Posts Tagged ‘faith’

« Older Entries

Losing Your Son

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

Recorded March 29, 2009. One of the hardest things in life for a father is losing a loved one. In particular losing a son can be very traumatic. From time to time some fathers are asked to sacrifice their own sons for a greater good. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son. During times of war fathers all over the world must be willing to lose their sons when the sons join the military to fight for their country. Even God had to lose his only begotten son to save a lost world.

Richard in this podcast episode points out one very important detail regarding Abraham’s sacrifice. Even though God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham did not believe he would lose his beloved son. God on the other hand knew his son Jesus would die. However, God also knew Jesus would not remain dead for very long.

Visit our podcast page to hear what Richard has to say about one special Father who saw His Son die for our sake. As always we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast series. You may also leave an appropriate comment regarding this episode by clicking on the comment link on our blog page.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | No Comments »

Salt Covenant

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

Recorded on March 15, 2009. In this episode Richard talks about salt covenants. Numbers 18:19 refers to a salt covenant between God and Israel’s priests and Levites. In Biblical times people carried pouches filled with salt. Among other things, two parties would exchange salt to seal a covenant (contract) between them. The salt would become forever mixed with the other person’s salt. This symbolized that the covenant could never be broken.

The following is the text in the handout Richard referred to in this podcast episode:

In biblical times men carried a pouch of salt on their belts to prevent dehydration as well a trading it as a form of currency. When two men desired to finalize a business transaction or enter a covenant [or contract] of loyalty with each other, they would recite the conditions of their covenant and then exchange salt from each other’s pouch. Once they exchanged salt, they shook the salt grains within their pouches symbolizing the sealing of the covenant which became binding, for it was impossible to retrieve their original salt grains from one another.

Some Bible passages referring to salt covenants are:
 Genesis 14:3; Genesis 19:26; Exodus 30:34-35; Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19; 2 Kings 2:19-21; 2 Chronicles 3:15; 2 Chronicles 13:5; Mark 9:49-50; Luke 14:34; Colossians 4:6

If you wish to look up these passages on line, you can go to BibleGateway.com. BibleGateway provides access to the Bible in many languages including English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic.

Find out more about what Richard has to say about salt covenants by visiting our podcast page. As always we encourage you to subscribe to From Richard’s Heart on our podcast page.

You may also leave appropriate comments by clicking on the comment link.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | No Comments »

Where did that come from?

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

Recorded on March 1, 2009. Ever said something and wondered where did that come from? For example, someone cuts you off in traffic, and you let out a few choice words unsuitable for a family friendly forum. Or you accidently hit your thumb with a hammer while trying to hang a picture–you mention God and Jesus repeatedly, but the tone of your voice suggests something other than honor and praise to your God and Savior. Where does that come from? James 3 states our heart is the source of what comes out of our mouths. We are unable to tame our tongue. Before our tongue can be tamed, we must change our heart.

If you have not already subscribed to From Richard’s Heart, you can visit our podcast page and listen to this episode. While visiting our podcast page,  you can subscribe to From Richard’s Heart. You may leave appropriate comments to this episode by clicking on the comment link below.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | No Comments »

A Simple Act

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Recorded on January 18, 2009. This episode Richard looks at Joshua 2. He focuses on Rahab, the woman who hid and protected the Israelite spies while they were in the land of Jericho. Through Rahab, God provided a sanctuary for His men. By faith Rahab’s life was spared, and she was remembered in the great hallmark of faith (Hebrews 11:31). Rahab demonstrated her faith through her action, and she is now listed among the righteous of God.

Hear what Richard has to say about this remarkable woman by visiting From Richard’s Heart and clicking the play episode link. There you will also be able to subscribe to From Richard’s Heart and listen to other episodes within this series.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | No Comments »

Be Patient

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Recorded on January 4, 2009. In This episode Richard looks at James 5. We are living in the last days now. Are we ready? James asks us to be patient and stand firm. In God’s timing, the Lord will return. Nothing we do will speed up or slow down the Lord’s coming. We know one thing: the Lord’s return will come, and we are called to persevere.

Maybe we do live in terrible times, but as Christians we have cause for joy. Each minute that passes brings us closer to Christ’s return. Each minute that passes means we are closer to being with Jesus. Our patience and perseverance will be rewarded by our seeing Jesus face to face.

Listen to what Richard has to say about being patient while we wait for Jesus’ return by visiting our podcast page.

Tags: ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | No Comments »

Christmas Message

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Recorded on December 21, 2008. In this episode Richard gives us a Christmas message. Today we live in tough economic and political times. For Mary and Joseph the times were even tougher. They were forced to return to their ancestral home town to be counted in the Roman census. Neither had much in the way of money, and when they arrived in Bethlehem they had no place to stay. An innkeeper let them sleep in a stable. On top of all this Mary was a pregnant unmarried teenager. In this extraordinarily tough situation, Mary gave birth to Jesus.

Jesus came to a world filled with anguish and tears. Through this humble beginning, Jesus brought hope to a hopeless world. God’s angel announced the birth of our Messiah not to the well-to-do, respected, rich, and important members of the judeo-roman world, but to the bottom dregs of society. The birth of Christ is what we as Christians celebrate.

Go to our podcast page and hear what Richard has to say about the birth of Jesus. While visiting our podcast page, we encourage you to subscribe to this series.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | No Comments »

Faith Has No Limits

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Recorded on December 7, 2008. In this episode Richard talks about faith. He reminds us that sight is human, faith is spiritual. We may not be able to see God but we can know God. Richard looks at 2 Corinthians 5:7: “We live by faith, not by sight.” Sight is limited by what we can see. Faith on the other hand has no limits.

Hebrews 11 expands on this concept. We are certain of what we do not see. The word of God is used to reveal the nature of God. We accept and act through faith–not limited sight.

All of us face tough times now. As Christians, we need to persevere. Without faith we cannot move ahead. We need to live by faith. Are we being tricked by I can’t see it so I won’t believe it? Or do we let the Holy Spirit fill us with faith so we can move boldly with God’s calling. Let faith be operative in our life every day.

To hear what Richard Groh has to say about “Faith Has no Limits,” visit “From Richard’s Heart” and subscribe to this podcast.

Tags: ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | No Comments »

Against all odds

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

Recorded on November 9, 2008. Look at Matthew 5:11. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Satan opposes people who are effective for God. Remember Corrie Ten boon? She suffered tremendously because of the Gospel. Satan opposed her because she was a powerful agent for God.

Joshua against all odds overcame giant a obstacle between Israel and Jericho and saw the great wall fall. Noah built a great ship and waited for the rain. Against all odds, Noah’s faith saved him.

Martin Luther King had a dream. Few people believed Dr. King’s dream would ever happen. Yet against all odds our next president will be an African-american. We see Vets returning from combat minus legs and arms, and against all odds many of them rebuild their lives and become living examples for the rest of us.

Against all odds Barack Obama will be our next president. As Christians, we know we are to pray for those in authority. Richard reminds us Barack Obama will be my president so I will pray for him.

At home what have we done? We need to be busy showing, telling, and demonstrating the gospel against all odds. If we do nothing for God, where is our faith?

You can listen to this episode and subscribe to this podcast by visiting “From Richard’s Heart.”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | 4 Comments »

Lazarus Come Out

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

Recorded October 26, 2008. In this episode, Richard examines the story of Lazarus found in John 11. Jesus receives word that Lazarus, someone very close and dear to Jesus is very ill. Jesus deliberately waits before going to see Lazarus. Before He arrives to see Lazarus, Lazarus dies.

Does the story of Lazarus die with his death? Jesus finds Lazarus’ sisters mourning. Lazarus has been dead and buried four days. What more can be done except offer condolences and mourn with the family? If you look at John 11, you will discover the story of Lazarus ends with Lazarus alive and well.

Even in the most hopeless circumstances, God has the power to transform our tragedies into victory. Lazarus’ family and friends had to roll away the tombstone before receiving the victory. What do you need to do before experiencing your victory?

You can listen to this episode and subscribe to this podcast by going to the “From Richard’s Heart” page.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | 1 Comment »

Make a message out of your mess

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Recorded October 12, 2008. This week, Richard takes a look at Acts 17. Paul is in Athens where he discovers an alter to an unknown god. Paul noted how religious the athenians were. They worshiped over 200 gods. Just to make sure they didn’t leave anyone out, they made an alter to the unknown god.

Paul knew who this unknown god is. Before looking at the unknown god in Athens, Richard shows us how Christians often worship unknown gods. For us unknown gods are anyone or anything that takes the place in the preeminence of our God the father. When something becomes more important than Jesus Christ in our lives, we worship an  unknown god.

This ungodly focus results in our being mired in an ugly mess. The more we stop trusting God in everything regarding our lives, the greater our lives become a mess. Thankfully the unknown god Paul preached about in Athens can transform our mess into a message.

No matter how great the mess in our life, God can redeem us and make a message out of our life. We can continue worshiping unknown gods, or we can choose to worship the one living God who sent His Son to redeem us from the mess in our lives.

To listen to this episode and to subscribe to this podcast series, visit “From Richard’s Heart.” Above all, remember God loves you.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Richard's Heart | No Comments »

« Older Entries