Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Nov 14th Do You Still Love Me?

Today’s Passage – John 20 – 21

He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:17)

I apologize for completing this post from the Scriptures late, as I ran out of time yesterday morning. Sunday is obviously a very busy day for me, and I sometimes struggle getting everything done. I do want to share some thoughts from this passage of Scripture though.

I love this account of Peter being restored to service by the Lord. Let me make some observations:

I think it is very interesting that the Lord did the very same miracle here at Peter’s restoration that He did very early in His earthly ministry where He first called Peter to serve Him.(see Luke 5:1 – 9) Both times Peter was fishing, and was not really getting anywhere. The Lord called Peter away from His fishing business in Luke 5, and He is now reminding Peter that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”. Jesus had not changed His mind about Peter, though Peter certainly was not sure about himself.

The second observation that I would like to make is that Peter was certainly changed through the experience of denying the Lord. Formerly, Peter boldly asserted his love for the Lord stating that he would die for Him. Now, after failing that test, he is no longer so sure of himself. He does not make the same bold claims that he had previously made.

The third observation that I would like to make is that the Lord is very patient with His servants. He knows our frame, that we are but dust. He knows that even though we may be willing in spirit, we are still weak in our flesh. Praise God for second chances. I can’t count the number of times that I have blown it, yet God never gives up on me.

Peter certainly did go on to feed the Lord’s lambs, and he did get many more opportunities to demonstrate his love for Jesus. After the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, Peter preached the first great “church age” revival with 3000 saved and baptized. He had a boldness now that did come from his flesh, but that flowed mightily through him from the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.

How about you? Maybe God called you to do something for Him, and you have forsaken that call. Why not come back to the Lord humbly, and see if He won’t put you back in the game like He did with Peter.

Nov 12th Never Alone

Today’s Passage – John 14 – 16

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. (John 16:32)

The context of this passage of Scripture is the conversation Jesus had with His disciples after the Last Supper, and before the crucifixion. He has repeatedly told them that He was about to leave them; and He has also instructed them several times in these three chapters about the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost of God. In verse thirty the disciples make a bold declaration of their faith, and in the verse above (32) Jesus tells them that when He is taken away for crucifixion the disciples will scatter, leaving Him alone. However, He tells them that He is not really alone, because the Father is always with Him. The Father will endure with Him the darkest time of His earthly life.

Have you ever felt that you were all alone and that nobody cared about what you were going through? God cares, and God shares your pain and sorrows with you. If you are a child of God, born again through faith in His Son, you have the Holy Ghost of God that Jesus told us about in these chapters in you and with you. He is there all the time. Have you talked to Him today? Have you acknowledged His presence? Have you yielded to His will? I think the reason why most of us feel so alone at times is because we have failed to fully appreciate and develop our relationship with the indwelling Spirit of God, which then causes us to become over-dependent upon the approval of men. Think about it. If we could learn to live daily with the realization of the presence of God in every aspect of our lives, why we be so concerned about what people think? Yet, we are constantly pushed and pulled by the whims of men.

One of the central truths of the Christian faith is the presence of the Holy Ghost of God in the life of every believer, all of the time. We must learn to cultivate that relationship until the reality of that presence becomes very real to us. Speak to the Holy Ghost constantly, acknowledging Him. Ask for His help in understanding the Scriptures. Ask for His guidance and direction with decisions you need to make in life. Look to Him for comfort before running to another human. It may seem weird at first, but as you put these things into practice, it will become more natural and He will become more real to you.

Nov 11th Servant Leadership

Today’s Passage – John 12 & 13

If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14)

When I was in Bible College, I worked for Super One Foods, a supermarket chain that operated in the Ark-La-Tex area. They had a philosophy for management that was not common for many companies that I had been associated with before. They believed that the managers should work alongside of the employees, instead of just directing them. I was eventually promoted to a grocery department manager, which basically meant that I was the overseer of the night stockers. In order to get that position I had to demonstrate that I could stock as well or better than the other men on the night crew. Once I received the promotion, I still had to stock along with the crew as much as I could. There was nothing that I expected them to do that I was not willing to do myself.

Jesus taught and lived servant leadership. He did not separate Himself from His disciples, except when He was praying privately with His Father. He lived with them, ate with them, ministered with them; and most importantly, He served them. Here in this passage, He is washing their feet. It is interesting that none of the disciples thought about washing each other’s feet. The water was there, the towel was there, and the need was there; yet only the Lord had enough humility to get down on His knees and clean off the filth from the world that had accumulated on them.

I wonder, how many of God’s servants today are truly servants. Both words, minister and deacon, have as their primary meaning the idea of serving others. There are too many preachers out there that want to be ministered to, instead of ministering to others. Every once in a while I hear about  preachers that have a list of demands that must be met in order for him to come and minister to a church. The list might include first class flights, a certain brand of hotel, minimum amount of love offering, etc. Now I am certainly not opposed to giving “double honor” to the men that come to preach for us; but I can’t in my wildest imagination think that Jesus or Paul would have such a list of demands. We need to get back to serving people. All kinds of people: rich ones and poor ones; educated ones and ignorant ones; all cultures; all races; even the ones with very dirty feet.

Nov 10th The Door

Today’s Passage – John 10 & 11

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:9 & 10)

Almost twenty-one years ago I walked through a door that radically changed the course of the rest of my life. I should back up a little and tell you that for some time prior to this I had been thinking about God and eternity. I know now that God was drawing me in. At any rate, for about a month I had been secretly listening to Christian radio in between deliveries as I drove my truck for my Dad’s candy business. I was certainly conscious and convicted about my sin, but I just wasn’t sure what to do about it. One of the preachers invited me to go through the Door, and I received the Lord Jesus as my Saviour. I had tried many other doors in life prior to going through this One, but none of them took me to the abundant life that this Door lead me to.

My life has never been the same since. Christ not only saved me and gave me eternal life with Him in Heaven when I die; but also provided a means for me to have an abundant life here on the earth; a life that is productive and fruitful. However, in order to maintain that abundant life, I need to keep going through the door, daily. Eternal life is a one time decision, but having an abundant life here on earth is decided every day. We must daily yield to the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, submitting ourselves to God’s Word and  will for our lives. I have been saved for a long time now, but unfortunately I have not always practiced what I just preached to you. I have strayed away at times from God’s perfect plan, and during those times that abundant life eluded me. But I have tasted enough of the abundant life to have developed a strong desire for it, and when I do stray I quickly try to get back on track. No doubt there are many of you also that know what the abundant life feels like, yet you have somehow let it slip away from you. The solution is really simple, go back through the Door.

Nov 9th Believe It – He’s The Great I AM

Today’s Passage – John 8 & 9

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. (John 8:18)

And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. (John 8:23)

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24)

Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. (John 8:28)

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (Exodus 3:14)

This is one of my favorite passages of Scriptures in the entire Bible. I just love when Jesus tangles with the religious leaders. They never seem to get it. Here in this passage is really the bottom line of Christianity: you either believe that Jesus is God or you do not. The Pharisees certainly did not. They accused Him of being a Samaritan and “born of fornication”. They said He had a devil. They claimed that because He grew up in Galilee that He was disqualified. I guess they didn’t bother to check where He was born because if they did they would have found that His birthplace was Bethlehem. Everything in the Scriptures completely pointed to Jesus being the true Messiah.

The thing that really amazes me about this passage though are all of the I am statements made by the Lord in this dialogue. There is no doubt here that Jesus was making a bold declaration as to Who He is. He is God. Remember when Moses asked God His name in Exodus 3. God said to tell the people that “I AM THAT I AM hath sent [him]”. Jesus uses that little phrase, I am, at least a half a dozen times in this passage alone. The best being verse 58 where He attests that He pre-existed Abraham. That really “hair-lipped” the Pharisees. They took up stones to stone Him. Why? Because they knew that He was claiming to be God.

You can tell me that you do not believe the Bible, and I will accept that; but you cannot say that the Bible does not teach very plainly that Jesus is the Great I AM, that Jesus is God. And you cannot claim that Jesus did not claim deity for Himself. The record is crystal clear. You either believe it or you don’t. And until you put your faith in Jesus, the Great I AM, you will also remain in your sins.

Nov 8th Don’t Quit!

Today’s Reading – John 5 & 6

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? (John 6:66 & 67)

This passage reminds us of the lack of commitment there exists in people that call themselves Christians. Jesus had a “Big Day” up on the mount, and after teaching the people He fed them; and there were possibly as many as twenty thousand in attendance. (The Bible only tells us about the 5000 men.) After being fed and seeing the other miraculous things that the Lord did, these people desired to follow Him. They finally find Him, but when they do He is teaching some strange doctrines. He is talking about “eating his flesh and drinking his blood”. Now we know that He was not advocating a literal cannibalistic act, but was referring to His people identifying with His broken body and shed blood on the cross. He was speaking of what was coming for Him,  letting His followers know that a cross was waiting for Him, and that persecution was waiting for the followers as well. The disciples didn’t understand or appreciate what Jesus had to say. They were OK with getting free meals, and they certainly liked to watch the miracles, but now the Lord was telling them that there was a lot more to true discipleship than the pleasant things that they had already witnessed. And they all left Him, save the twelve apostles. This was possibly the first recorded “church split”. Jesus went from twenty thousand down to twelve almost instantaneously.

I find that people today are much the same way. They enjoy the “bells and whistles”. They appreciate the popcorn, bubble gum, soft pretzels, water ice, and cotton candy that we give them. They love the entertainment and the giveaways of the big days; but when it comes down to bearing their own cross in real discipleship, for the most part, they bail out. I think that we who are leaders in the church need to be more honest with the people up front about what true discipleship entails. We tell them about all of the wonderful aspects of Christianity, and they truly are wonderful; but the truth is that living as a Christian should live here on this earth will come at a cost. It will not always be fun. They won’t all be big days. There will be persecution and there will be many heartaches and burdens. Maybe if we better prepared these would be disciples for the battles ahead, they would be better equipped to endure them.

I want to stay faithful to the Lord, until He takes me home to Heaven; but I have to be honest with you: I am scared sometimes. I have been tempted on more than one occasion to quit, and I have seen better men than me “go away”. Pray for me, and if I know who you are, I will pray for you. Don’t quit. Stay with the Lord. This world has nothing to offer you but heartache and pain. Don’t go away! We love you, and we need you; and try not to get discouraged when others that you love go away. As much as we try to prevent it from happening, the fact is that many will not remain faithful. I t is what it is. But don’t allow the casualties to discourage you and pull you out of the battle.

Nov 7th Are You Thirsty?

Today’s Reading – John 4 & 5

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. (John 7:37)

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

I remember as a young boy I used to play baseball on a sandlot baseball team. Our team was made up of fellas from our neighborhood and we would challenge other neighborhoods to come play against us. I remember one particular game in the heart of the summer where we were playing the team from Lake Riviera. It was about 95 degrees outside and very humid. Do you know that only one person out of all of those boys there had enough sense to bring some water. We had about 2 dozen guys there that were very thirsty. The guy with the water jug almost did not make it out of there with his life, let alone his water.

In this passage of Scripture, we have the Lord Jesus talking with the woman at the well in Samaria. She was concerned about earthly water, the kind that is necessary to sustain life for the body. The Lord was concerned about spiritual water, the kind that is necessary to bring about everlasting life. He was referring to the indwelling Holy Spirit of God which would indwell all believers.

My thought this morning though is not about the water itself, but the thirst. Thirst equals desire. It is amazing to me how that so many Christians have a desire for the things that this world offers, but little thirst for the things of God. What do you desire; what do you thirst for? God desires to fill you to overflowing with eternal things, with the fruits of His Spirit; but He will not fill those of us who are not thirsty. Are you thirsty for God? I almost beat up the kid with the water jug that day, because I was thirsty; but how passionate am I about my desire for the spiritual? How about you?