Training Doesn't Stop at the Potty - Apples of Gold - January 20, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 20, 2010

“Training Doesn’t Stop at the Potty”

 

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

Seventeen years ago this month we added child number four to the family.

They’re all two years apart, and when people asked their ages I would say, “6, 4, 2 and new.”

And each year, when the January baby has her birthday, I just go ahead and roll all their ages up.  So starting next week, when people ask how old my children are, I will say, “23, 21, 19 and 17.”

Now if you’re a parent with little kids at home, my kids sound ancient.  But it wasn’t that long ago they were little tykes like yours, so I want to share with you one little parenting tip that worked for me.  Here it is.

Training doesn’t stop at the potty.

I mention potty training because every parent knows how important that is.  It’s your job, and no one is going to do it for you.  You can’t send your child to kindergarten in diapers, and you’re sick of buying diapers, so you finally buckle down and potty train, and you don’t give up until it’s done.  We all understand the vital importance of potty training.

But somewhere along the line a lot of parents give up training their children.  They leave it up to the school and the church and, heaven help us, their peers. 

So my message today is, training doesn’t stop at the potty.

Now don’t get all knotted up about it, like I just put a 500 pound gorilla on your back.  Training your child doesn’t have to be some terrible burden.  In fact, it can be quite entertaining.

For example, here is something I did a few times when my kids were about 9, 7, 5 and 3.  You know how kids are when you go to the store.  They want this and that and . . . everything.  So here is what I would do.  I would tell them they had five dollars, and they could buy pretty much whatever they wanted, but they all had to agree.

That is a great training exercise!  They are learning cooperation and negotiation and even sales. 

Well they would bicker, then appeal to me and I would say, “You have five dollars.  Buy what you want – but you all have to agree.  If you don’t agree, you don’t get anything.”

What I’m talking about is getting involved, and staying involved in your kids’ lives, and especially in their training. 

Proverbs 22:6 indicates that we are to train up our children in the way they should go.

See, there are ways they should go and ways they shouldn’t – and it’s our job to train them up to know the difference.

There’s another great proverb about child rearing, Proverbs 29:15.  The last part says, “…a child left to himself disgraces his mother.” 

Now let that phrase burn into your brain:  “a child left to himself.”

We are not to leave our children to themselves.  We don’t just let them go and learn things on their own.  It is our job to train them, and that includes all areas of life.

For example, when the kids were small, and I had to do a chore, I would often take them with me.  If I had to go to the basement to fix a pipe, I would grab the nearest child and have them watch. 

Then when they got older, I would actually put the tool in their hand and have them do it. 

Have you ever had to replace the parts inside the toilet tank?  Well yes, you could do it yourself, but why not get one of the kids in there to do it?  No, I’m in no way talking about slave labor.  I’m talking about training up our children.  They will have to fix their own toilet someday – might as well train them now.

My son wasn’t too happy the last time I had him do that, but guess what?  Now he is married and running his own household, and if something goes wrong, he has the confidence to jump in and fix it, instead of standing there helplessly while his wife calls the plumber.

My daughter replaced her own tail light the other day.  No, she wasn’t happy about it, but now she knows how it works.  Someday, if some guy tries to charge her big bucks to replace her tail light, she can simply say, “No thanks, I’ll do it myself.” 

Training our children gives them confidence.

I’ve even done it with other people’s children when they’re staying at our house.  One day I was taking apart something and wanted to save the boards.  There were two young boys at the house, so I got them outside and had them start taking nails out of the boards.  Well guess what?  They didn’t know how.  They had never pulled nails with a hammer before. 

One time there was a boy riding his bike at our house and his handlebars went crooked.  He asked me to fix them and guess who ended up holding the tools?  He did!  And he learned how to straighten handlebars. 

There are so many training opportunities, but we have to keep an eye out for them.  Instead of jumping in and doing everything ourselves, we need to ask, “Is this a training opportunity?”

Kids are all born knowing nothing, and how are they going to learn?

Well it’s our job to train them.

We train them to eat, we train them to walk and we train them to use the restroom.

But it doesn’t stop there, so here is your reminder today.

Training doesn’t stop at the potty.


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 
 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 Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Net - Apples of Gold - January 18, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 18, 2010

“The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Net”

 

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

Jesus said, “…the kingdom of heaven is like a net…”

Have you ever gone net fishing?  You never know what you’re going to catch.  Net fishing is not very specific, you just put the net out and pull it back – then you sort out your catch. 

That’s what Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like.  It’s like a net that is cast into the sea and catches all kinds of fish.

And inside the net are two categories of fish:  good fish and bad fish.

And don’t miss the point – the fish represent people.

Jesus is teaching about the end.  The King James calls it “the end of the world.”  The NIV says “the end of the age.”

So at the end, a net is cast and both good and bad are brought in.  And Matthew 13:49 says, “…the angels shall come forth…”

And, just like fishermen sorting their catch on the shore, the angels will separate the people into two groups:  good and bad.

Fishermen keep the good fish, you know.  The good fish stay with them, and the good people stay with the angels.

But the primary focus seems to be on the bad people, whom Jesus called “the wicked.” 

Jesus said, “The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 

The King James says, “…the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

That’s what will happen at the end.  It’s as sure as you are alive and breathing.  People will be separated, and some will be cast into the furnace of fire.

Those people are on the very, very bad end of the deal, and you don’t want to be one of them.

On the good end of the deal are “the just,” also called “the righteous.”

So, just be a good little boy or girl and you will avoid the fiery furnace, right?  Just as long as your good outweighs your bad – is that the way it works?

Well, there’s one problem with that.  Romans 3 says we are all “under sin.”  Verse 10 says, “…there is no one righteous, not even one…”

So how does that work?  The angels are going to rescue the righteous from the fire, and yet no one is righteous. 

Well here’s how it works.  No one is righteous . . . on their own. 

But thank goodness Romans 3 gives us another route to righteousness.  Verse 21 says, “But now a righteousness from God…has been made known…”

Verse 22 says, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Verse 25 says it’s “through faith in His blood.”

And verse 26 says that God “justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

So we are not righteous on our own.  Under our own power we can never be good enough to make the cut.  At the end, at that great sorting of the fish, we will be cast into the fiery furnace.

Mark 16:16 says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Believe what? 

Ephesians 1 calls it believing the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. 

Romans 1 says the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

So what is the “gospel”?

In First Corinthians 15, Paul wrote, “…I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you.”  And he followed with this summary of the gospel, “that Christ died for our sins,” “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve,” and then to “more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time…”

And Paul concluded, “…this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”

This is what we call becoming a Christian.  This is “getting saved.”  It is believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ for yourself.  It is receiving through faith God’s forgiveness of your sins through the blood of Christ, and becoming just and righteous before the Lord.

The believers are the righteous and just.  They are the good fish in that parable.

It’s the parable of the net.  At the end the net will be cast, people will be gathered, and then separated.

We believers, made righteous through Christ, we will stay.

And the wicked, they shall be cast into the furnace of fire where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

It’s just like Jesus said. 

The kingdom of heaven is like a net. 


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 
 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-

Pharisee Swallows Camel - Apples of Gold - January 15, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 15, 2010

“Pharisee Swallows Camel”

 

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

So you read about the Pharisees in the Bible, but who were those guys?  And what lessons can we learn from them?

Well the Pharisees were sort of like a religious club.  Warren Wiersbe says there were about 6,000 of them in Jesus’ day, and they were mostly middle-class businessmen. 

The word Pharisee comes from a word that means “to separate.”  The Pharisees prided themselves in being separate from the Gentiles, and from the less orthodox Jews.

And they basically created their own code of ethics, their own rules of conduct, and tacked them onto the Law of Moses.  It was a lot of hoops to jump through, and that helped keep the group elite.  Only the most special, the most “godly,” were Pharisees.

So why did they have such an adversarial relationship with Jesus?

Well Jesus summed a lot of it up in Matthew 23:24.  He called them “blind guides” and said, “You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”

That’s sort of like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  It’s missing the forest for the trees.  The Pharisees were a textbook case of missing the big picture.  They focused on what was less important and often missed what was truly important.

Now listen to what Jesus said in Luke 11:52.  He said, “…you have taken away the key to knowledge.” 

If true knowledge was locked up, and you thought the Pharisees would unlock it for you, you’d be wrong.  The Pharisees would actually keep you from finding true knowledge.

And one more sweeping statement Jesus said about them.  In Luke 12 He told His disciples, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”  How were they hypocrites?  Jesus said in Matthew 23, “…they do not practice what they preach.”

So the Pharisees were not exactly good role models, but we can learn some important lessons from their mistakes.

The biggest lesson, I think, is making the main thing the main thing.  At one point they asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  And Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

So that’s the big picture, love God and love people.  We can measure all we do and think against that standard.  Is it loving God and loving people?

But what did the Pharisees love?  Luke 16:14 says the Pharisees loved money.  And Luke 11:42 says they loved the “most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.”

Yes, they did a lot of things that looked godly, but they didn’t do them out of love for God or people.  They did them to look good and be important.

In Matthew 23 Jesus said, “Everything they do is done for men to see:  They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’” 

They were all about exalting themselves, but what did Jesus say?  “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

So that’s another lesson we can learn from the Pharisees.  Instead of thinking of ways we can exalt ourselves, we need to work on truly humbling ourselves.

The Pharisees constantly focused on what they looked like on the outside, because that’s what people can see.  They wanted to look good and look religious to other people.  But the heart is what’s important!  Once again they missed the big picture. 

Jesus told them, “You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee!”  And He added, “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Yes, Jesus had a real problem with the Pharisees!

And one of His major problems with them was their lack of love for people.  For example, they were all concerned about eating out of ritualistically clean dishes, but Jesus basically said, instead of getting all hung up about the outside of the dish, how about giving some of the food inside the dish to the poor?

Their little rules missed the bigger rule of love.  For example, they condemned Jesus for healing hurting people on the Sabbath.

And they criticized Jesus for eating with unclean people.  But Jesus said those were exactly the people He was trying to reach!  He compared it to going after lost sheep, and told of all the rejoicing that takes place in heaven when even one sinner repents.

Yes, there are many lessons we can learn from the Pharisees.

We need to be humble before God instead of proud before people.

We need to check ourselves for hypocrisy, making sure we practice what we preach.

And we need to keep the main thing the main thing, bring everything back to the two great commandments:  love God and love people.


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 
 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-

There Stands One Among You - Apples of Gold - January 13, 2010 -vi-

***This is one best heard in the original audio version.  The music and effects make the difference.***

 

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 13, 2010

“There Stands One Among You”

 

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

(begin music)

His eyes scan the crowd.

He’s here, somewhere.

Face to face to face – he looks but doesn’t see what he’s looking for.

Wait…was that him?

A group of men approach from his left.  He’s aware of them, but unconcerned.  He’s been expecting them.  It was not a matter of if, but when.

“May we have a word with you?”

“Go ahead.”

“We’re on official business.”

“So am I.”

He looks as if he’s looking at someone.  Their eyes follow his, but they see nothing.

(excerpt of preacher:  “John answered them saying, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.’”)

(music transition)

In a hospital room, a mother leans over the bed and strokes the hair out of her little girl’s eyes – eyes that have been closed for days.  The family has gathered, waiting for the pastor.  The girl is still . . . and they wait.

(excerpt of preacher saying, “…but there stands One among you whom you do not know.”)

(music transition)

The men gather closer to the speaker in the wild clothes.

“We’ve been sent to ask you a question.  Maybe we should find a more private place.”

“Here is fine.”

One nods permission, and another man speaks.

“Our question is this.  Who are you?”

(excerpt of preacher saying, “There stands One among you whom you do not know.”)

(music transition)

After a grand introduction, a preacher takes a stage in New Delhi.  Friends are near the front, but there’s hostility on the edges.  He is not preaching to the choir today.  And a little buzz of fear grips him. 

Maybe he shouldn’t do this.  Maybe he just needs to go back to the States, to his little family.  He feels weak.  He feels dread.  But they have planned this.  They have called together this crowd, and the Gospel must go forth. 

But he can’t do it in his own power.

(excerpt of preacher saying, “There stands One among you whom you do not know.”)

(music transition)

In the wilderness, the man is prepared to answer his interrogators.  And he looks back through the people one more time.  And there he is.  They make eye contact.  He is there. 

The man looks back – John looks back – and now he is prepared to give an answer. 

“I am not the Christ,” he says.

“Then why do you baptize?”

“I baptize with water . . . but there stands One among you whom you do not know.”

(There stands One among you…)

And the pastor arrives at the little girl’s hospital bedside.  “The doctors offer no hope,” he says to the lost family.  “But there stands One among you…”

(There stands One among you…)

And the preacher takes the microphone in New Delhi.  “You’ve all come to get something, but I have nothing to offer.  However, there stands One among you…”

(There stands One among you…)

It was true for John the Baptist, and the pastor in the hospital, and the preacher in New Delhi, and it’s true for you today.  There is hope, and it’s found in “the One,” the One who stands among us even now.  Though unseen, and unknown by most, He is here. 

He is our Lord and risen Savior, Jesus Christ.

He is . . . The One.

(music out)



© 2010 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 Are You Doing With Your Raw Materials? - Apples of Gold - January 12, 2010 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.   

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 12, 2010

“What Are You Doing With Your Raw Materials?”

 

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

So we had a bright young man in the studio yesterday.

He had written some inspirational scripts and he came in to record them.

He was excited.  “Yeah, it’s like God just gave me the ideas and I sat down and wrote them as fast as I could.  The words were just flowing.”

So we set him up, turned on the mic, and he started reading.  And he started stumbling over some of the words and phrases.  And he started mumbling under his breath.  And several times he just stopped and said, “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Were his ideas not so good after all?

No, that wasn’t it.  The ideas were good. 

Was he not a good writer? 

Oh I’m sure he can write just fine. 

So what was the problem?

The problem was that it was only a rough draft.  He mistook the raw material for a finished product.

Oh, he started well enough.  He felt inspired by God and got the ideas down on paper.  He did the right thing by writing and writing, furiously pulling the information from thin air and putting it into words.  When you are inspired like that, you’ve got to get the information down before you forget.

But then you have to step back and look at it.  What do you have?

Raw material.  The real work begins now – now that you have the raw material.

For the young man in the studio, getting the ideas was easy.  He said they just came to him.  So he did the easy part.  He received the ideas and got them down on paper. 

But then comes the hard part, which is turning the raw material into something beautiful.

So what he should have done was step back, take a look and say, “What do I have here?  What can I do with it?  How can I best present this information to the world?  What can I say to make them sit up and pay attention?  How can I say it so they will actually ‘get it’ and apply it to their life?”

Then he should have rewritten his scripts.  He should have taken that raw material, that lump of clay, and formed it into something both useful and beautiful.

And now here’s the point.  I think God has given us all raw material to work with.  We all have gifts and skills and resources, but they are not a finished product.  They are simply raw material.

So the question is – what are you doing with your raw material?

Now think about Jesus’ parable of the talents, in Matthew 25.  It says the kingdom of heaven is like a man going on a journey who left his goods in the care of his servants.

It says he gave one servant five talents of money, another servant two talents, and another one talent.

That was their raw material.  They were not all given the same raw material, but they were all expected to do something with it.

The first two went at once and put their money to work.  They took their raw material and doubled its value.

And when the master returned he told each of them, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.”

But the third servant did nothing to increase the value of his raw material. 

And what did the master call him?  Wicked and lazy. 

Well I sure don’t want to be wicked and lazy!  I want to take the raw materials God gives me and turn them into something.  I want to take the muddy lumps of clay and turn them into objects both useful and beautiful.

When God gives me 2, I want to turn it into 4.

So think about it.  What do you have?  What raw materials has God given you?

Well don’t bury them.  Don’t sit on them and do nothing.

One day He’s going to ask about them, and what do we want to hear:  “wicked and lazy” or “good and faithful”?

Well I want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant!” 

And that means I need to identify my raw materials, then do the work to increase their value.

So I’ll leave you with this question, one more time.

What are you doing with your raw materials?


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 
 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-

So You Just Can't Get Into Reading the Bible - Apples of Gold - January 11, 2010 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.   

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 11, 2010

“So You Just Can’t Get Into Reading the Bible”

 

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

“Everybody says, ‘Read the Bible.  You’ve got to read the Bible.’”

“Well I read it, but I don’t understand it.  I don’t even know what I’m reading half the time.”

I hear this a lot, and I just heard it from someone over the weekend.

Some say, “I’m just not good at reading.”  Others say, “I can read, but I don’t get much out of it.”

And then we throw the Bible at them. 

So what about these people?  Are they relegated to being second class Christians?  Are they doomed to get all their Bible information second hand?

I don’t think so, and I have a plan for those people.  If you want to read the Bible but just can’t get into it, here is a plan for you.

First of all, you need to know that when you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside you. 

Second Timothy 1:14 says the Holy Spirit “lives in us.”

Ephesians 3:16 talks about His Spirit in our “inner being.”

So the Spirit of God lives inside you, and Jesus said in John 16:13 that the Spirit “will guide you into all truth.”

In verse 15 Jesus said, “…the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”

So what does that mean?  Well it means you can study the Bible and learn from it because the Holy Spirit inside you will guide you!

Okay, so I said I had a plan for you, and I do.  But it’s built on that foundation, that when you pick up the Bible to read it, the Holy Spirit is going to do something.

Now, when you pick up your Bible, start in the New Testament.  The Old Testament has a lot of good stuff, but you have to know the context, so it’s better to start in the New Testament.  And if you don’t have a better idea, I say start at the beginning, in the book of Matthew.

Before you begin, take time to pray.  Talk to God and surrender your study time to Him.  It’s sort of like coming respectfully into the presence of the Teacher.

Then it’s time to open up and start reading.  And now here is something that bogs people down.  They start reading and it starts to get foggy and soon they are just lost.  They don’t get it, they lose interest and they finally quit.

So, as a new student of the Bible, don’t worry about understanding every single thing you read.  And don’t worry about gulping down giant portions of scripture. 

Just start reading, and here’s what I want you to look for.  I want you to look for what I call “a bell ringer.” 

You can start with a prayer like this, “Lord, I’m going to read Your Word, and I’m going to read until I hit a ‘bell ringer,’ that particular truth that You want to leap out to me today.”

I have done this many times, and here is what will happen.  I will read a few verses, and it may run into a few chapters, but then all of a sudden a particular verse or phrase will leap out at me.  It’s like the clouds part and the sun shines on that one truth. 

It’s when you stop and say, “Mmmm, that’s good!”  And you read it again.  And again.

That, my friend, is the bell ringer!

I believe that is the Holy Spirit guiding you into all truth.  He is “lighting up” one thing for you, something for you to learn and to apply to your life.

Now you can stop reading.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve only read one verse, when the light comes on, you can stop. 

Write it down.  Put it on a card.  Tuck it in your pocket.  Stick it on your mirror.  Make copies and put it up everywhere.  Make it your Facebook status.  Meditate on it.  Memorize it.  Think about how you should apply it.

And then you can find out what others think of that verse.  Ask your pastor or a Bible teacher.  Read some commentaries.  These can help keep you from misunderstanding or taking a verse out of context. 

But this is the truth of God from scripture.  It’s food for the soul. 

See how that works?  You don’t have to understand everything you read.  And you don’t have to read page after page after page.  You just read until you hit that one thing, something I believe the Holy Spirit will guide you to.

I’m not saying this is a complete and comprehensive Bible study plan, but it’s a start.  It’s a way to get into the Bible when you just can’t get into it.

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

With this plan, you are doing that.  You are diligently seeking Him through the study of His Word.

So do you want to read the Bible, but you just can’t get into it?

Then here is a plan for you.  Pray, then start reading until you come across that bell ringer.


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 
 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-

Moving Right Along - Apples of Gold - January 7, 2010 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.   

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 7, 2010

“Moving Right Along”

 

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

The first time I met Tim I cleared a wide path.

He was coming into the weight room as I was leaving.  He had long hair, huge arms, and even though he was shorter than me he was twice as wide.

And he carried the biggest gym bag.  When a guy carries a massive gym bag into the weight room, it’s best to just get out of the way.

He was older, and I think he was wearing a Rambo-like head band.  I was thinking, “Viet Nam vet, burning off his hostilities in the weight room, getting bigger and meaner every day.”

Now I didn’t know him.  That was just my stereotype. 

But he did look big and mean and I just thought, “Nothing good can come from an encounter with that guy,” so I steered clear.

What I should have done was witness to him, or at least befriend him, but, sadly and pathetically, I did not.

But someone did, and Tim became a Christian.  And he ended up coming to our church, and to my Sunday school class.

God had truly saved Tim and done a wonderful work in his life.  He loved the Lord and had a real passion for Bible study.

And as a Bible teacher, I loved having someone like Tim in my class, someone hungry for the Word. 

When I teach, I like to get people talking.  I usually build discussion questions right into the lesson.  I think people tend to remember more when they actually take part in the learning.

But there are hazards when you open the floor for discussion.  You never know what people are going to say, or how long they are going to say it.  Sometimes they just wander off into Never Never Land, chasing rabbits and listening to themselves talk while everyone else is looking at their watches and wondering why the teacher won’t do something about it.

Well, it’s a tricky spot for a teacher.  After all, you opened it up for discussion.  It’s a Bible study and you want everyone there.  You don’t want to offend people, so how do you rein in the compulsive rambler?

Well that’s where Tim would step in.  Tim saved the class many times in situations like that, and he was able to do it without offending people.  And he did it with one simple phrase.

He would simply say, “Moving right along...”

And he would hold onto the “oo” sound for just a second.  “Mooving right along…”

He would say it, everyone would look at him, and he would look at me.  And suddenly the class was back in my control.

I can’t count how many times Tim saved the day with his trademark phrase.

And now listen to this.  I often use that phrase in my own thinking.  See, sometimes your thinking can get in a rut.  Maybe you get stuck thinking about the past, or thinking about things you have no control over.  Or how about this – thinking about conversations you are never going to have. 

It’s like your mind gets stuck in a loop, an infinite rut that leads nowhere.  Some people just marinate in the past.  They sit there, soaking in the negative feelings. 

Well this may sound simplistic, but sometimes you just need to say yourself, “Moving right along…”

One of my all time favorite verses is Philippians 3:13.  Paul said, “…one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead...”  He said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Forgetting what is behind and pressing on toward what is ahead.  That is a sound scriptural principle, and it fits nicely in the little phrase, “Moving right along…”

A great Bible example of this is found in Genesis 45.  Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery, but now he was a powerful man in Egypt.  His brothers came asking for food, and Joseph had his chance for revenge.  What did he do?  Did he dwell on the past and dredge up those old sins?  No he didn’t.  Instead, he welcomed them with open arms.  As for the past, it was forgiven and forgotten.  It was as if Joseph said, “Moving right along.”

Maybe there is a sin in your past that you just can’t get over.  Yes, you’ve repented, and God has forgiven you, and yet it’s still there, chewing up part of you.  You think about it and all the negativity floods back. 

Well the next time that old, forgiven sin tries to sneak up in your thinking, just tell yourself this, “Moving right along.”  Then, like Paul, forget what is in the past and press on toward what is ahead, toward the calling God has on your life.

“But Doug, my spouse cheated on me, and I just can’t get over it.  They repented, but I think I’m going to divorce them anyway.  I do have biblical grounds.”

Well here is something a woman recently said.  She said, “You may have biblical grounds for divorce, but you most certainly have biblical grounds for forgiveness.”

A spouse’s infidelity can haunt your mind, even drive you crazy.  But the Bible tells us to forget what is in the past.  Yes, we learn lessons from it.  Yes, we can share those lessons with others.  But the time comes when we must forget about it and press on.

And I hope this little phrase from Tim will help you do just that.

So when those old past thoughts and feelings come creeping up on you, try using these three little words.

Moving right along…


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-

Make Straight the Way of the Lord - Apples of Gold - January 6, 2010 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.   

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 6, 2010

“Make Straight the Way of the Lord”

 

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

I worked in radio back in the days when a DJ really was a “disc jockey.”

You had two turntables, and while one record was playing you’d cue up the other.

You would take the record out of the sleeve, and it could be an album or a 45.  You’d put it on the turntable, put the needle on it close to the start of the song, then play it until the song began; not on the air but “in cue.”

Then you would turn it backwards by hand until it was one half rotation back from the start of the song.  Now the record was cued up and ready to play.

Ah, but we forgot to check one thing. 

Now this is Christian radio, and hopefully that last song was a real blessing to someone.  There they sat, listening and being blessed.  God was just all over them.  And you, the DJ, picked the perfect follow-up song, and now you are going to create the perfect segue.  You are going to take the listener from one blessing right into another.  Lives are going to be changed by this segue.

The song ends and you push the button to start the next record.  And oh my goodness, it sounds like the chipmunks!  Quick, scramble, click the speed down to 33 1/3.   EEEEEooouuuu . . . down the record slows to its rightful speed. 

Now is that listener still being blessed?  Are they still thinking about the Lord, with their mind fixed on things above? 

Nope.  They were sent crashing back to earth.  A divine moment has become an earthly moment.  They are thinking about the station and the DJ and the silly sound of the chipmunks.

That is exactly what I harped on for years.  I begged the DJs to eliminate all mistakes, and here’s why.  Mistakes take the listeners’ attention away from the message, away from the Lord and His Word.

A scripture I applied to it was John 1:23, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”

Listen to these beautiful words in Luke chapter three.  “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Get this picture in your mind.  Picture a king on a throne, thousands of years ago.  He wants to make an official trip, but there is no Air Force One or a limo or even a carriage.  Instead, servants are going to carry his throne between two poles. 

Now a lot of preparation must go into this trip because you can’t be dumping the king off his throne as you descend into a gorge or go up a steep hill.  So the advance team goes and fills in the valleys and cuts down the hills.  They create a smooth, straight path for the king.

That’s the idea of making straight the way of the Lord.  We eliminate the obstacles, remove the stumbling blocks, anything that might get in the way of the Lord and hinder His moving in our lives.

I think for us individually that primarily applies to sin.  If we want God to show up in all areas of our life, we need to make the path straight by repenting of our sins.  We clear out the things that might hinder the Lord’s work in our life.

But then I take it to another level, and that means clearing out the things that might hinder the Lord’s work in someone else’s life.  In other words, there are things I do and say that might get in the way.  You might call them stumbling blocks.

For example, if I claim to be a Christian, then go out and get drunk on the weekends, someone is going to conclude that Christ is not for them because, after all, I – the supposed Christian – am no different from them.  In that case I become a stumbling block. 

First John 2:10 indicates that when we love others, we make sure there is nothing in our life that makes them stumble.

And now take it to another level.  I like to apply this to ministry, just as I did to those DJs.  In ministry we need to make straight the way of the Lord.  We need to eliminate things that get in the way, that draw attention away from God.

In Christian radio I think that means eliminating mistakes.  It means eliminating unprofessionalism.  It even means eliminating technical difficulties.  All those things draw attention to themselves and remove the attention from the Lord and His Word.

I think this applies to church services and Christian publishing and websites and music.  If you are involved in ministry, stop and think about things that might get in the way.

For example, if someone goes to church and there is a lot of disorder.  Or if the sound is bad.  Or if the leaders are drawing attention to themselves by how they dress or their hairstyle.  Or even if it’s too cold or too hot. 

I know people should just come and be hungry for God, but the truth is that people are easily distracted – so let’s eliminate the distractions.  If you are in ministry, ask God to show you any potential distractions or stumbling blocks.

First Corinthians 10 says, “Do not cause anyone to stumble.”  About that very thing Paul said, “For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”

We want to eliminate all stumbling blocks.  We want to raise the valleys and bring down the hills.  We want to clear the path.  We don’t want anything to get in the way of the Lord and His work in people’s lives.

And we can sum it all up in this powerful statement.

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.


© 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-

Everyone Who Asks Receives - Apples of Gold - January 5, 2010 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.   

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 5, 2010

“Everyone Who Asks Receives”

 

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

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “…everyone who asks receives…”

That’s in Matthew chapter seven.  In verse seven He said, “Ask and it will be given to you…”

Then to emphasize the point He declared, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”

It’s pretty clear.  The Lord wants us to ask Him for good gifts.  Who doesn’t want good gifts?

In Luke 11 Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you…for everyone who asks receives…”

Philippians 4:6 tells us to, “in everything,” present our requests to God.

So God is saying, “Go ahead, ask.”

“Well, Doug, I’ve asked God for a lot of things and it doesn’t seem to do any good.”

Okay, there could be several reasons for that.

First of all, look at First John 5:14.  It says, “…if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Yes, we can have what we ask for, but we should ask for things that are in line with God’s will.

Now look at First John 3:22.  It says we can “receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.”

So yes, we need to be asking God.  And we need to be obeying His commands and asking according to His will.

Now here’s an important consideration.  Why are we asking?  James 4:3 says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

So yes, we are to be asking God for things, but check to see if you just want them for your own pleasure.  God said that is a wrong reason for asking. 

In Matthew 21:22 Jesus said, “…you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  Oh, but that is not His entire statement.  He actually said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  The verse before that says, “…if you have faith and do not doubt…”

James 1 says, “…he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord…”

So yes, we are to ask God for things.  He wants to give us good gifts, and they are there for the asking; but when we ask and don’t receive, there are some things we need to check.

We need to check if we are asking according to His will, or are we asking simply for our own pleasure.

We need to check if we are obeying Him, if we are doing what pleases God.

And we need to check if we are asking in faith.  Do we believe and not doubt?

Now here is a faith building verse.  Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do “…immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…”

So we know God is able, so why don’t we get every thing we ask for?

Look at John 15:7.  Jesus said, “…ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”  Oh but wait.  He said something else to start that statement.  He said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you…”

So this thing of asking God and receiving what we’ve asked for, it’s kind of like a partnership.  It’s very much like a child asking a father for something.  The child needs to be in good standing with the father if he expects to receive from him. 

In John 15 Jesus said, “…I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

Now here’s a good example in the Bible of someone asking Jesus for something and not receiving it.  In Mark 10, James and John said to Jesus, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask.  Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

And I love Jesus’ answer.  He said, “You don’t know what you are asking.”

Oh, they probably had faith enough, and they were certainly true followers of Christ, but what was their motivation?

And look at Mark 10:40.  Jesus said, “…to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.  These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

So it wouldn’t have mattered how much the disciples asked, or how perfectly they behaved and believed, they were not going to get that particular request.  God had other plans.

No, we won’t get everything we ask for.  And the things we can get – they can be hindered by our lack of faith, or lack of obedience, or impure motives.

So do we stop asking?  Not at all!  We just need to fine tune our asking, to bring it in line with God’s will.

The good news is that God wants us to keep asking.  Our Father is just waiting to give good gifts to those who ask. 

And we can put our complete faith in these powerful words of Jesus:  Everyone who asks receives.


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-

Thought Fasting - Apples of Gold - January 4, 2010 -vi-

To listen to the radio version, click here.   

To search archives, click here.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 4, 2010

“Thought Fasting”

 

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

You don’t want a blood clot in your brain.

If a blood clot blocks an artery to your brain, you are going to have a stroke.

A stroke will mess with your vision and your speech and even your ability to move properly.

If a blood clot triggers a stroke, and they wheel you into the emergency room, they might give you a drug called tPA, which stands for “tissue plasminogen activator.”*  And the tPA will do an amazing thing:  dissolve the blood clot.

If left to itself, the blood clot will do more and more damage.  But the sooner you begin the tPA treatment, the less damage there will be.

Now listen to this.  I think certain thoughts that we think are like blood clots to the brain.  If left to themselves, they will do damage.  And the worst of these are sinful thoughts.

There are some thoughts that are simply wrong.  They are sinful.  They pop up in our heads and we leave them there.  We think about them.  Then we move on, but the next thing you know, we are thinking about them again.

The thing about sinful thoughts is, no one can see them.  On the outside you can look like the picture of spiritual health, but on the inside is this mental blood clot, this sinful thought. 

So no one can help you, no one can hold you accountable because they can’t see it.  But just like a physical blood clot, a mental blood clot will cause damage if you don’t take action.  It will block the life-giving flow to your mind.  It will mess with your vision and your speech and even your ability to move properly.

So how can you treat the blood clot of a sinful thought?  And I’m not talking about a sinful thought that blips into your mind and is gone just as fast.  I’m talking about sinful thoughts that reoccur.  Thoughts that we entertain, that we put up with, that we even enjoy.  You might refer to them as your “guilty pleasure.”

Well if it’s a sinful thought, it’s a destroyer.  It’s a blood clot blocking life to your brain, and it needs to be treated.  It needs to be dissolved.

Can you picture a blood clot dissolving?  Can you see it slowly losing mass, shedding its outer particles as it becomes less and less dangerous until it finally just completely dissolves?

Well it needs to be done, and the sooner the better, and the question is how?  How can we rid ourselves of a sinful thought?  How can we dissolve it?

Well here’s one treatment.  I call it a “thought fast.”  No, it doesn’t mean you stop thinking.  But it does mean you pick out that one particular sinful thought and you go on a fast from thinking it. 

Yes, I realize we should fast from all sinful thoughts forever, but that’s kind of like playing whack-a-mole.  You’ll spend all your time whacking at sinful thoughts that pop up, but won’t really gain much ground.

So let’s just focus on one sinful thought.  Pick out the granddaddy, the big one that just lurks back there, always there, ready to seize your attention.

And now just set a time.  Say, “I won’t think about that, not even for one second, for the month of January.” 

Again, I realize we should say, “I won’t think that sinful thought ever again,” and that is the eventual goal, but let’s go back to the original picture.  We want to dissolve the blood clot.  We want to shred it, particle by particle.

And that is what will happen as we starve it.  As we fast from a particular thought, it will dissolve.  Fast it for one day, and it will lose a few particles.  Fast it for a week and it will lose more particles.

Now here’s an example.  There was a woman who said that she thought about a particular man every single day.  He was on her mind as soon as she woke up, and he was on her mind all day.  The problem was, he was not her husband.

Now that’s a sinful thought!  It was a guilty pleasure.  She enjoyed it, but it was a destroyer.  It was a mental blood clot, blocking the flow of true life in her thinking.  But it would basically seize her.  What could she do about it?

Well here’s what she could do.  She could fast from thinking about him.  Every time that thought tried to seize her, she could just boot it from her brain, not even let it enter.

Some might say that’s impossible, but let me tell you, it’s totally possible!  You just tell yourself, “Don’t go there.”  You immediately steer your thinking elsewhere. 

And you can even plot the course of your thinking.  For example, she could plan that every time she thought of him, she could sing “I Surrender All.”  It would become a knee jerk reaction.  A thought of him would trigger I Surrender All.  You could even add a step three and a four and a five.  “My thoughts will travel down this path every time that sinful thought pops up.”

Take control of your thinking this year!  You aren’t a slave to sinful thoughts! 

God will provide a way out, and this is it.  Thought fasting – it’s a way out of destructive thinking. 

Ephesians 4 tells us to put off the old man, “…which grows corrupt…” and to be renewed in our minds.  A thought fast is a great way to put off the old man, the old corrupt way of thinking.

Get rid of it!  Dissolve that old mental blood clot.  Starve it to death!

As I close I’m thinking about a song by Ricardo Sanchez (a great New Year’s song, by the way) called “Moving Forward.”

And sometimes I’ll change the lyrics to a song to fit my situation, so I’ll change Ricardo’s lyrics to say this:

“I'm not going back, I'm moving ahead.
I’m here to declare to you, my past is over!
In You, all thoughts are made new.
I’ve surrendered my mind to Christ.
I’m moving, moving forward!”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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

(close with excerpt from Moving Forward by Ricardo Sanchez.)


*  http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Blood+Clots
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4751


© 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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