Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jun 20th Where Can I Find Wisdom?

Today’s Passage – Job 28 – 30

But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? (Job 28:12)

And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. (Job 28:28)

In today’s reading we have seen a continuation of what we have been reading for the past several days.  Job is debating with his three friends regarding his calamity: they are claiming that Job is responsible; and Job is declaring his innocence.  However, in the middle of this discussion is a passage dealing with wisdom.  At first glance i wondered why God would put this teaching right in the middle of the discourse between Job and his friends regarding Job’s suffering; but then I remembered a similar teaching from the New Testament regarding trials and testing from the epistle penned by James.  Remember that James admonished us to “count it all joy” in the trials; but then he added some instruction regarding wisdom:

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)

Apparently there is an association between enduring trials and wisdom.  God doesn’t hold back wisdom to those who fear him and depart from evil.  Job had the wisdom of God.  We know this to be true because later on when God enters into the discussion He states that Job spoke of Him the thing that is right.

If you are going through a time of testing, don’t seek the world and its counselors for wisdom: go to God.  If you fear Him and are seeking to do that which is right, God will give you the wisdom that you need to see your way through the trial.  In order for you to get to the other side you will need God’s wisdom, coupled with God’s grace.  It is apparent that Job had both of these attributes.

Jun 18th Did You Have Your Breakfast This Morning?

Today’s Passage – Job 23 – 25

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. (Job 23:12)

Nutritionists tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that is probably true; and many of us, no matter how busy we might be, take the time to grab a little bit of nourishment in the morning.  However, how many of God’s people begin their day with some nourishment from the Word of God?  Job said here that he considered the time spent in God’s Word to be the most important meal of the day.  I want to give you a few thoughts as to why we should start our day with the Word of God:

1  For most of us, the morning is the quietest time of the day, especially if you are disciplined enough to get out of bed before the rest of the house gets up. When it is quiet you can hear the voice of God.  There are less distractions that will cause your mind to wander.  Many doctors believe that the early hours of our day are the times that we are the most alert and have the most energy.

2  We should also spend time with God before we spend time with men.  God wants to brief us via His Word regarding the issues we are going to face each day.  He prepares us ahead of time with wisdom for the battles that lie ahead. When we go into our day without having spent time with God, we go unprepared; and often will fail in the battle.

3  Without the Word of God we will lack the strength that we need to endure the battle.  We have all seen what happens to people who fail to fuel their bodies for the day; but Christians desperately need spiritual fuel from God’s Word in order to have the strength to make it through the day in the will of God.

Job endured one of the worst trials that God had ever given a man to face.  God says that He will not give a man more than he can handle.  Job could handle this great test in life because he was prepared for it; he was strengthened ahead of time through his time spent in the Word of God.

How about you?  Did you have your spiritual breakfast this morning?  Are you prepared for what lies ahead of you today?  Will you come forth as gold in the trial that is lying in your path today?  Why not stop what you are doing and take a few minutes to refuel your spirit before the battle begins today.

Jun 17th The Tongue – The Deadliest Weapon Known To Man

Today’s Passage – Job 19 – 21

Then Job answered and said, How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words? (Job 19:1 & 2)

I did not have to read that long this morning to find the truth from God that I needed.  Job is in the middle of the discourse with his three ‘friends’ who are accusing him of all kinds of wickedness; adding sorrow on top of sorrows.  He is already as low as he can go, but these guys continue to beat him and kick him when he is down; and their weapons are their tongues.

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. … But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:6, 8 )

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29)

The Bible has so much to say about the deadly nature of the tongue. Why are we so quick to run our mouths when God tells us very plainly that we are to be slow to speak. We all could avoid much of our problems with our mouth by simply not saying anything unless it is absolutely necessary.  If we have to speak at all maybe it would be best if we paused and prayed about what would be the best thing to say.

Job’s friends were not helping him at all; they were making him worse. Remember, the purpose for their visit was to ‘comfort’ him.  Maybe they should have just listened to him; even let him vent a little. Maybe, I should try the same thing.  As a pastor I need to learn to listen more; pray before speaking; and, as much as possible, tell people what God said instead of what I think.

Lord, help me not to kill or maim any more people with my tongue.

Jun 15th Yet Will I Trust In Him

Today,s Passage – Job 13 – 15

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. (Job 13:15)

In this statement we see Job’s declaration of faith in God.  Though Job certainly has not figured out why God has allowed all of this tragedy to come into his life, he plainly declares here that no matter what God does to him (or allows to be done to him), he will continue to trust Him.  When you and I read this book of the Bible it is easy for us, from the perspective of history, to identify with what Job has stated here.  But think for a minute with me.  If that were you or me going through what Job went through, how would we be feeling about God.  If God were to allow us to lose everything all at once; and then to have excruciating physical pain be placed on top of it all, how would we react?  Could we say, truthfully, “yet will I trust in Him”.

Last year I watched a movie/documentary called Amish Grace about the Nickle Mines tragedy in Lancaster, PA a few years ago.  The movie recounts the true story of a troubled man who went into an Amish school house, shooting 10 little girls and killing 5 of them.  The amazing thing is that the Amish people chose to trust  God’s wisdom in allowing what happened. Though it was very painful; though it took a little time for all of them to come to this decision: they chose to forgive the man that shot their children.  This was certainly a modern day picture of the what Job went through.  These Amish folks did not understand why God had allowed it to happened, yet they continued to keep their trust in the Lord.

Most of the time I feel that my faith is so weak, I doubt whether it could stand up to such intense suffering.  I guess it will have to be the grace of God that will sustain me through those dark days.  I know that difficult days lie ahead.  I want to prepare for them now by getting so close to God that it will be easier to trust Him when it doesn’t seem like He is even there.

Jun 14th Better Than I Deserve

Today’s Passage – Job 10 -12

Whenever I ask Evangelist Bob Hamblen how he is doing, he always replies, “better than I deserve”.  He, of course is right because all of us are doing better than we deserve since we all deserve to be burning in Hell because of our sin.  In today’s passage we are listening in on the conversation between Job and his three “friends”. Job is explaining his innocence and the friends are all pointing the finger of accusation against him.  They, with one accord, believe that Job is somehow reaping what he had sowed.

In the middle of this conversation, however, was a statement made by Zophar which caught my attention.  He said, “Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth”. Now I fully understand, in context, that Zophar was stating this to prove to Job that he was guilty, and that he really deserved more judgment than he had received.  However, the statement itself is very true for all of us.  We do receive less from God than our iniquity deserves.  We are doing “better than we deserve”.

The next time that you start feeling that life is giving you an unfair break, remember that things could get a whole lot worse.  And even if God allowed things to get as bad for you as it did for Job, you are still doing better than you deserve.

Jun 13th Can They Really Understand?

Today’s Passage – Job 7 – 9

I read this passage last night before bed in order to get a jump start on the day.  I am preaching a message this morning (and possibly the next two weeks) from the Book of Job on the subject of suffering.  I have been immersing myself in the book for the last several days.

Anyway, I got to thinking last night about how our friends and family members react when we are going through the dark days. When you get down to it, it is really impossible for people outside of our situation to completely identify or understand what we are going through.  Sometimes when people try to help, they can often cause more trouble for us with the things that they say.  I guess we often ask for the added problems because we so desire to have the fellowship of people around us, especially when we are hurting.

My advice to you that are hurting right now is to try to understand the lack of understanding on the part of your “encourager”. Try to appreciate their motivation to help you; but don’t be too frustrated by the help itself.  Understand also, that you may be the one who is not seeing things clearly; and the people who are trying to help you might just be right about what they are saying, though you may not want to hear it.

My advice to you who would try to encourage those that are hurting is that you would be slow to judge, and slow to speak.  Give a listening ear; let them vent a little; let them cry on your shoulder for a while.  There will eventually come a time when they will need to move forward; but give them a little space to see what God is doing their lives.  Remember, some day it will be you that is going through the valley; and you will be glad that there are others around you who are patient and understanding with you.

Jun 11th Lessons From Job

Today’s Passage – Job 1 – 3

Job is an amazing passage of Scripture.  It helps us understand a side of suffering that perhaps we would not be able to figure out without it.  Job is a man that suffered tremendously at the hand of Satan, and with the permission of God.  However, the curious part about Job’s suffering was the fact that he did not do anything to cause it.  In other words, the suffering was not brought on as a result of his sin or as some type of a judgment from God.  On the contrary, Job was put through the fire because he was a righteous man.  He was a man that “feared God and eschewed (put away; kept it far from him) evil”.  We like to think that if someone lives a life like Job lived that his life will be free from problems; however, this is not the case.

From this passage, we can learn some things about the Christian life:

1  If you live your life fearing God and eschewing evil, you will have the blessing of God.  When we speak of Job, we always focus on his season of suffering.  However, Job’s life overall was a life that was blessed tremendously by the Lord.  He did, in fact, have that hedge of protection around him and his family  for most of his life.

2  If you live a life like Job lived you will have the attention of God; but Satan will also be personally aware of you.  Satan had, in fact, considered Job.  I don’t know if Satan even knows my name.  I’m sure there are some devils who know me well; but Satan?  Job, who is neither omniscient nor omnipresent, had been paying close attention to Job.

3  Satan, if given the opportunity, will destroy you.  He hates you almost as much as he hates God.  The good news is that Satan is on a leash.  He cannot do what God does not permit him to do.

4  God will only permit Satan to do what you are able to handle.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

5  God will eventually remove the suffering.  He gave back Job double of everything He allowed Satan to take from him.  God even gave him ten more children in addition to the ten that were waiting for him in Heaven.

Learn these lessons from Job.  When suffering comes your way, don’t think that God is not aware or not even personally involved in it.  Try to learn the lesson that God may be trying to teach you through the suffering.  Glorify Him in the suffering.  Our God is a loving Heavenly Father who only does what is right.  Trust Him!

Jun 10th What Goes Around Comes Around

Today’s Passage – Esther 7 – 10

In today’s reading we read about the destruction of Haman, his family, and all others who would try to hurt the people of God. Remember, in the previous chapters we read how that Haman had a carefully devised plan to have all of the Jews in the Kingdom of Persia put to death.  He even built a special gallows to have Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, displayed on.  His plan ended up destroying only him and his kind; and he ended up being hung on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.  He got back what  he gave to others.

Christians today need to remember that the principle of sowing and reaping still exists.  Thank the Lord as God’s children we won’t reap nearly the amount of judgment as compared to the sin that we have sown; but we will reap some in this life. However, we can also reap back a lot of good if we sow it.  As the people of God today, we should be concerned with sowing love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness to the people around us.  I am sure that there will be times when we will want to have those things come back to us.

Jun 9th For Such A Time As This

Today’s Passage – Esther 4 – 6

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13 – 14)

Esther was in a tough spot here, wasn’t she.  She had to risk the good thing she had going in order to confront the King regarding the impending destruction of her people, the Jews.  Mordecai reminded her that the very reason why God had placed her in this position was for this very purpose.  She had an opportunity given her by God to represent Him; to be His ambassador.

Did you ever find yourself in a situation where you knew that God had placed in a specific place at a specific time for a specific purpose?  There have been a few times like that in my life.  Sometimes I call them Divine appointments.  To think that the God of the universe has chosen you for a particular part of his plan.  It sends shivers down my spine.

I also wonder, though, how many times that God has strategically positioned me to fulfill His will, and I missed it.  Maybe, I just did not recognize the opportunity; maybe I was not sensitive enough to the leading of the Spirit of God; maybe I was just downright disobedient to His will.  I know that as I sit here this morning writing this thought, it is my desire to be used of God in these situations.  I want to be given more opportunities by my redeemer to represent Him on this earth.  It is my prayer that He will use me.

Jun 8th The Sovereignty of God

Today’s Passage – Esther 1 – 3

When I read the passage today from the first three chapters of Esther, I considered how awesome our God is.  The nation of Israel is going to survive no matter who comes up against them. God has promised that they would.  Here in this passage we see the rise to power of a wicked anti-Semite (Haman) who sought to eliminate the Jews from off of the face of the earth. However, God was working behind the scenes all along, putting the right people in position that would be there when needed to thwart Haman’s wicked plan.  God raised up Mordecai and Esther for just this purpose.  Now if Esther chooses not to obey God, He will get somebody else to do the job; but Esther would forever remember that she blew an opportunity to serve and glorify the God of the Universe.

I wonder what God is raising me up for; or perhaps my children.  Could it be that God is positioning you and I for some part of His perfect plan.  Could it be that God has some great task for us to accomplish in His will.  Everything that God wants us to do is great.  I wonder, though, will I be ready when the time comes?  Will I make the right decision.  As we will see, Esther wavered slightly before finally making the right decision.  I hope that I will choose to do the right thing when the time comes.  I hope that God won’t have to pick somebody else to do what I could do.  I hope that when the time comes, I will be found faithful.