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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for September 14, 2010
“I Want to Bless the Lord”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
We sing a song at church that says, “Bless the Lord.”
I’ve heard that line in church songs for years, but lately it’s found a tender spot inside me.
There’s a soft spot that is responding, “Yes, Lord, I want to bless You.”
Sometimes before doing things a voice inside me says, “Will this bless You, Lord?”
I want my life to bless the Lord. I want my attitude at all times to bless the Lord. When I encounter trouble, I want to bless the Lord. When I come to a fork in the road, I want to take the road that will most bless the Lord.
It’s hard to describe the effect when this is bubbling around inside you. For me, it’s a gracious, humbling effect. It stills my heart before the Lord, not in fear but in love. I know He loves me and I want to love Him in return, and bless Him.
So how can I bless the Lord?
To me, the most obvious, tangible way is to bless people. Jesus indicated that if we do something to others, we’ve done it to Him; so if I bless people, then I’m blessing the Lord.
Opportunities to bless people come up often. You don’t have to go out of your way to find them.
Here is something I say a lot. If someone reveals how you can be a blessing to them, and you can easily do it, then do it!
Here is one way I applied that to my own life, and it was somewhat controversial.
I worked for a man who had a beloved little dog. When he was out of town he would ask me to walk it.
How does that strike you? How do you feel about your boss asking you to do something personal, especially if it’s on your own time?
You could be offended. How dare he ask you to do something unrelated to work, something you aren’t being paid for?
Or you could go the other way and think of how to play it to your advantage. “If I do this for him, then he’s more likely to do something for me.”
Now listen. I know there are some twisted bosses out there. I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about normal situations.
So what did I do? First of all, I didn’t look at him like my boss. I just said, “Here is someone who is making it very clear how I can bless him. It’s obvious. It’s simple. I can easily do it, and it will bless him. Why wouldn’t I do it?”
“But Doug, you can’t give in to the boss like that. Either you are a weakling or you are a suck up.”
I’m neither, because in the big picture I’m not just doing it for him. I’m doing it for the Lord, to be a blessing to Him.
Ephesians 6:7 says, “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men…”
When we bless people, we do it as unto the Lord knowing that doing something to people is doing it to Him.
So do you want to bless the Lord today? Then do this. If someone makes it obvious how you can bless them, and you can easily do it, then just do it, because blessing them is blessing the Lord.
Another obvious way to bless the Lord is to obey Him, to do what He already said He wants done.
If your son says he wants to bless you, but he hasn’t taken out the trash that you told him to take out three hours ago, what are you going to say? You are going to say, “Son, the best way to bless me is to do what I already told you to do.”
In John 14 Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.” In verse 21 He added, “Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me.”
So a great way to bless the Lord is to find out what He said, then do it.
Like I said, this thought has been marinating inside me for days now, and it has affected by attitudes as well as my actions.
I feel a gracious humility before the Lord, and a soft spot in my heart as I bow my head before Him and gently say, “Lord, I want to bless You.”
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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