listen to Richard Ellis Talks. We know these programs encourage and inspire you because we hear from so many people about them. Richard has such a unique way of speaking right to the heart because it always comes straight from his own heart. And maybe there are others who have greatly impacted your life as well. So, who is it in your life that was a great example as a Christ-follower? Possibly a parent, a grandparent, a friend, pastor, neighbor, coworker.

Well, we have just the place where you can share this story. There's a brand-new feature on our website called a Legacy Wall where you can tell us who made a huge difference in your life in your growth as a Christ-follower. And this same inspiration is what you want to make sure gets passed on from you in leaving a legacy too. If it's important to you, it's worth sharing. So, let me encourage you to go to our website, RichardEllis.com, and share that story. We'd love to hear it and it would inspire others as well. That's RichardEllis.com and share that story.

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