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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for October 7, 2010
“Big Me and Little You”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“I find myself tearing up a lot lately when I worship the Lord.”
That’s what a man said yesterday.
My immediate response was, “That’s humility.”
One of the great things about believing in God and coming to Him in worship and prayer is that you realize you aren’t “all that.” It’s hard to stay on the throne, so to speak, when you honestly come before the One who really is on the throne.
I say “honestly” because you actually can spend time in prayer and still be nutty as a loon in your self-exaltation. Jesus told such a story in Luke 18.
Two men went to the temple to pray, He said. One was a Pharisee who prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men,” and he went on to brag about himself to God.
The other was a tax collector who couldn’t even look up to heaven. He actually beat his chest and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
That’s not a true story. It’s a parable Jesus told to make a point, and here is the point He delivered like a thunderclap in verse 14. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
He said it again in Luke 14, but after telling a different parable. He said, “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.”
Then Jesus once again delivered this powerful, sweeping statement: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The King James Version says “…for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased…”
Abased has a harsher sound to it, like you were slammed to the basement, to the concrete floor. You were abased.
Jesus said that’s what will happen to everyone who exalts themselves. They will be abased, brought down, humbled.
If you make yourself out to be Mr. Wonderful, you are coming down. It’s the law of the land.
I interviewed Shaun Alexander this week, the former NFL most valuable player and All-Pro running back with the Seattle Seahawks. He is also an outspoken Christian and has a new book out called “The Walk.”
Shaun had a proper attitude about his glory days in football. Even at the peak, his identity was not “I am the MVP, I am the greatest!” Instead, he said his identity was always that of a follower of Christ. He humbled himself in the sight of the Lord, as it says in James 4:10.
When injuries knocked him out of football, his identity was not rocked because that was not his identity to begin with. He just went on humbling himself before God and saying, “Lord, now what?”
Romans 12:3 says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
First Corinthians 10:12 says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
This sounds like such a simple and common truth that it hardly needs repeating, yet people still do it. They put themselves on a pedestal. They are “Big Me and little you.” When you see people like that, just watch. They have an appointment with humility.
On the flip side is the man who humbles himself. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted, Jesus said. Keep your eye on that man, because he has an appointment with promotion. He will be lifted up, and it will be okay because he is ready for it. He doesn’t think of himself more highly than he ought.
Now back to the man who said he has been tearing up lately while worshipping the Lord. Why did I say that was humility?
Because I’ve been there. When you come before the Lord honestly, to worship Him and draw near to Him, it is humbling in many ways. It is humbling because you are acknowledging His place as Lord of your life. It’s humbling because we are sinners, yet He accepts us by His grace. And it is humbling to know that He is going to exalt us in some special way because we have humbled ourselves before Him.
So we have two choices with very specific consequences. We can exalt ourselves and be knocked down a few pegs, or we can humble ourselves and be the recipient of God’s great promise: we will be exalted
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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