Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jul 19th The Richest Man On Earth

Today’s Passage – Proverbs 7 – 10

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 18th Are You Smarter Than God?

Today’s Passage – Proverbs 3 – 6

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:5 – 7)

I just wanted to give you a quick though this morning from our daily devotional reading.  I am looking forward to preaching this morning from Psalm 126 on “Reaping While Weeping”.  I hope to see many of you here at the church.

Solomon demonstrated that he was a very wise man throughout most of his life.  We know that later in life he drifted away from that wisdom and violated some of the very principles that he penned earlier in life.  I have often quoted Proverbs 3:5 & 6; but this morning, I thought particularly about the phrase in in verse 7, “be not wise in thine own eyes.” We often demonstrate by the life that we live, that we think that we are smarter than God. How often do we do what makes sense to us humanly, often at a violation of Biblical principle. We think that somehow God possibly did not have all of the facts, or perhaps he did not fully understand our situation. So we ignore clear principle and do our own thing.

As God’s people, we need to resist the strong temptation to do what seems right to us and follow the principles of the Word of God.  I think the biggest hinderance to doing this is a daily time spent in those principles.  We are Bible negligent, which has caused us to be Bible ignorant, which has led further to Bible disobedient.  Daily reminders from God will encourage us to trust Him.  Faith does come by hearing.  We need to be constantly exposed to the Word of God through our daily reading and through are attendance to the preaching services of our local church.

Why not determine today that you will make the principles of the Word of God a bigger part of your life: learn them; think about them; and then obey them.

Jul 17th GUEST POST BY MELISSA DILLEY

Today’s Passage – Psalms 147 – Proverbs 2

“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 16th Are You Happy?

Today’s Passage Psalm 139 – 146

Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. (Psalm 144:15)

Yesterday, I was researching some ideas for a new gospel tract for the church.  I came across one that really caught my attention.  On the front cover it had a picture of a smily face with the question, “Are You Happy?”  I thought that this tract would be a great attention getter for others as well; but I wondered, is it biblical?  I’m not talking about the contents of the tract, which is doctrinally sound.  I am talking about the concept of happiness.  What does the Bible really say about happiness?  I had always been taught that God’s people can be joyful, but joy is deeper that happiness.  In other words, you can be joyful even when you’re not happy.  I suppose that may be true at times, but I did a little more research and discovered that the Bible very clearly teaches that God’s children should be a happy people.  Don’t misunderstand, I am not saying that there will be times in our lives when we are sad; and to some degree I think feeling sad is good for us and part of our complete emotional makeup.  But, for the most part, we who are saved ought to be the happiest people on the planet.  Why?  Because we have an awful lot to be happy about.

Consider what the Word of God says about happiness:

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: (Job 5:17)

Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. (Psalm 128:1&2)

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: (Psalm 146:5)

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. (Psalm 3:13)

He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he. (Proverbs 14:21)

Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. (Proverbs 28:14)

I could list some more verses, but I think you get the idea.  Why then are so many Christians miserable, discontented people? Why are we always so negative?  It’s no wonder, we are failing terribly at reaching the world with the gospel.  Why should the lost world want what we claim to have with our doctrine, but fail to demonstrate in a happy, contented life.  I don’t think happiness is all that elusive.  I think it can be found in a right relationship with God.  By that I mean that you are saved and yielded to the Spirit of God, surrendered to His will.  If you are saved and still doing things your way, you are not going to be happy, because you will have an inner turmoil going on inside of you as God the Holy Spirit works to bring you into submission.

By the way, I am ordering the tract.  I just hope that the people giving it out will have a smile on their face when they do so.

Jul 15th Bearing Precious Seed

Today’s Passage – Psalm 125 – 138

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him (Psalm 126:5&6)

I was torn between two thoughts this morning for my devotion.  I was contemplating writing something about Psalm 133 regarding the subject of unity. The psalmist is right: it is truly a wonderful thing when God’s people are getting along and serving together.  In our church, I have seen times of unity; and I have also seen times when God’s people were bickering over the silliest of things. During the times of harmony, however, I can recall that the people were united in a common purpose: that is they were of one mind, and in one accord in the purpose of  winning people to Christ and fulfilling the Great Commission.

Perhaps the reason why our church has seen so much friction in the past few months is due to the fact that we are not out together sowing the seeds of the gospel.  God has convinced me that the missing element in our ministry is aggressive evangelism.  Unity comes when people are bound together for a cause.  Our cause is the salvation of souls: men and women, boys and girls, rich and poor, black and white; everybody.  I am burdened about unity. I love unity; but we must be unified in the purpose of sowing seed.

Notice three thoughts about Psalm 126:5 & 6

1  There must be weeping – Merely going soul winning without a burden for the lost condition of the people we are trying to reach is a tedious chore; and often it will yield no fruit.  We must have a genuine compassion for the folks that we are trying to reach.  We know that Jesus was moved with compassion; and so should we.

2  There must be the seeding – Burden alone is not enough.  We must go out into the fields; the highways and hedges; the streets and the lanes of the city, and give people the gospel.  We must go, and we must sow the seed of the Word of God.

3  There will be reaping – God said that it is doubtless. If we will go faithfully with a heart of compassion for those we are going to, God will give us souls for His glory.  Maybe that is why Jesus asks us to pray for laborers.  He doesn’t ask us to pray for souls to be saved because he knows that they will be saved if we will simply get the laborers to reach them.

As a result, there will also be rejoicing. There is no greater joy than seeing people trust Christ as their Savior.  Soul winners are happy people.  Maybe that is why they get along together.  Tonight is soul winning night at our church.  Why not come out and be a part of the Great Commission?  Bring your New Testament with you if you have one.  We will supply you with a partner, plenty of gospel tracts, and a field to sow the seed in.  I am praying for 20 soul winners to be out on the street tonight.  Why not be a part of it?

Jul 13th Who Are You Running With?

Today’s Passage – Psalms 117 – Psalm 119:88

I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. (Psalm 119:63)

I love the 119th Psalm.  Nearly every verse has some type of reference to the Bible in it.  Each verse contains a word that represents God,s Word.  You will find the words  law, commandments, word, statutes, judgments, etc.; but the whole Psalm has to do with the Bible.  In verse 63 we see the word, precept; another word that is synonymous with God’s Word or Law.

Notice, however, that in this verse the Psalmist declares that his companions: the people he runs with; the men he is associated with, are people that keep God’s precepts; people that fear God.  It is very important that we hang around people who love the Lord and are at least trying to live for Him as best as they can.  Conversely, we need to avoid people who will influence us away from the word of God. The Bible says that “iron sharpeneth iron”, meaning that we have an impact and are impacted by those we rub against.

Who do you run with?  Are you surrounding yourself with companions that fear and obey God? Someone once said that you are or soon will be who you hang around. Why not try to run with a crowd that will bring you closer to the will of God.  We need to be friendly to everybody; we need to love everybody, even our enemies; but we should only be friends with those who are going the same direction that we are going.

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. Romans 16:17

Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3)

Jul 12th Go Ahead. Try and Move Me!

Today’s Passage – Psalms 108 – 116

Surely he shall not be moved forever… (Psalm 112:6)

…his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord (Psalm 112:7)

His heart is established… (Psalm 112:8)

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,  forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1Cor 15:58)

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed….A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6,8)

There is far too much instability among God’s people today; they just can’t seem to make up there minds as to where they stand. The Bible says about Jesus that His face was set like a flint, meaning He wasn’t budging from the will of God.  Why is it that His children, however, are always moving in their doctrinal positions, and in their personal convictions.  We need to learn the lesson that the Psalmist teaches here in the 112th Psalm.

Notice the characteristics of this unbending, righteous man spoken of here in the Psalm:

1  He is unmoveable about His Bible.

[He] delighteth greatly in his commandments (v 1)

He is not the type of guy that changes the Bible he uses, or what he believes about the Bible.  He is bull-dogmatic about Bible principles.  He believes and applies what God says; and doesn’t deviate off of the course that the Word charts.

2  He is gracious and full of compassion. (v 4)

Even though you are not going to move him about what he believes, he will be gracious and compassionate with those who have not yet grown to where he is.  He gives people who are heading in the right direction time to get there.  He is willing to give somebody a second and third chance when they demonstrate true contrition and repentance.

3  He is generous in his giving. (v 5, 9)

He knows that the source of all of his wealth is God.  He knows also that God expects him to distribute the wealth that he has given him in order to be a blessing and a help to others.

How often do we change our minds and our actions regarding our Christian walk.  We need to be a little more like this man mentioned in the Psalm.  We need to dig in, find out what we believe from the Bible, and stick with it until the Lord takes us home.

Jul 11th Physically Fat but Spiritually Famished

Today’s Passage – Psalms 103 – 107

And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.   (Psalm 106:15)

The Scripture referenced above has to do with the children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings.It seems that the people were always griping and complaining about their condition; always discontented about what God had provided for them.  You will remember that God gave them manna from Heaven, but the people lusted after meat.  God gave them what they wanted, but at what price?  The Psalmist tells us they received leanness into their souls.  I don’t think that God was upset with them because they had a physical hunger; but He did judge them because they put their lust for the physical above their love for Him.

How often do we put our physical, and other fleshly desires over the things of God.  There is nothing wrong with food, but when we become so consumed with eating, playing, enjoying, etc. that we become negligent of the spiritual we too will suffer the consequences of a spiritual famine.  I love to eat, I love to enjoy the good things that God has given us to enjoy in this life, but I don’t want to trade off the spiritual blessings that God has for me because of an over-appetite for the physical.

Notice the historical reference of this event from Numbers 11:

And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. (Numbers 11:33)

Our flesh is enemy # 1.  If we are not careful, we will allow our flesh to take over our lives.  We may be physically fat, but we will also be spiritually famished.

Jul 10th Before His Presence

Today’s Passage – Psalm 95 – 103

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. (Psalm 100:2)

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. (Psalm 100:4)

Gladness, singing, thanksgiving, and praise.  These are the words that the Psalmist uses in connection with the presence of God.  These words do not have exactly the same meaning, but they are all closely related.  Do these words describe your relationship with the Lord.  It has always amazed me that God’s people, the people that have more reason to be joyous than anybody else, tend to be the most miserable people on the planet.  Why is that?  Maybe it’s because that we don’t often come “before His presence”.  We serve a wonderful, glorious, and awesome Saviour.  Why shouldn’t we be happy and fulfilled as we walk in this life.  If we would just take a moment to reflect on God’s goodness to us, our hearts would be filled with the gratitude for Him.

I think the problem is that we so often become focussed on a small negative in life instead of the big picture.  When you feel a little bit down, and you are tempted to gripe and complain about your situation, why not try to refocus on the blessing of being a child of God:

1  Consider His Provision – God has been good to us.  He has promised to meet our needs, and he even graciously provides some of our desires.

2  Consider His Protection – God may not shield us from every evil and hurt that is out there; but think of all that he has protected us from already.  How many times has God miraculously kept me safe from some accident, or from some other painful experience?

3  Consider His Purpose – God has given us a reason to live; a reason to exist.  We get to represent Him; to shine His light in this dark and evil world.

If we were to take the time to think about it, we would realize that we have a lot to be thankful for; a lot to praise Him for; a lot to sing about.  God is good all the time.  God’s ways are right all the time.  This is the day which the Lord hath made;  we will rejoice and be glad in it. Besides, it’s a lot more fun to go through life rejoicing than griping regardless of your circumstances.

Jul 9th Are You Thriving or Just Surviving?

Today’s Passage – Psalm 89 – 94

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; (Psalm 92:12 – 14)

Three times in these three verses the word flourish is used.  According to my dictionary this word means “to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, esp. as the result of a particularly favorable environment; to develop rapidly and successfully”.  The thesaurus uses these words to describe what it means to flourish: grow, thrive, prosper, increase, multiply, blossom, and bear fruit.  Based upon this definition or these synonyms, would you say that the word flourish describes your life? Or do you sometimes feel like you are just getting by; just living day to day; just existing; just surviving.  I know I often feel like I am just spinning my spiritual wheels, going through the motions; but am I really allowing the Lord to use me the way He desires to.

Why is it that so many Christians never really grow up to the place where they are bearing “more fruit”, “much fruit”, and “fruit that remains” (John 15).  Why is that so many of us go through long periods where we spiritually wither showing no signs of growth or fruit.  Perhaps it is because of a neglect in the area of participation in our local church.  Notice verse 13 specifically talks about being planted in the house of the Lord.  Now before you argue theology with me, I know that the immediate context of this verse is not the church; but remember it was God Himself that told us that the church was the “house of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)

God wants you who are righteous (saved) to be a faithful, tithing, and actively participating member of a good local church.  God is crystal clear in His word that we are not to forsake His house. (Hebrews 10:25)  Are you growing spiritually?  Are you thriving, prospering, bearing much fruit in your life?  If not, get into your local church and get behind it all the way.  Plant yourself there.  Don’t keep transplanting all over town.  If you want to flourish, you will have to allow your roots to dig into the soil deeply.  By the way, I know that your church has flaws. I also know that your pastor and other key leaders are people with problems themselves.  It’s OK.  God knew that when He called them into leadership; He set the system up that way; and he expects you to be faithful and supportive anyway.  I am not saying that there are not important reasons to sometimes leave a church; but probably 90 percent or more of the church transplants are not for Scriptural reasons.  So, find a fundamental, Bible believing and Bible preaching church; and support it, serve it, and stay with it.