The Lord Is Nigh Unto All Them That Call Upon Him

(Click to listen)

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him…”

Well…I’M calling upon Him!  Are you?

I am calling upon the Lord every day and this is great news!  When I call upon Him, He is near to me.

I want the Lord to ALWAYS be near to me because I need Him.  I need His presence, His love, His light, His direction, His guidance.  I want Him to lead me, to teach me, to mentor me.  I want to hear Him say, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”

I want Him near to me for more reasons than I can count, so with this in mind, I call upon Him, almost continuously.

Looking back at Psalm 145:18, I didn’t give you the whole verse.  Here is what the whole things says, “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.”

So that’s an extra layer, “in truth.”  What does it mean to call upon the Lord “in truth”?

Well…just be honest.  Come to Him as you are.  Tell Him all the truth.  Don’t try to hide anything, and certainly don’t try to control your image when talking to God.  This is calling upon Him in truth.

It also means having true ideas about God.  Often, we want to fashion God in our image, but if we want to call upon Him in truth, we have to have true thoughts about Him.

He is the King.  He is the Creator.  He is Father God.  He is the Lord of all.  He is just and holy and righteous.  He is also merciful and loving and kind.

So, to call upon the Lord in truth, we have to have clear, true ideas about who we are, and about who He is.

And the good news is, in spite of the giant gulf between us and Him, He invites us to call upon Him, and He says that when we do, He will be near to us.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Hebrews 11:6 says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Psalm 63:1 says, “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land…”

Psalm 42 says as the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after Thee.

That’s me.  

Yes, as one of God’s redeemed, His Holy Spirit lives inside of me.  I don’t need to cry out to heaven to get Him to come down.  He is already here.  He is already as near as He can be.

The problem is me.  As the old song says, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.”

So, when I call upon the Lord, I’m wanting to connect more closely with Him.  I want to fully live out what He has already promised, which is Him abiding in me, and me abiding in Him.  

I do that by daily calling upon the Lord, and I’m so glad for this promise in Psalm 145:18, “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.”

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.

The Character of Caleb

(Click to listen)

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

The Character of Caleb.

It’s easy to study the life of Caleb because there’s not that much about him in the Bible, but what IS there is very inspiring.

He shows up in Numbers chapter 13 when God tells Moses to send spies into the land of Canaan.  Moses has to pick one man from each tribe, and that man must be a leader.  Different Bible translations use different words, like “chief” and “ruler” and “prince.”  Whichever word you choose, the evidence is clear:  Caleb was a chief man of the tribe of Judah.

So, the 12 spies went into the land of Canaan and brought back a report to Moses.  They all agreed that it was a bountiful land, but 10 of the 12 spies said they should NOT go into the land because it was well-defended, even by giants.  This negative report spread fear throughout the people of Israel.

But not Caleb.  Numbers 13:30 says that Caleb “quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.’”

This is the first time we have Caleb speaking in the Bible, and it is a bold and wonderful speech.  He is loaded with faith and courage, like David was with Goliath.

I was inspired, but the people of Israel were not.  Their fear and lack of faith made them cry out against Joshua and Caleb.  Then Numbers 14 says that Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes in anguish and tried to speak to the people, saying things like, “the Lord is with us” and “if the Lord delights in us” and “do not rebel against the Lord.”

But the Israelites were so afraid, they rebelled against God’s leadership, so God said this in Numbers 14, “because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.  But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.”

This is the Lord God Himself, calling Caleb by name!  God knows everything.  He knows our heart and our thoughts, and He said that Caleb followed Him fully, wholeheartedly.

“Lord, I want to follow You wholeheartedly, with faith and courage and boldness like Caleb.”

Then we skip ahead 40 long years, to Numbers chapter 34, and God is talking about the leaders who will lead Israel into the Promised Land.  And who is the leader of the tribe of Judah?  The same man from 40 years ago:  Caleb.  He’s first on the list!

Now let’s jump over to Joshua chapter 14.  The Promised Land was going to be divided among the tribes of Israel “by lot.”  Basically, God was going to distribute the land among the tribes by a type of drawing or lottery.

Except one man was exempted from the lottery.  Caleb.  You see, something very interesting happened right after they spied out the land.  Caleb had received a promise from Moses.  Moses told Caleb, “Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord.”

So, on the day of distribution, Caleb reminded Joshua of that promise, and Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.  

In Joshua 14 we have more great words from the mouth of Caleb.  He said, “The Lord has kept me alive these 45 years, and now here I am, 85 years old.  I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent us out.  Now therefore, give me this mountain.”

Here is Caleb with that same strength and faith and courage at the age of 85 as when he was 40, still trusting in God and ready to go forward and take action.

I am so inspired by the character of Caleb.  He was a man of faith.  He trusted God and His word.  He had courage to obey God when it looked hard if not impossible.  He followed God fully.  He didn’t give up.  He was a hard worker.  He was still ready to work, even at 85.  And God blessed him for his faith and courage and perseverance.

“Lord, I want to follow You wholeheartedly, working hard with faith and courage and boldness like Caleb, even into my old age.”

Amen.

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.

That Thou Givest Them They Gather

(Click to listen)

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

I heard an acrostic for the word “poor” and I can’t get it out of my mind.

It said the letters P-O-O-R stand for Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly.

In other words, if you want to be poor, just keep passing up on the opportunities that come your way.

Sometimes people are looking for provisions to be handed to them, but what is handed to them instead is an opportunity, and they miss it.

I see people come to this fork in the road.  A good opportunity comes their way, and they have a decision to make:  take the opportunity or not?

Many times, I see people pass over the opportunity, and then later they wonder why they are still stuck, or they are lacking what they need.

Sometimes I see Christians crying out to God to provide for them, and then they wonder why He doesn’t…but what they didn’t see was that He gave them an opportunity.  They were blind to the opportunity because they were only looking for provision to be handed to them.

In Luke 12:24 Jesus says, “Consider the ravens.”  He said God feeds the ravens, and we are more valuable to Him than ravens.

But get this.  He doesn’t drop the food in the raven’s mouth!  The raven has to go out every day and GATHER his food.  God gives him the opportunity to eat, but He doesn’t hand feed the birds.  So if we are expecting God to hand feed us, we are missing the point.

I like what Psalm 104 verse 28 says in the old King James, “That thou givest them they gather…” In other words, when God supplies it, they go and gather it up.

Nehemiah knew this lesson when he was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.  In Nehemiah 2:20 he said that God would grant them success, but guess what.  They had to rise up and actually build the walls with their own hands.  He was basically saying, “God will provide; therefore we will arise and build.”

Yes, God says He will provide for us, but that usually means He is going to provide the opportunities for us rather than just handing it to us.

So, if you don’t want to be poor, don’t Pass Over Opportunities Repeatedly.

And remember our part in the equation found in Psalm 104 verse 28, “That thou givest them…THEY GATHER.”

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.

 

A Servant, A Soldier, A Son

(Click here to listen)

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

“For Thine is the kingdom.”

That’s what it says near the end of The Lord’s Prayer.

I pray through The Lord’s Prayer most days and when I come to this part I expound on it.

“Lord, the kingdom is Yours.  Everything belongs to You, and I belong to You in your kingdom.”

A kingdom implies a king, and Revelation 19:16 says that Jesus is the King of Kings.

Psalm 47 says God is the King of all the earth.  He reigns over the nations and sits on His holy throne.

Isaiah said, “My eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.”

And what was Isaiah’s response when He saw the King?  It was great humility and repentance.  He said, “Woe is me, for I am undone!”

Isaiah also responded with a great desire to serve the King.  In Isaiah 6:8 he said, “Here am I!  Send me.”

This is a proper response to a king, an offer to serve.  So that’s what I do when I come to “for Thine is the kingdom.”  I say, “Lord, You are the king.  I am your servant.  I am here to serve as You wish.  I’m at your beck and call.  I want to do what is my duty to do.”

So I am a servant of the King, but I am also a soldier of the King.

Second Timothy 2:3-4 says, “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with civilian affairs, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”

I am a soldier of the King.  When I roll out of bed each morning I take a knee, point to heaven and say, “Reporting for duty, Sir.”

One of the things I like about being a soldier is that I don’t have to come up with my own commands.  A soldier doesn’t wake up and say, “What should I do for the army today?”  No.  He is a soldier under command.  He does what he is told.  A soldier also doesn’t have to worry about his provisions, his gear, his lodging, his health care, his training.  That’s all provided as long as he is a soldier under command.

So when I pray, “for Thine is the kingdom,” I’m praying, “Lord, I am Your servant and I am Your soldier.”

But there’s more.  I’m not just a servant and I’m not just a soldier.  As a Christian I am also a son!  I am a CHILD of the King!

Galatians 4 says that Jesus came to redeem us so that we can be adopted as sons.  We become sons and daughters of the King!  It says we become heirs of the King through Christ.

First John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

God is the King, and as believers we are the King’s Kids!

So when I pray, “for Thine is the kingdom” at the end of the Lord’s prayer, I’m saying, “Lord, You are the King.  It’s Your kingdom, and I am Your servant.  I want to do all that is my duty to do.  And I am a soldier under command.  And I am a son, so happy to be a child of the King, and that You love me and provide for me and lead me, not just as a servant and not just as a soldier, but also as a son.  Thank You, Father.”

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen.

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.

 

Making Crooked Places Straight and Rough Ways Smooth

(Click here to listen)

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

I finally fixed our shower doors.

I don’t know why I waited so long.

At first they just started closing a little roughly.

It finally got to where one of the doors wouldn’t move at all without making the loudest screech and feeling like it was going to fall off and shatter.

But hey, you really only need one of the doors to work, so I still didn’t do anything.

Finally one morning I woke up and thought, “I really need to fix those shower doors.”

I bought new wheels that the doors hang on for basically pennies and within just a few minutes both doors were working like they were brand new.  It was so satisfying to feel how smooth they operated.  Why had I waited so long?

I don’t know the answer to that, but I do think this is our calling in the world, to make things run more smoothly.

I love this imagery in the book of Luke, chapter 3 verse 5, “…the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth.”

I think this is what God does through His Holy Spirit inside of us.  He begins His good work in us, straightening the crooked things and smoothing the rough things.

A big word for this is sanctification.  I just finished memorizing the book of First Thessalonians, and sanctification shows up repeatedly.  It says, “for this is the will of God, your sanctification.”  It says, “…may…God…sanctify you completely,” and then it says, “He will surely do it.”

God sanctifies His people from the inside out.  He takes our crooked places and makes them straight, and our rough ways and makes them smooth.

And then we, in turn, have a sanctifying effect on everything around us.  We go out into the world and we take crooked places and make them straight and we make rough ways smooth.

Have you ever heard someone say this, “He’s so heavenly minded he’s no earthly good”?  I think that’s the opposite of the truth.  The more heavenly minded someone is, the more earthly good they will be because of this sanctifying effect.  

A Christian who is truly connected to God is going to be improving the world all around him.  Everyone should be happier when a godly person comes in and begins taking crooked places and making them straight and rough ways and making them smooth…because people like straight and smooth!

My mom was a master seamstress.  She could work wonders with needle and thread.  Now we take it for granted today because of our store-bought, factory-made clothing, but have you ever tried to take two pieces of cloth and sew them together and make a nice, smooth seam?  It’s much easier to make it bunchy than smooth and nice.  

And it’s easier in life to make things bunchy.  We make our relationships bunchy.  Our budget gets bunchy.  Things get bunchy at work, at home, in the community, but there is good news.  God wants to take bunchy things and make them straight!

First, He does that inside of us as we submit to His leadership.  And then, through us, He does this work in the world around us, using us to fulfill His plan to take crooked things and make them straight, and rough ways and make them smooth.

And yes, I believe that includes fixing those shower doors.

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.