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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 4, 2010
“The Oil Spill”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Any run-of-the-mill, self-respecting bacteria love to eat oil.
That’s what Dr. Christopher Reddy said on National Public Radio.*
He was talking about the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and guess what? He said that a lot of that oil is going to be literally eaten by bacteria, by tiny little microorganisms.
He said, “It’s equivalent to butter with its high caloric content.” They love it!
One announcer said that some people are going to the Gulf and asking, “Where are those millions of gallons of oil?”
Well it’s like asking where all the hot dogs are after free wiener day at Doak Campbell. They were devoured by hungry organisms.
Today’s Wall Street Journal describes how “dispersants” are being sprayed on the oil to break it down, making it easier for the microbes to eat it up.**
No, this isn’t the total solution to the oil spill, but what a picture! At first maybe you imagined the oil being there forever, ruining everything, like permanent wet paint in your house. But then comes the bacteria, literally eating the oil right out of the water.
Now listen to this. It seems to me like that is how the Holy Spirit deals with sin in my life.
As a young Christian, believe it or not, all the sin was not instantly taken away from me. Life was much better, but sin was still in there somewhere, trying to mess things up.
To me, sin is like the oil spill. It’s black and messy and chokes out life. It’s hard to contain. You put a cap on it, but it spews up somewhere else.
So as Christians, what can be done about the oil spill of sin inside of us?
That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in! Second Corinthians 1:22 says that God has put His Spirit in our hearts.
Ephesians 3:16 talks about His Spirit making us stronger in our “inner man.”
Ephesians 3:20 talks about God’s power “that is at work within us.”
God is working inside us to make us better!
Philippians 1:6 says “…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…”
Notice that the work was not completed immediately, but will be carried on to completion, “until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 2:13 says, “…it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
This is what I have witnessed in my own life. All sin was not instantly removed from me, but here is what it’s like. It’s like the Holy Spirit is slowly devouring the sin inside me.
Just like the bacteria eats the oil, the Holy Spirit seems to be eating the sin.
No, the Bible doesn’t exactly say that, but it does say that God’s Spirit lives inside me and is working to make me better!
And that means getting rid of the sin.
Romans 8:13 talks about putting to death the misdeeds of the body “by the Spirit.” It talks about being led by the Spirit instead of living according to the sinful nature.
I don’t want to be led by the sinful nature, but I can tell it’s there. It wants to suck me into the oily darkness, but as I grow in the Lord, I see that oil dispersing. Things that used to try to get their hooks into me aren’t even there anymore.
It happened over time, as I continue to seek the Lord and His will in my life, as I pray and fast and draw near to God and try to obey and repent when I don’t and ask to be filled with more of His Spirit.
Maybe I don’t word it right, but I just want more of God in my life; more God and less sin.
I don’t know the exact dynamics, or the “cause and effect,” but this is what I have experienced. Over time, the oil disaster of sin in my soul is being devoured. It’s going away, and I see it being eaten up by the Holy Spirit.
And now listen to this. I think of the Word of God, the Bible, as a “dispersant.”
First Thessalonians 2:13 contains this phrase, “…the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.”
The Word has a way of breaking down and dispersing sin. It takes that big oily mass and breaks it apart for the Holy Spirit to move in and devour.
No, this isn’t hard core theology! It’s just what I’ve observed over the last quarter century of my walk with the Lord.
The black oily sin wasn’t instantly removed, but it has been consistently broken down and taken away over the years, and places where the blackness was obvious, now it’s not even there.
And I’m looking forward to many more years as God, who began His good work in me, will be faithful to complete it until the great and glorious day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
* http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128876055
** http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704499604575407530141312808.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
© 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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