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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 17, 2010
“Others Draw Strength from Your Strength”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“Here I am . . . 85 years old.”
That’s what Caleb said, 45 years after he and Joshua scouted out the Promised Land.
“I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out,” said Caleb in Joshua chapter 14. “I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.”
I draw strength from a man like that. When I see someone step forward in strength, it strengthens me.
I’ve spent time in various weight rooms over the years, and what do we like to put up on the walls? Pictures of men who have paid the price, who have made themselves strong. Their strength strengthens the rest of us.
Caleb wasn’t just physically strong. He was mentally strong. His mind was steeled for battle.
He was also strong in his convictions and in his faith. He said “…my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.”
I love reading about men who were strong in their faith. Their strength strengthens me.
Here’s a story for you. When I was a kid, I had a bedroom on the second floor, and outside my window was a roof that was kind of like a balcony. Well one night I heard noises out there that scared me. There was definitely a person just outside my window!
Well Dad came up, listened, opened the window, went out on the balcony, and wouldn’t you know it, a cat.
That may not sound like a big deal, but Dad’s strength strengthened me.
Dads, you must be aware of this. Your strength strengthens your children, and your wife, too. They will draw strength from your strength.
Have you ever read “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald? It’s a short story about a man named Charlie who had overcome his alcoholism. He returned to his old haunts in postwar Paris and encountered a couple he used to party with. They were stuck in the same old drunken cycle while Charlie had sobered up and moved on.
He didn’t really want to see them, but they were bent on seeing him. Why?
Here is the author’s conclusion. “They wanted to see him, because he was stronger than they were now, because they wanted to draw a certain sustenance from his strength.”
That’s the way it is, my friend. One person draws strength from another.
And now my question for you. Are you the kind of person people can draw strength from?
Paul told Timothy to be an example for the believers.
When we set a good example, others can draw strength from us.
When I see a man being a good husband, it strengthens me to be a good husband. I draw strength from his example.
In radio, when I hear someone do something excellent on the air, it strengthens me to be excellent.
I have friends who are hard workers. They don’t quit when it gets hard or hot or their body aches. They kick into a higher gear – and their strength strengthens me.
Before Jesus’ ascension, He told Peter in Luke 22 “strengthen thy brethren.” Did he do that by saying strong words but being weak himself?
No. You strengthen others by being strong yourself!
Peter later wrote about the importance of “…being examples to the flock.”
The Bible says that Paul went all over the countryside strengthening the disciples. Did he do that just by flapping his lips? No! He strengthened them in part by his example of strength! They drew strength from his strength!
“But Doug, I don’t have any strength.”
Yes you do, from the same source as Peter and Paul and Caleb and David.
Paul said he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him.
David strengthened himself in the Lord.
First Chronicles says, “Seek the Lord and His strength…”
Second Chronicles says, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”
So find your strength in the Lord, and be strong. Set the example of strength, and as you do, know this.
Others will draw strength from your strength.
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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