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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for July 2, 2009
“A Lurch in the Spiritual Fabric”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
You’re minding your own business.
Or at least you thought you were.
Then suddenly someone reacts to you.
They over-react to you. Way overreact, and you don’t know why.
Well, you kind of know why, but what you said doesn’t even resemble the intensity of the response.
You know the old saying, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. But in this case, the reaction seems far magnified beyond the initial action.
I’ve witnessed this many times over the years. It happens sometimes when you, as a Christian, simply shine your light. You share a little bit of God’s truth, a little bit of the Gospel.
Now as a Christian, you probably didn’t think anything of it. You are walking in the light, and so shining that light is just something you naturally do, as a matter of course.
This is spiritual light I’m talking about, so you can’t really see it. But sometimes you shine that spiritual light right into the eyes of someone living in spiritual darkness – and it annoys the dickens out of them.
I’ve seen people react in ways that make no sense. I’ve seen them become very angry and offended when, on the surface, there seemed to be no reason for it.
At first I didn’t know quite what to make of it. It wasn’t logical or reasonable. But after I saw it a few times I decided that it must be spiritual.
The Bible talks about spiritual warfare, but our physical senses usually don’t pick up on it, so it’s hard to know when something spiritual is going on.
But what we have is a very real clash of light and darkness.
A classic verse on spiritual warfare is Ephesians 6:12. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Notice that it says that this world is dark. And other scriptures point out that people are living in that darkness. Colossians 1:13 calls it “the dominion of darkness.”
So the world is dark, people are living in the dark, and they are under the dominion of darkness.
Now look what Jesus said in John 12:46. “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”
So what God is doing, according to First Peter 2:9, is calling people out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
So we come to Christ, who is the light. Acts 26:18 says He opens our eyes and turns us from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God.
So we leave the darkness and come into the light, to Christ. And then in Matthew 5:14 Jesus tells us that we are the “light of the world.”
Now here is where the clash begins. Yes, we’ve come into the light and become the light of the world – but a lot of people haven’t. They are still in darkness, under the dominion of darkness, even under the influence of Satan.
And listen to what Jesus said in John 3:20. “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
So we, as Christians, by our very nature, will be light-shiners. But those living in sin – now don’t miss the strength of this phrase – they hate the light.
Well when you hate something, you are bound to react very strongly when someone brings it up.
Now I don’t claim to have any special vision into the spiritual realm. I don’t see demons and angels prancing about. But I fully believe in the spiritual realm, and I know there are spiritual things taking place.
And this hyper-reaction to a little bit of spiritual light is one way I perceive that something must be happening beyond the physical.
I call it a lurch in the spiritual fabric.
To me it’s like there is a curtain that generally prevents us from seeing into the spiritual. The curtain is seamless. We don’t even know it’s there.
But then something catches our eye. It’s not natural. It’s a lurch in the spiritual fabric.
That’s what I see when someone hyper-reacts to a little bit of light. The strength of their reaction doesn’t make sense logically.
But it makes perfect sense spiritually, once you realize that, as long as they are away from the Lord and under the dominion of darkness, they simply hate the light.
So what do we do when this happens?
Well first of all, pray for them. Intercede for them. Battle for them in the spiritual realm.
And love them. Be patient with them. Be kind to them.
But don’t hide your light. Don’t “put it away” when they are around.
Light is exactly what they need!
Jesus said we are the light of the world, and we shouldn’t fire up our light then hide it. No, we put it on a stand so that it gives light to everyone!
The goal, Jesus said, is to shine our light for everyone, that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven.
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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