Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: You don't get a second opinion when God gives you wisdom because you've got your answer. If you start playing that game and God tells you, "Here's the answer," and you go get some other opinion, now you're a double-minded man and now you're unstable in all your ways because you just won't do what God said.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. Thank you for allowing us to share this time with you. You may be stuck in traffic or stuck in life. Either way, today's message is going to help you get on the right track as you learn how much God loves you right where you are.

Richard's unique style checks all the boxes with a lot of hope, insight, truth, and of course, humor. Today's talk with Richard will get our conversation started, but we want to keep it going with you. Let's stay in touch through our website, richardellis.com. But right now, let's go ahead and get right into today's talk. Here is Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is Waffle House. So Waffle House—this is a little-known fact about the Waffle House, but my wife and I haven't made the reservation yet, sweetie. But this year, we will probably go back again to the Waffle House for Valentine's Day.

You say, "Well, what is that?" You can actually call—there's only so many stores. You have to go to their website, see where the stores are, and you call and make a reservation at the Waffle House. You get there at your slot, whatever time it is, and they have a nice little table. They're tables, but you have plastic tablecloths and a candle—it's a battery-powered candle.

They serve steak and it's probably one of the most romantic things we've ever done. Would you agree with that, sweetie? Maybe not. We take pictures and harass the waitress and then we're on our way. Waffle House. I highly recommend it if you can get a slot. They're really hard to find sometimes, but it's worth it.

There's another meaning of the word "waffle" other than something you can eat. Let me read you some of these definitions: "to avoid making a decision or stating a clear opinion when you speak or write; to talk or write using a lot of words but without saying anything interesting or important; to pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness; or to talk unendingly with no point to your conversation about totally idiotic things. Spamming on chat rooms is a case of waffling."

Go actually to Joshua chapter 24. For some of you, this will be a very familiar passage, and maybe for some, it's the first time you've ever seen it. Joshua is going to take over and lead the people into the Promised Land. In Joshua 24, let's go to verse 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."

Now, that is an unwaffling house that he's leading. He has made a decision. This is who we are. You choose what you're going to do, but we have chosen what we're going to do. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." So the people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed." So they say they're in as well.

When you become a Christian, your intentions are, or should be, that I choose this day to serve the Lord. Me and my house, this is the direction we're going. But too many times people pick that lane and then they waffle and go back to certain things.

Hebrews 3:4-6: "For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end."

I am His house that He is building. We are His house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end? So hang in there. I know stuff comes at you. I talk to people and it's unspeakable tragedy. I have a friend. I sat with him for some time after this happened. His teenage son went into my friend's closet, got his pistol, was in a bad spot, and killed himself.

When I hear a story like that, there's a part of me that says there's a chance he will never recover. He will never recover. The tragedy, the guilt, the whatever could come on him—like if this is who God is, then I'm out, I'm done. How does a person like that survive? How did a person like Job survive? All of his children in one day, all of his livestock, everything he had, just wiped out. How does a person survive that?

You have to be so stinking tethered to the Father that no matter what storm comes, you are unshakable. Now, you may take a hit. You may go down. But this same friend—if you saw him today and I saw him the other day and grabbed him and hugged his neck—there's not a day goes by that he does not think about his son, I promise you. But he knows where his son is because he was a believer and he will see him again.

When you get hit like that with sickness, with death, with divorce, with adultery, whatever comes your way, you say, "I can't take this." You better look up and say, "God, You decide what I can take or I can't take. You've got to hold me even if I let go." Even if I let go. I promise you the verses that He will never leave you or forsake you aren't in there for filler. It is a fact.

You say, "Well, if God loves me so much, why is He allowing all this terrible stuff to happen to me?" He has a reason. You have to trust Him and hold the line. You say, "I don't want to serve a God like that." Then where in the world, literally, are you going to go? Because the only other thing you've got is to pick some deal that's—I mean, I'll get clobbered for this—anyhow, I ain't praying to no rock. I am not going to pray to some little statue that someone has carved and believes is going to rescue them. The only rock I got is Jesus. There's your rock.

You say, "But I get comfort from this." A stone, a rock, an idol is never going to comfort you. They have ears they can't hear, they've got a mouth they can't speak, they've got hands they can't do anything. The devil deceives you into thinking there's your answer. It's not the answer. There is only one answer. It is Jesus. He is the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father but by Him. That's it.

You say, "Well, I've been hit hard." Hit back by perseverance. You say, "It's just too much." The scripture says, at least in the area of temptation, that God literally will not allow hell to tempt you, somehow encroach in your space beyond what you are able to bear. The fact is I personally have never been tempted to sin a particular sin where there was not an exit sign somewhere. There was a way out every time. If you're a believer, same thing with you.

"Oh no, no, no, God let one come in the other day and oh dude, there's nobody can take this." That's not true. There's always a way of escape and you'll be able to bear it. Lots of promises in the book—find the promises. So how do you hold in a situation where temptation seems to be overwhelming? You say, "Lord, what does the scripture say? This is intense but not too intense. There's a way of escape. Show me the way of escape." And then you have a way of escape. There's a way out.

Hebrews 10, go down to verse 19: "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering." Without wavering. This word "without wavering" means steady, without inclining or giving way. It is used to describe the testimony of our hope.

So someone comes along and goes, "Hey, I hear your book says Jesus is coming back. 2,000 years, dude. Where's your Jesus?" Could be today. What if it's another thousand years? And it's another thousand years, but I can tell you this: He's coming back. "Well, when do you think He's coming back?" The return of Christ is not getting any farther away. I can tell you that. So what have you got to do? Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.

You say, "I'm starting to waver." I've got a buddy I saw him the other day. I've known him for 20-something years. If you're wishy-washy, don't be shocked if things don't work out like you hoped they would. Too many people want to have one foot over here on this side of the fence and they want to have another foot on this side of the fence.

I did a sermon called Splinters a while back and just guess where you get the splinters? You say, "Well, then I'm just going to sit on the fence." The devil owns the fence. You cannot sit on the fence. Get in or get out. Pick a lane. Get off the fence.

"Well, I want to be in the world and be over here and I'm going to trust God but I'm going to keep my options open." I don't have any other options. My only option, my only hope is Jesus. That's it. That's all I got. I got no Plan B, C, D, or E. I got no other backup plans. If Jesus ain't it, I am in big trouble. But He's it. So what do I do, no matter what happens? Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Tory sang this song the other day. Somebody sent me this song. I encourage you—and Patrick does some tremendous music here—don't leave music out. The preaching will go away, the music will never end. "No one ever cared for me like Jesus. His faithful hand has led me all the way." All it takes is a little bit of that song and I know I'm going to be okay.

I don't know what's coming any more than you do. Who's going to live, who's going to die, who's going to get sick. You know, when you drop your wife off at an emergency room and she's in the hospital by herself for six days and you don't know if she's going to live or die, you better have you some Jesus. You better have you some Jesus and He better be all you have in the end, because in the end, He is all you will have.

So if something's happened to you—either the consequences of your own choices you don't like or God's allowed something you don't agree with—then I'm going to ask you before you ditch—you may ditch on Him, He ain't ditching on you—but before you ditch, let me ask you this: Where are you going to go? Are you going to go burn a 20-years pouting, being angry, wasting your life, flipping God off, and then come dragging back in like, "What have I done? There was nowhere to go. There's no one ever took care of me like Jesus. I'm back."

And then down in Hebrews 10, just a few verses down, down to verse 32: "But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 'For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."

Don't quit. I grew up in Brazil. My senior year, I ended up in a big high school in Waco. Because I was a senior, I played basketball in Brazil and I went out for the team. The coach was unusual. I tried out for the team and he looked at me and said, "You've made the team because you're a senior, but you will never play." And I'd met another guy who made it and he told him the same thing. This other friend, this other guy who became a friend, he said, "I'm out."

I don't know what happened, but I had something go off in me and say, "You know what? Say what you want to say, do what you want to do. You may quit on me, I ain't quitting. I tried out for this team, I will play on this team." So for the rest of that season, I went to practice, I practiced hard, I sat on the bench, didn't get in any games. You say, "Well, why didn't you quit?" I made the team. And the coach said he'd never put you in. That's not my problem. That's his problem.

That's not my problem. "Well, but he told you." He told me and I told him. See, you can't control what some other fool's going to do, but you can control what you're going to do and whether you're going to be a fool or not. So what'd you do? Before the season was over, there were guys on the team almost praying that the coach would put me in, just for the sake of principle. And finally, he did put me in.

What do you think all that was about? I wore that coach completely out. Because he thought he could tell me, "You made the team but you're not going to play," and like this other guy, I would quit. And then I didn't quit. Now what are you going to do with me? You're going to look at me for months because I am not going away because that's who I am.

You may be who you are, but I don't have to be who I am because of you being who you are. Someone's mean to me or there was this or that, whatever you can come up with. That's on them. What about you? How are you going to respond or react to the situation? You say, "Lord, You've clearly allowed this. I am a servant of the Most High God. You have allowed this and put me in this situation. I don't quit." Now what are they going to do with you? You might have the impact that God intended by allowing the whole situation in the first place.

"For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise." Hang in there. Now, I know nothing about what I'm about to speak of, but I've shared this before and I'm trying in some way to prepare a little bit if this were a piece of my journey.

I see too many people in nursing homes, people who die alone—COVID, whatever it is, people who die alone. You better do some reconnaissance on the valley of the shadow of death or you're going to have a hard time. You say, "Well, I'm young, I'm not going to die." You don't have to be old to die. You don't have to be old to get sick.

But you better get you some Jesus and make sure that you are strapped in and ready to go no matter what happens, because you can hit some stretches of the road where there is no one. How many people have died completely alone? Except, except that if they're believers, no one ever cared for them like Jesus. And the scriptures that you know and the songs that you sing, sometimes, are what get you through the valley of the shadow of death. Without wavering, without waffling.

Not spending all that time, "God, You've abandoned me, why did You?" You know He hasn't abandoned you because He's gotten you this far. Now, I have the advantage at this point in my life. I have so much Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob behind me, I would look like a fool not trusting Him now.

No one has ever taken better—I could never have taken better care of myself than Jesus has. Not possible. If I had written out a script and come up with all these things that I needed and wanted and desires, I missed nothing and beyond. So why wouldn't I trust Him? If I can trust Him because I see who He is in my past and who He is today, why can I not trust Him with my future?

James 1:1: "James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

Now let me give you the full definition of this word I keep referring to as patience: "to preserve, remain under, a bearing up under patience, endurance as to things or circumstances; quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial; characteristics of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings."

Is that me? Is that you? Or am I just going to bolt? I'm going to quit. This isn't fair, this isn't right. Where's God? Why did He do this to me? That's not how it's going to work. So you let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

You say, "Well, that's what I want." Then you have to hold. You have to hang in there. You got to trust Him and say, "I don't get this, I don't see where." And I hear stories and I'm even just like, "God, what are You doing? Why would You allow a child to suffer this abuse, this injustice, whatever it is? It's abhorrent stuff, it's evil. Where were You when this was happening?"

So I get on the verge of being angry with God. I'm like, "Nothing good can come from this." And He says, "Trust me and help this person trust me because what's happened to them has happened to them, but I'm about to show the glory of God if you'll trust me."

And if you ask some woman, "Would you endure sexual abuse and rape and all these things if God told you 'I'm going to allow this and I'm going to turn it around for My glory and I'm going to use your life to change the lives of many little girls who have nobody to help them and you will be there to help them through because they will say you know where I've been. Yeah, I know where you've been.'" And they will say, "If you have hope and you've been through what I've been through, then maybe there's hope for me."

You say, "Well, why would God do that?" The same reason that He would let them nail Him to a cross when He didn't deserve that. You talk about injustice? There's some injustice. He got injustice so that I would not get justice. He understands. He literally became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And what in the world is that?

Keep reading, verse 4 again: "But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 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."

So let me kind of briefly explain that. You go to God and say, "God, I need wisdom. I can't find this in a book, I can't learn it, I wasn't born with it. Wisdom only comes from You. I need wisdom about what You want me to do. What is this situation?" And He says, "Okay, here's the answer." And you go, "Okay, thank you for your opinion, I'm going to get a second opinion."

You don't get a second opinion when God gives you wisdom because you've got your answer. And if you start playing that game and God tells you, "Here's the answer," and you go get some other opinion, now you're a double-minded man and now you're unstable in all your ways because you just won't do what God said. And these people are not hard to spot. They are all over the place. They want to get a little opinion from God and then they get a second opinion from the world and guess where they end up? Back in the world. Do not be a double-minded man. You will be unstable in all of your ways.

James chapter 4, and he goes back talking about these same people. Verse 6: "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." And people misquote this. The Bible says, "Resist the devil and he'll flee from you." It does not say that. The Bible does not say, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

The Bible says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." If I am not submitted to God, the devil just laughs at me. But when I am submitted to God and I resist the devil, he goes, "I'm out. I know the rules. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

So he goes at them saying, "This is part of the sin, this sin of being wishy-washy, waffling back and forth. Pick a lane, trust Him and stay with it. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

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. And 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: And then one more in James chapter 5, verse 11: "Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful." So what was the intent of all of that? To demonstrate the end, which was that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

You say, "But look what happened to him. Why would God allow that to happen to Job?" Because about the time we think something terrible has happened to us, who does everybody bring up? Job. And unless you've had that happen to you, you don't have a clue what Job went through. Lost all of his children, boom, one day in a storm. All of his livestock. Lost his health, boils from head to foot, was scraping them off his body. And God told Satan, "You can take his health even." Obviously wouldn't let him take his wife. Take his health, but you can't take his life. And then what comes out of that? He perseveres.

You shouldn't be able to be a Waffle House when it's Christians. We are God's house. And I encourage you, whatever you've been hit with, whatever you're going through, keep going. I think there's a country song says if you're going through hell, keep on going. Is that what it says? Not that I listen to country music, but He is faithful. Hold the line, trust Him. You say, "But I can't see, I can't see what's coming." He can, and if He's got you, He's got your future. It's going to be okay.

Guest (Male): This has been Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. The message of the Gospel is one we take very seriously in our mission to reach the planet. And you have a vital part of doing that along with us. If you've been encouraged by these talks with Richard, be sure to tell someone about the change they've made in your life.

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