Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: If you're raising a bunch of kids and telling them, "Oh, you need to do this, this, and this," and they look at you and watch you go, "You're not even doing that," then you say, "Well, I don't want to be a hypocrite," so now you stop talking to your kids about how they should be living because you won't make a decision about how you're going to live, and so then nobody does anything. And you go, "How did my kids turn out this way?" Because they turned out like you, because you wouldn't pull the trigger and grow up.

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. With today's talk, here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is "Make Up Your Mind". The origin of this phrase, the expression, comes from the older idea that the mind could be made up or formed, not discovered. That phrase means come to a conclusion, decide, or stop hesitating or being indecisive. What have you got going on? What have I got going on that I just need to make a decision? I need to make up my mind. You need to make up your mind.

Something you've thought about. My little brother sent me a picture of him and me years ago. We were both younger. We were both skinnier. Well, I was skinnier than he was skinny. I looked at that picture and thought, "Wow, how do I get back to that?" You know how you get back to that? You make up your mind. It's an intake issue. It's an exercise issue. I can walk around all I want and say, "I'm thinking about this." You have to make up your mind and, to the definition, decide, come to a conclusion, stop hesitating, or being indecisive.

Actually, when I saw the word "makeup," I thought about where that came from. Makeup, this is getting into cosmetics now, bringing something into a finished or settled state. To make up the face used to mean to put together or complete one's outward appearance. We accuse a lot of women and say they are trying to cover up a bunch of stuff, and that's not where this started. Assemble an appearance, finish, or enhance facial features. Prepare the face for public presentation. So makeup literally means that which makes the appearance complete.

Cosmetics are called makeup because they were used to complete or assemble one's outward appearance, a meaning rooted in theater in older English, not in deception. If you're trying to make up your mind, you're not trying to deceive anybody with what you're doing. You're just trying to complete it. It can also mean a bunch of stuff: to compose, to settle, to arrange, or complete. This word "complete" keeps coming into view. By the late 1500s, early 1600s, English writers used "make up one's mind" to mean to settle one's thoughts or resolve a matter internally.

Make up your mind. Settle your thoughts. Resolve a matter internally. What are you doing? What are you going to do? It did not originally mean inventing something false, a later meaning of makeup. Another early usage to make up one's mind was to form a judgment. The mind was viewed as something shaped by will, not passive. This fits older philosophical and biblical thinking where decisions were will and understanding. Indecision is a moral or practical failure, not just confusion.

Let me read you that sentence again. Indecision is a moral or practical failure. It's not just confusion. Decisions involve will and understanding. Make up your mind implies you have enough information. Delay is now a matter of the will. A decision is required. What have you got about that? I have got a friend out here shaking his head. He's been sober for decades. He works with alcoholics, mostly. At some point, an alcoholic has to decide. He has to make up his mind. "I am going to stop drinking."

He's got all the information. He's got to pick a lane. You have to make up your mind. You have to complete the thought with a decision. Whether it's alcohol or it could be drugs, let's get bold here for just a minute and I'm going to ask you to really be bold about this because I'm going to raise my hand too. How many of you have got something going on right now and you know what to do? You have a decision to make, and now it's just a question of making up your mind. Raise your hand. Look around the room.

Think about what's in the balance right there. If you made that decision and moved on that decision, how that would change your life, the life of other people affected by that decision. Yet, if you stall out, another year goes by, another year goes by, and pretty soon it never happens. What happened? You didn't make a decision. You did make a decision by not making a decision. You want to become a Christian and go to heaven. Make up your mind and do it. No one can do this for me. No one can do this for you.

If you're going to do what you're thinking about, by the way, people say, "I've been praying about making this decision." It may be time to stop praying. Maybe you've prayed enough about what you're supposed to do. Maybe it's time to do what you're supposed to do and make up your mind. "This is it. I'm going to do this." You want to stop living a life of sin. Make up your mind and do it. Change. How do you change? You change. You repent. You change your mind. You stop saying what God says is wrong and what you say is right, and start saying what he says is right and what you've been saying is wrong.

It can't be that easy. It is that easy. It's that simple. Just say, "Lord, grant me repentance. I don't want to live this way. I don't want to die this way." Here is just a list of some possible things you've got from a spiritual perspective: read the Bible daily, pray more consistently, fast regularly, memorize scripture, put Jesus first in daily decisions, walk in obedience, not just in your head, your knowledge, grow in holiness and repentance, be more faithful in church attendance, serving regularly in ministry, build godly friendships and accountability.

You're going to be like the five people you spend the most time with. It's just a fact. You run around with a bunch of fools, you're going to be a fool. You say you're trying to reach them, but you're not reaching them. They're pulling you in. Share the gospel more boldly. Pray for the lost by name. Disciple or mentor someone. Love others more intensely. Practice forgiveness and humility. Guard speech and thoughts. Honor God with finances through generosity. Use time more wisely. I may not have hit your list, but whatever your thing is, make up your mind and let's go.

Go to Joshua, chapter 24. I guess I'd call verses like I'm going to read you famous verses that are quotes out of the Bible that people know. This is Joshua taking over. Moses had led them this far. Joshua 24:15: "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Make up your mind. Are you going to serve the Lord? If you're raising a bunch of kids and telling them, "Oh, you need to do this, this, and this," and they look at you and watch you go, "You're not even doing that," then you say, "Well, I don't want to be a hypocrite," so now you stop talking to your kids about how they should be living because you won't make a decision about how you're going to live, and so then nobody does anything. And you go, "How did my kids turn out this way?" Because they turned out like you, because you wouldn't pull the trigger and grow up.

It's a terrible story to share as well, but this is years ago. Some new Bible translation was coming out and somehow they got my name and came in, brought cameras, and wanted to interview me about the Bible. "How do you study the scripture and all that?" Well, I made the mistake of saying, "Most people are reading the Bible on the toilet." And they laughed, didn't know exactly what to do with it. I shared that whether it was on the toilet when my girls were little, wherever it was, they didn't know the difference.

But do your children catch you reading the scriptures? You want to raise godly kids and you're trying to show them the way. If they don't see you reading the scriptures, they're not going to think that's important. I did a terrible job. We prayed with the kids. I did a terrible job when it came to praying with my wife. I've been doing a better job recently and I know what that was about. The enemy was just trying to keep me from praying with her. You can do whatever you want but don't be praying with her.

What changed? I made up my mind that I was going to start praying with my wife every day as much as possible. It's not that I don't run out of the house sometimes. While we're on this, if you men are not praying with your wives out loud, you're in trouble. You'd be amazed how things change when you're praying with your wife. You say you're not comfortable. So you'll have sex with her but you can't pray with her. That makes a lot of sense.

You say you don't know what to say. You're not giving a speech. Grab her in your arms and say, "Lord, I thank you for my amazing wife. For providing for us. I pray protection on our home, our marriage, our children, our grandchildren. Give us wisdom, direction, whatever you're praying." You say you're putting me on the spot. Maybe it's about time you were put on the spot. Maybe it's about time you make up your mind that you're going to do this.

Back to Joshua. What does he say? "I don't know what you're going to do, the gods on the other side of the river, but me, my house, we will serve the Lord." Is that what your kids know about you and your house? Everybody around you knows, co-workers, friends, those people serve the Lord. That's what they're about.

Go to 1 Kings 18. I really recommend if you get some time, if you're going to read something, read 1 Kings, but read 1 Kings 18, this whole story where God shuts the rain down for over three years. There's a showdown as a result of this. 1 Kings 18:21: "Elijah came to all the people and said, 'How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, then follow him.'" And the people did not answer him a word.

They couldn't make a decision. It's obvious who's God. God is God. By the way, there is only one true God. And the only true God has a son named Jesus. And if you're worshipping or praying to any other god that doesn't have a son named Jesus, he is not God. The showdown with Elijah and Ahab and the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 18:36. Elijah comes out of hiding. Ahab is upset and there's a throwdown between the 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah.

Verse 36: "And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that I have done all things at your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God and you have turned their hearts back to you again.'"

Something miraculous is about to happen. Fire's about to rain out of heaven and consume the altar that the 450 prophets of Baal could not light on fire. Humored in the Bible, Elijah mocked them. He said, "Maybe he's out of town. Maybe he's meditating. Maybe he's asleep." They went on and on and on, beating themselves, doing everything they could. Nothing. But Elijah prays not just that this will happen, but for what purpose. "That this people may know that you are the Lord God and you have turned their hearts back to you again."

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, "The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God." And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them escape." So they seized them and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there. This is intense stuff.

You say they saw fire come out of heaven and that's why they start chanting, "The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God." What has God got to do in your life for you to believe that he is God? You say you haven't seen fire come out of heaven. You know Jesus came out of heaven, died on a cross, buried, rose from the dead, and that's the only reason you're going to make it to heaven. What's he got to do to prove to you that he is God? Make up your mind. Are you going to follow him or not? Are you going to trust him or not? Are you going to believe this stuff or not?

Proverbs 3:5. Some of you can quote this stuff, but some of you have never read this in your whole lives. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths." I mentioned earlier there's a single mama over here raising two boys and her husband died years ago. How do you think she's making it? I'll tell you how she's making it. She is trusting in the Lord with all her heart. Am I right so far?

She's not leaning on her own understanding. In all her ways she is acknowledging him and he is directing her paths. Her children see that. You say she still has needs. What does the Bible promise a Christian? Food and clothing. It does not promise you shelter. He's your shelter. You say you think it promises more. Bring me your verses. The Bible talks about with food and clothing to be content. You say you want more. You got more when you got Jesus.

Let him decide what he's doling out and what he's trying to teach you to trust him and follow him. I know people who have got more than she does with her two boys, but they have got less in the stuff that matters because she's got to walk with him every day or they don't make it. There are a couple of girls here from over in Fort Worth talking to them in the meet and greet. They said they're from Crowley, Texas. I said I used to live in Crowley, Texas when I was in seminary.

That was not a good time for me. I lived in a mobile home in a mobile home park in Crowley, Texas and I'd drive up to seminary. I had an old car that did not have brakes. I was grateful to have the car, but it didn't have brakes. It was metal on metal, if you know anything about brake pads. There were no brake pads. I didn't even know what those were. I would go through intersections and try to figure out where I was going to ditch the car if I had to stop.

All I had to do was get from Crowley to seminary. If I had to stop, I'd hit those brakes and it would grind metal on metal. You could just hear it. I'd cook me some rice, put some cheese on it. I stopped at a Dairy Queen one day. I had a handful of coins and I painted it through the window and I said, "Can you give me the biggest double dipped cone for this much?" It was all I had. People say you don't know anything about being poor or not having anything.

I'm just telling you. You think it's always been this way. You don't know how it's always been for anybody. He didn't let me kill myself and I had some shelter. Was it always easy? Was it always fun? No. But I made up my mind that I was not going to quit. You say how did that feel? It didn't always feel good, but I promise you, it's the right decision.

I don't know who this is for, but I keep getting these feeds of Metallica. Who's the lead singer for Metallica? See, you don't know any prophets in the Old Testament but you can tell me the lead singer for Metallica. I'm just giving you a hard time. The specific song is a song called "Sandman," "Enter Sandman". It's about infant death or something and they talked him into changing it.

I saw some clip where James Hetfield is foul-mouthed a little bit to say the least, but he was telling this crowd, maybe tens of thousands, maybe 100,000, "Don't kill yourself. There's something on the other side." I thought, "Man, here's the lead singer for Metallica trying to get people to not kill themselves." I'm telling you, don't kill yourself. Make up your mind that you are going to live. Make up your mind that you are going to trust him. You're going to follow him. No matter what, you're not going to quit. You're going to move forward. You say what if I don't feel different if I make that decision? The feelings will change. I can still make a mean bowl of white rice with cheese on it. You mix it up, it melts, and you'd be amazed how long you can live on that.

Up to this point, can I get a witness about any of this from anybody? Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon, or the pursuit of money, material things." You can't serve two masters. You can't work for two people at the same time and be two places at once. You're not omnipresent. You can't do it.

If you decide to pursue money, you make up your mind that money is going to be your life, then that's going to be your life. I'm not going to throw Carlos under the bus, but Carlos has worked hard his whole life and he has flat out told me he overworked. Could have been, should have been with his family. But if one more hour, one more day, more, more, more, you make more and more and more money, but then what do you have? You have money and you have nothing to show for it.

There's a cost to that. I try to explain to men especially, we have a men's meeting once a month and I say, "Look, there are guys that come here, it costs them money to show up at the men's meeting because they think they should be out there working to make more money for their family. So if they show up at 8:30 to 10:00 on a Saturday morning then they go to work, they've lost two hours or more of work." You have to be able to stop sometimes. Not unless you make up your mind that you're going to stop.

Your kids don't care about a little more money when you're not at a ballgame, when you're not at a birthday party. You say you've got to make a living. You've got to make a life too. Matthew 19:21, along these same lines, Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." This guy had asked him what it takes. When the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

He had made up his mind that money was more important than even Jesus. I have to be careful how I share these things. I had a guy tell me the other day he is probably on the verge of selling his company for $100 million or whatever. He got offered money for his company. I said something like this to him, I said, "Yeah, I got an offer like that when I was in seminary and I turned it down." He said, "What are you talking about?" If I had said no to Jesus and made up my mind that I don't care what, I am going to make money, screw this, and let's say I had built a company and sold it for $100 million but missed you, missed this, missed what God had for me.

You'd better figure out what God has for your life and make up your mind that that is what you're going to be and do, or you are burning through your life. It's too expensive. It will not be worth whatever someone offers you at the end. The cost is too high. You get one shot here. Let me just add to this. The enemy has come along through the years and said, "Hey, why don't you go sell that and do that and marketing, advertising? You'd be great at that." There's only one problem with that. That's not what God told me to do.

I plan to stand before him one day with all the challenges I've had and say, "I made up my mind that I was going to obey you and trust you and follow you and stay in that lane, whether my buddies had more money or more planes or more anything." I don't care about all that. I'm after a conversation that includes, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Get you some of that.

So let me just read through these for the sake of time. Luke 9:23: "Then he said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost?'" You've got to make up your mind. Are you going to do this? You want to follow Jesus, you've got to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him.

Romans 12:2: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." You make up your mind. It's about him and that's what kicks in. Romans 12:11: "Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Make up your mind you're going to live that life.

Philippians 4:8: "Finally, my brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things." Make up your mind that you're going to meditate, put your mind on him.

James 1:7: "For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." If you show me someone who's double-minded, trying to serve two masters, double-minded, that is an unstable person. Pay attention. James 4:8: "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

Same thing coming up here again. James 4:13. My grandfather taught me this, my dad's dad. Verse 13: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'"

You make up your mind you're going to do something and preface it with, "Lord, Lord willing, this is what we're going to do. And if you don't want me doing this, then stop me." Listen closely enough so that when he says "no," you know it's "no," when he says "yes," you know it's "yes."

Go back over to Acts, chapter 26. I'll shut it down with this one. Acts 26:28. This is a conversation that Paul is having with Agrippa, King Agrippa. I have too many of these conversations along with those where people say yes to Jesus. Paul had given this lengthy discourse, kind of sermon. Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian."

And Paul said, "I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me today might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains." In other words, Christian. If you're the person you say, "He almost persuaded me to become a Christian," make up your mind and just take that step of faith and say yes.

Guest (Male): Before Richard comes back to wrap things up for us today, I'd like to share a couple of important things with you. Let me encourage you to take a minute and check out our website, richardellis.com. You'll find today's talk right there in the talks page along with all of Richard's audio and video messages. You can even forward them to a friend so they can hear them too.

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Richard Ellis: There's a monkey somewhere in the Pacific and I know I've probably told this story a couple of times through the years. I just love the image, hate this image. But there's a monkey they catch and this is how they catch it. They take a coconut and they carve out a little hole that is big enough for the monkey to get his hand in. Inside the coconut, they put these little berries that the monkey loves.

They chain the coconut to a tree and the monkey smells the berries and he slides his hand into the coconut. What does he do? Grabs the berries. But the fist won't come out of the hole. All they've got to do is walk up, whack him on the head, take him alive. How's that possible? He won't give up the berries. He'll die holding nothing.

That's how silly you look when Jesus comes along and says, "I'll give you life, I'll give you abundant life," and you say, "No, I refuse to let go of these temporary berries. I guess I'm just going to have to die this way." Let go, let God love you, live in you, through you, change you. Make up your mind, because nothing will change until you do.

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