Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jul 20th (No Title)

Today’s Passages – Proverbs 16 – 18; Proverbs 20

(Second Milers also read – Mark 11 – 12; Memorize – Genesis 1:26)

Jul 19th A Word Spoken In Due Season

Today’s Passages – Proverbs 13 – 15; Proverbs 19

(Second Milers also read – Mark 9 – 10; Memorize – Genesis 1:26)

“A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and aword spoken in due season, how good is it!” (Proverbs 15:23)

“Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24)

“Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.”(Proverbs 17:7)

“He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.”(Proverbs 17:9)

“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” (Proverbs 17:28)

Isn’t it amazing how much the Bible has to say regarding our tongues. The verses listed above are just a few of the references from today’s passage that deal with the words that we say. God is very concerned about the things that we allow to escape our lips. A good passage to read that also teaches along this line is found in James 3. In it, God gives a scathing rebuke to the tongue that is used to destroy.  As God’s people we must strive to allow the Holy Spirit of God to control our words. As God’s ambassadors we have no right saying the things that we want to say, but rather we must speak the things that will glorify God and edify others. One of the reasons that I sometimes prefer to write (text, e-mail) to people rather than talk to them is because I can carefully choose the words that I use. I find myself re-writing, looking for just the right thing to say. Often when conversing with someone face to face I find myself being quick to speak, when God wants me to be slow to speak.

I think that I could be much more affective as a minister of God if I would employ the following principles in my life regarding my speech:

1 I should pray before I speak. David prayed,

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)

2  I should pause before I speak. The Bible says a lot about refraining from speaking. Will what I am going to say edify the listener? Will it glorify God? Will it tear down somebody else? These are all thing to consider.

3  I should pastor (minister, edify, teach) with my speech.

It would certainly be a quieter world, if we would all put these principles into practice; but it would also be a lot more peaceful.

Jul 18th Pride

Today’s Passages – Proverbs 10 – 12; Proverbs 18

(Second Milers also read – Mark 7 – 8; Memorize – Genesis 1:26)

“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” (Proverbs 8:13)

“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)

“Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.” (Proverbs 13:10)

“In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.” (Proverbs 14:3)

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” (Proverbs 29:23)

“He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.” (Proverbs 28:25)

There are six more verses in Proverbs using the word proud. It is used a total of 47 times in the Bible. The wordpride is used a total of 46 times in the Bible. The word haughty is used 10 times.  That makes a total of 103 verses in the Bible (at least) that deal with one of man’s biggest problems -pride. As I was reading this morning, the Holy Spirit of God drew my attention to three of the verses.  I thought at first that they caught my attention because of the frequency of their use, but after reflecting a little bit, I realized that God was trying to show me that pride is not just an issue for everyone else, but for me as well. How does pride affect me? Let me be a little transparent and publicly reveal some of the things that the Spirit of God brought to my attention:

1  I want to be successful. Now don’t misunderstand, success in the ministry is a good thing. It is wonderful when people are reached with the gospel, and trained to serve God. It is great when lots of people come to hear the Word of God being preached. But it’s my motivation that is the concern. In my heart I want to think that it is all for God’s glory; but I know that sometimes I want to steal a little bit of that glory for me. Now, I am going to keep trying to be successful, but I am also going to ask God to throughly examine my heart and my motives; and when I sense the root of pride growing within, I will try to bring it to Him for removal.

2  I want to be right all of the time. I have noticed that some of the folks around me have this problem as well. I like to win arguments. I even get angry easily, when someone is in disagreement with me.

3  I don’t like to be criticized. This goes along with the point 2. I find myself desiring to defend myself, justify myself and I really don’t need to.

4  I find that I am concerned more with the opinion and approval of men, more that the approval of God.

These are just a few of my sins. I feel better: confession is very therapeutic. I probably could have gone on and made the list larger; but I think you get the idea. Now, how about you? How is pride affecting your life? Maybe you ought to come up with your own list. Ask God to point out some ways that pride is affecting your relationship with Him and with others. You might have too much pride to even consider the thought.

Jul 17th Are You Rich?

Today’s Passages – Proverbs 7 – 10; Proverbs 17

(Second Milers also read – Mark 5 – 6; Memorize – Genesis 1:26)

“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22)

What determines the true wealth of a man?  Is it the amount of money he has in his bank account?  Is it the number of acres he owns or the size of his house?  Perhaps it might be the number of toys and possessions that he has been able to accumulate in his lifetime?  Can richness be measured by the world’s standards?  This world puts a great deal of emphasis on material gain and financial success, and to some degree they are right, because one of the ways that God blesses His children is by providing them with their needs, and even some of their desires. But the truth is, the world is replete with people who have “this world’s goods”, but are not rich. Why?  Because they lack the blessing of the Lord. Let me list for you some of the reasons why I feel that I am the richest man on earth:

1  My Father is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and all of the silver and gold belongs to Him. Because I am His child, everything that He has is mine as well.  Everything that I need is provided for me. I am completely content, because there is nothing that I will ever need that will not be provided for me.

2  My Family is truly a blessing from God. He has given me the most beautiful wife in all of the world along with four wonderful children (and now a son-in-law, and a daughter-in-law).  They are for me; they support me; they encourage me; they assist me; they love me as I am even with all of my faults.

3  My Friends are also extremely valuable to me.  I have a few friends that I believe would take a bullet for me. They are loyal and true, even when things aren’t going so well.

4  My Future looks even brighter. My needs for the rest of my life are guaranteed, and I have a mansion waiting for me in Heaven when I have finished His purpose for me on earth.

How about you? Have you been measuring your wealth the same way the world does? Maybe you are actually richer than you thought? If you are experiencing the blessing of the Lord, you are a rich man indeed.

Jul 16th (No Title)

Today’s Passages – Proverbs 4 – 6; Proverbs 16

(Second Milers also read – Mark 3 – 4; Memorize – John 10:30)

Jul 15th “Daddy” by Melissa Dilley

Today’s Passages – Proverbs 1 – 3; Proverbs 15

(Second Milers also read – Mark 1 – 2; Memorize – John 10:30)

“But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” (Proverbs 1:33)

I want to share something with you that has revolutionized my relationship with my Heavenly Father. My God is an awesome, powerful, all-knowing, mighty and righteous God.  He spoke the world into existence and holds creation in the palm of His hand.  He raised others and even Himself from the dead and healed scores of people from all manner of diseases.  He caused the earth to swallow legions of people, and the waters to destroy others.  He is magnificent, all-seeing, and unfathomable.

But He is also my Heavenly Daddy.  Sometimes when I hurt, all I can manage to pray is “Dear Heavenly Father,“ and then I cry for a time.  Jesus told the disciples that they must become like children (completely trusting), and to suffer the children to come (don’t hinder that complete trust).  The Bible tells us that if our earthly daddies can take care of us, how much better can our Heavenly Daddy take care of us.  Let me challenge you, when you have the “fear of evil”, go to God.  Ask Him to put you on His lap, pet you, kiss your forehead, rock you, and tell you everything is going to be ok.  I believe that is the key to ‘the peace that passes all understanding’.

Jul 14th Open Your Big Fat Mouth and Praise God!

Today’s Passages – Psalm 146 – 150; Proverbs 14

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 27 – 28; Memorize John 10:30)

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.” – (Psalm 150:1-6)

I remember visiting Solid Rock Baptist Church years ago, and Pastor Clark had noticed some teenagers that weren’t singing, and he rebuked them saying, “open your big fat mouth and praise God”. I will never forget that and I often want to shout the same thing at our church.

It amazed me this morning how many times the word praise is used in the Psalms. In fact, every Psalm hat we have read this morning mentions the word “praise” several times. The Lord deserves our praise. We should praise him first because of who He is; and then because of all that He’s done for us. We should praise God all the time, but it is especially important to praise the Lord in the church house. We can praise Him through our singing, and in our prayrs and testimonies. We serve on awesome God so “open your big fat mouth and praise God”!