Click here to listen to the radio version.
Click here to search the AOG archives.
Apples of Gold
Radio Script for April 6, 2011
“Can You Hear the Prophetic Voice?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Make straight the way of the Lord.
That’s what John the Baptist said, and he was quoting the prophet Isaiah.
He was the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
Can you hear that prophetic voice calling out to you today?
It’s a calling to higher ground, to a more God-filled, God-pleasing, God-centered life.
It’s a call to take a cleaver and hack the worldly fat from our lives.
Ephesians 4:22 says to put off the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.
You might think that Christians don’t have to deal with the “old man,” our old sin nature, but there it is, right there in the Bible: put off the old man which grows corrupt.
Notice that it says grows corrupt. If we don’t put off the old man, if we don’t hack the worldly fat from our lives, it won’t just lie dormant. It will grow more corrupt.
I’m going to church tonight. I could skip it. In fact, I was tempted to. I saw in the paper that a Harvard professor will be speaking tonight in Tallahassee about the Civil War. I’d love to go, but while I was thinking about it, something rose up inside me that said I need to go to church and draw near to God.
I am faithful to the congregation of the saints, and one reason is to keep that old man at bay.
My daughter and I were watching a show and a woman in the show ended up weeping on the floor. I turned to my daughter and said, “Of course she ended up like this. She built her life on worldly sand instead of the Word of God, and when you do that, you’ll always eventually end up with your foundation crumbling beneath you.”
I don’t want my foundation to crumble, so I must build on the sure foundation of Christ and His Word. Sure, I could go hear the Harvard professor tonight. I’m not legalistically bound to go to a church service, but I want to keep my focus on God. I want more of God and less of the world. I want less of the old man and more of the Solid Rock.
Colossians 1:23 says, “…if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel…”
That’s exactly what I want, to be grounded and steadfast in the faith. I want to walk worthy of the Lord.
Colossians 1:10 says, “…walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God…”
There’s nothing wrong with increasing in the knowledge of the Civil War, but my higher purpose for this evening is to increase in the knowledge of God.
I want to walk worthy of the Lord, don’t you?
I want to walk worthy of the calling with which I was called, as it says in Ephesians 4:1.
I want to walk worthy of God, who has called me into His kingdom and glory. (First Thessalonians 2:12)
Galatians 5:16 tells us to walk in the Spirit, then we won’t gratify the desires of the flesh.
So how do I put off that old man which grows corrupt? By walking in the Spirit, by living according to the directives of the Holy Spirit.
Walk in the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the old carnal flesh.
A lot of people do just that. They live entirely to fulfill the desires of the flesh, but they are building their lives on sand.
I don’t want to build on sand. I don’t want to waste time on things that are here today and crumble tomorrow because the foundation was pathetic.
I want to build on the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.
Jesus told a man he healed, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” If I walk in the flesh, if I listen to that old carnal man, if I live a worldly life, I have every reason to believe that some “worse thing” may come upon me.
Ephesians 5:1 says, “…be imitators of God as dear children.”
Children imitate their parents by being around them and mimicking them. I want to be around the Lord so I can take on His characteristics.
So I draw near to God, and He draws near to me. (James 4:8) I read His Word and listen for the voice of His Spirit. I want to hack away the worldly fat that slows me down, and put off the old man which grows corrupt.
I want to be grounded and steadfast in the faith, and walk worthy of the Lord.
And that’s why that prophetic voice is ringing in my soul today, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2011 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here: http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one: douglas_apple@msn.com
(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
-vi-
No comments:
Post a Comment