How the Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet Point to Jesus

Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty-Six

How the Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet Point to Jesus

Today we’re going to look at the second and the third letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Beth and Gimel, and how they connect to Jesus. Benjamin Franklin said, ‘Give me twenty-six lead soldiers, and I’ll conquer the world. The pen is mightier than the sword.’1 According to Franklin, there is power in the English alphabet. The same could be said for its Hebrew counterpart.2 How the Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet Point to Jesus; that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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What Jesus Can Teach Us about The Anointing

[Tweet “Part of the house of Adam was God walking through it in the cool of the day.”]

How Jesus Being Lifted Up Impacts Your Life

Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty-Five

How Jesus Being Lifted Up Impacts Your Life

Jesus said, If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.’ Is it even possible to grasp all God has done for us in this lifting up of Jesus? The grace of God becomes even clearer when you realize how low Jesus stooped to save you. A farmer named Buck wanted to know how to get to heaven. He had heard different things from different people, but he wanted to know for sure. On one of his trips to town, Buck stopped by to see his friend Larry, the mechanic, whose Christian witness was known to almost everyone. “Larry, tell me what I need to do to get to heaven.” Larry welcomed the opportunity to answer the farmer’s question. “Buck, if you fell into a deep, dark pit, broke your legs, and were unable to get out, what kind of help would you need?” “Well, I’d need somebody to come down and get me out.” “Exactly,” said Larry. “But, if a person came by who went strictly by the law, he would yell down something like this: ‘You have no business being in this pit. You should have kept your eyes open and watched where you were walking. You fell in by yourself, so figure how to get out by yourself. Keep working, and eventually, you will make it. And if you ever get out, I hope you’ll learn your lesson.’ Then he would politely excuse himself and walk on. “If someone came by who believed you have to work your way to heaven, he would yell down, ‘If you can climb up halfway, I’ll help pull you up the rest of the way.’ “Buck, what good are either of these men to you?” “Why, none at all,” said Buck. “They haven’t done me a bit of good.” “Buck, I’ll tell you exactly what you need. You need a man who will not condemn you for being in the pit. You need a man who will not force you to climb out by yourself. You need a man who will go down into the pit and lift you out. That man is Jesus Christ. Only Christ can save you. He has gone down into the pit of your sinful heart and pulled you out. He willingly paid the penalty for your sin and died on the cross in your place. That is the kind of help you need. That is the kind of Savior you need.” Jesus can go into the pit and lift you up because He was lifted up for you. God’s grace runs deep. No matter how dark the pit, no matter how deep the sin, Jesus has demonstrated His grace by His sacrifice on the cross. His grace is at work even today for those who have fallen into the pit of sin. If you are in that pit, do not cry out for the legalist or for the one who makes you work your way out. Instead, cry out for the only One who can lift you out—the Lord Jesus Christ.1 How Jesus Being Lifted Up Impacts Your Life, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Why Your Identifying with Jesus Destroys Insecurity

[Tweet “Yes, Jesus was lifted up on a tree, but the road didn’t dead-end at the cross.”]

What is the Hidden Power of the Hebrew Alphabet?

Encore Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty-Four

What is the Hidden Power of the Hebrew Alphabet?

There is no shortage of ways with God. He communicates the message of redemption found in His Son Jesus (Heb. 1:1-2). Besides the Word of God, besides supernatural manifestations of His Presence, besides angelic appearances, besides pictures in nature, God uses other methods. The Hebrew alphabet was one such method He used to declare the hope for humanity. Way back before Jesus ever came to earth; God foretold of His coming in the living pictures of the Hebrew alphabet. In the first of this series, we will look at some Hebrew alphabet elements along with the first letter Aleph 1.

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#025: God Habits for Believers in Jesus [Podcast]

[Tweet “Jesus is the beginning and end of the Greek alphabet, the same is true concerning the Hebrew alphabet.”]

Red-Billed Firefinch

Meet the Firefinch, Red-Billed that is, a bird with no fear of humans

  • No fear? Yes, it’s possible to live life with no fear.
  • In the Bible, that’s God’s direct word to us – ‘fear not.
  • He says it over and again.

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Isaiah 35:4 (ESV)4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

2 Chronicles 20:17 (ESV) — 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.”

You Can Live the No Fear Life

  • The Lord would never ask us to do something that we had no way of accomplishing.
  • So, if He said do not fear – you can surely know that it’s possible to do.
  • If animals, like this Fire Finch, can live without fear of humans why would you be afraid?
  • Now, why is it possible?
  • Because He is with us.
  • Why is it possible? – because He is our God.
  • And how about the fact that God will strengthen you, help you, and hold you up?

Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

  • Over and over again, we see in the scriptures the fact that we can walk free from fear.
  • No fear… That’s one lesson we can learn from the Red-Billed Firefinch.

_____________________________________________
Pics were taken in my travels with Sharon using Lumix Cameras.

Images are copyrighted and cannot be used without permission.

For more photos see emeryhorvath1 on Instagram

Are You Willing to Hear the Voice of the Lord?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty-Three

Are You Willing to Hear the Voice of the Lord?

One of the great areas of interest for many followers of Jesus is ‘hearing God.’ In his book When You’re All Out of Noodles, Ken Jones writes about a lesson he learned one day at the office on this subject.

Ken writes, ‘when I walked into my office, I noticed something I had never seen before. It was round, about the size of a dessert plate, and plugged into the wall, giving out constant noise. It wasn’t a loud noise, just constant. What in the world is that thing? I thought as I stopped to stare. I finally asked the receptionist about it. She said, “It’s an ambient noise generator. If it’s too quiet in here, we can distinguish the voices in the counseling offices, and we want to protect their privacy. So we bought the noise generator to cover the voices.” Her explanation made perfect sense to me but didn’t it have to be louder to mask the conversations, I asked. “No,” she said. “The constancy of the sound tricks the ear so that what is being said can’t be distinguished.” Interesting, I thought. Very interesting. One kind of noise to cover the sound of another. It made me think and pray. No wonder, Lord. No wonder I strain to hear what you have to say to me.… The constancy of sound—little noises, soft, inward, ambient thoughts, and fears and attitudes—tricks the ears of my inner man and masks your still, small voice. God isn’t silent. We just have trouble hearing him.1 In the ministry of Jesus, there came a day when this trouble in hearing God came to the forefront. We can learn some things about the subject of hearing God, and that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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#S2-001: Secrets to Hearing God: Are You Listening? [Podcast]

[Tweet “God speaks in many different ways. That’s the record of scripture.”]

Why Sacrifice Is Your Key to Significance

Encore Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty-Two

Why Sacrifice Is Your Key to Significance

In today’s podcast, we set our focus on the critical area of sacrifice as it applies to the people of God. Jesus paved the way by His great sacrifice, and other Jesus followers have followed in His steps. George Atley was killed while serving with the Central African Mission. There were no witnesses, but the evidence indicates that a band of hostile tribesmen confronted Atley. He was carrying a fully loaded, 10-chamber Winchester rifle and had to choose either to shoot his attackers and run the risk of negating the mission’s work in that area, or not to defend himself and be killed. When his body was later found in a stream, it was evident that he had chosen the latter. Nearby lay his rifle—all 10 chambers still loaded. He had made the supreme sacrifice, motivated by his burden for lost souls and his unswerving devotion to his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like the apostle Paul, he wanted Christ to be magnified in his body, “whether by life or by death.1 Why Sacrifice Is Your Step to Significance, that’s what we are diving into on the week’s Light on Life.

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Walking in the Now With One Foot Toward Tomorrow

[Tweet “You must sacrifice your ambitions for His ambitions, your goals for Kingdom goals. It’s the path to fruitfulness.”]

How to Live Wise In An Unwise World

Encore Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty-One

How to Live Wise In An Unwise World

The Bible speaks in great detail about what it means to live your life in a wise fashion. A pastor entered a tavern where a man, wishing to embarrass him, rose and suddenly called out quite loudly, “There is no God”. The pastor went to him, calmly laid his hand on his shoulder, and said, “Friend, what you have said is not at all new. The Bible said that more than 2,000 years ago.” The man replied, “I never knew that the Bible made such a statement.” The pastor informed him, “Psalm 14:1, tells us, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.” But there is a great difference between that fool and you. He was quite modest and said it only in his heart; he didn’t go about yelling it out in taverns.”[Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 483.] Many are yelling ‘There is no God’ by the lives they’re living. They are unwise. The foolish are not looking to Him. They are not looking for Him. The indifferent are unaware of Him. They are like the Five Foolish Virgins in Jesus parable in Matthew twenty-five. In today’s Light on Life, we take a fresh look at the Parable of the Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins, so that we could ascertain for ourselves How to Live Wise in an Unwise World.

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Why Learning from a Foolish Man Leads to Growth

[Tweet “Flowing in his God-ordained place is the wise man’s first priority.”]

How to Build Your Life Praying Bible Prayers

Encore Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty

How to Build Your Life Praying Bible Prayers

It is vital to have a prayer life based on God’s Word. So, praying Bible prayers is a skill a follower of Jesus should acquire. What are Bible prayers? They are prayers that are laced with scriptures specifically Bible promises. Today, in this week’s podcast episode, we are going to show you how to pray these kinds of prayers.

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#S3-033: How to Pray Practically for Presidents and Kings [Podcast]

[Tweet “After you pray, act like the Lord heard you. Live your life like the answer is yes.”]

Are You A Passionate Seeker of Jesus?

Podcast: Light on Life Season 7 Episode 39

Are You A Passionate Seeker of Jesus?

Are you a passionate searcher of truth — a diligent seeker of Jesus, the one and only true God? That’s a question we want to engage today. The story is told of Rabbi Baruck’s grandson Jechiel who was playing hide-and-seek with another child. Jechiel hid and waited for his friend to search for him. He waited a long time and finally left his hiding place. His playmate was nowhere to be found. Now Jechiel realized that his friend had not even bothered to look for him. With tears in his eyes, he came running to his grandfather. Then Rabbi Baruck also began to weep and said, “That is the way God acts: I hide, but nobody wants to look for me.” 1 Seeking the Most High, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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#040: How to Grow in Faith: Five Questions to Ask [Podcast]

[Tweet “The responsibility of the races is to seek Jesus, that’s Jews, that’s Greeks, that’s all followers of God.”]

Why Self-Control Is Your Ultimate Ticket to Success

Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Thirty-Eight

Why Self-Control Is Your Ultimate Ticket to Success

The following illustration underscores the vital nature of self-control in this ‘me’ society in which we live. Have you ever heard of the Marshmallow Experiment? This experiment tried to show the essence of emotional self-regulation as the ability to delay impulse in the service of a goal. The importance of this trait to success was demonstrated in an experiment begun in the 1960s by psychologist Walter Mischel at a preschool on the Stanford University campus. Children were told that they could have a single treat, such as a marshmallow, right now.

However, if they would wait while the experimenter ran an errand, they could have two marshmallows. Some preschoolers grabbed the marshmallow immediately, but others could wait what, for them, must have seemed an endless 20 minutes. To sustain themselves in their struggle, they covered their eyes so they wouldn’t see the temptation, rested their heads on their arms, talked to themselves, sang, even tried to sleep. These plucky kids got the two-marshmallow reward. The exciting part of this experiment came in the follow-up.

The children who, as 4-year-olds had been able to wait for the two marshmallows, were, as adolescents, still able to delay gratification in pursuing their goals. They were more socially competent and self-assertive and better able to cope with life’s frustrations. In contrast, the kids who grabbed the one marshmallow were, as adolescents, more likely to be stubborn, indecisive, and stressed.1 A simple experiment, profound results — Why Self-Control Is Your Ultimate Ticket to Success, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Laughing Your Way to Maturity

[Tweet “To win life’s fight, followers of Jesus need to drill, with the same intensity as an Olympic champion.”]

Just Who Is Jesus to You? [Encore Podcast]

Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Thirty-Seven

Just Who Is Jesus to You? [Encore Podcast]

When we read any of the four Gospels, we have the wonderful opportunity to see Jesus live life on planet Earth. The Word encourages us to emulate Him, to copy Him, to move as He moved, and to overcome as He overcame. The first eighteen verses of John’s gospel, known as “The Prologue,” introduce us to who Jesus is. What do these verses teach us about Jesus, and how does this knowledge help us to fulfill God’s plan for our lives? That’s the focus of this week’s Light on Life.

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Why Jesus is the Logos of God Unleashed

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Your Powerful Victory Over Satan the Murderer [Podcast]

Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Thirty-Six

Your Powerful Victory Over Satan the Murderer

It’s crucial to expose Satan as the murderer that he is. You know now and again, you come upon a story that touches your heart. This story is one of them.

Yvonne Pointer was one of ten children born to a wonderful mother and father, though she admits, “I was the worst. I did everything my parents did not want me to do.” For three years, a friend of her father tried to reach her. “He would come to where I was getting high and say, ‘You need to change your ways.’ He was a thorn in my flesh,” Pointer says. But in time, the high turned on her. Then she remembered the words of her father’s friend, went to church, and cried out to God. And on May 4, 1975, she turned her life over to Christ.

Less than ten years later, Pointer experienced what some say is the most tremendous pain on earth—the loss of a child. On December 6, 1984, her daughter Gloria was raped and murdered while on her way to school in Cleveland, Ohio. “After she died, I would spend hours in the church when no one was there because Gloria’s death didn’t make sense to me,” Pointer says. “I had come through drugs, through street life—and now this? I could not fathom why this would happen. But because I’d had that personal experience with God, I went to God.”

People from the church rallied around her, washing clothes, cooking, and cleaning when the mother didn’t have the strength. Slowly, a new sense of direction emerged. “In the beginning, it was all about the injustice done to my child. Period,” Pointer says. But soon, she became aware of others with similar losses. She wrote letters and talked to police, to reporters, and to anyone who would listen.

Meantime, Pointer co-founded Parents Against Child Killing, which later became Positive Plus, a women-helping-women organization. “We started with mothers who had lost children,” Pointer says, “but I found out pain is pain. If your husband walked out and left you with five babies, that’s pain. We felt we could find solutions by helping each other.”

Pointer has received numerous honors for her work as an advocate for child safety. She even speaks in prisons, sharing the love of God with inmates. “I found hatred too heavy a load to carry. Would I want the person who murdered Gloria over for Sunday dinner? No. But if I didn’t forgive him, unforgiveness would kill me too,” she says quietly. “Forgiveness releases you to live.” 1 In today’s podcast, we talk about your Powerful Victory over Satan, the Murderer.

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Immorality: The Main Reason Great Nations Fall

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