Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jul 28th A Wonderful Story of Love

Today’s Passages – Song of Solomon 1 – 4; Proverbs 28

(Second Milers also read – Luke 11 – 12; Memorize Hebrews 1:8)

“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” – (Song of Songs 2:4)

I must confess that I would rather write about a subject this morning that I have a better understanding of. The Song of Solomon is a wonderful account of love and marriage, but I must confess that I do not comprehend all that is contained in this beautiful story. I know that there is a literal, earthly story here about the love between a husband and a wife. It is clear from the passage that Solomon is the husband; but trying to figure out the identity of the wife with certainty is rather difficult as we know that Solomon had 700 of them (and 300 additional concubines). It is thought by some that this beautiful woman is Abishag, the woman who ministered to Solomon’s father in the last days of his life. We know that she was a Shulamite woman (6:13). At any rate, she is obviously Solomon’s first wife, before he had sinned by marrying so many other women.

The broader implication of this book is that Solomon is a type or picture of the Lord Jesus Christ; and his bride is a picture of the Church. It was a strange thought for me when I first learned that I was part of the Bride of Christ. I guess the man in me rebels against the feminine identity; but as I have grown through the years I have learned to accept and even somewhat understand the meaning of it all. I do love my Lord Jesus. I want to grow and learn to love Him more, but in order to do so I must learn to love myself a lot less.

As I said in the beginning of this thought, I don’t understand all that this love story has to tell us; but I love story nonetheless from both an earthly perspective, and from the spiritual picture that it represents.

Jul 27th Sharpen Your Axe

Today’s Passages – Ecclesiastes 9 – 12; Proverbs 27

(Second Milers also read – Luke 9 – 10; Memorize Hebrews 1:8)

“If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.” – (Ecclesiastes 10:10)

I have been enjoying this devotional reading of the Book of Ecclesiastes as there are so many nuggets of truth. I actually had a hard time deciding what to write about this morning. I had considered doing something on Ecclesiastes 9:11, or 10:1; but I beleieve the verse above will be the most helpful for us today.

Solomon says that if a man does not “whet the edge”, he will have to add a little strength in order to be able to accomplish the goal. Whetting (or sharpening) the edge allowed the blade to penetrate deeper into the wood with less strength. It helps accomplish the goal without as much effort. Solomon is using this illustration to teach us about life. At the end of the verse he says that wisdom is profitable to direct. Acquiring wisdom is like sharpening the axe or whetting the edge. It will help you do the job with less difficulty.

God has given us a lot of things to do in life. In order to accomplish the things that the Lord has for us, we will need to acquire some wisdom. Wisdom makes us more proficient and helps us to accomplish the tasks at hand. God says that He will give us the wisdom that we need if we simply ask for it in faith.

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” – (James 1:5)

We can get God’s wisdom from the Word of God; through prayer; and from the counsel of those who are wise.

I do not think that God is minimizing or belittling the value of hard work, either. There are a lot of things that I find myself doing where I am perhaps not as wise as someone else. In these situations I will have to work a little harder than that person, but  I can still accomplish the goal.  However, if I am going to be the best that I can be at all that God has given me to do. I will need to ask for wisdom. I need His wisdom to be a good husband and father. I need wisdom in order to pastor the people of God at the church. I need wisdom for every task that I perform, and so do you. Work hard, but if you want to get the most out of each swing, you will want to sharpen your axe.

Jul 26th Promises, Promises

Today’s Passages – Ecclesiastes 5 – 8; Proverbs 26

(Second Milers also read – Luke 7 – 8; Memorize – Hebrews 1:8)

“When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?” – (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6)

Back when my grandfather was a young man, a man could get a loan simply by promising with a handshake that he would pay it back. People in those days kept their word. They followed through on what they said they would do. Today it is much different. Many people today are not at all trustworthy. They are quick to promise, but often slow to keep their word. God says here in our passage this morning that we should be slow to make promises, but once a promise is made, we should do everything we can to keep it.

I want to encourage all of you that are reading this thought this morning to think (and pray) very carefully before you commit yourself to something. Don’t let pressure or emotion cause you to agree to do something that you may not be able to fulfill. I remember years ago I gave a pledge in January that I would give a certain amount of money per week toward that year’s faith promise missions offering. I was making good money at the time, and I did not think that there would be any problems. However, later that year, my family and I packed up to move to Texas to go to Bible College. I was no longer in a financial position to keep that committment, but I had made a promise, and I knew our church’s missions program was depending on that offering. Cindy and I agreed that we should sacrifice some things in order to fulfill our pledge. I haven’t always kept my promises in life, but I am very glad I kept that one.

Today we live in a world that is lacking basic trust, and the reason we don’t trust one another is that we do not keep our word. We say one thing and do another. We make promises to people and to God that may be well meaning, but ultimately we fail to follow through. Let’s stop making promises that we can’t keep. And when we do give our word, let’s keep it.

Jul 25th Vanity of Vanities

Today’s Passages – Ecclesiastes 1 – 4; Proverbs 25

(Second Milers also read Luke 5 – 6; Memorize – Hebrews 1:8)

“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” – (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

We have been studying the Book of Ecclesiastes at our church on Sunday Evenings, so I have had the advantage of giving these passages a little more thought than perhaps I would normally give one of our morning devotions. As I have told our church many times, there are three keys to understanding the Book of Ecclesisastes:

1  There is a key word – “vanity” – It literally means vapor or breath. It means emptiness. James said that our lives were like a vapour.

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” – (James 4:14)

This key word appears 27 times in the Book. It carries with it the idea that much of what this life has to offer ultimately is empty in itself, or will lead to emptiness. God wants us to have an abundant, fulfilling life.

2  There is a key phrase – “under the sun” – This phrase appears 33 times in the Book. It speaks of the things that are of this earth. Things that are temporary in nature, not eternal. Things that are “under the sun” are not necesarily evil things, they are just things that will be forgotten, and are without eternal value.

3  There is a key verse:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” – (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Solomon came to the conclusion that much of what is done by man “under the sun” are things that are in themselves “vanity” or they produce emptiness. Therefore, we should devote as much time and energy as possible to the things that are eternal: things that will last forever. Fearing God and keeping His commandments is the highest order of business for the child of God today. Though it is certainly not wrong to enjoy the lawful things of this earth, it is important for us to keep in mind that they are temporary, not eternal; so our primary focus should be on eternity – living for the Lord.

One more thing. It might help us to remember that the human author of this book is Solomon, a man who experienced everything that this world had to offer. He had widom, wealth, works, and lots of women; but none of those things brought any lasting value. Only the things that were done for the Lord followed him into eternity.

Jul 23rd You Can Take The Fire – Pt 3 – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 23, 25-27 and Luke 1-2

Today’s Passage: Luke 1:30 – 37: And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Good morning. I guess after reading the passage above, you already know what verse I’m going to focus on. Verse 37, …with God nothing shall be impossible! Aren’t you glad to have the One and True, Living, All Powerful God in your life?

Last weekend, me, Camille, and Melissa went camping in Lancaster, PA. Guess who was in the trailer across from ours… a Christian woman who had survived cancer several times. Like I said in a previous blog, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” And our faith and hope received a booster shot.

On Wednesday, we drove out towards Philadelphia (Melissa was going to be operated on Thursday). We had to be at the Philadelphia Hospital at 5:30 am. We did not know what was going to happen. The plan was to remove most of her lower insides and the tumor. We prayed that the Lord would give the surgeons wisdom, and guide them in what they should do.

For with God nothing shall be impossible, and it would have been awesome if when the doctors opened her up the tumor would have vanished. But it was still there, attached to the pelvic bone and the stomach cavity. It would be too dangerous to remove the tumor. The doctors decided that it would be better for Melissa to get chemo again. God in His mercy, which endureth forever, spared Melissa the trauma of this massive operation that may have killed her on the operating table, or caused the cancer to spread. Melissa ran a slight temperature Thursday’ night, so they were going to keep her in the hospital another 24 hours. She should be coming home today.

God wasn’t done yet. He showed me something on, of all places, 20/20. They ran the story of Paralympian Chris Waddell, who climbed Mt. Kilamanjaro with his handcycle. Nearing the top, he could not make it any further because of the steepness. He was down on himself because he could not make it to the top. Until his trainer said something, and Chris allowed the guides to carry him and his handcycle to the top. What did the trainer say? “No man climbs mountains by himself.” And with that I would like to thank everybody for their prayers, and lifting up me and my family to the Lord.

Peace. (Psalm 136)

Jul 22nd Laziness

Today’s Passages – Proverbs 22 – 24; Proverbs 22

(Second Milers also read – Mark 15 – 16; Memorize – Genesis 1:26)

“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.” (Proverbs 24:33 – 34)

As I have read through the Book of Proverbs, I have noticed that there are certain themes that reappear again and again. One of these is the subject of laziness (the Bible uses the terms slothful; and will also call a lazy person a sluggard). The above passage speaks of a man who, because of his laziness, has neglected his field to the point where it was overgrown with with weeds. I feel that way in my life sometimes. I notice that there are times when I lose focus, and allow things to fall into neglect. It happens in all areas of my life as well. Sometimes, I may neglect the spiritual priorities, and at other times I may become lazy in one of my responsibilities as a father or husband. I get lazy. Laziness seems to be a bigger problem for me in the summertime.

God expects us to be fruitful. God expects us to be busy and productive. Here are some things that will help me stay on track to fulfill the things that God expects from my life:

1  Have a schedule – determine what time you need to get up, and how much time is needed to do what you have to do. Go to bed early, and get up early. Avoid the time wasters like the internet and television.

2  Set Goals – what do you want to accomplish this year; this summer; this week; tomorrow? Attempt to get a lot of things done. You may not get to them all; but you will accomplish a lot more than if you don’t set goals. “he who aims at nothing hits it every time”. Set spiritual goals; goals for tasks around the house; etc.

3  Be accountable to someone. This is the problem that many preachers have. They have no earthly boss standing over them with expectations. If I am not careful, I will let this lack of accountability cause me to get lazy; get up later; leave earlier, etc.

4  Stay motivated. I listen to preaching and leadership lessons from Godly pastors around the country to stay challenged. What motivates you?

We will have to give an account of our live to God someday. What did we do with our time? Were we productive? Did we fulfill God’s will for our lives? Or did we sleep in? Don’t be lazy. Get up and do what God has called you to do.

Jul 21st Wine Is A Mocker

Today’s Passages – Proverbs 19 – 21; Proverbs 21

(Second Milers also read Mark 13 – 14; Memorize Genesis 1:26)

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” – (Proverbs 20:1)

“He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.” – (Proverbs 21:17)

“Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.” – (Proverbs 23:29-35)

“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: … Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.” – (Proverbs 31:4, 6)

“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” – (Ephesians 5:18)

The Bible is full of warnings against the consumption of alcohol. Above, I have listed some of the verses from the Book of Proverbs that deal with the subject, as well as a New Testament reminder. God did not outlaw the use of intoxicating beverages in the Bible, but He certainly taught that consuming alcohol was the cause of a great many problems for His people. The first mention of fermented wine in the Bible was in Genesis 9 referring to Noah who drank of the wine and then lay naked in his tent, causing his son Ham to sin by looking upon his father’s naked body. Shortly thereafter in the book of Genesis we read about Lot who drank wine and then slept with both of his daughters. Alcohol will certainly cause you to do some pretty dumb and damaging things. Today it is no different. In America, 38% of all traffic fatalities occur because of alcohol consumption (nearly 65 people a day). Statistics reveal that there are over 14 million people in the U.S. that are addicted to alcohol; and alcoholics are four times more likely to be hospitalized than non-drinkers. When will we learn?

In the New Testament there is an added warning to the child of God regarding the consumption of alcohol. The verse mentioned above from the Book of Ephesians tells us that alcohol is a controlling force that will hinder the Christian from being filled with the Spirit. That is why they call being drunk “under the influence”. To the degree that you are “influenced” by alcohol, you are not being influenced by the Holy Spirit of God. Plus, God warns us that we should be careful about being a stumbling block to another Christian. You may be able to handle an occasional drink, but by your indulgence you may just be encouraging a future alcoholic. If you are a child of God, filled with His Spirit, you have no business consuming alcohol. God is the only influence you and I need in our lives. We don’t need alcohol to enjoy the abundant life that God has given us while serving Him on this earth.

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.