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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for April 6, 2010
“A Brilliant Moment in Joseph’s Life”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Here is a brilliant moment from the life of Joseph.
Oh, you can probably think of others, such as when he tore himself from the clutches of Potiphar’s wife, or when he ruled Egypt as second in command only to Pharaoh.
But to me, this is the highlight, the apex.
It’s found in Genesis 41:38. Pharaoh looked at Joseph and said, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”
That’s what I want. I have a ways to go, but I would like to reach that apex, that when people talk about me they say, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”
How can we get there?
I think one key is this. Don’t do things that grieve or quench the Holy Spirit.
First Thessalonians 5:19 tells us not to “quench” the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:30 tells us not to “grieve” the Holy Spirit.
Think of the Holy Spirit as a light shining through us. When we grieve the Holy Spirit, the light dims.
Can people tell you are a Christian? Can they see the light of God shining through you?
If not, perhaps it is because you are grieving the Spirit of God inside you.
Pride will do it. Pride will dim the Spirit in you as quick as anything.
Joseph was not proud, but he could have been. He had the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams! He could have puffed himself into some kind of shaman.
But instead he took no credit. He told Pharaoh he could not interpret dreams, that only God could.
Joseph knew, “If I don’t have God in my life, I don’t have anything.”
He was humble, and that allowed the Spirit to shine brightly through him.
If Joseph would have sinned with Potiphar’s wife, that certainly would have grieved the Holy Spirit. It might have derailed God’s plans for him altogether.
If we sin and don’t repent, won’t that certainly quench the Spirit of God?
And when we repent, I think it still takes a while for the Spirit to come back to full brightness.
Meanwhile, we have lost chances to shine the light.
There are people we should have impacted but didn’t because we dimmed the Spirit’s light.
Let that sink in for a while. Do you want to impact your family for Christ? Your coworkers? Your neighbors? Have you missed chances to do so by dimming the Spirit’s light?
Here’s how it happens. We let some sin get a hold of us. We gave in to some temptation, large or small, and it dims the Spirit’s light.
I don’t want that. I want the Spirit to shine as brightly as possible through me at all times.
I want to be part of that shining city on a hill that gives light to the world, but I won’t be if I am in a state of grieving or quenching the Spirit.
Don’t you want this? Don’t you want the Spirit to shine through you?
Then we have to eliminate things that quench and grieve the Spirit.
We don’t want to miss opportunities for people to see the Spirit of God in us.
We don’t want to miss opportunities to impact the world.
Joseph didn’t miss his opportunity. When the time came, he was a bright light to Pharaoh.
And that’s what I want.
I want to live in such a way that when the time comes people say, “Now there is a man in whom is the Spirit of God.”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 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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