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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for November 12, 2010
“Is God Testing You?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Jesus was sitting on the side of a mountain.
Philip was there with Him, along with the other disciples…and about 5,000 other guys.
And Jesus had a plan. No one else knew it, but He had a plan. He was going to do a miracle, what we now know as the “feeding of the five thousand.”
But at this point, sitting on the mountain, it was only in His head. He knew what He was going to do, but no one else did.
So there were all those people, and Jesus turned to Philip and said, “Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?”
Can you see the look on Philip’s face? He was presented with a problem, a big problem.
Have you ever planned a large party, such as a wedding reception? How many people did you try to feed? It probably wasn’t close to 5,000, but even feeding five hundred is a big deal. Or as I would call it, a big pain.
So there’s Philip, being forced to answer the impossible question of “where shall we buy bread that these may eat?”
But now listen to this, and this I found exciting. We are about to get a glimpse into the mind of Jesus Christ.
So often when Jesus said or did things, the Bible doesn’t tell us why. But this time it does.
Look at John 6:6. After Jesus posed that question to Philip, the Bible says, “But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.”
That almost sounds wily, doesn’t it – Jesus posing a problem that He already plans to solve. So why did he do it? “To test him...”
Have you ever thought that certain problems in your own life might be a test?
First Thessalonians 2:4 indicates that God tests our hearts.
Proverbs 7:3 says, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”
It doesn’t say how He tests us, but the Bible has many stories of God testing people.
One of the most famous is when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son. He was faced with a terrible problem, but it was simply God testing him.
Joseph knew he would be a ruler someday, but Psalm 105 says that, until that time came, the Lord tested him.
Another famous story is the testing of Job. God even included Satan in that testing.
God tested the people of Israel many times. In Exodus 16, when God sent the manna, He told Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”
In Exodus 20, when God was thundering on the mountain, Moses told the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
Remember how the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years? Deuteronomy 8 says that God did that to humble and test them.
Deuteronomy 13 makes it sound like God allowed false prophets to speak to the people in order to test them. Verse three says, “…for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
This makes me think of my own life, and if God is testing me in some way.
In Judges two God said that he would use the pagan nations to test Israel. Verse 22 says, “…that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them …or not.”
In Isaiah 48:10 God said to Israel, “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
Wow. Tested in the furnace of affliction.
First Peter 1:7 says our faith will be “tested by fire.”
And don’t miss the placing of these two words together, “test” and “refine.” There are found together again in Jeremiah 9:7, “…this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people.”
Here is a little phrase you can remember, “Testing produces.” I get that from James 1:3 which says, “…the testing of your faith produces patience.”
Second Chronicles 32 includes this interesting phrase, talking about King Hezekiah: “…God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”
I don’t know how that played out in Hezekiah’s life, but what an interesting thing to say. God withdrew from him in order to test him.
Psalm 11 says, “The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous…”
Psalm 7:9 says that God tests the hearts and minds.
In First Chronicles 29 King David said, “I know…my God…that You test the heart…”
I know this may not sound all that pleasant, but I believe that God tests us. Maybe it comes in the form of difficult questions or challenges. Maybe it comes in little tests of obedience, or maybe it comes in the furnace of affliction.
And when He tests us, I believe He is looking for faith, for how much we trust Him, how much we obey Him and fear Him, and how much we love Him.
I can’t say if or how God might be testing you today, but I believe that He does test us, and I believe that, just like He did with Philip, He also has a plan in mind when He does.
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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