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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for June 9, 2009
“You Can’t Make Wrong Choices and Get Right Results”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
I invest a lot in my decisions, then I stick to them.
For example, I’ve known guys who married the first cute girl that came along, but then left them when someone “better” came along.
But before I married I really thought through what I wanted in a wife, and that’s what I got. And she and I will be together, ‘til death do us part.
When I buy a car, my plan is to buy the best car I can, then drive it for years to come.
I do the same with computers and cameras and cell phones. I do the research. I invest a lot in the choice ahead of time so I don’t have to rethink it five minutes later because it’s not working out.
I had a nice talk with my niece yesterday about the choices she’s making in her life. I said, “You have to think about what kind of life you’d like to have, then you have to make the choices now that will get you there.”
So many young people have great ideas for their future, but they don’t make choices that will get them there. Their choices are made from the hip. They fly by the seat of their pants from moment to moment and hope that will get them where they want to go.
But if you want to end up somewhere good, you have to invest in your choices.
In Luke 6, Jesus described the kind of life most of us want. It’s the kind of life that, even in the toughest times, is not shaken. It is a life that is “well built.”
Do you want a “well built” life? I know I do. And we can have it – if we invest in our choices now.
And Jesus tells us how to do that in three steps. Here are three things we should do to invest in the big choices of life:
Come to Jesus.
Hear His words.
Put them into practice.
Like I told my niece last night, the first thing you need to do about your life choices is pray about them.
And now listen to this. Some people equate praying about something with hoping for it or wishing for it, but that’s not the same.
When we pray about something, we literally come to God with it. We bring it before the Lord in humble submission.
That is the first investment we make in our choices. We invest the time and energy to bring them before the Lord in prayer.
Hebrews 11:6 says “…anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
In my life, I earnestly seek the Lord by being consistent in prayer, by staying in the Word and memorizing Scripture, by doing the Daniel fast, and by drawing near to Him during our church worship services.
So that’s the first step in investing in our choices – bringing them to Jesus.
The second step is hearing His words. Well how on earth do we do that?
First of all, by reading the Bible. Jesus’ words are recorded there. A very wise investment in our choices comes by reading the words of Jesus in the Bible.
Second, the Holy Spirit will teach us the words of Jesus. In John 14:26 Jesus said, “…the Holy Spirit…will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
And third, God has given us teachers to fill us with knowledge and the fullness of Christ, as it says in Ephesians chapter 4.
So what does Jesus have to say about our choices? We find out through the Bible, through the Holy Spirit, and through wise Christian teachers.
And the last step in investing in our choices is actually putting the words of Jesus into practice. It’s not enough to draw near to God and hear His word. We then have to do it.
But when we do, what a reward!
Back to Luke 6. Jesus said, “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”
Do you want your life to be well built? Then you can’t just do whatever you feel like. You can’t make wrong choices and end up with right results.
Instead, we need to make right choices, and we do that by investing in those choices.
So before we make big choices in life, we need to invest in them by doing these three things.
We come to Jesus.
We hear His words.
We put them into practice.
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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