Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: It's not just about you and me. It's not just about us. There are people out there walking around looking for hope. They don't know that God loves them. They don't really have much hope in God because they can't figure God out. But when they meet one person who's oozing just a little hope, they go, "Wait a minute. What is this?"

Guest (Male): You're listening to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. We're so grateful you tuned into the program. Richard wants to share with you some encouragement, words of hope, and probably a laugh or two. In today's complicated, busy life, that's exactly what's needed.

Richard's talks are always straight from the Bible, filled with truth. Now, you may not be able to hang out with us for the entire program, but you can always pick it back up at our website, RichardEllis.com. In fact, you can find all of Richard's talks right there waiting just for you, RichardEllis.com. So, with today's talk, here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is Magnifying Glass. Turn to Joshua chapter three. There's a word in the Old Testament, and everywhere that I read the word "exalted" or "magnified," it comes from this Hebrew word. I'll read the definition: to be or to make large, advance, bring up, exceed excellence, to grow up, increase, lift up, magnify, promote, proudly spoken. It's talking about what we might say about God or what God might say about some of us.

Joshua chapter three gives an example of that. Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. He's about to lead. Joshua is in charge now. He's about to lead the people across into the Promised Land.

The Lord said to Joshua—look what God says to this leader—"This day I will begin to exalt you or to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you." It is a strange thing. God is capable of taking a simple person and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, turning them into a leader by exalting them, by magnifying them. Part of this involves not only us trusting God but God trusting us.

The scripture talks about humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due time, he'll lift you up. Not everybody can handle being exalted, magnified, or leadership of any kind. If God comes along and you see that you're walking with him, talking with him, trusting him, and all of a sudden he begins to raise you up, as it were, or to make you larger, you go, "Something's going on." God can literally speak to someone, in this case, Joshua, and actually do it.

Go a few pages over to Joshua chapter four, verse 14. It says here, "On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all the people, or magnified him in the sight of all Israel. And they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life." I don't know exactly who this is for, but it may be for a few, or it may be for a bunch.

It is possible that what God is trying to do in your life and what he is developing in you, refining in you—the suffering, the challenges, even the pain—God may actually be preparing you for something he has to do for you where he literally raises you up and puts you in a place of authority. You have to be ready. You say, "I don't want to do that." Part of being able to do that is being able to process the process.

If you're not okay with what he's allowing in your life and doing, then it's just postponing it. Just settle in and say, "Okay, God. I don't know what this is up to. I don't know what your plans are for me, but whatever they are, help me not miss what you are trying to teach me." God literally may raise you up out of nowhere. He's done this throughout history. He may say, "I am going to exalt you, magnify you, and kind of enlarge what you're about and the impact you can make."

Go to First Chronicles 29, verse 25. "So the Lord exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel." We have people in this room today, and listening beyond here, who know exactly what I'm talking about. Somewhere in your life, you almost got the feeling that God said, "You're it. You're up."

Not only did I pick you for heaven, but I picked you for here. I picked you for now. I am going to use you, so pay attention. It doesn't make you perfect. It doesn't mean you'll never screw up. It just means he says, "I am giving you authority. Do the right thing." Then all of a sudden, extraordinary things begin to happen that you really have no explanation for. God can pick who he wants to pick and do what he wants to do. Be aware that's how it works. Whatever he's doing to prepare you, again, pay attention because he may have something you haven't even dreamed of.

Second Chronicles chapter one, verse one, says a similar thing about Solomon. "Now Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly." If you go read the story of Solomon, it's not a pretty ending. He was the wisest man that ever lived, according to the scriptures. He amassed wives, concubines, and a fortune. It ended up—if you read Ecclesiastes—not going so good.

Here is what you have to understand: God can use anybody. You have to stop letting your excuses be the excuse why God can't use you. Just let him do it already. You say, "What if I screw up?" He already knows if you're going to anyway. Just let him do his thing. Go read the story of Samson. This guy was a mess, and yet God used him. It's a catastrophic story. It's a tragic story. And yet he is included in the scripture as a man of great faith.

Go to Psalm chapter 34. Not only can God exalt a human being and raise them up, but he intends for us to make God bigger than he already is. He's big. He's bigger than big. There's no way to even calculate it. In Psalm 34, verse one, the psalmist says, "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."

Let me go back to verse one because if you don't have verse one and verse two, you're probably not going to be doing verse three. Look at it again. "I will bless the Lord at all times." Is that your life? Pretty much all the time, you walk around, "Lord, I bless you. Lord, I thank you so much for blessing me." You're just in a walking, talking relationship with him. "His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

Have you ever met anyone who meets those qualifications? That his praise is on their lips continually? I've got some people like that. If you know that person, it's a different deal. You almost think they're a little nuts. It's like the people that, before you knew there was Bluetooth, were driving down the road talking on the phone, but you didn't know they had a phone. They just looked like they were crazy, talking to themselves.

There are people who literally bless the Lord at all times. His praises are continually in their mouth. Their soul makes its boast in the Lord. The humble hear of it and are glad. You say, "That does sound like a crazy person." That's the deal. You'd be amazed at how many of your so-called problems would go flying out the window if you blessed the Lord at all times. He's good. We sing about it around here. It's not just songs to sing; it's a life to live.

You cannot imagine how it not only changes your life, but it starts to change other people's lives. Look what he says here. "The humble shall hear of it and be glad." Then you're an encouragement to somebody else. The people who don't get it, don't get it. Don't worry about them. You get it. You live it. You do it. You'll be amazed at what happens in your life and the impact you have.

Again, "My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." You've got fears? You can't just jerk that verse out of there. Look at it in context. It is very hard to be afraid when you walk around praising and blessing and worshiping God because you go, "What am I even thinking? How is this amazing God—who the more I praise him and exalt him and magnify him, the bigger I realize he is—not able to handle what's in my life?" When are you going to figure out he is God? He can raise the dead. He can do anything.

"I sought the Lord, he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints. There is no want to those who fear him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing."

How do you spend your time? What do you think about? What are you listening to? What are you reading? What are you talking about? Spend the time with him. Don't get sucked into these black holes of fear and doubt and anger and bitterness. Say, "No, I'm not going to live there." You might look a little crazy, but you might have a lot of peace. The world should see that something is different about us because of the relationship we have with him.

I'm not trying to be mean. You say, "You want us to fake it and be happy all the time?" You can be unhappy and still have joy. I'm not telling you to walk around like some ditsy guy like, "Oh, God is good all the time." He is good all the time. You may not be happy all the time, but you can have joy.

Psalm chapter 35, verse 27, says, "Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; and let them say continually, 'Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.'" Let him be exalted. Let him be magnified. Your life ought to make God bigger. Somehow when people see you, they ought to go, "Wow, that person must really have a great God because they see the difference he's making in your life."

Go to Psalm chapter 40, verse 16. "Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let such as love your salvation say continually, 'The Lord be magnified.' But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God." Why do I keep saying to you read your Bible? Because if you read your Bible, you'll find stuff like this and your life will start working differently. It'll work better. You can't read these psalms and meditate on these psalms and go around moping your whole life.

"Let those who seek and rejoice and be glad in you; let such as your salvation say continually, 'The Lord be magnified.'" God, you increase. Me, let me get perspective and see what you're up to even when I don't get it. Go to Psalm 69, verse 29. "But I am poor and sorrowful." The Bible's not trying to get you to be something you're not. You say, "That's where I am. I'm poor and I'm sorrowful." But what? "Let your salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving."

Maybe it just hasn't gotten bad enough yet. Maybe there's just not enough pain yet for you to finally kick in. "Oh, well, I'm pretty happy. Paid my bills this month. It's all good. Dude, why are you getting all rousey about all this?" Because it's not just about you and me. It's not just about us. There are people out there walking around looking for hope. They don't know that God loves them. They don't really have much hope in God because they can't figure God out. But when they meet one person who's oozing just a little hope, they go, "Wait a minute. What is this?"

You say, "I just can't crank up what you're talking about." Yes, you can. How do you crank it up? You get in the scriptures. What did it just say? "I will praise the name of God with a song." You need to know the songs, not so you can sing them in church with us. You need to know the songs so you have something to sing when you're by yourself. Because here we huddle up and we can make it. It's when you're by yourself, when you're getting attacked, when your teeth are getting kicked in and you're losing hope, losing strength, and you crank up a little song—you cannot imagine.

The devil hates worship of anything but him. If the devil's attacking you and you want to create a little space, just break into a little song. I know some of you can't sing. I've already heard a lot of you can't sing. But God doesn't care about that. Even if it's the same note over and over, just sing that note.

You say that would be silly. What's silly is to read all this stuff and never apply it to your life. It's simple. All of a sudden you praise him, you worship him, you magnify him, and he gets bigger and bigger and bigger. It's not that he's already big; you just don't know how big he is. Then you go, "Oh my gosh, why am I afraid? Why have I lost hope? This is what God thinks about me, feels about me, how he sees me. I'm going to be okay. I'm going to make it." You think it's a bunch of crazy, silly religious stuff until you do it and you go, "Wow, that works."

Psalm 69, verse 30, again: "I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or a bull, which has horns and hooves. The humble shall see this and be glad. And you who seek God, your hearts shall live. For the Lord hears the poor and does not despise his prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. Also the descendants of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it."

Go to the New Testament, Luke chapter one. You read the story of Jesus coming to Earth. Luke chapter one, verse 39, talks about Mary. She finds out she's having a baby. Elizabeth, her cousin, is having a baby. Let's just read this. "Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.'"

Lest you say you read a bunch of stuff about men, what about women? God picked this teenage little girl for a reason. It wasn't that he just picked her and turned her into something; he picked her because he was already turning her into something. He was in process. She got picked because of who she was partly as a person. Blessed is she who believed. If that's all you got, that's enough. Just believe. Whatever God's told you, believe it.

Mary said—first thing out of her mouth—"My soul magnifies the Lord." It's about him. Get it on him. Get off of yourself. Don't start your prayers, "Oh God, woe is me." Go to him. Say, "God, I got stuff, but you are great, you are mighty, you are awesome." Sing to him. Talk to him. Say it out loud. If you don't know what to say, find some scriptures and just read them to him.

You say that just sounds like positive thinking. No, it is powerful thinking based on the word of God. You trust him. You say, "But it can get dark. It can get terrible." That's part of the reason you have scriptures, because it was dark and terrible for a ton of these people.

Acts chapter 10, verse 44. "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also." This is where he goes to see Cornelius, a Gentile. "For they heard them speaking with tongues and magnifying God."

What got their attention? The fact that they heard what was said, but they heard them speaking in other languages and knew that they were magnifying God. Anybody can be religious. You cannot worship without him. You can't do it. What makes church so hard for some people is they think, "I'm going to have to go down to that church and sing 15 verses of the same song." You just drone on and on. You're like, "I can't do this anymore." Get up, sit down—it's an aerobic thing. You go through the motions. It should not be that.

You should have songs, you should have worship songs that would be like cuddling up next to your wife or your husband and saying, "Hey, I've been wanting to tell you this a long time," and you sing them a little song. Why do we love romance songs? We listen to them, we put them in, hold hands and look at each other. A song comes on, you grab their hand. Why? Because it's expressing something you're feeling toward that person. That's what worship music should do for you. You go, "God, I can never sing like that guy, but that's what I'm thinking." You chime in and go, "God, please understand, this is what I've been trying to tell you."

Part of what I'm trying to say here is—and I'm not trying to bust anybody's chops—I'm getting frustrated with myself that somehow I am not a better magnifying glass in the hand of God. Why is my life not somehow, when someone tries to see God through my life, why is God not magnified through my life because they see the relationship I have with him? It's not working if someone cannot see him through your life.

Does everybody get this? You say this is terrible because nobody comes up and asks me. Sooner or later, the Bible says you must be ready to give a reason for the hope that's within you because someone is going to observe the hope. We just look like everybody else, unfortunately. You say, "But I'm nice and I pray and I give money." I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you being radioactive, on fire.

You say nobody can do that. It has to be possible. This God of the Bible is not dead. He hasn't cooled off. He's still alive, and he still lives in you if you're a Christian. Let him live through you, through me.

Guest (Male): We'll get back to Richard in a moment to close out today's talk. But first, I want to share something with you about the program. Our mission is actually very simple: to take the planet. So it's our prayer that these daily talks from Richard aren't something you only hear and enjoy, but that they inspire you to share with others. Together, we can do this. The message of the gospel is something everyone needs to hear, and that's why it's a huge priority to us. You can join us in this important mission. Call us at 855-6-RICHARD to say you're in, or you can get on board with us through our website, RichardEllis.com. Well, here's Richard with some closing thoughts for us.

Richard Ellis: Philippians chapter one, verse 12. This is Paul writing to a whole bunch of people in a town called Philippi. He says, "But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." Him being in prison, they go, "If Paul can do that, we can do this," and there's boldness.

How in the world does everybody in the palace guard know what's going on? If somebody doesn't know you're a Christian where you work, it's not working. Again, I know this sounds hard, but you can't work somewhere 30 years and someone not know you are a follower of Christ. That should be impossible. You have no idea the impact. God has put you as salt and light in that place to magnify him so they can get to him.

The whole palace guard knows and all the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I'm appointed to the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

You take your life and you say, "Father, I place my life in your hands." It is amazing when God has your life in his hands that if he gets it the exact right distance from the sun, he can set something on fire. It just all depends on how you spell son. Wake up every day and say, "God, if you choose to magnify me, I'm okay with that. I choose to magnify you no matter what. And I am putting my life in your hands today. I know you live in me, but I want you to live through me in such a way that you would be magnified, you would be enlarged, that you would use my life so that when people see me and look through my life, what they see is a great, mighty God that lives in me and through me and that is running all this. And that if he can do this in me, they get hope that he can do it in them." So simple.

Guest (Male): Thanks for tuning in today to Richard Ellis Talks. We all have busy schedules these days, so it means the world to us that you would take this time to listen. Richard would love to know how today's talk has touched your heart, so give us a call at 855-6-RICHARD. You can also share your story with us at our website, RichardEllis.com.

One last thing: Richard Ellis Talks is a daily program that is always expanding to reach the world with the good news of the gospel. But it also has daily costs. Being a listener-supported program like ours means we rely on the financial partnership of our listeners, which means you. We believe that these talks with Richard are making a difference in your life, so this is how you can make a difference to ours. You can contribute by calling 855-6-RICHARD or at our website, RichardEllis.com. Thank you for your generosity. God bless, and thanks for listening to Richard Ellis Talks.