My Heart Is On Fire by Doug Apple - a short Christian devotional to open the Scriptures and make your heart burn within you!

I'm generally a deep sleeper, but the other night I woke up in the middle of the night with some phrases just racing through my mind. It felt providential, so I opened my phone, typed them into a note, and promptly went back into a deep sleep.

A while later I woke up again, with more phrases running through my head, so I opened my phone and added them to my note, and went right back to sleep.

Then after a while, I was awaken a third time, with more phrases in my mind, which I wrote down. Also in my mind was just how I was to put it together in audio form. And again I went right back to sleep.

When I woke up, it was all still fresh in my mind (instead of some silly thing in my sleep) so I decided to try to put it together, just as I heard it in my head that night.

I finally finished it today, and that audio file is now this podcast.

Enjoy!

Doug

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

Start with the box.

That’s what I heard a famous composer say.

He was writing music for a new movie, and he said you start with the box.

You have to set up a framework, the boundaries you are going to work within in the creative process. Otherwise you get sloppy, there is no consistency, and you end up with a mess.

So start with the box, then unleash your creativity within the box.

Believe it or not, creativity actually thrives within the boundaries of a box.

Yes, some people say, “I want to be free! I want to do whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want. I want to be completely free to follow whatever whim hits me with no limits."

Yes, and that’s a good formula for ending up with a sloppy mess.

Studies show that kids thrive in a home with appropriate boundaries. Children who are left to themselves, free to do whatever they please, end up in a sloppy mess.

Marriages with appropriate boundaries thrive. Marriages without boundaries end up in a sloppy mess.

In a way, God gave us a box to live in, and we are free to wildly express our creativity within the box. Our lives will thrive when they are lived within God’s boundaries, His rules, His statues and precepts, His righteousness.

But something within us rejects the idea of living within a box, of living within boundaries. Something tells us that it’s awful, it is terrible, it is restricting. We can almost feel the noose. We want no boundaries!

The problem is, if we don’t live within God’s boundaries, we end up with a sloppy mess.

When we don’t limit our physical intimacy to the boundaries of God’s marriage covenant, we end up with a sloppy mess.

When we don’t limit our speech to God’s boundaries of truth and love and grace, we end up with a sloppy mess.

When we don’t limit what we put into our mouths, WE end up a sloppy mess!

I remember playing a type of basketball game on the playground where there was no out-of-bounds. I don’t know what kid made that up, but with no out-of-bounds you could run behind the goal or out onto the grass or behind the whole school. It was dumb, and yet some kid thought it was a good idea.

Our world is full of dumb things, and yet someone thinks they are a good idea. The problem is, if it is outside God’s boundaries, it will leave you in a sloppy mess.

That’s how people end up on these reality TV shows, arguing and bickering and even fist fighting, right there on the set. It always comes down to someone who is trying to live outside of God’s boundaries and thinks it’s okay.

It’s not okay. That’s how your life turns into a big dumpster fire.

So whatever feeling it is that makes you think God’s boundaries are stifling, that feeling is a deception.

Start with the box. Live within God’s box, His boundaries of good and righteous and holy, for it’s within that box where we are truly free to live our life to it’s very highest and most exciting potential.

May God bless you today!

I’m Doug Apple.

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

Here is something I pray for.

I pray for ignition.

I pray for God’s divine ignition.

Ignition is to ignite, to start the fire, to set the blaze.

We usually know what we OUGHT to do. We know what we SHOULD do, so why don’t we do it?

We’re lacking ignition.

I want God to reach inside me and turn the key that fires the spark that sets the blaze. I want to be on fire from the inside out, fully motivated, fully alive, fully woke.

Awake, o sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will give you light!*

I want my heart to burn within me like the men who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

I want to say like Jeremiah, “God, Your Word burns like a fire, like a fire in my bones, and I cannot keep silent.”

We pray for wisdom, and that’s great. We need to pray for wisdom.

And then we get it.

And then what?

And then we’ve got to put it into practice, and that takes motivation. It’s takes ignition.

Toby Mac has a song called ‘Til the Day I Die and listen to the message.

Do it for the King? What do you know about that?

Say you goin' harder? Mmm I doubt that.

You say you’re doing work but you're asking where’s the couch at.

How you doing work when you’re asking where’s the couch at?

And then it says, “I don't understand that life...'cause I'm all in...’til the day I die.”

Are you all in? Are you all in for Jesus?

Just say, “God, I’m in. I’m all in! I want to do what You want me to do, say what You want me to say, go where You want me to go, be who You want me be.”

And if He’s already told you and you haven’t done it yet, then pray for this.

Pray for Divine Ignition.

May God bless you...with His divine ignition today!

I’m Doug Apple.

* Ephesians 5:14

** Jeremiah 20:9

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

I’m a firm believer that you should have a time and a place to pray.

A time...and a place.

Does God seem distant? Does your relationship with Him seem shallow, or wispy, or vague?

Well let me ask you. Do you have a set time and a set place to draw near to God in prayer?

James 4:8 says that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.

If it doesn’t seem like God is drawing near, are you drawing near to Him, consistently, with a set time and a set place?

Let’s open up our Bibles to the famous Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus begins by saying, “when.” WHEN you pray.

So let me ask you. When do you pray? Do you have an appointed time to pray?

Or listen, are you just tossing up “Jesus Take the Wheel” prayers, catch as catch can?

If you want to keep your relationship with God at lukewarm, that’ll do it.

But if you want to set it on fire, set yourself a time and a place to pray, to draw near to God in prayer, and worship, and thanksgiving.

Jesus said, “...when you pray, go into your room...” That’s a set place. You gotta have a place to pray.

He said, “...go into your room, and when you have shut your door...”

He’s telling us to get alone with God. That’s what Jesus Himself did, and He WAS GOD. But the Bible says He often withdrew to be alone with the Father. He went up on a mountain by Himself. Maybe He went into a garden. Maybe He went into the wilderness.

The point is, be like Jesus. Get alone with the Father, and a great way to get your privacy is to go into a room, shut the door...and then what?

Jesus said, “...go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place...”

That is the time and place to go pour out your heart to Almighty God. Cast your cares upon Him. Intercede for your family and friends, your church and your country, for “Thy will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

What are you going to do with your life? How are you going to fulfill your part in the body of Christ? How can you possibly be the best child, the best parent, the best sibling, the best aunt or uncle or niece or nephew, the best student, the best worker, the best church member that you can possibly be?

You can’t! You can’t do alone. You can only do it in the power of God.

We must have God’s Spirit fully alive within us.

So how can we do that?

We must draw near to God in prayer, and I firmly believe that the best way to do that is by having a set time and set place to pray.

May God bless you today!

I’m Doug Apple.

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

How does God speak to us?

Does God even speak to people these days, or was that just for people in the Bible?

Some debate that, but here is one verse that most people agree on: Romans 8:16.

It says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

That’s one way that you can know that you are a saved, born again child of God. He will let you know. His Spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God.

That is one way that God speaks to people today, His Spirit bearing witness with our spirit.

I like how it is Spirit to spirit communication, the Holy Spirit inside of the believer communicating to the spirit of the believer. His Spirit bearing witness with our spirit.

I have heard from thousands of Christians and the testimonies are overwhelming. So many of them talk about the ways that God has led them, or spoken to them, or communicated to them. And I’ll say, “Give us the nuts and bolts of exactly how that happened in the real world.”

And they say things like, “I was reading the Bible, and suddenly a verse leaped off the page.” Or, “I was in worship, and suddenly a powerful phrase jumped into my mind, and I just knew it was God.” Or even, “I was walking down the street, minding my own business, and I heard a voice telling me what to do. I’m pretty sure it was God.”

I realize that some people say they heard from God when they didn’t, but today let’s focus on how God speaks to us, and I think many of these things happened in this way: His Spirit bore witness with their spirit. The Holy Spirit passed a message along directly to that person’s spirit. It wasn’t verbal. It wasn’t mental. It was Spirit to spirit communication.

I like how The Passion Translation words Romans 8:16, “...He whispers into our innermost being...”

At our church we’re going through The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson and he refers to what he calls “Spirit-whispers.” I love that!

I think that is when His Spirit bears witness with our spirit. The Holy Spirit communicates directly to our spirit, our inner man if you will, in Spirit-whispers.

In John 14:26, Jesus said that the Father would send the Holy Spirit and He would be a teacher.

In Luke 12:12 Jesus again refers to the Holy Spirit as a teacher.

First Corinthians 2:10 talks about God revealing things to people through His Spirit.

When God teaches and reveals things through His Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit of God, communicating the things of God to the people of God, and what is one way He does it?

In Spirit-whispers.

It is Spirit to spirit communication.

It is His Spirit bearing witness with our spirit.

Of course you should always make sure this balances with Scripture, and you should bounce it off other mature believers, but watch for it. Listen for it, not with your physical eyes and ears, but with your spirit. Jesus said, “He has ears to hear, let him hear.” That means spiritual hearing.

It is our spirit tuning in and listening closely to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He teaches and convicts and reveals and inspires us to draw near to God and become the on-fire Kingdom people He is calling us to be, as we listen and are taught and mentored and led by the Holy Spirit of God.

May God bless you today!

I’m Doug Apple.

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

I guess you’ve heard of FOMO: the Fear Of Missing Out.

Sometimes it motivates teenagers to do stupid things. And adults.

When you hear people spout this trendy phrase “no regrets,” it’s often coming from the same source. They say things like, “My only regrets would be the things I didn’t do.”

See it? It’s the fear of missing out. And some people have the attitude, “I would rather sin and live with the consequences than risk missing out on something.”

Wow. That’s almost crazy. It’s probably a thought from the pits of hell, one of the wiles of the devil, a deception to blind the eyes and get people to do things that God says are wrong.

But look closely. It plays right into a true human fear – the fear of missing out on something good, on something great, on the opportunity of a lifetime. Truly, none of us wants to miss out on something so good.

So could there be a positive side to this fear of missing out?

I think so, and it’s rooted in this phrase found so often in the Bible: the fear of the Lord.

One way I fear the Lord is that I fear missing out on what He has for me, His plans, His desires, His goals. I don’t want to miss out by not following His ways, His rules, His precepts and statutes, His laws and commandments.

Yes, I’m saved by grace, and yes I live in His grace, but I also want to walk in His Spirit, not in the flesh. I want to build on rock and not on sand. I must not grieve or quench His Holy Spirit, or I risk missing out on what God has for me today and everyday.

So when it comes to FOMO, the fear of missing out, that is what I fear missing out on. I fear missing God and His good, pleasing and perfect will. I fear missing His leading as my Good Shepherd. I fear missing His voice, His direction, His, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” I fear sinning and putting myself in a place apart from the dead center bullseye of His will.

I fear that, because I know that His ways are good. His ways are awesome. His ways are the best, both for eternity and for now.

So FOMO? Yes, it steers my life each and every day. I must live and walk by the Holy Spirit of God, because I truly have the fear of missing out: the fear of missing out on all that God has for me.

May God bless you today!

I’m Doug Apple.

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

Are you reading the Bible by rote?

I just heard someone say that, that they were just reading the Bible by rote.

In other words, they were just being mechanical, doing it because they knew they should, sticking to their schedule...through the Bible in a year, baby!

Of course scheduled Bible reading is a beautiful thing, unless you aren’t getting anything out of it.

Maybe you are reading the Bible because you know you should, but it’s rote, it’s mechanical, it’s lifeless. The Spirit’s not in it, and by that I mean the Holy Spirit.

So what can you do?

Here is a sure fire Bible reading plan: read until your heart burns within you.

That’s what happens when God opens the Scriptures to you. His Holy Spirit will suddenly leap inside you, basically saying, “There it is! Look at that. Focus on it. Ponder it. Meditate on it. Learn it and let it sink into your heart.”

It’s His Spirit testifying with your spirit about God’s truth.

That’s what happened to the men on the road to Emmaus. They were walking along, and suddenly a stranger joined them. The stranger began to open up the Scriptures to them with power and authority. Finally their eyes were opened to see that it was actually the newly resurrected Jesus...and then Jesus disappeared.

And what was their exclamation? What excited them so? Here is what they said in Luke 24:32, “Did not our heart burn within us...while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

And I think God does the same thing today. We read the Bible, and suddenly our heart burns within us, suddenly His Holy Spirit leaps within us as certain words jump out at us, or as the men on the road to Emmaus put it, He opens the Scriptures to us.

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth, and Jesus said the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and guide us into all truth.

How does He do that? One way is by opening the Scriptures to us by making certain verses at certain times spring to life!

So watch for it. Try reading the Bible, not until you meet your quota, or not until you finish the chapter, but simply read until God opens the Scripture to you, making your heart burn within you.

May God bless you...as you read His Word today!

I’m Doug Apple.

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

Okay, here’s my Super Six: six simple things that will radically change your life, and they come in pairs. Here’s the first pair.

Eat Right and Exercise

Why don’t we eat right? Why do we shovel some of that junk into our mouth when we KNOW it’s not good for us? And why do we turn up our nose at some of the delicious, natural food that God designed to perfectly operate our bodies? It makes no sense. So let’s come to our senses and start eating right, and it’s not that hard. People whine about change, but change can be so simple. Just change one little thing and you’re on your way. For example, stop drinking soda pop. Or stop eating candy. Or French fries. And start eating fresh fruit and vegetables. Pick one thing and start eating more, and you’re on your way!

And then exercise. We all know we should exercise, so just do it. Move! Get your heart rate up. Do something you enjoy, or do something you don’t enjoy and make it more enjoyable. For example, if you don’t like going to the gym, but you love listening to music, then load up on your favorite music, get some enjoyable earphones and go work out.

Just these two tips alone, eat right and exercise, could solve so much of the stress and anxiety and depression, and even much of the illness in the world...so do it!

My next pair is:

Read the Bible and Pray

There’s never been a time in the history of the world when God’s Word was so easy to read, at least for us pampered Americans. We should be soaking up the Scriptures daily, so do it. Just read, and watch for the Holy Spirit to make God’s Word jump off the pages at you.

And pray. We know we need to pray, and we probably do pray, in little spurts, in a hurry, here and there. My advice is to set aside a time and place where you can be alone and regularly and consistently spend time talking with God.

Just two little disciplines, but they will radically change your life for the better, read your Bible and pray.

And the final pair in the Super Six is:

Love God and Love People.

Yes, these are the two greatest commandments, so we should focus on them. As for loving God, here is one little tip for you. Just start telling Him that you love Him. Make a point to say it throughout the day. “I love You, Lord.” Incorporate it into your prayers. “Our Father, who art in heaven...I love You.” As you tell Him you love Him, just watch and see how it will turn your heart towards Him.

And finally, love people, and here’s a simple tip for loving people. When someone shows you how to love them, and you can easily do it, just do it. If you pay attention, people will show you how to love them. Things will pop into your awareness and you will think, “Yeah, I could do that.” Well, instead of talking yourself out of it, just think, “This is someone I love (because we are supposed to love everyone)” and then do that thing you can easily do for someone you love.

And there it is, The Super Six that will radically and wildly change your life for the better.

Eat Right and Exercise

Read the Bible and Pray

Love God and Love People

May God bless you today!

I’m Doug Apple.

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

The righteous Lord loves righteousness.

That’s what it says in Psalm 11 verse 7.

God loves righteousness, so I want to love righteousness, and live a righteous life.

You know those laws in the Old Testament, like the ten commandments? Those come from God’s righteousness.

If you want to write off the Old Testament, don’t forget 2 Timothy 3:16. All Scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness.

Psalm 119:172 says that all God’s commandments are righteousness.

So read your Bible, Old and New Testament, and learn about God’s righteousness.

We should hunger and thirst for righteousness. 1

We should seek first the kingdom of God...and His righteousness. 2

His righteousness is like the great mountains! 3 It endures forever! 4

In Isaiah 45:19 the Lord said, “I, the Lord, speak righteousness.”

So we don’t toss out all those righteous laws in the Bible. They come from the heart and mind of the righteous Lord who loves righteousness!

Of course the problem is that we have a sin nature and can’t live up to God’s high and holy standard of righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 says, “...all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags...” And Romans 1:18 says that the wrath of God comes against all the unrighteousness of humanity.

The good news is...that’s where Jesus comes in. He took our unrighteousness upon Himself on the cross, shedding His blood and paying the price for us to be made righteous before God.

Now, through faith in Jesus, we can receive the righteousness of God apart from keeping the law. In Romans 3 and 4 we see that God’s righteousness is imputed to us by our faith in Jesus. We receive the free gift of righteousness.

But don’t stop there. God still wants us to LIVE righteously...not in order to be saved, but since we are saved!

1 Peter 2:24 says Jesus bore our sins in His own body...that we might live for righteousness!

Romans 6:13 tells us to present ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.

Romans 6:19 goes so far as to tell us to present ourselves to Him as “slaves of righteousness.”

And what if we don’t? First John 3:10 says, “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God...”

So how do we do it? How can we live a righteous life?

Romans 8:4 tells us to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. On our own we won’t live a righteous life, but as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will.

The righteous Lord loves righteousness. He gave us the law, spoken out of His righteousness. We sinned, so He sent Jesus to pay the price for our righteousness. Then to all who receive Him, He gives the Holy Spirit to empower us to, once and for all, live the righteous life He intended for us from the beginning.

Yes, we are saved by the grace of God...AND...Titus 2 says that the grace of God teaches us to live righteously.

The gospel of grace and living a righteous life go hand in hand, one follows the other. We are saved by grace, and then we live a righteous life, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The Good Shepherd leads us in paths of righteousness. 5

Lord, I want to follow You in Your paths of righteousness. I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness. I seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness. I want to love righteousness!

Because You are the righteous Lord, and You love righteousness.

May God bless you today...as you seek to live a righteous life in the power of the Spirit.

I’m Doug Apple.

1 Matthew 5:6

2 Matthew 6:33

3 Psalm 36:6

4 Psalm 111:3

5 Psalm 23

Other verses:

Psalm 145:17, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways...”

Zephaniah 2:3 says, “Seek righteousness...”

Proverbs 2:20 says, “...keep to the paths of righteousness.”

Proverbs 11:8 says, “...he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.”

Isaiah 32:17 says that righteousness brings peace and quietness and assurance.

1 Corinthians 15:34, “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.”

1 Timothy 6:11, “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”

Ephesians 5:9, “...for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth...”

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire! (Luke 24:32)

We talk about being led by God, but what does that look like in real life?

Dr. Gary Chapman shared one powerful example from his own life this week on Focus on the Family.

Here it is, Gary Chapman talking to Focus on the Family host Jim Daly.

“You know, Jim, when my marriage turned around, it was when I finally said to God, ‘I don’t know what else to do. This is not getting any better, and I don’t know what to do.’ And as soon as I said that, there came to my mind that visual image of Jesus on His knees, washing the feet of His disciples. And I heard God say to me, ‘That’s the problem in your marriage. You don’t have that attitude towards your wife.’ Hit me like a ton of bricks.”

So there’s the great Dr. Gary Chapman, best selling author of The Five Love Languages and renowned marriage expert, sharing the powerful moment that changed his own marriage. And what was it?

It was a powerful experience with God as he cried out to Him for help, and God gave him a sudden revelation.

That is one example of what being led by God looks like in real life. In this case, he indicated that, as he prayed, God brought to his mind the image of Jesus on His knees, washing the feet of His disciples. And then he says that God delivered these words to him, “That’s the problem in your marriage. You don’t have that attitude towards your wife.”

And it hit him like a ton of bricks.

And that’s how God often does it. As we seek Him, even cry out to Him, at some point He gives the direction we need. And it can happen in a variety of ways.

Of course not every whim that pops into our head is from God. It needs to be balanced with Scripture, and with the wisdom of other believers.

But our goal is to seek God, and learn to hear Him when He leads, whatever form that takes.

I’ve experienced it in different ways. I won’t say it’s 100% for sure from God, but I believe it is, and it balances with Scripture and other believers.

Of course I guess thousands of times I’ve received God’s direction from Scripture, and from godly teachers and preachers and authors and friends.

Other times it has come from what I call “guiding words,” where certain words just hit me, as Dr. Chapman said, like a ton of bricks as they popped into my head. Often that has happened during prayer, but often it has happened seemingly randomly. I’m doing something else, then bang...guiding words come powerfully into me.

And other times I think God has led me simply by raising up a conviction inside me, “I must do this.”

I love what it says in Isaiah 30:21, in the good old King James, “...thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it...”

That is one of the great benefits of being a Christian, of being saved, of being in a right relationship with our Creator. We can seek Him. We can come boldly before His throne. We have His Holy Spirit inside of us, and He will lead us in the way we should go, a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

It comes in different ways, but as believers we can bank on this fact. One way or another, God is going to lead us. He’s going to say, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.