Prioritize Then Organize - Apples of Gold - September 28, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 28, 2009

“Prioritize Then Organize”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“Too many choices can tax the brain.”

That’s the headline of an article in the Los Angeles Times.

For example, Starbucks offers over 80,000 possible drink combinations.  Comcast offers up to 1,000 channels (and there’s still nothing on.)

Or let’s say you just want to grab a Pepsi.  Do you want Pepsi, or Diet Pepsi?  Or Caffeine Free Pepsi?  Or Pepsi Max?  Or Pepsi One?  Or Wild Cherry Pepsi or Diet Pepsi Vanilla or Lime; or how about Diet Pepsi Jazz?

Then there’s my all-time favorite, Pepsi Blue Hawaii, which you’ve probably never seen because, and you’re going to like this, Pepsi Blue Hawaii was only sold in Japan.

Or what about Christmas Pepsi or Holiday Spice Pepsi or even Pepsi Ice Cucumber?

Yes, too many choices can tax the brain.  Popular Science addressed the issue and referred to something called “option paralysis.”

Barry Schwartz has a book out called, “The Paradox of Choice:  Why More Is Less.”  He describes the day he went to The Gap and said, “I want a regular pair of jeans.”  The salesgirl said, “Do you want them slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit, baggy, or extra baggy?  Do you want them stonewashed, acid-washed or distressed?  Do you want them button-fly or zipper-fly?”

Okay, so we have plenty of products to choose from, big deal.

Well think about this.  Back in the day you went to a school where there were about three dateable people.  If one of them liked you, you married them.

Well now you aren’t limited to your school or your town or your state.  You can choose online between millions of people!

When we have so many choices, how do we choose?

And it’s not just what we buy or who we date.  It’s how we spend our time.  It’s our activities:  how much time at work, at what job?  What do we do with our off time?

For most of history you worked like a dog all day just to survive.  And you were lucky to have any choices.

But in America today we are drowning in choices.  So the question is, with so many options, how do we choose?

Well here is a little phrase for you:  prioritize, then organize.

It starts by knowing your priorities.  What are the most important things?  If you know, you will have a framework for making choices.

For example, my children are a high priority.  That priority shapes my choices.  Do I spend more time at home or go on long business trips?  I stay at home. 

Why?  Because my priority is to have a close relationship with my kids, and the less I’m around, the less connected I will be. 

This is especially true when you are raising teenagers.  You know, teens just aren’t always in the mood to talk, so when that mood strikes, you need to be around.

So my children are a high priority, and I organize my life according to that priority.

That even affects my choice in exercise.  For example, Saturday I could have headed off to the health club for an hour or two, but instead, I worked out at home. 

Why?  Because that kept me at home with my 16 year old daughter.  I know it’s just a little thing, but counting the time they go from 13-years-old to 19-years-old that adds up to tons of time – time that I am there.

See how that works?  Good health is a priority, so I organize my time to exercise.  My family is a priority, so I organize my time to exercise at home.

When you figure out your priorities, so many choices just become obvious.  Instead of options paralysis you end up with options obvious.

Priorities narrow the field.  Do I go out with the boys Friday night or go out with my wife?  Well my marriage is a top priority.

Do I join the Bible study or the Bridge Club?  Well the Word is a top priority.

So start by knowing your priorities.  For me, it’s the Lord first, then my wife, then my children.  And then I organize my life according to those priorities.

So are you suffering from option paralysis?  Do you find that too many choices tax your brain?

Then here is a little phrase that will help.  It’s a two-step method that should streamline all your decision-making, and it’s simply this:  prioritize then organize.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
 


So how would prioritizing help you pick which jeans to buy or which Pepsi to drink?

The priority of modesty will help you choose clothing, as will the priority of your budget.

The priority of health may help you choose your Pepsi (or no Pepsi at all).  Some people will choose the Pepsi they happen to have a coupon for!  Some will never choose Pepsi based on their support for certain immoral causes.

Any choice we make can fit into a structure of priorities.  It’s just a matter of ranking our priorities.

© 2009 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-

Sipping From the Chalice of Humility - Apples of Gold - September 25, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 25, 2009

“Sipping From the Chalice of Humility”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

It was snowing in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

It was Friday night, and I just wanted to get home.

I pulled off the busy road into a filling station, took off the gas cap, laid it on the trunk, and started pumping. 

It was one of those icy snows that really yucks up your windshield, so I grabbed the squeegee and went to work.  It was cold and the wind was biting.  My hands were freezing.  I couldn’t wait to get back in the car, but I wanted to make sure the windshield was as clean as possible. 

The pump stopped when the tank was full, so I quickly replaced the nozzle and went back to the windshield.  Finally I hopped in the car, cranked up the heat and pulled out.

Now there are two things about me you need to know.  First of all, I am very audio oriented, which is probably why I am in radio.  I am very much tuned into the sound of things. 

So I pulled out from the gas station and I heard a little noise.  It was very faint, but it sent my mind on a mission.  What was that sound?

Now here is the second thing you need to know about me.  I tend to be very organized about certain things.  My wife calls it borderline OCD.  I just call it being organized.  For example, when I come home, I put my keys in the same place every day.  I put my phone on the charger every night.  In fact, I put it on the charger the exact same way every night. 

I’m very methodical about these things, and it saves me a lot of trouble.  For example, I never have to go around asking, “Have you seen my keys?”

Now what do you think happens when I see someone else frantically searching for their keys?  Somewhere, deep down in the chasms of my soul, a tiny little voice whispers, “I’m better.”

So anyway, in some things I guess I am borderline OCD.  And I guess that would include how I pump gas.  I pump gas the same way every time, but that day in Cape Girardeau I got out of my rhythm.  The snow messed me up, and I missed a step.

So you can probably guess what that little noise was as I pulled out of the gas station.  It was my gas cap hitting the pavement!

Well I quickly pulled over, got out, looked back and sure enough, there it was, lying on the road.  Thank goodness.  I started to run back to pick it up when all of a sudden here came this big jacked up truck with monster tires. 

All I could do was watch. 

And listen.

Crunch! 

My gas cap was obliterated by a big Missouri pickup.

I kicked myself because I’m not that kind of person.  I always put the gas cap back on.  These things happen to other people, not me.  I am organized! 

And once again I found myself sipping from the chalice of humility. 

I can’t even count how many times this has happened in my life.  I take a subtle pride in something, somehow thinking I’m just a little better, and here it comes.  The big hand of life hands me the chalice and says, “Drink.”

The chalice of humility – we all have to drink from it, and it makes us better people.  It’s just not pleasant.    

When it happens, it’s just you and the cup.  The rest of life fades into the background.  It’s just you and this moment.  You on your knees, looking deep into the cup and realizing, “I’m not better.” 

Fortunately, these moments are actually good for us.

Proverbs 11:2 says, “…with humility comes wisdom.”

I have been humbled many times in my life, and I count it a blessing.  It’s like a spoonful of nasty-tasting medicine.  It’s hard to swallow, but it makes you better.

So when the humbling moment comes, don’t fight it.  Don’t try to hold on to your lofty position.  It just makes you look silly.

Instead, just take a knee.  Bow to it.  And learn.

Yes, it tastes bitter, but remember:  great wisdom comes as we sip from the chalice of humility.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
 


© 2009 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-

Are You In a Valley Today? - Apples of Gold - September 24, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 24, 2009

“Are You In a Valley Today?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“I despise my life.”

That’s what Job said in Job 7:16.

In the old King James he said, “I loathe it; I would not live alway:  let me alone…”

If you think that’s bad, listen to what he said in verse 15.  “…I prefer strangling and death…”

Yes, you could say that Job was in a serious valley in his life right about then.

But, it’s a good thing he didn’t strangle and die, or he would have missed the great mountain tops to come.

The last chapter of Job says, “…the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.”  “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.”

Yes, he went through a deep valley, but after that came many happy years.

It’s a good thing he didn’t quit in the valley, isn’t it?

And the same is true for you.  If you find yourself in a valley today, don’t quit!

And that especially applies to marriage.  Marriages are full of ups and downs, and sometimes in the down periods you feel like giving up, like it will never get any better.

Maybe in your marriage today you feel like Job, like you would prefer “strangling and death” to staying married to that so-and-so.

Well if that’s you, you will relate to the title of an article I read recently by Amy Desai.  It’s called, “Is There Hope For My Marriage?” 

She wrote, “Often we think an unhappy couple has only two options:
Stay together and be miserable, or
Get a divorce.

But there is a third option, she said, and it is simply this.  Stick it out.

You heard right.  Just hang in there.

It kind of falls into the category of “This too shall pass.”

You see, so many of the valleys we go through are just temporary.  Life gets better, so don’t make life altering decisions while you are in the valley.

Amy quotes from a national study of married couples.  They asked them to rate their marriage on a scale of one to seven, with one being very unhappy and seven being very happy.

Then they followed up five years later, and now listen to this.  What do you think happened to those couples who said they were a “one,” that their marriage was “very unhappy”?

Now don’t miss this:  77% of them, just five years later, ranked their marriage as a “seven”!  Most of them went from being “very unhappy” to “very happy.”

Is it because they got marriage counseling or tried some amazing marriage technique? 

Nope.  There really wasn’t much evidence that they did anything out of the ordinary except this one thing.  They stuck it out.

Amy also quoted a study about divorce.  It said that about 60% of divorces happened in marriages that were ranked as “average.”  It wasn’t that their marriage was terrible.  It’s just that it wasn’t that great.  The marriage slipped into a valley, and they decided to call it quits.

Is that you today?  Is your marriage in a valley?  Are you ready to give up?

Don’t do it!  Be encouraged by these statistics!  Even if you don’t really work on it, your marriage will likely climb out of the valley.  And just imagine what could happen if you actually worked on it!

Like Amy said, “Most marriages go through emotional ups and downs – times of great happiness and times of boredom and fatigue.”  To have good marriages, we need to ride out the “lows” and learn from them.

So are you like Job today?  Do you loathe your life?  Would you prefer strangling and death? 

Well don’t quit.  Things will get better! 

“Wait for the Lord,” it says in Psalm 27:14.  “Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

“We wait in hope for the Lord,” it says in Psalm 31:24.  “He is our help and our shield.”

“Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”  (Psalm 42:11)

Yes, you may be going through a valley right now, but there is hope! 

Job persevered, and he was twice as blessed on the other side!

So stick it out. 
Bide your time. 
Wait on the Lord and
Everything will be just fine.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

Here is the complete article “Is There Hope for My Marriage?” by Amy Desai, J.D.:
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/divorce_and_infidelity/should_i_get_a_divorce/is_there_hope_for_my_marriage.aspx


© 2009 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-

Reverend Roosevelt Washington Brown - Apples of Gold - September 23, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 23, 2009

“Reverend Roosevelt Washington Brown”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Valentine’s Day, 1951.

The Reverend Archibald White arrived home bearing a gift for his lovely wife Susanna:  a West Highland White Terrier. 

The clerk had called it a “westie,” and Reverend White misunderstood that to be the dog’s name, and so it was.  He bought a collar that was just a little big, but big enough for the dog’s full name, “Westie White.”

The next morning Reverend White put Westie out in the back yard to take care of business, then rushed back in to answer the phone.  It was Mayor Joe Rex Tucker, and it was an emergency. 

“Arch,” said the mayor, “Reverend Brown is here with some of his men.  They say they just want to talk to me about the school situation, but I don’t like the smell of it.  Can you come down here and help me?  Maybe you can talk some sense into him, reverend-to-reverend.”

Reverend Roosevelt Washington Brown was not a troublemaker, and he certainly didn’t want to cause the mayor any more stress.  But something had to be done about the school. 

There was a white school in town, and a black school, and while the white school was well maintained, the black school needed some serious repairs.  They did some themselves, but yesterday a piece of the ceiling fell in and injured three of the students.  The need was urgent, so the people turned to the most respected man in their community, Reverend R. W. Brown.

Reverend Brown had a child in that school, his youngest daughter Ethel.  While the reverend and his men were visiting the mayor, Ethel was walking to school.

As she walked along, just the cutest little dog came running up behind her. 

“Hey boy!” she said.  “Why you’re a little darling!”

Ethel kneeled down and gave him a little scratch behind the ears. 

“Oh, you like that, don’t you boy!  What’s your name?”

She looked for a name tag or a collar, but there was none.

“Okay, you better run on home.  I have to go to school.”

But the little dog tagged along, getting tangled up in her feet, and almost making her drop her books.  Finally, at the school door she knelt down and said, “Okay boy.  Thanks for walking me to school, but I’ve got to go in, and you have to go home.  Now go!”

Reverend White arrived at the mayor’s office just as Reverend Brown and his men were walking out. 

“Why, I was just coming down to join the fun,” said Reverend White.  “I guess I missed it.”

Reverend Brown stopped and looked Reverend White in the eye.  “There’s nothing fun about your own child being in danger.”

Reverend White said, “Well if you spent more time working and less time bothering the mayor, maybe your school would be in better shape.”

“We need money to do that,” said Reverend Brown.  “We just want our fair share of the education tax dollars.”

“Oh, so it’s fair to take money from my children’s school.  Well I don’t think so, Reverend.  Now why don’t you gentlemen just run along and leave the mayor alone.”

At 1 p.m., as he always did, Reverend White came home for one of Susanna’s well-prepared lunches.  As he walked in the door he called out, “Westie!  Westie, come here boy!”

“Where’s Westie?”

“Oh, I completely forgot about him,” said Susanna.

They looked all over the house, but no Westie.  They looked in the back yard and the front yard.

Mrs. White went back inside, but Reverend White was worried.  He headed down the street, searching for their little dog.

Meanwhile, the school day came to an end at Abraham Lincoln Elementary.  As Ethel Brown began to walk home, she felt something nudge against her ankles.  It was the little dog again.

“There you are, boy!  Didn’t you go home?  Oh, is that your stomach growling?  You must be starving.  Maybe you don’t even have a home, oh my.  I know, why don’t you come home with me and we’ll fill that belly right up.”

The puppy kept tumbling around her feet so Ethel finally scooped him up into her arms.

Just then, Reverend White appeared around the corner.  Relief flooded him as he spotted Westie. 

But then he felt anger as he ran over to collect his dog.  What was this…this…girl…doing with Westie?  She must have taken him right out of the yard!

“Give me my dog!” he said, snatching the puppy from Ethel.  “Did you think you could get away with this?  I’m going to tell your parents exactly what you have done.”

On the front porch of the Brown home, Reverend White had much to say about Ethel and her crime.

Reverend Brown listened patiently, then said, “Reverend White.  I have much respect for you, but sometimes you are shortsighted.  You don’t step back and see the whole picture.  You have not looked thoroughly at the school situation, and you have not looked thoroughly at this situation.  I don’t think my daughter did what you are accusing her of, but I will look into it.  I will examine all of the evidence, and I suggest you do the same.”

“I have all the evidence I need,” said Reverend White, holding up Westie.  Then he turned his back on Reverend Brown and Ethel Brown and everything in that part of town.

After supper, and after he had settled down, Reverend White took Westie into the back yard.  The puppy began digging a little spot at the bottom of the fence.  The reverend went to shoo him away, then noticed another dug out spot.  He walked over and started kicking the dirt back in, and then he saw it.  Oh boy.  A dog collar, caught on the bottom of the fence.  “Westie White,” it said.

Reverend White apologized to Reverend Brown.  And to Ethel. 

He apologized to the mayor.  And he apologized to the entire congregation.  He told them what Reverend Brown had said.

“He was right.  I have been shortsighted.  I am guilty of not stepping back and seeing the whole picture.  But now, thanks to the godly rebuke of Reverend R. W. Brown, I am going to change.”

Then Reverend White began his sermon, from Psalm 141:5.

“Let a righteous man strike me – it is a kindness…”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

This is an original short story.  Any similarities to real people or places is purely coincidental.  And according to Google, until now there was no internet record of anyone named Reverend Roosevelt Washington Brown!

© 2009 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-

The Power Tool That Changes Lives - Apples of Gold - September 22, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 22, 2009

“The Power Tool That Changes Lives”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

A hundred years ago in England, Alice Baxter would slip on her blue bonnet and go out to change lives.

For 20 years she was the police court missionary in Lancashire County.  She worked in the rescue missions.  She visited women prisoners at the jail, and went door to door in the slums passing out gospel tracts.

Why did she do all that, especially as the single mother of three children?

Because she thoroughly believed in the power of Jesus Christ to transform lives.

She would witness during the day, then share her stories with the children that night.  They heard many tales of ruined lives, shattered by liquor, “that liquid gateway to ruin.” 

Many would not listen to her, but then one of the “ruined women” would accept the Gospel that Alice shared with them, and their life would be “transformed to the glory of God!”

This is the home that J. Sidlow Baxter grew up in, and eventually became the pastor of the largest Baptist church in Scotland.  He grew up watching his mother share the Gospel, then sharing stories of lives changed by Jesus Christ.

Alice Baxter did not believe in social reform.  She didn’t buy into the assumption that if you simply change someone’s environment you will change their life.

Instead, according to biographer E. A. Johnston, “she believed that communal problems stemmed from a moral and spiritual vacuum that only the Gospel of Christ could transform.”

Deron Gillespie knows what she’s talking about.  He saw it first hand in his own life.  He tried the secular rehabs with no real lasting effect.  But then he came to Christ, believed and received the Gospel, and his life was transformed.  He is now the executive director of the Tallahassee Teen Challenge.

Singer Smokey Robinson knows what Alice was talking about.  It wasn’t through secular rehabs that Smokey was delivered from his addiction to cocaine.  It was through the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

Gary Johnson knows what she’s talking about.  He is the Director of Development for the Haven of Rest home for men in Tallahassee, and a former cocaine addict.  He said, “Secularly, I did everything I could to try to deal with that.  But the minute that I accepted Christ, the minute that I turned my life over to Him, the change started to occur.”

And he’s seen many other lives changed by Jesus Christ there at the Haven of Rest.  “I’ve not seen anything else that’s done that,” he said, other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“I see it work every day,” Gary said.  “Every time I look in the mirror I see it working.  If it can happen for me, it can happen for anyone, believe me,” he said.  “And I know it works because I see it working all the time." 

That’s what drove Alice Baxter out into the streets of England with her blue bonnet and her Gospel tracts – the knowledge that what she was offering would literally transform the life of anyone who accepted it.  And just like it worked 100 years ago, it’s still working today.

Romans 1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”

Did you catch that?  The Gospel is the “power of God.”  The Gospel is the power tool that changes lives. 

Smokey Robinson describes his life as “hell,” and then Jesus set him free.

Gary Johnson said he thought he could “manage” his life, along with the drugs, but he managed himself right to destruction. 

But then Jesus comes along, and look at this terrific offer in John 10:10.  Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Do you want that abundant life?  Then it’s time to stop looking in self help books.  It’s time to stop looking in worldly success or new relationships or even drugs or alcohol.

The abundant life you are looking for, the deliverance, the life transformation, can be found by simply bringing your life to the real and living Jesus Christ.

And what He did for Alice Baxter, and Deron Gillespie, and Smokey Robinson, and Gary Johnson, and Doug Apple – He will do it for you!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

Alice Baxter’s story is taken from the book “J. Sidlow Baxter:  A Heart Awake” by E. A. Johnston

© 2009 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-

Why We Are Here - Apples of Gold - September 21, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 21, 2009

“Why We Are Here”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Many students are required to do community service.

One student told me she didn’t like that idea.

“They just do it to get it on their record,” she said.

“But at least they’re doing it,” I said.  “It’s better to do good because you are required to than to do no good at all.”

So I like the idea of required community service for students.  The main reason is that it opens the student’s eyes to the world around them.  It gets them outside the box of their little teenage existence.

For example, how many kids will volunteer on their own to help out at a homeless shelter?  Not many.  But some that are required to will end up having a passion for it.

Our communities are full of volunteers doing good deeds.  People helping people. 

And as Christians, that’s exactly what we are supposed to be doing:  good works.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…”

This is what we were made for.  It’s why we are here.  We function at our best when we are doing good works.

Steve Smith was a local man who recently passed away.  He was the head of The Men’s Fraternity of Wakulla.  One of the key missions for this group of men was to pool their talents and do good deeds for the people of Wakulla County.  For example, say an older woman had a back porch that was rotting.  They would go in and build a new one.

Then, instead of leaving a bill, they would just leave a little card with this headline, “Why We’re Here.”  One line inside the card says, “I want you to see God’s love in my service.”

The Men’s Fraternity of Wakulla is just one example of people doing good deeds.  Of course there are unlimited ways of doing good deeds. 

My goal today is to bring the need for good deeds back to the top of your mind.

What can you do as a good deed for others?

I know one woman with a passion for people in old folk’s homes.  She will visit them and take them gifts and even entertain them.  It’s not a paid job, it’s just a good deed that she does.

Titus 2:14 uses this phrase, “zealous for good works.”  That’s what we need to be, zealous for good works.

What good work are you zealous for?

I know several people who are foster parents.  That is an amazing good work, so necessary and so difficult.  I know people who adopt children, which becomes a lifelong good deed.

Galatians 6:10 says, “…as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

That means, when you are looking around for good deeds to do, a good place to start is within your own church. 

But we don’t hide our good deeds inside the church.  First Peter 2:12 says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”

Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

So we do good deeds within the church, and we do good deeds out in the community.  And we do them in such a way that people will see them and glorify God in the process.

Titus 3:8 says we should, “…be careful to maintain good works.”

Maintaining good works is a little more challenging than just doing a good work once in a while.  It’s not that hard to do the occasional good deed.  But doing good deeds is something we should do, and keep on doing.

Titus 3:14 uses this phrase, “…learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs…”

So when you are looking around for a good deed to do, look for the most urgent needs.  Yes, there are many nice things we can do, but urgent needs take priority.

One thing that can quickly dry up your good deeds is when you suddenly have a great need yourself.  Don’t let that happen. 

First Peter 4:19 says that, even when we ourselves are suffering, we should continue to do good. 

One thing to keep in mind is that, as you do good works, you are setting a good example for others.  Paul wrote in Titus 2:7 that in all things he should show himself to be a pattern of good works.

So when other people look at our lives, do they see us as a pattern of good works?

Tabitha was, according to Acts 9:36.  It says she was a woman “full of good works and charitable deeds…”

First Timothy 6:18 uses this phrase, “…to be rich in good deeds…”

So what can you do to be full of good works and rich in charitable deeds?  Look around.  There are so many needs.  No, you can’t meet them all, but you can meet some. 

Hebrews 10:24 says we should spur one another on “toward love and good deeds,” so consider this your spur today.  It’s time to get the horse moving.

This is what we were made for.  It’s why we are here.  We function at our best when we are doing good works.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 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-

What Did Jesus Mean By Resist Not Evil? - Apples of Gold - September 18, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 18, 2009

“What Did Jesus Mean By Resist Not Evil?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Do not resist an evil person.”

That’s exactly what it says in Matthew 5:39.  The King James says, “…resist not evil…”

Well what on earth does that mean?

Do we take that literally?  Does it apply in all situations, for everyone, all the time?  Are we to never resist evil?

Just think what kind of society we would have if no one resisted evil.  If good people didn’t take a stand, evil would prevail.  Gangs would run the cities.  Hitlers would run the nations.  The world would quickly become a terrible place.

Now look what Jesus said in Luke 6.  “If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”

Well what would that world look like?  First of all, you would have nothing, because plenty of people want everything you have and would ask for it instantly if you were giving it away.  And if they knew you wouldn’t resist, they would just come take it.

And don’t forget all the sickos out there.  Someone would take your wife and kids.  And if we give to everyone who asks, and we don’t resist evil, then evil people will ask for all kinds of evil things.

The world would become a wretched place so fast you would go insane.

Does something inside you say, “That can’t be right”?

But if it isn’t, then what did Jesus mean?  And how do we know?  I mean, we can’t just take the Bible and make it fit our preconceived notions. 

Well here is what we do.  We use the Bible as a whole to help us understand the parts.

For example, Jesus said, “Do not resist an evil person.”

So here is a simple question.  Did Jesus Himself ever resist an evil person?

The answer is yes.  For example, in Matthew 21 the chief priests and the elders asked Him, “By what authority are you doing these things?”

A simple question, right?  But did Jesus give a simple answer?  No.

In Mark 8 the Pharisees asked Jesus for a “sign from heaven.”  Did He give it to them?  No.

More than once they tried to seize Jesus.  They even wanted to kill Him.  In Luke 4 they took him “to the brow of the hill…in order to throw him down the cliff.”  That’s what they wanted, but did Jesus give it to them?  No.

At his trial, several times, they asked for answers, but Jesus refused to give them.

In Luke 13 Jesus was told that Herod wanted to kill him.  So when Jesus learned what Herod wanted, did he go give it to him?  No.

In Luke 23, during the trial, Herod wanted Jesus to perform a miracle.  Did he?  No.

So Jesus resisted evil people many times.

And so did the disciples.  More than once they were told to stop teaching in the name of Jesus, but did they?  No.  Acts 5:42 says, “…they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”

So is there an explanation for this behavior? 

Yes there is.  Look at Acts 4:18, 19.  “Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.’”

So there’s the answer.  What God wants from us takes priority over what people want from us.

For example, First Timothy 5:8 says that I must provide for my family.  So what if an evil person wants to take my provision for my family?  Or what if someone simply asks for everything I own.  Am I supposed to give it to them?

Well if I do, then I’m not providing for my family. 

And you know what?  There are plenty of people out there who would love to kill me just for the sport of it.  There are places in this world where radical Muslims would love nothing more than to decapitate me for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  So should I just let them, not resist them?

That’s not what Jesus did, so that must not be what He meant by, “Do not resist an evil person” and “Give to everyone who asks.”

So what did He mean?  What did Jesus mean by anything He said?  We find out by looking at the entirety of His teaching, not just by pulling one thing out here and there and treating it like a blanket statement. 

Yes, we do what Jesus said – within the context of all that He said.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2009 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-

Remember That Omnipotence Has Servants Everywhere - Apples of Gold - September 17, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 17, 2009

“Remember That Omnipotence Has Servants Everywhere”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

 

One hundred and fifty-four years ago, Thomas T. Lynch wrote:

“Say not, my soul, ‘From whence
Can God relieve my care?’
Remember that Omnipotence
Has servants everywhere.”

I know it’s hard to follow poems on the radio, so let me say it again.

“Say not, my soul, ‘From whence
Can God relieve my care?’
Remember that Omnipotence
Has servants everywhere.”

That really encourages me, to know that God has servants everywhere.  That means that wherever I go, whatever situation I’m in, God has someone nearby that can help.

Like when our washer broke down the other day.  It’s not that old, and my wife was none too pleased.  Who wants to spend a bunch of money fixing something that shouldn’t be broken in the first place?

Meanwhile, somewhere along the line, I guess one of the kids put a Wave 94 window cling on the washing machine.  You know how it is when you have a bunch of kids in the house, things end up in weird places.  So there it was, plain as day on the washer, Every Day is a Praise Day at Wave 94.

So anyway, the washer repairman showed up, and guess what?  Turns out he listens to Wave 94.

Now I’m not saying he treated us differently.  I don’t know.  But he did treat us very well.  We were very blessed to have that man work on our washer.

So that was a situation that felt like a curse, but ended up feeling like a blessing – because one of God’s servants came walking through the door.

And I can’t tell you how many times that has happened in my life, where I found myself in a jam, then all of a sudden one of God’s servants came on the scene.

“Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere.”

It reminds me of the story in Mark 14, when Jesus sent two disciples to prepare for the Last Supper.  He told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.  Follow him.  Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks; Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’  He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready.”

Apparently the disciples didn’t know the owner of the house, yet he had a larger upper room, furnished and ready. 

That meant that, before the disciples knew anything about it, that man was prepared for them.

“Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere.”

Now I’m thinking of the story in First Kings 19, when Elijah was whining to God.  “I have been very zealous for You, but the Israelites have rejected You and killed Your prophets and I am the only one left.”

And God said, “…I reserve seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal…”

Elijah thought he was all alone, but God informed him that there were actually 7,000 more like him.

“Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere.”

Now I’m thinking of something that Paul said at the end of the book of Philippians.  He wrote about the saints in “Caesar’s household.” 

In the household of Caesar you might not expect to find fellow Christians, and yet there they were, servants of God.

Remember the Philippian jailer, how he and his whole household were saved?  I wonder how many times after that he served other Christians at surprising points in their life.

And it’s more than just people.  Hebrews 1:14 says, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”

And remember the story in Second Kings 6, when Elisha’s servant looked out and saw an army surrounding the city?  He ran back to Elisha and said, “Oh my lord, what shall we do?”  And Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid.  Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.”  And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire.

And don’t forget Balaam’s donkey, or the fish with money in its mouth, or the fish that swallowed Jonah. 

Psalm 119:91 says of the Lord, “…for all things serve You.”

So be encouraged today, no matter what situation you find yourself in.

Just remember these lines that Thomas T. Lynch wrote so many years ago:

“Say not, my soul, ‘From whence
Can God relieve my care?’
Remember that Omnipotence
Has servants everywhere.”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


Here is that poem in its entirety:

Say not, my soul, 'From whence
'Can God relieve my care?'
Remember that Omnipotence
Has servants everywhere.

God's help is always sure,
His method seldom guessed;
Delay will make our pleasure pure,
Surprise will give it zest.

His wisdom is sublime,
His heart profoundly kind;
God never is before His time,
And never is behind.

Hast thou assumed a load,
Which few will share with thee,-
And art thou carrying it for God,
And shall He fail to see?

Be comforted at heart,
Thou art not left alone;
Now, thou the Lord's companion art;
Soon, thou wilt share His throne.


© 2009 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-

Don't Give Up On Them! - Apples of Gold - September 16, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 16, 2009

“Don’t Give Up On Them!”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“He was just a stubborn old you-know-what.”

That’s what Allison said about her father-in-law, Arnold Dean.

And when it came to church his attitude was, “Just do your own thing and leave me out of it.”

His wife begged him, and he actually did come when she was baptized, but going to church was something he had no interest in.

Now let me ask you, do you have a loved one like this?  They’re just not interested in God or church or religion – and they certainly don’t want to hear anything about Jesus or sin or forgiveness.

Well here is the message for you today.  Don’t give up on them!

Now back to crusty old Arnold Dean.  I said “old,” but really he was only 51, and he wasn’t all that crusty.  His heart was just hard to the things of God.

Then he got cancer.  And that changed everything, right?

Well, no.  It didn’t.

Even after the radiation, even after losing his hair, they still had to basically beg him just to go to church on Easter Sunday.

So there he was, reluctant, but there.  Allison decided that she just had to get her father-in-law down to the altar. 

So she grabbed him and said, “Come up front with me.”

“No, no, no, no,” he said.

“Please just come up there,” she said.  She was crying.

“Allison, this is more for you than for me.”

“Then do it for me.” 

“So I drug him up there,” she said, “and he was just grumbling.  I asked the pastor, ‘Will you just pray for him?’”

And guess what happened to Mr. Arnold Dean there at the altar that beautiful Easter Sunday?

Well, apparently nothing.

“I’m gonna kill you,” he told Allison afterwards. 

“He was embarrassed and irritated,” she said. 

Have you ever done that with a loved one?  You thought it was just the right moment.  “This is the day!  This is the time, I just know it!”  And then…nothing.  They just get more irritated with you than ever.

Maybe you’re in that spot right now, that “nothing zone” where you have tried and failed and you almost feel like washing your hands of them.  “It’s between them and God now,” you say to yourself.  “I’ve done all I can do.”

Well here is the message for you today.  Don’t give up on them!

June rolled around and Arnold’s health was getting worse.  He was in the hospital and not doing well.

One Monday Allison and a friend went to visit.  Her mother-in-law Barbara was there, and also there to visit were the pastor and the pastor’s brother.

At some point, as pastors always do when making hospital visits, Pastor Brian said to Arnold, “Well, can we pray for you?”

So they all stood around his bed and held hands.  It was nothing special, Allison said, just normal praying.

“All of a sudden,” she said, “we heard this childlike voice.  I had to look around to see who it was.”

It was Mr. Arnold Dean – crying out to God.

“Jesus, Jesus.  I’m sorry.  I’ve ran from you my whole life.  I can’t do this anymore.  I can’t do this alone.  Please, the rest is yours.  If you’ll just forgive me for what I’ve done until now, you can have what’s left of it.”

He continued blurting out to God in broken sentences, repenting in that humble, childlike voice.

“It was thick in that room,” Allison said.  “I have never been in a room like that.  The Spirit was strong.  It was a glorious and intense moment.  I can’t even explain it.”

The pastor said, “I’ve been around this stuff since I was 15 years old, but I’ve never felt anything like that.”

And from that moment on, Allison said, Arnold Dean was a changed man. 

“I thought he would just go through the motions,” she said, “but it was complete.  He was surrendered.”

After that he prayed and he told others how he just wanted to love God.

That was on June 15^th, 2009.

This past Thursday Mr. Dean passed away.

“I’m so grateful for his salvation,” Allison said, “and knowing where he’s at now.”

And what would Allison say to anyone who is struggling with an unsaved loved one?

“There’s hope!” she said.  “If he can change, anybody can change.”

So if you have a lost loved one, and their heart seems hard toward the things of God, and it just seems like they will never come to the Lord, well here is the message for you today.

Don’t give up on them!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.



© 2009 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-

New Creations, Old Temptations - Apples of Gold - September 14, 2009 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.

 

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 14, 2009

“New Creations, Old Temptations”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Paul was born again. 

If there was ever anyone who was born again, it was Paul.

If there was ever anyone walking in the Spirit and living in the Spirit and having the fruit of the Spirit, it was Paul.

Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…”

Then in Galatians 5:24 he wrote, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”

So in Christ, Paul was a new creation; the old was gone!  The old Paul was crucified and no longer lived.  He had crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

That’s awesome!  No more battles with sin.  No more problems with temptation.  That’s what we will all get when we become born again Christians, right?

But wait.  In Romans 7 Paul wrote, “…what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.”  “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”  “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”  “What a wretched man I am!”

Wow, that doesn’t sound like the old was gone.  It doesn’t sound like his sinful nature had been crucified with its passions and desires.

It sounds to me like the old sinful Paul was still alive and kicking in there somewhere. 

Maybe you have experienced this, too.  You came to Christ.  You repented.  You were forgiven.  And you could really tell the difference.  You were born again!  The weight of sin had been lifted!  You were a new person, a new creation in Christ!

But then you noticed a temptation or two.  You noticed a sinful desire.  You knew it was bad, but something was pulling you towards it anyway.

“But wait a minute!  I’m a new creation in Christ!  The old has gone, the new has come!  I thought that old nature was crucified with Christ!  Why do I still feel drawn to some sin, some evil?  I thought I was done with all that.”

“Wait a minute.  Maybe it’s because I’m not saved.  Maybe I never was saved.  I mean, I thought I was.  I really thought God had changed my life.  But maybe not, otherwise, why would I struggle with this temptation?”

Well do you think the Apostle Paul was saved?  Of course he was.  And yet he battled temptation.

The Apostle Peter called it a war.  In First Peter 2:11 he wrote, “Beloved, I beg you…abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul.” (NIV and NKJV)

Ephesians 2:3 calls it “the cravings of our sinful nature…its desires and thoughts.”

Different verses call it different things.  It’s the sinful nature, the old self, the old man, the earthly nature, the flesh.

“But Doug, if I still have to battle the flesh, what good did it do to get saved?”

Read Romans 6.  Before we were saved, we were slaves to sin.  But now through Christ we have been set free from that slavery.  Sin does not have to be our master.  Sin’s chains were broken.

Plus, we now have the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us. 

So through Christ we have the tools to be victorious over sin.  That’s the good it did.

But we still have that earthly, sinful nature, with its desires that war against our soul.  In Romans 7 Paul went so far as to call it “sin living in me.”

So if there is this living thing within me, with its evil desires, what should I do about it?

Well Paul said to put it to death.  Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death…whatever belongs to your earthly nature…”

How do you do that?

Well think of this illustration.  Think of our sin nature like a pile of wood.  Technically it could burn any minute, but it won’t without heat.  For the wood to ignite, something has to come along and heat it up.  But if you keep the heat away from the wood, it will never burn.

Our sin nature is like that.  If we keep the heat away from it, it won’t burn.

Now here is a key to keeping the heat away.  Romans 13:14 says, “…do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

Don’t even think about it. 

A temptation pops up.  Your sinful nature taps you on the shoulder and says, “I want that.” 

Now the battle is in your mind.  What you think about will win the battle.  And Romans says don’t even think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

The King James says, “…make no provision for the flesh…”

Give the flesh no provision – no food, no water, no tools, no opportunities.  Give it nothing to work with.

Galatians 6:8 warns us that if we sow to please our sinful nature, from that nature we will reap destruction.

So we don’t even think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  Instead, like it says in Romans 8:5, we should set our mind on what the Spirit desires.  Verse six talks about the “mind controlled by the Spirit.”

We are to set our mind on things above.  (Colossians 3:2)

We are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:2)

We are to love the Lord with all of our mind.  (Mark 12:30)

And we are to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.  (Colossians 3:16)

So yes, we are saved, but we still have a sinful nature warring against our soul.  To win the war, we must not even think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Instead, we think about what the Holy Spirit desires.  We renew our mind.  We fix it on the Lord and His Word. 

This is living the Spirit-led life, the victorious life.  It’s the life God set us free to live – a life more abundant. 

We have the power to overcome any and all of those old temptations, for in Christ we really are new creations.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.



© 2009 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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