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

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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-

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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-