Purity: Don't Wait Until You Notice - Apples of Gold - January 11, 2011 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 11, 2011

“Purity:  Don’t Wait Until You Notice”

 

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

My friend called his college roommate a “neatnik.”

You know, like a beatnik, but with the word neat.

His roommate liked to keep everything neat and clean, apparently to the point of annoyance.

Now I am not a neatnik, but I do have my limits.  There is a line, and when it’s crossed I have to take action. 

For example, the toothbrush holder.  My wife and I keep our toothbrushes in a cool little stand shaped like a palm tree. 

So how often should one clean the toothbrush holder?  A neatnik might clean it daily.  Others might clean it whenever they clean the bathroom.

But this little palm tree is full of hard-to-clean ridges, so what do I do?  I wait until I notice.  Life goes on, and all of a sudden I look down one day and say, “Wow, that thing needs to be cleaned.”

How often do you clean your computer keyboard?  You probably use it every day and don’t pay much attention.  Then one day it dawns on you, “Oh my goodness, that thing looks like it was pulled out of a grain bin.”

Now you might be thinking, “I wouldn’t be caught dead with a dirty keyboard.”  Okay, then let me ask you this.  How clean is the fan inside your computer?  A dirty keyboard may look bad, but a dirty fan can lead to computer failure.

And that’s the way we are with ourselves.  We tend to clean up the things on the outside that everyone can see, but ignore the things on the inside which are critical to the operation.

I could ask you how often you clean inside your computer, but let me ask you this.  How often do you clean inside yourself, spiritually speaking?  When was your last real internal cleansing before God?

I suspect that it’s like me and the toothbrush holder.  You wait until you notice.  We don’t really think about coming clean with God until we feel guilty or ashamed, or cross a big moral line. 

Then we notice.  Then we come running to the Lord for a cleansing. 

But that is not the best way.

When I was in college, at every church service we had a time of repentance, a time to come clean before God.  Many churches don’t do that, but maybe this one figured, “Hey, these college kids, they probably have a lot to repent for.”

I liked it because it was a good reminder to come clean with God, even if I didn’t feel particularly guilty about anything.  Then I would go about my business until the next service; but here’s the thing.  God doesn’t have a threshold like we do.  We can let sin build up until we finally hit a threshold and say, “Wow, I need to get clean.”

God’s desire is purity.  We are to be pure, holy, righteous.

And how much impurity does it take to be impure?  One little speck.  If something has any impurities at all, it is not pure.

Ivory Soap used to advertise that it was “99 and 44/100ths percent pure.”  The thing is, it wasn’t pure because the only purity is 100%.

So if we let our impurities pile up, we can’t possibly have a close walk with God.

Purity:  we can’t wait until we notice.

We need to be proactive about keeping clean before the Lord.

James 4:8 says, “…purify your hearts…”

First Timothy 5:22 says, “…keep yourself pure.”

How can we do that?  With the powerful cleansing agent described in First John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This should be a regular habit.  We consistently come clean with God, confess our sins, repent, and receive His forgiveness.

How often do you clean the inside of your windshield?  It’s dangerous to wait until you notice.

And when it comes to purity, we shouldn’t wait until we notice. 

Instead we need to come clean with God regularly, purifying ourselves through Jesus Christ, so that we can walk with Him as close as we possibly can.


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-

Hard Pressed On Every Side - Apples of Gold - January 10, 2011 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 10, 2011

“Hard Pressed On Every Side”

 

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

“We are hard pressed on every side…”

Can you relate to that today?

That’s what the Apostle Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 4:8.

It says, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed…”

That verse is found in a popular worship song by Darrell Evans entitled “Trading My Sorrows.”  It says, “I’m pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.  I’m blessed beyond the curse for His promise will endure; and His joy’s going to be my strength.”

So do you feel hard pressed on every side today?

If so, this is a good test of your “compressive strength.”

We talk about the compressive strength of concrete.  What you do is take a sample piece of the concrete and put it in between two “rams.”  Then you slowly increase the pressure on the concrete until it breaks.  When you know how much pressure was being applied at the “yield point,” you can figure out the “compressive strength” of the concrete.

So what is the compressive strength of a child of God?  How much pressure can we endure before we are crushed?

Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 4:8 that they were pressed but not crushed.

Maybe they just weren’t pressed enough.  Maybe they weren’t pressed to the “yield point.”

Paul wrote an interesting thing in Romans 5:3, and here’s what it sounds like to me.  It sounds like the more pressure that is applied to the Christian, the more strength we are given to endure it!  It’s as if the very presence of the pressure gives more strength to the Christian.

Romans 5:3 says, “…we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience…”

Listen to the last part from the Amplified Bible:  “…knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.”

Concrete has a finite strength, and pressure reveals that strength.  But for the child of God, our strength is not finite.  Pressure does not reveal the limits of our strength.  It actually produces strength.

Not that the strength is ours.  By ourselves we are weak earthen vessels.  That’s the phrase Paul used in Second Corinthians 4:7, “earthen vessels.”  He said, “…we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

Alone, we crack under pressure.  But we are not alone!  We have the power of God working in us! 

That’s the phrase Paul used in Ephesians 3:20.  It says, “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us…”

God’s power is working inside of us, and He increases our compressive strength to the point of not being crushed when the pressure is applied.  Instead, the pressure actually produces more strength.

Paul describes a time in his life when the pressure was so great that he thought he would surely be crushed.  In Second Corinthians 8 he wrote, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.”

Have you ever felt that much pressure?  Have you ever felt “burdened beyond measure, above strength” – so pressured that you felt like you were going to die?

That’s where Paul was in Asia.  “We despaired even of life,” he said.

Why did God allow them to go through so much?  Look at verse nine.  He said it happened so “that we should not trust in ourselves but in God…”

In verse ten Paul came to this conclusion:  God delivered us then, He delivers us now, and we trust that He will deliver us in the future.

Now here is another powerful, encouraging passage of scripture, written by Paul in Second Corinthians four.  “Therefore we do not lose heart,” he said.  “For our light affliction, which is bur for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Second Timothy 2:3 says, “…endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 6:14 says, “Stand therefore…”

As a Christian, you have the strength to do it because you have the Spirit of God inside you and He is giving you the strength.  The more pressure you feel, the more God’s strength will rise up inside you.

The Bible talks about things like being filled with all the fullness of God, and He is able to make you stand, and strengthened with all might according to His glorious power that works in us.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…”

Second Timothy 4:5 says, “…endure hardship…”

There is no yield point for a Christian walking in the Spirit.  Our compressive strength is infinite, because it’s God’s strength working and growing inside of us.

So if you feel like Paul did, like you are “hard pressed on every side,” then remember that Paul was pressed, but not crushed.

And as a born again child of God, you, too, have the strength of Almighty God working inside you. 

He has delivered you in the past. 

He is delivering you now. 

And He will deliver you in the days to come.


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-

With the Measure You Use It Will Be Measured to You - Apples of Gold - January 7, 2011 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 7, 2011

“With the Measure You Use It Will Be Measured to You”

 

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

So you have one candy bar and two kids.

You want to have some fun?

Here’s what you do.  Tell them you are going to let one child break the candy bar in half, then the other child will get to choose which half he wants.

Scientists at the Fermi Lab could not create a more even split than that child will, knowing that if he makes one piece big, he’s going to be stuck with the little one.

That’s a great way to split anything between children.  Let one break and the other choose. 

Otherwise, if you try to split it, one of them will howl that they were cheated.  Plus it opens the door for the chooser to show some kindness, to actually take the smaller piece and leave the bigger.

That usually won’t happen, though, because usually kids are selfish, especially with their siblings.  Rare is the child who puts his sibling’s needs above his own.

The problem is, we often carry that selfishness into adulthood.  We tend to look out for number one.  I’ll get mine.  Good luck getting yours.

Here’s a story about a man in the 1960’s.  He was in his 40’s when all the hippies and bikers came on the scene, and he didn’t like them.

One day there was a knock on his door and it was a Harley rider.  He was out of gas and was asking for help.  There were a couple other bikers on their motorcycles sitting out on the street.

Now I agree, you need to be careful in a situation like that.  You need to be on your guard when random strangers show up at your door.  But when someone is asking for help, you need to try to help them in some wise way.

Well this guy was not about to help what he saw as some lazy, shiftless, rebellious pot-smoking, motorcycle-riding hippies.  So what did he do?  He was rude.  He said something like, “No, I’m not going to help you.  Get off my property you no good blankety-blank-blank-blank.”

So the Harley riders moved on and got gas elsewhere.  And then they came back.  That’s right, they weren’t too lazy and shiftless to come repay the rudeness.  What they did was ride their motorcycles onto the man’s precious manicured lawn.  They spun out donut after donut, destroying his yard before riding off into the sunset.

What they did was criminal, of course, and was a gross overpayment for the man’s rudeness, but it’s a great example of a teaching of Jesus.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

That man was rude to someone in need.  That was the measure he used, and it was measured back to him “a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”

When I was a boy, a song came out that was a wonderful illustration of the measure you use being measured back to you.

In 1974 a song by Harry Chapin hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100.  It was called “Cat’s in the Cradle” and it was a story song, with a father singing about his son.

The son keeps asking to spend time with his dad, but his dad is too busy and keeps putting him off.  The son says things like, “That’s okay, Dad.  I’m going be just like you someday.”

As the song progresses, you can see the transition.  By the end, the dad is retired and trying to spend time with his son, and what does his son say?  “Not now, Dad, I’m too busy.”

With the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

That father used a very small measure when it came to time with his son, and that’s the same measure his son used later in life.

Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

The seeds you plant are the seeds that will grow and multiply.  Eventually they become the fruit you will eat.  If you plant good seeds, you will enjoy good fruit. 

So the point?  Don’t be stingy.  Give!  Give time to your son.  Give gas to a stranger.  Even give the bigger half of a candy bar.

Give, and it will be given unto you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. 

For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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

 

(close with a clip from “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin)


© 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-

Are You Taking This For Granted? - Apples of Gold - January 6, 2011 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 6, 2011

“Are You Taking This For Granted?”

 

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

The Lord appeared to King Solomon in a dream.

He said, “Ask for whatever you want.”

And what did Solomon want?

Wisdom.

Now listen to what God said in First Kings 3:12.  “I will do what you have asked.  I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.”

First Kings 4:29 says that God gave Solomon exceptional wisdom, exceedingly great insight, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore.

And the people noticed.  First Kings 3:28 says that all Israel feared the king because they saw that he had wisdom from God.

First Kings 4:30 says that Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all of the people of the East, and it was greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

Verse 34 says that people came from all nations to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.

Second Chronicles 9:23 says, “And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.”

After hearing all the rumors and reports, one of the most famous people in the world decided to pay Solomon a visit.  The Queen of Sheba, in all her splendor, came rolling into Jerusalem with her entourage. 

When it was all said and done, in First Kings 10 she said to Solomon, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.  However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me.  Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard.”

And then she made a most interesting statement.  She said, “Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!”

I wonder if those men realized how blessed they were.  The Queen of Sheba knew it, because she saw the contrast.  She had heard the so-called wise men of the world, and by comparison, Solomon’s wisdom blew their wisdom away. 

But I have the feeling that Solomon’s men took it for granted.  “Oh, there he goes again.  Another wise saying from Solomon.  Yawn.”

First Kings 4:32 says that Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, so maybe after the first thousand or so his men just got used to it.  Maybe they took his wisdom for granted, but the Queen of Sheba saw immediately how remarkable it was.

It was so remarkable that First Kings 10:24 says that the whole world came to hear Solomon’s God-given wisdom.  How could anyone take that for granted?

Well guess what?  You are probably taking it for granted.  That’s right.  You probably have Solomon’s great wisdom in your possession right now, and you’re probably taking it for granted.

I’m talking about the book of Proverbs in the Bible.  When was the last time you studied the book of Proverbs?

God gave Solomon wisdom like he gave no other man.  People traveled the world just to hear that great wisdom, and we can’t take time to just open the book and read it?

Proverbs 1 says that wisdom cries out to us.

Proverbs 2 says that wisdom will save us from wicked men and wayward women.

Proverbs 3 connects wisdom to happiness and blessings.

Proverbs 9 says that wisdom will help us live longer.

Wisdom is more precious than rubies, more valuable than silver and gold!  (Proverbs 3:15, 6:16)

Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom…”

Men traveled the world to hear Solomon’s wisdom.

It was wisdom from God, and they saw how astounding and wonderful it was.

And we have access to that great wisdom, right here in our dusty old Bibles.

So this is your call.  Open the book! 

It’s time to soak up that amazing Godly wisdom found right there in the book of Proverbs.


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-

You Can't Unsee Something - Apples of Gold - January 5, 2011 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 5, 2011

“You Can’t Unsee Something”

 

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

As soon as I had my driver’s license I began driving myself to the movies. 

I saw all the hits, many of them scary.

I saw one scary movie where something terrible happened to someone while they were watching a movie.  For years after that, every time I sat down in a theatre I thought of that scene and took a good long look at the people sitting around me.

In one movie, something terrible happened to someone while they walked between two cars.  After that just walking between parked cars gave me the willies. 

I saw a lot of things that I would have been better off not seeing because they went into my brain and influenced my thinking, and not for the good.  And I still remember those things vividly decades later because, get this, you can’t “unsee” something.

A man told me one time that he had viewed a lot of pornography as a young man.  With the Lord’s help, he said, he had kicked the habit, but he had a problem.  All those images were still in his brain.

That’s because you can’t unsee something. 

Yes, I believe God does miracles, renews minds, sets us free, and a host of other wonderful things.  And He can make us forget things we’ve seen if He has a mind to.  But we are responsible for what we allow ourselves to see, and barring a miracle, those things will be with us for the rest of our lives.

So here is the point.  Since you can’t unsee something, be careful what you allow yourself to see in the first place.

My wife teaches seven year olds, and they are always piping up and saying funny things.  The other day one of them blurted out, “I know you might laugh, but I’m a second grade boy who thinks he’s not ready to see Harry Potter.”

Now he may not know it, but that young man is onto something.  He senses that he shouldn’t be watching Harry Potter, so he isn’t. 

Now what could happen is peer pressure might kick in, and he might be teased to the point of watching; and it may or may not have an adverse affect on him – but what if it does?  What if he finds himself afraid because of things he’s seen?  It would have been better if he hadn’t seen them at all, but guess what? 

You can’t unsee something.

My daughter reminded me the other day of our family’s visit to a wax museum a few years ago.  She said there was a scary section and we, the parents, wouldn’t let the kids go in. 

Why not?  Because we didn’t want to put things in their head that they couldn’t get out.  We didn’t want to plant seeds of fear in our children.

A woman called me here at the radio station the other day.  She said her grandkids were over and they wanted to watch The Simpsons.  She said no, and they said, “Aw Grandma, it’s just a cartoon.” 

It may be a cartoon, but it features a smart-mouth little boy behaving badly, and this grandmother didn’t want to plant those seeds in the minds of her grandchildren.

There is a wonderful little children’s song that says, “Be careful little eyes what you see.” 

“Yes, Doug, that’s for children.  But don’t you think children need to grow up eventually and be exposed to things?”

Oh, do you think “be careful little eyes what you see” is only for children?

Let’s take a look at what King David said.  In Psalm 101 he declared that he would set no vile thing before his eyes.  He would look at nothing wicked or perverse or vulgar.

When I was in driver’s ed, we were taught that the direction you look is the direction you go.  That applies to life in a lot of ways.  Where we look is where we tend to go, so it’s important to control where we look.

“But Doug, isn’t that censorship?”

If it is, so what?  Now some people have this idea that you should take in everything, but I think of it like food.  Yes, some people eat everything, but the healthiest people control their intake.

Listen.  This notion that you have to see everything and try everything is a satanic notion that goes back to the Garden of Eden.  Eve thought the forbidden fruit would make her wise, but instead it brought unintended consequences that she never got over.

You can’t uneat the forbidden fruit, and you can’t unsee something once you’ve seen it.

So beware when browsing the internet.  Watch what you watch on television.  Control what comes in through your eye gate.  Take the stand of King David, to set no vile thing before your eyes.

And you don’t have to rely on sheer grit and will power.  Ask the Lord to help you, to give you wisdom and strength, knowing that He will never allow you into a situation that you can’t handle through Him.

So, in conclusion, it’s important to control things before we see them because, barring a miracle, we can’t unsee something once it’s been seen.


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 Poison in Your Past - Apples of Gold - January 3, 2011 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 3, 2011

“The Poison in Your Past”

 

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

At 65 years of age, it still poisoned her life.

She had been married for decades, yet she was still haunted by what occurred right after the wedding.

On that day, she said, “I felt all the honest pride of my soul was laid low forever.”

At one point she wrote a piece about her life and called it “Adventures of a Nobody.”  In it she wrote this bitter sentence:  “It is 43 years since I became a wife and yet the rankling sore is not healed which then broke upon my heart of hearts, it was the blight of every future prospect and has hung like an incubus upon my spirit.”

An incubus is a demon, by the way.  Louisa let this demon, this blight, this “rankling sore” fester in her life for 43 years.

Now what about you?  Is there some rankling sore in your own past that continues to poison your present?

Louisa was born in London to a wealthy American and his English wife.  She was raised in France, and there, when she was only four years old, she met for the first time her future husband, an American boy traveling with his father.

Louisa’s family returned to England, and when she was 22 she married John; and it was no ordinary marriage.  Louisa’s wealthy father was now an American consul in London, and John’s father was the President of the United States.  The wedding was held on July 26th, 1797.

So far, so good, right?  She married a most prominent bachelor, a rising star, the son of the second President. 

Sounds like a pretty solid foundation, but this marriage of equals suddenly became very unequal when her father’s business failed.  The family was bankrupt, Louisa had no dowry, and there was a whiff of scandal in the air.  Perhaps she had lured John Quincy Adams into a rushed marriage under false pretenses.

When she was 50 years old, and the First Lady of the United States, Louisa still agonized about it.  Listen to what she wrote in this memoir to her children:  “Conceive my dear sons the shock I underwent, every appearance was against me; actions proceeding from the most innocent causes looked the deliberate plans to deceive…”

Cokie Roberts shared this story in her book “Ladies of Liberty,” and she came to this conclusion about Louisa Adams:  “This was a woman who clearly saw every ounce of pride slip down the drain with her father’s fortunes.”

To me, it’s a sad story because she let an incident she was not responsible for poison her life.  And even if you are responsible, you can’t let your past poison you like that.

Now what about you?  Do have a rankling sore from the past that continues to poison your present?

The Apostle Paul did, at least he could have.  He persecuted and even killed Christians before becoming one himself.  It could have become a horror that maimed him for life; and in his case it was his own doing.

But listen to this powerful attitude he took toward the things in his past.  He wrote in Philippians 3, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Did you catch that?  He said, “…one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind…”

Louisa Adams could have used that advice.  She probably would have been a better wife, a better First Lady.  Maybe John Quincy Adams would have been a better husband, a better president.  Maybe he would have won a second term, if only his wife hadn’t been laid low by some incident in the past.

And what about you?  Has something in your past laid you low and kept you there?  Do you think that is God’s calling and destiny for your life?

It certainly is not.  If you are a born again Christian, you are a child of God, and the future is bright.

Listen to Second Corinthians 5:17.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

If you have sinned, come to Jesus for forgiveness.  If others have sinned against you, then with Jesus’ help, forgive them.

Then follow the advice of Philippians chapter three:  forget what is in the past, and press on toward what God has for you in the future.

Let Him who began a good work in you carry it on to completion.

Now I’m thinking of the song by Chris Tomlin, “My chains are gone.  I’ve been set free.  My God, my Savior has ransomed me.”

Don’t let the past poison you like poor Louisa Adams.

As we start the new year 2011, let’s forget the past and press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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

(close with “My Chains Are Gone” by Chris Tomlin)
 

You can read the story about Louisa Adams here, starting on page 101:  http://books.google.com/books?id=QHvWI2rYXmAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

© 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 Termagant Wife - Apples of Gold - December 17, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 17, 2010

“The Termagant Wife”

 

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

Rip Van Winkle.

He’s the guy who fell asleep and didn’t wake up for 20 years.

He did nothing but sleep for 20 years, and to be honest, he didn’t do much before that.

Listen to this description of him, as told by the story’s author Washington Irving. 

“Rip Van Winkle…was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.  If left to himself, he would have whistled life away, in perfect contentment…”

Maybe you already knew that about Rip, but what do you know about his wife?

Listen to this great word that Irving used to describe Mrs. Van Winkle:  termagant. (TER-muh-gunt)  She was a termagant wife.

So, married ladies, are you termagant?  Are you being the most termagant wife you can possibly be?

So there was Rip Van Winkle, ready to whistle his life away, and what did his termagant wife do?  It says she “kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing to his family.”

And there’s more.  “Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence.”

And how did he respond?  It says, “He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing.”  And this “always provoked a fresh volley from his wife…”

Finally, the author says, Rip would be forced to go outside of the house – the only side which belongs to a henpecked husband.

Here’s another great phrase Irving used about Dame Van Winkle.  He wrote, “…what courage can withstand the ever-during and all-besetting terrors of a woman’s tongue?”

Irving continues, “Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on:  a tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.”

Finally, to escape the clamor of his wife (and the work of the farm, by the way), Rip took his gun and wandered off into the woods, and fell asleep for 20 years.

Obviously Rip had a few glaring character flaws, but today let’s turn our attention to his wife, his termagant wife.

What does termagant mean, anyway?  A termagant is a shrew, a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman.

Now ladies, you may not be as bad as Dame Van Winkle, but the question is, are you a nagging wife?

If so, I know you have your reasons, probably good reasons.  Rip’s wife did, but what good did it do?  It motivated no change, and only drove her husband away. 

There’s a perfect picture of this “driving away” in Proverbs 21:9.  It says, “Better to dwell on a corner of a housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman.”

I like the way it’s worded in the Amplified Bible.  It says, “It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop (on the flat oriental roof, exposed to all kinds of weather) than in a house shared with a nagging, quarrelsome, and faultfinding woman.”

One guy was giving advice to another guy about his wife’s nagging.  He said something like, “Dude, if she wants you to clean up your mess, clean it up.  Three minutes of work will save you from three hours of mind-numbing, soul-crushing nagging.”

That’s good advice for the husband.  If you are the victim of nagging, look for the cause.  It’s probably something you repeatedly do or don’t do that triggers the nagging. 

And wives, you need to know that nagging is not a good form of communication.  It makes your husband want to pull away from you, not build the close relationship that should be the goal of marriage.

And think about this.  You know it’s bad if even the Bible is making fun of it, saying it’s better to live on the roof than inside with that woman.

By the way, the narrator of this tale was wrong about one thing.  Nagging can be cured, whether the husband changes or not.  As you grow in Christ and bear more and more fruit of the Spirit, the worthless communication form of nagging will slide by the wayside.

So ladies, if you find yourself slipping into the bad habit of nagging, this is your wakeup call to slip on back out of it.

After all, you don’t want to become the termagant wife.


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-

We Thrive or We Wither - Apples of Gold - December 15, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for December 15, 2010

“We Thrive or We Wither”

 

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

This summer I cut down a very leafy bush in my back yard.

I tossed it by the back fence and left it.

Later I went back to it and the leaves were all brown.  I shook it and leaves just flew, making a big pile on the ground.

The branches were skeletal.  It was ugly and useless for anything except a good fire.

Meanwhile, I left a stub of the bush by the house, and guess what?  It was alive!  Before the summer was over it had new branches growing three or four feet long. 

Of course the difference was obvious.  The first branches had been cut away from their root system, so they withered; but the second branches, though tiny to start with, were thriving and beautiful because they were still connected to the roots.

Jesus said that’s the way it is with us.  When we stay connected to Him, we thrive; but when we pull away from Him, we wither.

I can almost feel this inside me.  When I spend good time with God, when I tune in to His presence consistently throughout the day, I feel that spiritual thriving.  But when I get caught up in things and I don’t turn toward Him for a while, I start to feel thirsty.  It feels like a spiritual withering.

In John 15:5 Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches.”

The vine is the lifeline to the branches.  You can give the branches all the sun and water you want.  You can prune them and treat them like a prize-winning daylily, but if they aren’t connected to the vine they are going to wither.

The same is true for us.  We can read all the self-help books and do all the right things.  We can manage our money and give to the poor, work out and stay fit, eat all natural and floss everyday, but if we aren’t connected to the vine we are going to wither.

Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit…”

When we stay connected to God, we bear much fruit, and I imagine that includes the fruit of the Spirit.  We will produce truly good things as the life of the vine flows through us.

John 15:8 uses this phrase, “that you bear much fruit.”  That’s exactly what I want!  I want to bear much fruit, and to do that I need a wide open connection to the vine.

Everyone can do good deeds.  Satanists can send money to Haiti, so is there a difference?

Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing,” but wait a minute.  Aren’t people doing good deeds apart from Christ all the time? 

I think the difference is found in John 15:16.  Jesus talked about bearing fruit that will last.  The fruit we bear through Him is enduring fruit. 

This is a constant prayer in my life, that I will bear good fruit, fruit that will last.

So how do I abide in the vine?  Here is one key.  Jesus said in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…”

I take that seriously, so I try to make sure that His words are abiding in me.  That means knowing His words and doing them. 

As you may know, I firmly believe in Bible memorization.  A while back I began my own project of memorizing the book of John before I turn 50.  That’s in 2013, so I’m not exactly in a rush, but hey, the book of John has some really long chapters! 

I’m taking it slow so that I’m not just memorizing, but marinating.  I let the words saturate me as I learn them and repeat them.  I go over them consistently, partly so that I don’t lose what I memorized, and mostly as a way to let His words abide in me so that I can bear good fruit.

And the ultimate goal is found in John 15:8 where Jesus said, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit…”

I want God to be glorified in my life, and that occurs when I bear much fruit; and I bear fruit automatically as I abide in the vine, and as Jesus’ words abide in me.  So I memorize the Bible with the end goal of God being glorified.

Abiding in the vine also includes things like walking in the Spirit, praying, loving the Lord and loving people. 

There’s a lot involved, but it’s not that hard because God actually does it through us.

So keep this in mind today. 

We thrive or we wither, and the difference is our connection to the Vine.


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-

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

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

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-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

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-