Who Was Jesus' Father? - Apples of Gold - December 14, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 14, 2010

“Who Was Jesus’ Father?”

 

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

In John chapter eight, Jesus had a big showdown with the Pharisees.

Jesus used this phrase, “the Father who sent Me,” and they responded with this very direct question.

“Where is Your Father?”

That was a good question, but Jesus didn’t really answer it.  Another great question for Jesus is, “Who is Your Father?”

In John 20:17 Jesus referred to His Father as His God.

Which god was he claiming as His father?  In John 8:54 He told the Jews that their God was His Father.  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of the Old Testament was the Father of Jesus.

Before His death and resurrection, in John 16:28, Jesus said this, “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

Why did Jesus come into the world in the first place?  Because the Father sent Him here.  First John 4:14 says, “…the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

The Father sent Jesus here to do certain works, the works which the Father had given Him to finish. (John 5:36).

When Jesus died, Galatians 1:1 says it was God the Father who raised Him from the dead.

Romans 15:6 sums it up nicely by calling God “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

First Corinthians 8:6 clarifies that there is “one God, the Father” and there is “one Lord, Jesus Christ.”

This may sound fundamental, but you know what?  We must keep teaching the fundamentals. 

Oh, and did Jesus ever say where His Father was?  In Matthew 7:21 He said, “My Father who is in heaven.”

In fact, Jesus prayed to His Father in heaven.  For example, before He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Bible says He prayed to His Father. 

Now listen to this.  In John 20:17 Jesus said, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God.”

Ephesians 1:17 calls our Heavenly Father “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Is this getting too deep for you yet?  Jesus’ father is God the Father in heaven.  Or did you think that the Son and the Father were exactly the same person?  Hold on, let’s read some more.

Look what Jesus said in John 14:28.  He said, “…My Father is greater than I.”  In John 10:29 Jesus said, “My Father…is greater than all…”

Here is a verse you are probably familiar with.  First John 2:1 says we have an advocate with the Father, “Jesus Christ the righteous.”  That sounds like two separate entities, with one advocating to the other.

John 5:22 says that the Father has committed all judgment to the Son.  This indicates that the two are not sharing duties identically. 

In John 5:26, Jesus said that the Father has granted the Son to have life in Himself.  That’s the Father, one authority, granting something to His Son, another authority.

The Father and the Son didn’t have exactly the same mind, at least not at the moment Jesus spoke in Mark 13:32.  He said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

So Jesus called God His God and His Father who is in heaven.  Jesus was sent down from heaven by His Father, prayed to His Father, and was given works to finish by His Father.  Jesus was raised from the dead by His Father, and returned to His Father.

If these were the only scriptures on the matter, you might conclude that Jesus is quite a separate being from God the Father. 

Of course we’re in deep waters here, but let’s keep going; and now let’s look at the other side.

In John 14 Jesus told Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  Then He said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?”

So does that mean looking at Jesus was identical to looking at the Father? 

Apparently not, based on John 6:46, because there Jesus said that no one has seen the Father “except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.”

So, Jesus said that only He had seen the Father, but that if they saw Jesus they had seen the Father.

Those sound like opposites, so what can they mean?  Oh, and don’t forget John 10:30 where Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.”

Plus, Jesus said several times that He was going to His Father, as if He was a separate person in a separate place.

And yet in John 10:38 He said, “The Father is in me, and I in Him.”

Colossians 1:19 says that it pleased the Father to have all His fullness dwell in Jesus. 

So that might get you leaning toward Jesus and the Father being identical.  But then you run into a verse like First John 1:3 that says “our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

So is Jesus God?  Well Titus 2:13 refers to Him as “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” 

In John 1, where Jesus is called “the Word,” it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 

Philippians 2 says that Christ Jesus, “…being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God…”

Am I saying that Jesus is God, and a separate god from God the Father? 

The Bible teaches clearly throughout that there is only one God.  Yet there also seems to be differences between the Father and the Son, such as Jesus saying He didn’t come to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him.

So here’s what I know.  Jesus is the Son of God the Father, and is God Himself.  The two are one. 

“So Doug, what about the Holy Spirit?”

Ah…well I’m out of time, but I’m going to leave you with this biblical phrase that I think sums it up, and here it is.

The mystery of God.


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 Day the Redeemer Was Redeemed - Apples of Gold - December 10, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 10, 2010

“The Day the Redeemer Was Redeemed”

 

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

When baby Jesus was just 40 days old, Mary and Joseph took Him on a little trip.

They had business at the temple in Jerusalem.

This trip was a big deal for several reasons.  First of all, it’s always a big deal when you travel from a small town to a big city.  Second, they were going to the temple, which was one of the largest and most impressive structures at the time.  It featured the new construction of King Herod who wanted everything he built to be magnificent.

The historian Josephus said that Herod’s temple was dazzling to the eyes, “for it was covered all over with plates of gold...”  He said at the rising of the sun it reflected back a fiery splendor, and people had to avert their eyes because it was just like looking at the sun.

From a distance, Josephus said the temple looked like a mountain covered with snow, because the parts that weren’t plated in gold were exceedingly white. 

The top of the temple had spikes with sharp points, “to prevent any pollution…by birds…” he said.   

You’ve seen stone walls.  Well imagine massive stones, like gigantic white bricks, so big that even one stone wouldn’t even fit in your garage.  The temple was built with stones like that. 

Yes, it was impressive.

And impressive things were going on there.  Have you ever been to the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC?  You sure don’t run around there like a wild tourist.  It’s a place of dignity and respect and order and protocol.  Things are done by the book and by tradition, and if you aren’t used to it, it’s intimidating.

That’s what Mary and Joseph were walking into as they approached the temple with 40-day-old baby Jesus.

The 40 days was significant because that’s how long Mary had to wait after giving birth.  Leviticus 12 says that a mother must go through 40 days of “purification,” then bring the priest a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.  But if she couldn’t afford the lamb, she could bring two birds instead.

In addition to Mary’s atonement, the trip had another purpose – to redeem their first born son.  According to the Law, all firstborns belonged to God, so they needed to be redeemed back from God.  Exodus 13 says you shall set apart to the LORD every firstborn, and every firstborn son you shall redeem.

That’s ironic because Jesus came to be our redeemer, redeeming us from the curse of the Law.  So what we have here is the redemption of the Redeemer.

Joseph and Mary entered the massive, intimidating temple complex, and you know how things go.  There’s a crowd and things are confusing and you’re trying to figure out where to go and which line to get in.  Plus you have a baby.

So there they were, trying to take care of business, and a man approached them.  He was probably quite old, and guess what?  He wanted to hold the baby. 

Mary and Joseph probably weren’t privy to this information beforehand, but the man’s name was Simeon.  Luke two says he was righteous and devout, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 

And now listen to this.  It had been revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.

So the Spirit of God moved on him that day in a powerful way, and he went to the temple courts, and there he saw Him, the Messiah, in the form of a baby.

Simeon scooped the baby Jesus up into his arms and prayed, “Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.”

Ah, that was sweet.  And then he blessed the parents, and it was just a beautiful, amazing moment; and the Bible says that Mary and Joseph marveled at his words.

But he wasn’t finished.  Simeon had one last message, just for Mary.  He said, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Just as Simeon was finishing, an old woman approached.  It was a prophetess named Anna, a widow who spent all her time at the temple worshipping, fasting and praying.  Luke 2:38 says she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Little did they know, or maybe they did, that that little baby would bring about an end to the need for that entire temple apparatus.  No longer would anyone need to come to the temple and offer up sacrifices for redemption. 

First Corinthians 1:30 says that Christ Jesus became our redemption.

Ephesians 1:7 says we have redemption through His blood.

Hebrews 9:12 says that by His own blood, Jesus obtained for us “eternal redemption.”

Through His redemption we are justified freely by His grace.  (Romans 3:24)

And now we His people are sealed by the Holy Spirit until that one great “day of redemption.”  (Ephesians 4:30)

It’s easy at Christmas to only think about Jesus in a Bethlehem manger. 

But don’t forget what happened just 40 days later.

The day the Redeemer was redeemed.


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 Trap of Eutrapelia - Apples of Gold - December 9, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 9, 2010

“The Trap of Eutrapelia”

 

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

Avoid the trap of eutrapelia.

What on earth is eutrapelia?

It’s a Greek word found only one time in the Bible.

It basically means wittiness, and here’s the thing.  Being witty can be good or bad.  It can make conversation more pleasant and interesting; or on its dark side, it can be coarse or indecent, even vulgar.

In Ephesians 5:4 eutrapelia has been translated as “coarse jesting.”  Coarse means vulgar or crude or in bad taste.

So in essence the Bible is saying that we should not be witty in crude or vulgar ways.

Have you ever heard of the “double entendre”?  It can be taken two ways, one decent and one indecent.  In that case, Christians should not be dealing in double entendres.

Do you snap off one-liners that are a bit on the crude side?  Do you share bawdy jokes?  These are not fitting for saints.

Beware the trap of eutrapelia.

That’s the trap you find yourself in when your wittiness slides to the dark side, to coarse jesting.

I think it becomes a habit of thinking.  I’ve known guys like this.  They are witty, intelligent men, and they slide into the habit of using their wittiness to take every routine situation and turn it into a bawdy joke. 

I’ve seen Christian men fall into this, even pastors.  You’re just talking along and all of a sudden they surprise you with something you didn’t expect to come out of their mouth.

Well you didn’t expect it because it’s not supposed to be there, not in the mouth of any Christian.  Coarse jesting is not fitting for saints.

Coarse means crude and it also means rough.  Coarse jesting can be when you take a hack at someone, but hey, you are “only joking.”  You say things that put someone down, maybe sarcastic things.  You carefully cut into someone’s character, but you do it in a witty way.  Everyone laughs, but what you did wasn’t funny.  It was rough joking, and it has no place among Christians.

Many Christians are involved in politics, and the next thing you know they are falling into the trap of eutrapelia.  They use their “rapier wit” against the other guys.

Listen to this explanation of eutrapelia.  “It implies the dexterity of turning a discourse to wit or humor that ends in deceptive speech, so formed that the speaker easily contrives to wriggle out of its meaning…”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant.”

Often it’s a play on words, which is the playground of the witty.  Wisely playing on words can be a good thing, but it’s easy to do it foolishly and hurt people.  That should not be the speech of a Christian.

Colossians 4:6 is an awesome verse.  It says, “Let your speech always be with grace…”

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

So, let your speech always be with grace, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 

First Timothy 4:12 says, “…set an example for the believers in speech…”

The things we say should impart grace to anyone listening, and we must be mindful that everything we say sets the example for others. 

It doesn’t matter if you are a 40-year pastor or a brand new Christian, the things you say become an example for others.  If you use your wit for double entendres or racy humor, you are setting the example for others to do the same, and it’s not good.

You know what?  Smart people are the wittiest, but they should also be smart enough to see why their wit needs boundaries.  Wit must be controlled so that, in the end, any witty thing we say is said with grace.

So are you one of the witty ones?  Then this warning is for you.

Beware the trap of eutrapelia.


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-

A Great Moment of High Drama - Apples of Gold - December 8, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 8, 2010

“A Great Moment of High Drama”

 

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

This is one of my favorite moments of high drama in all the Bible.

Jesus is hanging on the cross, and the end is near.

We pick up the story in Matthew chapter 27.  It says that Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and He gave up the ghost.  He yielded up His Spirit.  He died.

Now listen to verse 51.  “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…”

Then the story goes on, and it doesn’t say anything more about that dramatic moment.  So what’s the big deal?  A veil was torn, so what?

First of all, it was a really big veil, more like a curtain.  Picture a huge curtain like you might see at a stage play.  It was thick and heavy and fancy, and basically permanent; serving more like a wall than a curtain.  So now we’ve gone from a little veil that our mothers wore on windy days to a wall of cloth. 

The tearing of your typical veil might not be a big deal, but the tearing of a permanent wall?  That’s a big deal. 

So what was the purpose of the veil?  It kept people out of what was called the Most Holy Place in the temple.  No one was allowed in there, except the High Priest, and he only one time per year to offer the sacrifice for the sins of the people. 

In Leviticus 16 even the High Priest was told not to just go wandering in to the Most Holy Place, “lest he die,” the Lord said, “for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.”

In other words, God is there, so you stay out (except for once a year).  And the huge veil was the dividing wall.  That’s the way God planned it in the Old Testament, and that’s the way it still was throughout Jesus’ life.

And then Jesus died, and at the same time He died, that cloth wall was torn in two, starting at the top, by the way. 

Was it just a coincidence?  Was it merely symbolic?  Did it serve a practical purpose?  The Bible offers no explanation for the tearing of the veil.

However, we can gain insight by studying Hebrews chapters nine and ten.  In fact, I recommend you get out your Bible and study Hebrews nine and ten for yourself.

Chapter nine starts by pointing out that God’s first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary.  In that earthly sanctuary was the Most Holy Place, as we’ve been talking about.

Verse seven points out that the High Priest went behind the veil and entered the Most Holy Place one time per year, and we already know all this, right?  But then comes some fresh insight in Hebrews nine verse eight. 

It says that the Holy Spirit was trying to show us something.  The Holy Spirit was showing us that the way through the veil and into the Most Holy Place was still hidden from us as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. 

What brought about a major malfunction of the old system?  The tearing of the veil!  It’s hard to have a secret Most Holy Place without the veil that blocks it off.  So when Jesus died, and the veil was torn, it was the end of their current practices, at least until they could repair or replace the veil. 

But in reality, it really was the final end of that old way of dealing with God.  The death of Jesus and the tearing of the veil marked the end of the old covenant with God and the beginning of the new covenant. 

Jesus put an end to the old sacrificial system by becoming the final, perfect sacrifice.  He entered the real Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, it says in Hebrews 9:12, and obtained eternal redemption; not annual or periodic redemption, but eternal redemption.

Verse 15 says Christ is the mediator of a new covenant!  Verse 28 says Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.

Hebrews 10:10 says that we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Now listen to what verses 19 through 22 say, and keep in mind that old veil that blocked us out of the Most Holy Place in the temple.  They say that we now have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place ourselves, by the blood of Jesus, our great high priest!  A new and living way has been opened up for us, and we can now come close to God! 

Here is a word for you:  access.  Through Jesus Christ, we now have access to God the Father!  Look at Ephesians 2:18, which literally says that.  Through Jesus and by the Spirit we have access to the Father.

Ephesians 3:12 says that through Christ Jesus our Lord we have access to God and may approach Him with freedom and confidence.

Hebrews 4:16 says we can come boldly before God’s throne of grace!

And how do we do that?  By calling out to Him.  By drawing near to Him in prayer and worship and praise and thanksgiving.  God is Spirit, so there is not some physical place you can go to have access to Him; but you can have access to Him anywhere because of the work of Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

And it’s all symbolized in that great moment of high drama that took place when Jesus died on the cross – when that massive temple veil was torn completely in two.


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-

Don't Disparage Marriage - Apples of Gold - December 6, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 6, 2010

“Don’t Disparage Marriage”

 

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

Well, the Seminoles didn’t quite pull it out Saturday, did they?

There were some bright spots, but they just couldn’t stop Virginia Tech and quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

Thus ends the college football season, and now comes every bowl game imaginable, including the Udrove Humanitarian Bowl, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

I don’t know if you watch football, but if you do, you’re going to see a lot of Geico commercials. 

So have you seen the one with Abe and Mary Todd Lincoln?  It looks like an ancient black and white movie, and it shows Mary Todd in a fluffy new dress that she’s not quite sure about.  Abe wonders in and his wife springs on him the age-old question, “Does this dress make my backside look big?”

Well he didn’t get the nickname Honest Abe for nothing, and now he’s in a quandary.  He can’t tell a lie, but what to do? 

He holds his stovepipe hat apologetically in his hands, and he cocks his head to one side, as if looking for something he knows he’s not going to find. 

She looks into his eyes for affirmation, but none is forthcoming.  She gives him one more chance, then looks back for his final answer. 

With distress on his face, but determined to be truthful, he holds up his hand, with his thumb and finger about an inch apart and says, “Perhaps a….”  And before he can finish, she’s outta there.   He starts to follow, but then stops, knowing he blew it.

As every husband knows, that’s a tough spot to be in.  I think most women these days know better than to ask that particular question, but it could be a question about anything.  It’s the kind of question that if you were bluntly honest, your answer would hurt your wife.

And it goes the other way, too.  I’m certainly not saying it’s only a wife thing, but here’s the point.  Don’t put down your spouse.  Don’t say things that hurt them.

Ephesians five says that wives should respect their husbands and that husbands should love their wives.  Wife, one way you show respect for your husband is by not putting him down.  You don’t cut him down to his face, and you especially don’t cut him down behind his back to your friends or family.

Husband, one way you show love for your wife is by not cutting her down.  You don’t do things like that to someone you love. 

If you want your marriage to be a beautiful garden, then you have to keep the weeds out, and one of the ugliest marriage weeds is this thing of putting down your spouse.

Dr. Emerson Eggerichs has a new book entitled “Love and Respect for a Lifetime.”  He writes, “What do you want for your marriage?  Do you want some peace?  Do you want to feel close to each other?  Do you want to feel valued by each other?  Do you want to experience marriage the way God intended?  Then why not try some Love and Respect?  It will change the way you talk to, think about, and treat each other.  It will change your marriage!”

Now here is something I want to call your attention to.  Beware of people who put down their own spouse, because it can rub off on you.  If you have friends that do this, call it to their attention.  See if you can get them to stop, because if they don’t, and you continue to hang around with them, you might see it show up in your own marriage, because we tend to take on the behaviors of the people we spend with.

And here’s another weed to watch for, people who disparage marriage.  We’ve all heard jokes where the punch line is something negative about marriage.  I could tell one right here as an example, but then you would laugh, you’d say “ain’t that the truth?” and see how that works?  Little anti-marriage sentiments can creep in even through jokes.

Do you hang around people who disparage marriage?  It may even be people at work or books you read or magazines or TV shows.  The more negative input you receive about marriage, the more likely you are to view it negatively yourself.

But marriage is a sacred institution.  It was created by God Himself in the beginning.  I would be very hesitant to put down something that God created. 

The Bible rarely uses the phrase “at the beginning,” but Jesus used it in Matthew 19 when teaching about marriage.  He said that, at the beginning, God made them male and female and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  Jesus concluded in Matthew 19:6, “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Marriage is a holy institution, created by God at the beginning.  It was designed with our very best interest in mind, and it’s a beautiful thing when we do it God’s way. 

So here is our marriage advice for the day, summed up in one sentence.

We don’t put down our spouse, and we don’t disparage marriage.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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

 
You can see the Abe Lincoln Geico commercial here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdy3orO6tQA

© 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-

Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out - Apples of Gold - December 3, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 3, 2010

“Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out”

 

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

Have you ever had a bunch of girls tattle on you and then you got a whippin’?

That happened to me in grade school, in Mrs. Murgatroyd’s class.

Yes, that was her name, Mrs. Murgatroyd, and if the name alone didn’t put the fear of God in you, she had a big Greek paddle and she wasn’t afraid to use it.

It was Illinois in the winter, and there was a coat closet in the back of the class.  I’d like to see that coat closet today, because it seems like the ceiling was only about five feet high.  It was short, but deep and wide, with room for storage, and a rod that ran the length of the closet.

There were enough hangars for everyone’s coat.  Some were nice, heavy silver hangars, and the rest were made of flimsy metal.

Now I don’t know how this happened.  I don’t know who started it, and I don’t know how it became such a big deal; but somewhere along the line the boys started hiding the nice silver hangars.  I mean, who wants to come in from recess and hang their coat on a flimsy hangar?  So before recess we would hide the nice hangars so they would be waiting for us when we got back.

I don’t know if I missed a day of school, or if I just wasn’t listening (which is very possible); but I guess at some point the girls must have whined to the teacher and the teacher issued a decree from on high that the boys must never, ever again hide the nice hangars from the girls. 

Man, I wish I could go back in time and see how this really went down. 

They say you remember things that have something emotional attached to them.  Well I had no emotional attachment to hangar hiding . . . until one fateful day.

Our elementary school was a block or two from the high school, and that’s where we ate lunch.  So at lunchtime we would put on our coats, line up two-by-two and walk hand-in-hand across the street to the cafeteria.

So that day I did what I was in the habit of doing.  I took my coat off the rack, pulled the nice silver hangar out of the coat, and carefully hid it on the back side of a fan that was stored in the closet.

Some of the boys had pitiful hiding places, and the girls always found their hangars, but not mine.  I had the best hiding place because the metal lines of the hangar were cleverly disguised by the metal lines of the fan.

I probably wouldn’t remember any of this if it weren’t for the sudden jolt of adrenaline that slammed it into my permanent memory bank.  It happened when all of a sudden one of the girls shouted, “Doug is hiding a hangar!”

Then a chorus of girls joined in for a rousing round of “Doug is hiding a hangar.”

Okay, so I hid a hangar.  What’s the big deal?

Apparently it was a big deal.  I don’t know, but I’m going to guess that the teacher must have said something like, “The next person who hides a hangar is going to get a spanking.”  Or maybe she was just having a bad day.  Or maybe it was a girl solidarity thing, I don’t know.

But out came the big Greek paddle.  The other students were ushered out of the room, and I received in my body the due penalty for my sin.

I tried to dry up the tears before I joined the lunch lineup, but I knew my face was red, and nobody would look me in the eye, “you hangar-hiding wretch.” 

But remember, we had to walk hand-in-hand to lunch, so somebody had to acknowledge me.  My partner was a boy named Eric, and thankfully he settled me down and told me everything was cool, it was going to be alright.  And that was that.

I don’t know if anyone else in the world remembers that incident, but I sure do.  It taught me a powerful lesson, and here it is.

Be sure your sin will find you out!

I thought I was being sneaky, but I got caught, and punished. 

And today I’m glad I did.  I’m thankful for the many times I was caught and punished as a young man, because I learned lessons from it.  I don’t want to be caught and punished now, so I avoid the things that bring it.

That sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  Yet our prisons are full of people who didn’t learn that lesson when they were young.  In fact, our nation is full of wreckage caused by people thinking their sins would not find them out.  Pastors have fallen.  Families are broken.  Political campaigns have been destroyed, all by people who didn’t learn the lesson that their sins would find them out.

I know that’s an odd way to say it, “your sins will find you out.”  What it means is that you will suffer for your sin.  It’s based on Numbers 32:23 where Moses said, “You have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.”

He said that to motivate the people to do right, and it’s a good motivating factor.  So often we are willing to sin if we think we can get away with it.

Don’t fall for that lie. 

Let this be your warning today.  You aren’t that sneaky.  You aren’t so clever or so wise.

If you are playing around with sin, there is a warning that you better hear before it’s too late.

Be sure your sin will find you out.


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-

Jesus Didn't Just Show Up on Christmas Day - Apples of Gold - December 2, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 2, 2010

“Jesus Didn’t Just Show Up on Christmas Day”

 

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

Jesus didn’t just show up on Christmas day.

Yes, He was born in Bethlehem and placed in a manger, but did you know He was around before that?

John 3:17 says that God sent His Son into the world.  When someone is sent somewhere, it usually means they are sent from somewhere else, right?

In John 6:38 Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

So Jesus was sent “down from heaven.”

And it wasn’t like He came to be just before He was sent to earth.  Check out this prophecy of the Messiah, foretold by the prophet Micah long before Jesus’ birth.  And it also foretells the birthplace, too, so listen to Micah 5:2.  It says, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”

So Jesus was around before His birth, but for how long?  Listen to Jesus’ words in John 8:58.  He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”  So Jesus was around before Abraham’s time.

Or we can rewind even further.  In John 17:5 Jesus talks about being with the Father before the world began.  Colossians 1:17 says it this way, “He is before all things…”

In John chapter one, Jesus is referred to as “The Word,” and listen to what it says.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

So there is Jesus, He is God, in the beginning, and everything was made through Him.  And He was sharing glory with the Father, until…

Galatians four picks up the story.  It says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman...”

Philippians two says that Jesus was “in the form of God,” and “did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.”  So there He was, in heaven, as God, in this highly exalted state of glory – and then came the “fullness of time,” and what did He do? 

Philippians two says He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.”

Back to John chapter one, where Jesus is called the Word, it says “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

And when did that happen?  Jesus the Word became human flesh as described by the angel Gabriel in Luke chapter one, when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Highest overshadowed her.  At that precise moment Mary went from being a virgin with nothing in her womb, to being a virgin with the tiny unborn Word in her womb.  That’s when the Word became flesh, not on Christmas Day.

And it fulfilled the prophecy from Isaiah seven which said, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”  And what does Immanuel mean?  It literally means, “God with us.”  The virgin Mary conceived and at that moment, God was with us, the Word became flesh, in the likeness of a human.

Here is an interesting scene.  In Luke chapter one, after Mary has conceived, she goes to visit Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist; and listen to what Elizabeth calls Mary.  In Luke 1:43 she refers to her as “the mother of my Lord.”  It wasn’t that Mary became the mother of Jesus on Christmas Day.  She already was the mother of Jesus.  The Word was already made flesh and dwelling among us.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I love Christmas as much as the next guy.  I love the story in Luke chapter two of the birth of Jesus and the manger and the shepherds and the angels and all of that.  Peace on earth, good will toward men – I love it.

But what we celebrate on Christmas Day was not the beginning of the story, and it wasn’t the beginning of Jesus.

For that we go back to before Abraham, even to before the creation of the world, and what do we find? 

We find Jesus the Word, in heaven, as God, in a highly exalted state of glory.


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-

This Is My Last Day Alive - Apples of Gold - December 1, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 1, 2010

“This Is My Last Day Alive”

 

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

“This is my last day alive.”

That’s what Emily Colson told herself.

Emily is the daughter of Chuck Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship who became famous while working in the Nixon Administration.

Emily got married and gave birth to her son Max, who turned out to be severely autistic.  It took a toll on the marriage, which finally ended in a painful divorce.

By the time Max was nine, Emily said they were basically hostages of autism.  She said, “We could barely get out of the house without tantrums, so it was easier just to stay home and stop trying.”  Life was so difficult, she said, she wasn’t even sleeping. 

Late one night she decided to get up and clean, hoping it would help her relax.  She said, “I opened up a closet door, the shelf broke, and all the bottles spilled out onto the floor.”

“That just finished me,” she said.  “I took that door, and I swung it so hard that I ended up putting a hole right through the wall.”

Have you ever been there?  Have you ever been so angry, so frustrated, so at the end of your rope that you were ready to take it out on whatever was close?

That’s where Emily was, and she said it was a real wake up call.

She said she couldn’t imagine living that way for the rest of her life.  “I couldn’t even do it for another week,” she said. 

But then she came to this conclusion.  She said, “Maybe what I can do is one more day.”

Then she said, “If I can do one day, I’m going to live that day big and brave and bold.”

Of course she was saying all that in the middle of the night, right after her little wake up call of smashing a hole in the wall.  You can plan to be big and brave and bold, but what happens the next day when the same old life is waiting for you?  After all, Max wasn’t going anywhere.  Short of a miracle, tomorrow would be just as bad as today; so what did she do?

She woke up the next morning and declared, “This is my last day alive.  What am I going to do with it?”

And listen to this.  Here’s what she said about this new approach to her life.

“It changed everything.”

What it really changed was her outlook on everything.  She started telling herself things like, “Am I going to care if people stare at us when Max has a tantrum?  Am I going to care if the day doesn’t go well?  Or am I going to find the joy because it is one day?”

Emily and Max have been living that way for about ten years now, and it’s truly been a life changer.  They are no longer “hostages of autism.”  Emily says, “I take Max places.  We do things.  We don’t let our circumstances define our lives.”

Maybe you find yourself in difficult circumstances today.  Maybe you are thinking, like Emily, “I can’t do this for the rest of my life.  I can’t even do it for another week.”  But surely you can do it for one more day.

Try the attitude that Emily took.  Wake up tomorrow and say, “This is my last day alive.  What am I going to do with it?”

It reminds me of the old song “One Day at a Time” by Cristy Lane and others.  It says, “One day at a time, sweet Jesus, that’s all I’m asking from You.  Just give me the strength to do everyday what I have to do.  Yesterday’s gone, sweet Jesus, and tomorrow may never be mine.  Lord help me today, show me the way, one day at a time.”

That goes along with what Jesus said in Matthew 6:34.  He said don’t worry about tomorrow.  Tomorrow will take care of itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

James 4:14 says, “For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

I’ve heard messages like this where the emphasis was on, “Hey, we might as well eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!”

But that’s not the point.  There was a man in Luke chapter 12 who said something like that.  He said to himself, “You have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”  And what did God say to him?  He said, “Fool!  This night your soul will be required of you...”  And Jesus concluded, “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

So yes, we don’t worry about tomorrow.  We take one day at a time, but not so we can waste it.  We use it to love and serve God and our fellowman. 

So is the big picture crushing you?  Can you imagine living this way the rest of your life, or even for another week?

If not, then how about a day, just one day?

This is a new outlook on life that changed everything for Emily Colson, so why not try it for yourself?

Just declare along with Emily, “This is my last day alive.  What am I going to do with it?”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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

 
You can find out more about Emily Colson at her website:  http://emilycolson.com/

© 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 Seal Makes It Official - Apples of Gold - November 30, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for November 30, 2010

“The Seal Makes It Official”

 

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

One of the owners of this radio station, Mr. Mike Floyd, passed away earlier this year.

He left behind a great legacy…and a lot of stuff here in a back room.

It was full of artifacts from many years of both ministry and business.

As I sorted through the stacks of boxes I came across a musty old pouch.  On the cover it said, “Make it ‘official.’”

Inside was an old fashioned “seal embosser.”  You know how some companies have a corporate “seal”?  It’s usually a fancy circle with the company’s name, state and year of incorporation. 

The seal embosser is like a paper press.  You stick the paper in, squeeze the embosser, and it literally impresses the corporate seal into the paper.  It’s not that the seal is on the paper.  It is literally in the paper.  It has infiltrated the paper.  It has changed the structure of the paper.

So why do this?

It’s like the pouch said, it makes it official.  When you see the seal, you know it’s real.

You can use the seal on contracts, for example.  A seal on a transaction is almost like a signature. 

The seal is also a mark of ownership.  When you see the corporate seal on something, you know it belongs to the corporation.

This whole idea of a seal is important because it shows up in the Bible.

When we believe the Gospel and receive forgiveness and salvation through Christ, we become God’s property, so to speak, and He seals us.

He seals us by pressing His Holy Spirit into us. 

Listen closely to Ephesians 1:13 and 14.  It says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the worth of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

So it indicates that, after we heard the gospel and believed, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit.

The NIV says, “When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…”

The Amplified Bible says you were “stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit.”

Marked with a seal; stamped with a seal – when we were saved by Christ, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit.  God declared the authenticity of the transaction and made His ownership official by pressing His Spirit into us.

Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Do you have the stamp, the embossed seal of the Holy Spirit?  Is the Holy Spirit literally pressed into you, even changing the structure of your being?

Second Corinthians 2:22 says God has “sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

The NIV says that God “set His seal of ownership on us…”

Over and over the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit dwelling inside God’s people.

First Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”

God has sealed us with His Holy Spirit, and it is a seal of ownership.  We no longer belong to ourselves, but to God, and the evidence is His seal, which is the Holy Spirit inside of us.

Not that we are some random piece of property.  Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

Yes, we belong to God – as His children! 

You may feel like an old piece of paper today.  You may feel like something in a back storage room, gathering dust. 

But if you are a Christian, if you have been saved through faith in Christ, then you are a child of God.  You have been marked by God, and that mark is the presence of His Holy Spirit which He has impressed into you.

I wish I could show you this seal embosser I found.  It’s cool how it presses the seal deep into a piece of paper.

And as I look at it, I can easily picture how God did the same with me, pressing His Spirit into me. 

It’s an official transaction! 

How do I know?

Because I see the seal – the seal of God’s Holy Spirit pressed deeply into me.


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-

I Hear Contradictory Voices - Apples of Gold - November 24, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for November 24, 2010

“I Hear Contradictory Voices”

 

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

I hear a voice.

It doesn’t speak in English, but in feelings.

I heard it early this morning when I began to work on my Bible memorization.

It communicated to me a feeling that I didn’t really want to do it. 

Actually, I do want to do it, so where did that feeling come from?

I hear that same voice sometimes when it’s time to work out.  It communicates to me the feeling that I don’t really want to work out.

But I do want to work out.  I like it.  It’s not a “necessary evil” for me.  I like everything about it.

So where does that voice come from?

I hear it sometimes when it’s time to go to church.  I hear it sometimes about going to work, even though I love my work.

I understand hearing that voice about things that are bad or difficult or distasteful; but why does it speak about good things I actually want to do?

Is it all in my head? 

I searched the internet for variations of the phrase “little voice in my head” and got millions of hits, so I guess it’s a common phenomenon. 

Now I understand the primary voice inside my head.  It’s the voice of my thoughts. 

But what is the secondary voice, the contrary voice?  My primary voice can counter it, but what is generating the secondary voice?

I realize I’m probably not going to get to the bottom of this.  There’s an entire field of psychology devoted to such things, yet we still know very little about them.

One thought I had is that it could be the voice of laziness.  I’m not really a lazy person, but there could be a voice of laziness.  There is such a thing as laziness.  I don’t know if it has a voice, but it is a very real thing inside of us. 

So where does laziness come from?  Is it a product of our sin nature, our “flesh,” our “old man” as the Bible calls it?

Is this all taking place inside of us, or are there unseen entities communicating in some invisible way?

The Apostle Paul referred to his own internal contradictions in Romans chapter seven.  In verses 19 and 20 he said, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

At this point I don’t know where the voices come from, but this I do know.  There are contradictory voices, and I must choose.  I must discern right from wrong, good from bad, wise from foolish.

So how do I decide which voice to listen to?

I believe that our Creator God, our Heavenly Father, is the benchmark for these decisions.  I believe there is a rock-steady standard for right, good and wise.

And I believe that there are many pitfalls we must beware of, including these:

Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.

Proverbs 14:12 says there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.

First Corinthians 3:19 says the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

Ephesians 4:22 warns us of “the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.”

And Proverbs 12:15 says the way of a fool is right in his own eyes.

These are all obstacles that can prevent us from finding God’s benchmark for what is good and right and wise.

So how do we know which voice to listen to? 

Here is what I do.  First of all, I spend time seeking the face of God, as the Bible instructs us to do.  I draw near to Him, knowing that He will draw near to me.  (James 4:8)

I also know that as a Christian, God’s Holy Spirit dwells inside me and will guide me.

I also rely on the Bible.  The Word is a tremendous help when weeding out the voices.  Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

I also lean on the wise counsel of other people.  Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes; but he who hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”

And when I listen to other people, I listen to what they say, but I also look at their lives.  I’m looking to see if they live by their own advice, and if so, how is it working out for them? 

So there you go.  I’m not sure where all those contradictory voices come from, but I know we must weed them out, and that’s the process I use.  I draw near to God, the benchmark for all that is good and right and wise.  I listen for His voice from without and the voice of His Spirit from within.  I listen to His word in the Bible, and I listen to the wise counsel of other 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 
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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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