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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for June 7, 2010
“We Make It Our Goal to Please God”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Imagine a tribe of people, isolated from the rest of the world.
They are primitive. They live in huts and carry spears.
And they have a god they must please.
There is an altar for this god-pleasing, and they often sacrifice their much-needed food and livestock, and sometimes even people, just to keep their god from crushing them.
That’s how some people view Christianity, as if our God is lording over us, demanding to be pleased at any cost.
That causes some Christians to swing entirely the other way. “Oh, our god isn’t like that,” they say. “Our god is a god of love and grace and mercy. His salvation is free to everyone. You don’t have to worry about pleasing him at all. He’s not like that.”
While it’s true that God is not like that pagan god, it doesn’t rule out the whole notion of pleasing Him.
Pleasing God is still something we must strive for.
For example, look at Hebrews 13:16. It’s going to talk about making a sacrifice that pleases God. And what kind of dreadful sacrifice is prescribed?
It says, “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
Do good and share with others. That pleases God. Doesn’t sound very onerous and tribal, does it?
But we are called to please God, and this pleases Him – when we do good and share with others.
First John 3 gives another way to please God, “to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.”
No, God is not like a pagan god, ogreously demanding to be pleased; but yes, we must strive to please Him.
Second Corinthians 5:9 says “…we make it our goal to please Him…”
The New King James Version says “…we make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him.”
Second Timothy 2:4 says it’s like a soldier working to please his commanding officer.
Colossians 1:9 talks about pleasing Him “in every way.”
And then it mentions a couple of things that please God: “bearing fruit in every good work, and growing in the knowledge of God.”
So far, here is the list of what we can do to please God:
--do good
--share with others
--love our neighbor
--grow in the knowledge of God
--believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
First Thessalonians 4:1 says, “Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”
So pleasing God is not something we do one time and then we are done. It’s actually something we grow in, something we keep doing more and more.
There are a couple of road blocks that keep people from pleasing the Lord. One is called the flesh, or the “sinful nature.” Romans 8:8 says, “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
Another road block to pleasing God is a lack of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says “…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
Another thing that keeps us from pleasing God is our desire to please people instead. Sometimes we hit a fork in the road. One way pleases God but offends people, while the other way pleases people but disobeys God.
Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
He wrote in First Thessalonians 2:4, “We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.”
So beware of ditches on either side. One side makes God out to be a demanding ogre, while the other side makes Him out to be a passive pushover who approves of everything.
Well He’s not the ogre, but He desires that we please Him – not through dreadful sacrifice, but by such things as believing in Him and doing good.
So let this be our goal today, to please the Lord more and more, in every way, like good soldiers striving to please our commanding officer.
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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