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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)
Here’s a prayer I’ve been praying lately, “Lord, let this land yield her increase.”
It’s based on Psalm 85:12 where it says, “The Lord shall give that which is good, and our land shall yield her increase.”
I think your “land” can be whatever God has given you, whatever opportunities you have. I think your job is your land. Your family is your land. Your business is your land. Your church is your land.
I think we can learn from Jesus’ Parable of the Talents that God gives us raw materials, or land if you will, and He is looking for an increase.
Of course we can work and work and work and work, but like it says in Psalm 127, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.
Unless the Lord gives the increase, we labor in vain.
And so I pray, “Lord, let this land yield her increase.”
And then I got to thinking, “You know, that word ‘let,’ it’s kind of weak. It seems passive. “Lord ‘let’ this happen.” I don’t want Him to let it happen. I want Him to MAKE it happen!
So I was searching the Scriptures, looking for a way to beef up this prayer, to replace the word “let.”
And then I stumbled across Genesis chapter one, and what an eye opener. It really puts a new spin on this word “let.” I mean, when God says “let,” it’s not weak or passive.
Let there be light!
Let the dry land appear!
Let the earth bring forth plants!
Let lights appear in the sky!
Let the waters abound with living creatures and the skies be filled with birds!
Let the earth bring forth every sort of animal!
Check out this Hebrew word, Hayah. You find it in Genesis 1:3 translated “Let there be.” Hayah.
So this word “let” is pretty powerful after all, and well fitting for this prayer, which I encourage you to pray over all the “land” the Lord has given you: your business, your home, your marriage, your family, your career, your church, all your opportunities; over all of it you can pray this simple but powerful prayer.
“Lord, please let this land yield her increase.”
Amen.
May God bless you, today.
With Apples of Gold...I’m Doug Apple.
Friday, May 25, 2018
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
The Three Levels of Forgiveness
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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)
Here is a teaching that will literally revolutionize your life.
It’s called The Three Levels of Forgiveness.
The first level is Rookie Forgiveness. Rookie forgiveness is when you get hurt, you suffer for a while, and then you forgive.
The question is, how long do you wait between the offense and the forgiveness? How long do you suffer in anger, hatred and bitterness? A week? A month? A year? Half your life?
What if you do like the movies and just blast your offender and take your revenge. Would that solve the problem? No, and here’s why. The offender will die, but the offense lives on! It will live on inside of you until…
Until you forgive.
So how long do you wait to forgive? Why wait at all? And that brings us to the second level of forgiveness.
After Rookie Forgiveness, the second level is: Instant Forgiveness.
This is where you forgive your offenders instantly. As soon as you see the offense coming, you forgive before it even hits you. You don’t take the hit because you forgive them instantly.
You hear someone talking behind your back. Forgive them. Instantly.
“Well Doug, that means I’m letting them get away with it!”
Ah, and that’s the problem with all of this forgiveness, isn’t it? We feel like we are letting the offender get away with it.
But you know, you can forgive...AND hold accountable. The accountability just won’t be in anger, hatred, revenge and bitterness.
For example, when a toddler screams, “Mommy, I hate you!”
The mom doesn’t take offense. She instantly forgives and goes straight to loving correction.
So someone steals from you? Instantly forgive, and hold them accountable...in love, though, not hatred.
So you don’t want to practice instant forgiveness? Keep in mind the other option is rookie forgiveness, where you go ahead and take the hit, suffer for a while, and then eventually you are going to have to forgive them anyway.
So that is level two: Instant Forgiveness. We should be tossing out forgivenesses like candy at a parade. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. See an offense coming? Forgive.
Like I said, it will revolutionize your life! And your marriage and your family and your church and your workplace.
And then comes the third level: Preemptive Forgiveness.
You know offenses are coming. Jesus said, “It is impossible that no offenses should come...” They are coming, so forgive them now, ahead of time!
“But Doug, that’s impossible.”
Think of it like an emergency bank account. You know something is going to break, so you put money in the account ahead of time.
So go ahead and put some forgiveness in the account ahead of time, knowing the offenses will come. You don’t know who. You don’t know when. You don’t know why. Maybe it’s next Christmas when Aunt Mable will make a horrible crack about you. Maybe it’s five years from now when your brother will swindle you out of your dad’s inheritance. We’re not asking for trouble ahead of time. We just know that someone is going to do something that hurts us, small or large or even criminal.
So send out a preemptive strike of forgiveness! I forgive you now, whoever you are.
And then, when the time comes, and the devil rears his ugly head and goes on the attack...too late. I already forgave that five years ago.
And that sets you free to go on the attack yourself! Not the attack of anger or hatred or vengeance. It’s the attack of love, loving everyone, including enemies, through the power of God in me, the Holy Spirit who empowers me to love and to love and to love and to love.
And it all starts with forgiveness.
So think about it. What level do you want?
There’s Rookie Forgiveness, where you take the hit, suffer for a while, and then finally forgive.
There’s Instant Forgiveness, where you avoid the hit by forgiving instantly, as soon as you see the offense coming.
And there’s Preemptive Forgiveness, where you go ahead and forgive the offender now, before the offense even happens.
Set yourself free from offense and hatred and anger and bitterness and revenge!
Revolutionize your life with the power of forgiveness.
May God bless you, today.
With Apples of Gold...I’m Doug Apple.
I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)
Here is a teaching that will literally revolutionize your life.
It’s called The Three Levels of Forgiveness.
The first level is Rookie Forgiveness. Rookie forgiveness is when you get hurt, you suffer for a while, and then you forgive.
The question is, how long do you wait between the offense and the forgiveness? How long do you suffer in anger, hatred and bitterness? A week? A month? A year? Half your life?
What if you do like the movies and just blast your offender and take your revenge. Would that solve the problem? No, and here’s why. The offender will die, but the offense lives on! It will live on inside of you until…
Until you forgive.
So how long do you wait to forgive? Why wait at all? And that brings us to the second level of forgiveness.
After Rookie Forgiveness, the second level is: Instant Forgiveness.
This is where you forgive your offenders instantly. As soon as you see the offense coming, you forgive before it even hits you. You don’t take the hit because you forgive them instantly.
You hear someone talking behind your back. Forgive them. Instantly.
“Well Doug, that means I’m letting them get away with it!”
Ah, and that’s the problem with all of this forgiveness, isn’t it? We feel like we are letting the offender get away with it.
But you know, you can forgive...AND hold accountable. The accountability just won’t be in anger, hatred, revenge and bitterness.
For example, when a toddler screams, “Mommy, I hate you!”
The mom doesn’t take offense. She instantly forgives and goes straight to loving correction.
So someone steals from you? Instantly forgive, and hold them accountable...in love, though, not hatred.
So you don’t want to practice instant forgiveness? Keep in mind the other option is rookie forgiveness, where you go ahead and take the hit, suffer for a while, and then eventually you are going to have to forgive them anyway.
So that is level two: Instant Forgiveness. We should be tossing out forgivenesses like candy at a parade. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. See an offense coming? Forgive.
Like I said, it will revolutionize your life! And your marriage and your family and your church and your workplace.
And then comes the third level: Preemptive Forgiveness.
You know offenses are coming. Jesus said, “It is impossible that no offenses should come...” They are coming, so forgive them now, ahead of time!
“But Doug, that’s impossible.”
Think of it like an emergency bank account. You know something is going to break, so you put money in the account ahead of time.
So go ahead and put some forgiveness in the account ahead of time, knowing the offenses will come. You don’t know who. You don’t know when. You don’t know why. Maybe it’s next Christmas when Aunt Mable will make a horrible crack about you. Maybe it’s five years from now when your brother will swindle you out of your dad’s inheritance. We’re not asking for trouble ahead of time. We just know that someone is going to do something that hurts us, small or large or even criminal.
So send out a preemptive strike of forgiveness! I forgive you now, whoever you are.
And then, when the time comes, and the devil rears his ugly head and goes on the attack...too late. I already forgave that five years ago.
And that sets you free to go on the attack yourself! Not the attack of anger or hatred or vengeance. It’s the attack of love, loving everyone, including enemies, through the power of God in me, the Holy Spirit who empowers me to love and to love and to love and to love.
And it all starts with forgiveness.
So think about it. What level do you want?
There’s Rookie Forgiveness, where you take the hit, suffer for a while, and then finally forgive.
There’s Instant Forgiveness, where you avoid the hit by forgiving instantly, as soon as you see the offense coming.
And there’s Preemptive Forgiveness, where you go ahead and forgive the offender now, before the offense even happens.
Set yourself free from offense and hatred and anger and bitterness and revenge!
Revolutionize your life with the power of forgiveness.
May God bless you, today.
With Apples of Gold...I’m Doug Apple.
Monday, November 06, 2017
How to Overcome the Flesh
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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)
“Yeah, but how can I overcome the flesh?
That’s what someone asked me, and it’s a good question.
Different sins can get hold of different people – Christian people – and sometimes they even battle those sins, and lose.
So what’s the answer? How can you overcome the flesh, and the sin and temptation that go with it?
My advice is don’t try to tackle it head on, but turn your attention elsewhere.
Dealing with the flesh can be like dealing with a toddler. You can fight all day with a toddler about that thing they are fixated on, but sometimes it’s just better to say, “Hey, how about a popsicle?” Then they squeal with delight, run to the kitchen, and forget all about that other thing.
In the same way you can battle your flesh all day long. “Drop that sin. Drop that sin. Drop that sin.” But the flesh wants to hold onto it.
So what do you replace it with?
Instead of fighting the flesh head on, you present yourself to the Lord, and keep presenting yourself to the Lord. “Lord, here I am. I’m all Yours.”
Romans 6:13 tells us to present ourselves to God.
Romans 12:1 tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.
I like the words of the new song “Broken Things” by Matthew West. It says, “But if it’s true You use broken things, then here I am, Lord, I’m all Yours.”
I recommend doing it everyday. Lift your hands in surrender to heaven and present yourself as a living sacrifice to God. “Lord, here I am. I’m all Yours. I want to do want You want me to do, say what You want me to say, be what You want me to be. I want to bear good eternal fruit and I can only do that in You.”
So how do we overcome the flesh? We keep presenting ourselves to the Lord each and every day, and when our hearts and minds are fixated on Him, it just doesn’t leave any room for the flesh.
May God bless you, today.
I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)
“Yeah, but how can I overcome the flesh?
That’s what someone asked me, and it’s a good question.
Different sins can get hold of different people – Christian people – and sometimes they even battle those sins, and lose.
So what’s the answer? How can you overcome the flesh, and the sin and temptation that go with it?
My advice is don’t try to tackle it head on, but turn your attention elsewhere.
Dealing with the flesh can be like dealing with a toddler. You can fight all day with a toddler about that thing they are fixated on, but sometimes it’s just better to say, “Hey, how about a popsicle?” Then they squeal with delight, run to the kitchen, and forget all about that other thing.
In the same way you can battle your flesh all day long. “Drop that sin. Drop that sin. Drop that sin.” But the flesh wants to hold onto it.
So what do you replace it with?
Instead of fighting the flesh head on, you present yourself to the Lord, and keep presenting yourself to the Lord. “Lord, here I am. I’m all Yours.”
Romans 6:13 tells us to present ourselves to God.
Romans 12:1 tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.
I like the words of the new song “Broken Things” by Matthew West. It says, “But if it’s true You use broken things, then here I am, Lord, I’m all Yours.”
I recommend doing it everyday. Lift your hands in surrender to heaven and present yourself as a living sacrifice to God. “Lord, here I am. I’m all Yours. I want to do want You want me to do, say what You want me to say, be what You want me to be. I want to bear good eternal fruit and I can only do that in You.”
So how do we overcome the flesh? We keep presenting ourselves to the Lord each and every day, and when our hearts and minds are fixated on Him, it just doesn’t leave any room for the flesh.
May God bless you, today.
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