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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for March 25, 2009
“The Invincible Tank of Faith”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
When I was a boy I was fascinated with tanks.
You know, like army tanks.
I mean, how could you not love tanks? They were awesome!
They could drive over anything, and what are you going to do about it?
Go ahead, fire your little guns. Put up your little road block.
As a kid, if you had a tank, you were king of the sandbox.
Now as a grownup I know there are ways to fight tanks. But as a kid, they were invincible.
Now take a tank back in time. Let the savages chuck their spears. Bring on the Roman legions. No one is going to beat your tank.
If you had to go from point A to point B, you could simply get in your tank and drive. The enemy could do nothing about it.
As long as you drove straight toward point B.
So if you were a savage and you were up against a tank, what would your best strategy be? If you wanted to destroy the tank, you would have get it off course. You would have to trick the driver into driving it over a cliff or something.
So that’s one strategy. Get the driver off course.
Or you could trick the driver to come out of the tank. Then he would be vulnerable.
As long as the driver stays inside the tank though, and on course, there’s not much you can do but annoy him.
So you either have to get him off course, or trick him to come out of the tank.
Now keep that visual in mind, because I think it’s a good picture of our Christian life.
As a Christian, I am the tank driver. And now listen to this. The tank is my faith in the Lord.
My destination is eternity, to stand before God someday and have him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
And the savage? The savage king? That is the devil. That’s Satan, a.k.a. “The Wicked One,” “The Prince of This World.” He is my enemy.
Now what is my enemy up to?
First Peter 5:8 says he is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
In Job 2:2 he said he had been “roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
The Bible says Satan has been sinning from the beginning and he was a murderer from the beginning.
The Bible says he has power, he has schemes and “wiles,” and he is working to outwit us.
First John 5:19 goes so far as to say that he controls the whole world.
In the Bible we read about Satan tempting people, inciting people, and prompting them to do evil.
Acts 10:38 indicates that some people are under the power of the devil.
Second Timothy 2:26 says that some people are in the trap of the devil. In fact, it says he has taken them captive to do his will.
First Timothy 5:15 indicates that some people actually turn and follow the devil.
A major problem with Satan, though, is that he is a huge liar.
In John 8:44 Jesus said, “There is no truth in him.”
His native language is lies. In fact, Jesus said Satan is the “father of lies.”
Revelation 12:9 says he “leads the whole world astray.”
That is our enemy. Is he out to get us? When you read the Bible I think you’d have to say, “He sure is.”
Yes, he has power, and yes, he has some powerful weapons at his disposal.
But now listen. He cannot get to us if we stay in the tank and stay on course. That means we stay inside the tank of our faith in the Lord, and we keep our eyes set on our eternal destination.
I love the visual in Ephesians 6:16. “Above all, take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
In my mind, I’m seeing that shield of faith as my tank. As long as I keep my faith in the Lord, Satan can fire all the fiery darts he wants. They have zero affect on my tank.
As I stand in faith, all temptations bounce off me like nothing. All the wiles and schemes of the devil are to no avail – as long as I am in my invincible tank of faith.
No, the driver is not perfect. I am susceptible to the master deceiver. That is why I must heed the words of Hebrews 12:2. I must fix my eyes on Jesus.
So don’t forget today that you have an enemy.
He is firing all his fiery darts, but we can quench them all – by staying safely tucked inside our invincible tank of faith.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 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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