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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for November 11, 2009
“A Bible and a Big Hat”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“I need to tell her that being a Christian is more than walking into church with a Bible and a big hat.”
That’s what a friend of mine said about a woman we had just encountered. He knew her. I didn’t.
I liked her right out of the gate. She was very intelligent, but a bit uptight.
“Uptight?” my friend said. “You haven’t seen uptight. She cusses like a sailor.”
Do know someone like this? Someone who, in church, seems like a saint, but then lives like a sinner the rest of the week?
“She needs to get into the Word,” my friend said. “Get in the Word and study it until it becomes part of her life.”
“Yes,” I agreed, and I do agree. People would find their lives radically changed if they studied their Bible each day.
But that is far from the end. I can study the Word and stop cussing and make my weekday life look more and more like a Bible-toting saint, but you know what? That is not really the point.
Hear me. Getting your life straightened out is not really the point. Living within God’s moral guidelines is not really the point.
Take that woman for example. The point is not that she quits cussing. It’s not even that she gets into the Word. The point is that she begins walking with the Lord.
“Walking with the Lord? What does that mean?”
It means living with the Lord. It means having fellowship with the Lord.
Our faith is not some musty old belief or superstition. It’s not just another world religion. And it’s not a nice little set of moral guidelines.
Our faith leads us into a relationship with the real and living God. Studying the Bible leads into a relationship with the real and living God.
That is the point. It’s not about being good little boys and girls. It’s about having fellowship with our Creator.
John wrote in First John 1:3, “...our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 2:1 refers to “…fellowship with the Spirit...”
First Corinthians 1:9 indicates that God has called us into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
If you believe in Jesus and go to church, and you actually believe all the things you learn and study there – but then live in a worldly way – it’s not that you are being a bad Christian. It’s that you are missing the point. You are missing out on the very best part of being a Christian and that is the fellowship with the Holy Spirit of God.
The Word says His Holy Spirit will be inside of us. In John 7 Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me…streams of living water will flow from within him.” “By this He meant the Spirit,” it says in verse 39.
The Spirit of God is a stream of living water flowing from within us. He bubbles up inside of us, bringing life and life more abundantly.
First Corinthians 6:17 says that if we unite ourselves with the Lord, we are one with Him in spirit.
So it’s not that God is way out there somewhere, and we go to church to appease Him. Yes, He is the ruler on His throne, but God is Spirit, and His Spirit also dwells within His people.
He loves us! Through Christ, He redeemed us from our sin so that we could have this sweet fellowship with Him. And this fellowship is the point!
It’s our love relationship with God. We walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh, so that we can fully enjoy our fellowship with God.
He is with us and He is in us. And we can enjoy the fruit of the Spirit and all the good things God has for us – as we walk with Him.
So yes, we need to tell everyone that it’s more than just going to church with a Bible and a big hat. And it’s more than getting into the Word and living right every day of the week.
The real point is our love relationship with God, walking with Him and enjoying sweet fellowship with His Holy Spirit who lives inside of us.
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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