Apples of Gold
Radio Script for May 21, 2008
“God Has the Power!”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Men my age do stupid things.
You think you can do what you did 20 years ago, but baby, it’s just not there.
Like last year when I went to the park with some teenagers. They all climbed up this huge tree, starting with a branch that was low enough to reach, but too big to grab with your hands. You had to wrap your arms and legs around it, then twist yourself to the top of the branch.
They all had a great time while my wife and I watched. But then they challenged me. “I bet you can’t get up here!”
“If you can, I can!”
“Prove it!”
“I will!”
And I did. But somewhere in that motion to wrench myself to the top of the branch, I twisted my knee.
And you old timers know how it goes. The problem didn’t really show up until the next day. My knee felt like it was going to fall apart. With each step I thought, “This thing is gonna buckle right out from under me.”
Your brain dredges up words like “arthroscopic” and “degenerative” and “knee replacement.”
And that’s no good, because they all involve doctors and I’m kind of anti-doctor. I don’t even take pills if I can help it.
So I decided to fix the knee myself, with my own little homemade rehab. It involved prayer and exercise.
Now listen, I am not saying this is good medicine. I’m just telling you what I did. I figured if it didn’t work I could always go to the doctor later.
I took it easy at first, and it didn’t seem to help. It was all I could do to walk without a limp. I became very aware of everyone in public who was limping. I felt for them, and I prayed for myself, “God, please, I don’t want to walk with a limp.”
It’s kind of humbling, and humility is a good thing. It takes you down a peg or two.
But anyway, I worked my legs more and more. And slowly it got better. And now, several months later, I hardly notice it. I go running three times a week with no problems. Thank you Lord!
I thought of all this when I read Hebrews 12:12 which says, “…strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.”
I can relate to that, because I know about strengthening weak knees.
But the Bible isn’t talking about physical knees. I assume it’s talking about strengthening ourselves spiritually.
So what can we do to strengthen ourselves spiritually? To find out, I searched the Bible for the word “strengthen.”
I came across this great passage about Abraham in Romans chapter four. Verse 20 says he was “strengthened in his faith.”
Well I want stronger faith. So how did Abraham do it?
I think the answer is in the next verse. It says Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.”
Let me tell you, that is good news for me, because I can do that. I can believe completely that God has the power to do what He has promised. I totally know that God has the power.
What I lack is specific faith. Some people would say that I should have been fully persuaded that God would miraculously heal my knee. I wasn’t. Call it a lack of faith, but I was not fully persuaded that God would heal my knee.
Why not? I don’t know. For one thing, I could easily see some benefits from having that limp. The humility alone is worth a lot. So who am I to say that God didn’t want to use that limp to make me a better person? I’m not saying He did. I’m just telling you where my faith was.
So I admit, I did not have full and specific faith that God would heal my knee. However, I am fully persuaded that God has the power! Of course God has the power.
So the focus was not on my knee, but on God’s power. My focus was not on my faith, but on God’s power. My focus was not on my interpretation of certain Scriptures about healing, but my focus was on God’s power. That is something I totally believe in.
I think Abraham was the same way. His focus couldn’t be on his circumstances, because it was impossible for people their age to have children. His focus wasn’t on God’s promise, because in Genesis 17 we read that Abraham doubted the promise. So how did Abraham strengthen his faith in spite of his circumstances and his doubts?
By focusing on the power of God. He was fully persuaded that God had the power to do it.
Today, maybe your circumstances look impossible. And when you read God’s word, maybe you find it hard to believe. If so, then take your eyes off of all of that, and set your focus on this one thing. Strengthen your faith like Abraham – by being fully persuaded that God has the power!
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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